This Week @ Monday Creek: March

 

Blogging can be cathartic. There’s something about writing what has recently transpired and what my (somewhat) plans are for the near future. Usually, I write this in my planner/journal, but thought I would branch out and share with you what’s happening in my world – which is Monday Creek.

Today is the start of This Week @ Monday Creek. I really don’t know what to write, I’m just winging it. Maybe stories of the horses, cats, business, and behind the scenes - whatever comes to mind. That sounds like a plan – we’ll see if it spurs interest, or not. Let me think… what is happening around Monday Creek this week…

🌼Zubie, my mare, and if you follow along on my social media, you know Zubie has a lot to say. She’s a flashy paint, a little bit fickle, but a very good listener. She isn’t super crazy about the cold weather and likes to stay in her stall early mornings, slowly wakes up, and waits for her lunch. She has been alone this winter. We lost her companion, Crusoe, a tall warmblood/quarter horse, last October. He wasn’t my horse but I roomed him with Zubie for a friend of mine. Zubie mourned for several months after Crusoe died. I think just recently she has felt better (emotionally). 

Crusoe was older – into his 30s. One random day, he began spinning on his hind quarters, somehow losing momentum in his back legs, unable to push himself up. The first time he did this, I called the vet and he gave him banamine, and Crusoe seemed to get better. But, within a two-week period, Crusoe was down again. It was 11AM on a Friday morning. He was spinning on the ground and his owner, Kelly, was able to calm him. My vet was not available until 3PM that afternoon. Living in a rural area, it is difficult to find on-call vets for immediate euthanization. Kelly and I knew the end for Crusoe was inevitable. I called my husband to come to the barn to help. Crusoe, flat on his side, showed no signs of getting up. We prayed for God to help us. We didn’t want Crusoe to suffer. 

What happened next was nothing but a miracle. As my husband (who is not a horseman) approached Crusoe, we watched in amazement as Crusoe stood up. It was the quickest I’ve ever seen a horse get up from the ground. We were amazed as Crusoe looked around for Zubie. She had gone into the barn (for some reason, maybe she didn't want to see Crusoe in this state) and they whinnied to each other. Crusoe went into the barn with Zubie. He acted completely normal – a little shaky in the legs, but standing, wanting to be near his girlfriend. 

By now it’s about 1PM and my friends and I had planned “Pony Club” that day. We had brought our lunch to the barn (my office is in the barn). Zubie and Crusoe listened to our Pony Club conversation while we ate lunch, talked about whatever, and waited for the vet to arrive at 3PM. In the meantime, the farrier came and trimmed Zubie’s feet and we had a nice visit with our farrier; however, the underlying tension loomed as we kept a close eye on Crusoe and loved on him all afternoon. 

It was super serendipitous – to have Pony Club and the farrier the same day, but especially to have people around when we had to face Crusoe’s death. As one of my friends always says, nothing happens by coincidence. When the vet arrived, he said to lock Zubie in the barn. She stuck her head out the Dutch door as we led Crusoe out of her sight, to the backside of our hill, to his burial site. He walked intentionally, trusting us that all would be well. The vet gave the first sedative as Kelly, who had raised and trained Crusoe, held tight to his halter. Slowly, the long-legged gelding fell gently as Kelly guided him to the ground. He was asleep. Now the fatal dose. Quietly he crossed the rainbow bridge. We buried Crusoe beside my beloved gelding Mac.

🌼Pony Club hasn’t happened a lot because of COVID19. Even though we are outside, at the barn, social distancing, we want to be cautious and compliant with government warnings. We are planning our next Pony Club for March 19^th. That’s farrier day for Zubie and the weather should be warmer (hopefully). But before that, on the 15^th, Zubie has an appointment with her massage therapist. I thought it would make her feel better after a long winter. A yearly massage seems to help Zubie in so many ways – she seems to perk up after a massage. The key is to have a good massage therapist, and we do.

🌼Even though the sun has been shining, the weather continues to be cold. I think it's the wind that brings the chill. We live in a valley, a wind tunnel, where the wind can be so strong that we can't keep chairs on our front porch because the wind always whips them off. Our winter has been a true winter. I am happy to be moving to spring, even though I don't mind the snow and cold. We played a lot of chess over the winter and I'm ready to put the chess board away (whew). I gave up my queen too many times. She gave it her best effort. She needs a rest. 

🌼And this blog post is about March. I like March. Several important events to celebrate and parties to not go to (because of COVID19). Zoom and/or FaceTime will have to do. Whatever. It’s all AI now. I don’t know when/if things will get back to “normal” – or is this the new normal? We all are wondering. I heard there’s a large asteroid coming our way in 2029. We better get things done while we can. However, I am in no rush. I don't rush. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow.

Stay tuned next week for random thoughts from Monday Creek. Sending good wishes your way.

www.gmcknight.com
www.mondaycreekpublishing.com

www.josephprince.com

Monday Creek Publishing Digest March 2021: Featured Author Deanie Humphrys-Dunne

MARCH 2021

Featured Author

Deanie Humphrys-Dunne

 My Life at Sweetbrier: 
A Life Changed by Horses

Follow on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/DeanieHDunne

 
Website:
www.childrensbookswithlifelessons.com

 
Articles:
My First Memories of Sweetbrier

What is Good Conformation?

High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Center

 
Interview:
Riding & Writing Author Interview

 
www.mondaycreekpublishing.com

 

Tamara Martin, Children's Literature Author

Tamara Martin, Children's Literature Author

I met Tamara Martin through a mutual friend, Carol Lambert. Carol, an advocate for abandoned dogs, called me one day and said, "Gina, I have a good friend who has written a very good children's book about a dog's life. The illustrations are by Ernest John, a Navajo who is passionate about dogs as well." Long story short, on January 26, Bluebird: Dog of the Navajo Nation was launched.

Martin is co-founder of Good Dog Rez-Q, a non-profit organization that helps abandoned animals in the Navajo Nation and surrounding areas. The story is a common one - dogs are dropped off and abandoned by their owner(s) who no longer have the means to care for the dog. It's an issue that affects communities throughout the United States. I met up with Tamara and asked her about her new book, her non-profit Good Dog Rez-Q, and the dogs in her life.

Welcome, Tamara!

GM: What is the premise for your new children's book Bluebird: Dog of the Navajo Nation? 
TM: I’ve always loved to read but never felt pulled towards writing. That all changed when I moved from Athens, Ohio to Ganado, Arizona on the Navajo Nation. I saw how poverty and neglect of a human population affected the animals of those people. Good people wanted good things for their animals but didn’t know where to start. This book shows the transitions of a young dog in a land where there are few resources for animals. There is neither a sad nor a happy ending. Just another abandoned dog waiting for help. 

GM: The illustration are beautiful. What was the collaboration process between you and the illustrator, Ernest John?
TM: Haha. I wrote one sentence for Ernest; one sentence for each drawing. I wanted him to use his own life experiences to make each page his own. For example, I’d write “people rushing around, talking on cell phones” and Ernest drew what that sentence meant to him. His illustration shows a Navajo woman in a pick-up truck, driving and talking on her phone, oblivious to a skinny dog standing by the roadside. Or I’d write “night at sheep camp - all is quiet” and Ernest drew a breathtaking scene of a rural Navajo home at night, surrounded by looming mesas. He drew the night sky and moonlight. He drew the animals safe in their corrals and a little dog guarding it all. Ernest always drew the perfect scene for the one sentence I gave him.

GM: Emotions can be felt in each illustration. I have studied them for awhile now and every time I look at them, I derive something new. Dogs seem to be your passion. How many dogs do you own?
TM: We have all ages and sizes, from a 14 year old, 3 pound, toothless Chihuahua to a young Shepherd mix named “Sally” who goes hiking with us. Five dogs total. Because we do foster care and get to really know each dog, we’ve accumulated what I call “misfits”. These are dogs we’ve decided were not adoptable. Maybe they are very old and frail or have seizures. Or they don’t trust anyone but us. Or they have a skin condition that makes them “unattractive”. These are our 5 beloved dogs, lol. The Misfits. 
 
GM: Your book benefits your non-profit Good Dog Rez-Q. Is it a typical dog shelter? Does the shelter see a lot of indigenous dog breeds and are they usually re-homed?
TM: Gina - we don’t have a shelter. We are a group of foster homes who work with shelters and other rescue groups to find homes for unwanted animals. 
 
Our book hopes to benefit dogs who are not yet safely in shelters or with foster-based rescues. These are the dogs found all over the United States, standing by busy highways, abandoned at convenience stores or wandering, injured, sick or pregnant.  Many, if not most, of these dogs can be brought to safety. Our non-profit group vaccinates, alters and feeds these rescued animals in our own homes, believing that home care is best for dogs who have been left with nothing.  
 
I guess you could say that there is an indigenous Navajo dog called a “Sheepdog”. These dogs could resemble any breed but the  finest Sheepdogs are said to have Great Pyrenees lineage. In the book, the main character, Bluebird, is a Pitbull mix and is an excellent livestock guardian. 
 
Any stray dog has the possibility of being a loving family pet. The key to this transformation appears to be the amount of human handling that dog received as a puppy. Loved puppy = friendly adult dog = adoptable family pet.
 
GM: Stray and lost dogs seem to be a problem in every community. What can we do as a community to solve this issue? Is there a solution?
TM: The stray dog problem persists because our shelters are full and because there is limited access to low-cost spay/neuter clinics in rural areas. So puppies continue to be born. And people still abandon their city dogs in “the country” - areas which are least prepared to care for strays. Small communities enact laws but rarely have the personnel to enforce them.
 
I think the best education comes from parents, leading their children by example on the subject of animal care. Teachers, social media and peer pressure will also bring, if not solutions, then a continuing impetus to provide a better life for animals.
 
GM: As far as the writing process, do you have advice for novice writer's and those looking to tell their story?
TM: Find a friendly publisher, haha. And good, truthful friends to proof-read! 
 
GM: What is your favorite children's book/children's literature author?
TM: Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. I think I had learned to read well enough as a child that I didn’t struggle with the words. I became totally immersed in that story and told my parents; “It’s the best book I’ve ever read.” 
 
GM: List 10 things your fans may not know about you...
TM: 1. My socks never match
2. I’ve had jobs as a boilermaker welder, a vet tech, a registered nurse and a massage therapist
3. I have 5 dogs, 7 cats, a horse, a llama and a donkey
4. Our group calls references and makes home visits before any of our rescued dogs are adopted
5. My favorite dog breed is Navajo “Sheepdog”
6. If I think of more, I’ll send a separate email

Connect with Tamara...

facebook - Good Dog Rez-Q

Barnes & Noble - Bluebird: Dog of the Navajo Nation

facebook Gallery - Monday Creek Publishing/Bluebird
 

Anna Elizabeth Judd, Western Novelist

Anna Elizabeth Judd

About the Author

Anna provides it all as if you are in the saddle along for the journey. Her rare books bring the readers joy from nearly every genre they can appreciate. She exuberantly brings the image and sentiments of the west to full life throughout the storyline. Yet, at the core of Judd’s work is a black stallion who engages life into every aspect of the book. Haystack fills children’s mind with wonder as he interacts with Marshal Spur and the Outrider Gang, to the mild minored young steed who brings Adam to new levels of learning in his life. Then he is brilliantly portrayed as a beautiful Appaloosa stallion in the Broncobuster as Cash.

Anna Elizabeth Judd includes a vast trove of Western Novels depicting the “Cowboy Way,” Horse Whispers, Gunslingers, and the Wild West, but very few scratch the surface relative to the vibrant depictions through which Anna takes this storyline in The Hourglass of el Diablo.

In her newest edition, The Handbook of Horsemanship Ann shows her extended knowledge in the art of horse training. As she originally wrote the book for her clients, so after the training with her was complete they would have a guide to take home. It ensured their continued success in the world of horsemanship.

Anna has many other books planned in the future, so stay tuned for the next adventure of Marshal Spur and the Outlaw coming winter 2020. But…… don’t think she has left us longing…. Dive into her new music album for all the young cowboys and girls in the world. Spur Up! Marshal Spur and the Outlaw.

Websites:

thewesternnovelist.com

annaelizabethjudd.com  

Amazon Author Page

Reverb Nation Music Album 

https://www.reverbnation.com/annaelizabethjudd/song/31976038-the-hourglass

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/thewesternnovelist/

Instagram:  www.instagram.com/westernsbyjudd/

Twitter:  twitter.com/westernsbyjudd

RAW ICE by Penny Wise

 

"Don't Blink!"

 

RAW ICE

by Penny Wise

 

RAW ICE is the story of Aldolphus Jackson; an innocent child that was robbed of his emotion by the shadows of darkness. Raised by a mob figure named Airstead Gaddafi, Aldolphus learned the rules of the blood game and drug game. Born into a web of lies that will slowly untangle, he would be forced to make life altering choices. He was caught between street wars with the Japanese Mafia and a love-hate relationship with monogamy. Eventually he would be forced to choose between being a sacrificial lamb, or drinking the blood of the wolves. RAW ICE is a nonstop roller coaster without brakes that has more twists than a murder mystery. Written in gritty street dialogue and lyrical undertones, RAW ICE will keep you glued to your seat until its shocking end. DON'T BLINK.

 

Available in Paperback and eBook HERE!

Tying Knots: An Interview with Dan Aadland

 

Tying Knots: An Interview with Dan Aadland
By Gina McKnight

From the February 2021 Issue of Florida Equine Athlete

No Duplication with Permission
 
People who can tie knots are my favorite people. For some, tying knots is easy, while for others… well, let’s just say, I am not too handy with knots. A couple of years ago I came across The Pocket Guide to Equine Knots: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Most Important Knots for Horse and Rider by Dan Aadland. I purchased my copy at my local Tractor Supply. There are many knots I would like to master, and Dan’s book is perfect for beginners. I caught up with Dan to talk about horses, knots, and writing…
 
Welcome, Dan!
 
GM: Someone who knows how to tie equine knots must be a horse owner. When did you meet your first horse?
DA:  Wow, hard to say. I’m old enough to remember Draft teams such as that owned by an old man who gave us rides in his wagon when I was a small child in South Dakota. There, and later in Montana, I gravitated toward horses continually. A tomboy friend and I would catch and ride horses without permission, bareback, without bridles, not a good practice and occasionally a dangerous one. Early in my teens I started working on ranches, where horses were a part of daily life.
 
GM: Working on a ranch, you learned to tie knots at an early age, most cowboys do. I have read your book The Pocket Guide to Equine Knots and use it as a reference. My dad learned to tie knots as a Boy Scout. How did you learn to tie knots? Who was your mentor?
DA: I had no single mentor, though my father-in-law taught me the importance of the bowline. Mostly I learned the knots I needed from various sources, both from books and from horsemen I knew.
 
GM: For me, it depends upon the rope (if it’s stiff, or too large for my hands) if I am able to tie a knot or not. In your opinion, what is the most difficult knot to tie?  
DA: Those I haven’t learned—the Ashley Book of Knots has nearly 5000 of them!
 
GM: As a horseman, which knot do you use the most? Which knot do you recommend for every horseman?  
DA: Probably the simple tie-up knot I illustrate in the book, the square knot (of course), and the bowline. When I teach clinics I sit everyone down and insist they learn to tie a bowline, because it’s the knot you can rely on not to tighten under pressure and, no matter how stressed, still be easy to untie. I’m appalled at how few clinicians teach simple knots and how few people seem to know them.
 
GM: Even though I am a farm kid, I have never been good at tying rope, but I keep working at it. Cowboy’s who know about knots usually know something about saddles, too. What brand of saddle do you use?  
DA: My everyday saddle was made by Rick Ericksen of Ennis, Montana (Ericksen Saddlery). The “Mountain Saddle” has holes in the cantle to allow slinging an elk quarter or other load to the saddle with a basket hitch. It’s comfortable and rugged. Rick has made and sold more than one thousand of these over the past several decades.
 
GM: Sounds like a very cool saddle. Besides writing about equine knots, what other books have you written?
DA: I’m working on an article for Bugle, the magazine of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, my favorite conservation organization. I haven’t quit writing books (after ten titles) and have several more ideas in mind to follow my latest one, Training your horse for Backcountry Riding. I’ve thought of a sequel to what I consider my very best work, Sketches from the Ranch: A Montana Memoir.
 
GM: Every good writer is a better reader. What are you currently reading?
DA: I’m constantly reading. Yesterday I pulled down a paperback I must read again, Tough Trip Through Paradise by Andrew Garcia. Occasionally I also must go back to Theodore Roosevelt. One of his first (of some forty books), Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, is also one of his best, and it’s definitely a horse book.
 
GM: As a lifetime cowboy, what does horsemanship mean to you?
DA:  Horsemanship comes from attitude, experience, accumulated skill, and a certain feel that not everyone possesses. Set a guitar near a piano and it will vibrate quietly when the piano is played. That’s known as sympathetic vibration. A horseman (male or female) has that connection. But the experience and skill are necessary to keep that connection safe and useful.
 
About Dan Aadland
Dan Aadland is a rancher, retired teacher, and former Marine officer, but the role of writer has been his primary preoccupation since he learned to love the written word as a child. Early tastes included the best outdoor writers of the day, and of course Mark Twain, the master. After service in Viet Nam, Aadland attended the University of Utah, where he earned a MA in English and a Ph.D. in American Studies and creative writing. Then it was back to Montana for a busy life divided between ranching and teaching high school English and various extension courses for the university system. But it's been Aadland’s love of horses, of raising and training them, and his passion for riding a good horse under the Big Sky, that has spawned his best writing. For his latest work, In Trace of TR: A Montana Hunter's Journey,  he sought to know Theodore Roosevelt from the perspective of a fellow hunter, rancher, and horseman. Aadland rode where Roosevelt rode, hunted as he hunted, and found that the century intervening was but a skip in time between hunters' hearts. Apparently Aadland’s approach has struck a chord--the book received a first-place award in the Book Division of Excellence in Craft Awards from the Outdoor Writers Association of America in 2012.
 
Connect with Dan…
Amazon Author Page
www.mymontana.net

The “authorinwilderness” shows some of the remote areas in which we ride. 
The top of the peak behind me is the northern border of Yellowstone Park. 
Photo by Billy Oley

 The “bowcamppackin” illustrates an equestrian use (packing)
that requires proficiency with knots. Photo by Emily Aadland

 “DanChiefglassing”  the author and his horse Chief

Connect with Dan…
Amazon Author Page
www.mymontana.net

 
 
 

Milliron Monday: A Letter from Carol 3 1 21

 

Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.

June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010

Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and  Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017). A graduate of Colorado State University and a well-known veterinarian in southeast Ohio, Dr. Smith continues to motivate and inspire. 

Dr. Smith's memorial service was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Athens (Ohio). The large church was filled with family, friends, and clients. For the memorial service, each sibling was asked to write about their relationship with Pete. 

Here is Carol's letter...

I’m Carol Robinson. I am the eldest of the five Smith kids, but Pete was close behind – just a year and nine months behind. Whether it was a year and nine months or two years depended on the subject because typically he resented being told he was two years younger.

My memories of life with Pete began at Little River Farm in Freeport, Maine. It was a wonderful place on an inlet of Casco Bay – a point, as it was called, and accessible over a single-lane wooden bridge. Diving from it – when the tide was in, of course, really was great fun. Pete, of course, probably would have had me do it at low tide. I recall that his challenge was to do this race barefoot – on this gravel road. I have noticed that he and I have very wide, big feet. Wonder if that’s why…

Actually, I do recall a funny story about living in Yarmouth, before Freeport, also near the water. I know that we were very young then, because Smith kid Number 3, Suze, hadn’t been born. The story goes that Mom wanted Pete to go up to the garden – in my child’s recollection it seemed like a long way - but might have been just the equivalent of two or three blocks – to get her some green onions. There was a thunderstorm threatening and a reluctant and scared Pete got up there in record time - Mom and Dad often talked about how fast he must have run.

But back to Freeport, Little River Farm held great memories. One questionable memory for me was Pete teasing me with garter snakes – he’d toss them at me and make me scream for help. He also liked to snap a damp tea towel at me when we did dishes. Dishwashers always were the two-legged variety in the Smith house.

It was there that he helped an injured crow and in the process taught that crow to talk – probably more fiction that fact. That was a subject of family delight for a long time. The crow was named Pliny, the family middle name. Pete also knew that the only way to kill a porcupine was to hit it in its tiny head with a 22, and I believe he must have dispatched a porky or two on that farm.

One of the most interesting things about my brother was that drawl. Where did that come from? I can’t recall that he ever had a Maine accent, but then none of us really did. That, I believe we have to attribute to Mom, that Montana girl. That drawl was a characteristic of Pete’s that I think most of us enjoyed.

When our parents left Colorado to go back to the East Coast, I was in college and Pete had just started at what was then Colorado A&M, so we didn’t go back with them, but those three little kids did.

At school in Colorado, Pete met the love of his life Jody Haley. I think Jessica was born after Jody finished college and Pat when Pete graduated, or thereabouts.

One of Pete’s greater lines was regarding our kids – his and mine – when anyone was heard to say that Abbott and Betty had produced a great bunch of kids, he liked to say, “Wa’al them good genes shore skipped a generation.” – because the kids he and I brought into this world have been not only great, but bright and loving kids.

Lastly, I just have to tell you, Pete, you left too soon. I am the eldest – yes, two years or a year and nine months – and I should have gone first. I know that Mom and Dad have welcomed you with open arms. They probably wondered if they were ever going to see any of us, and were surprised it was so soon. I love you, Pete. Yes, you won another race – the biggest one. 

Sending love and blessings to Carol today.

Have a great week ahead.

Connect with Gina...

Amazon Author Page

Milliron: The Biography

www.gmcknight.com

www.mondaycreekpublishing.com

Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.