Coop's Corner: A Grand Day Out

Sunday, December 1, 2013

A Grand Day Out

I'll shamelessly borrow today's Post title from Wallace and Grommit since yesterday was indeed a grand day out.

My original plan was, after a lazy start morning, to load the sleeper sofa and chest of drawers on to my trailer and deliver them to our oldest daughter. Once unloaded, she and I would enjoy our own Thanksgiving meal together while the rest of our family was scattered around the country; we two the only ones of our immediate family still in Minnesota for the weekend.

Plans changed however when, speaking of Minnesota, our fellow blogger Richard from Fairbanks was discovered to also be in our state visiting members of his family. Quick plans were made to gather in Nordeast (northeast Minneapolis) at Diamond's for coffee. Lucky was in on the plan and agreed that an 8AM coffee time would be fine.

Many of the regulars were already enjoying their brews inside when I was up and watching at the front window around our agreed upon meeting time. It was a wonderful surprise to see both Bridget and Richard make their way into the coffee shop.

We learned of things besides riding that we have in common as is so often the case. I really enjoyed actually meeting and having the opportunity sit down and talk with you folks. It will be fun to do it next time in your neighborhoods. Thanks so much for making the effort to share an early Saturday morning!

Also present yesterday, Jack and his family were there. If Jack had ever been at Diamond's before, it certainly wasn't while I was around. Maybe he'll be on that bright orange Ural rig next time??

Leaving Mpls around 10, I headed 30 minutes north to our daughter's place, the (heavy) sleeper sofa and chest of drawers secure on the trailer that this time, was not hauling a two wheeled vehicle. My cargo mostly made the trip unscathed. So what if one of the chest legs vibrated loose and rolled away?? Checking the trailer at 6AM a few minutes from home, the leg had already worked itself loose and my secure moorings weren't bothered in the least that Katlyn's new chest now reminded me of Lucy, the 3-legged farm dog a former employer once called his own.

We were so fortunate that our daughter's friends, Lisa and Roger had graciously volunteered to help move that behemoth sitting/lying device up one flight. I actually lost a bit of my future carrying that thing yesterday and if you have one to move??..........don't bother calling me because I'll be far too busy to help. I'll know a guy........

After a deliciously prepared meal, my only contribution setting the table, we did what we could to prevent that new sofa from slipping around carelessly in her living room. In fact, we were doing such a supreme job that a nap threatened, we then decided to take a drive, get some fresh air and spend a few minutes with Katai, her boarded pony.

It was a quiet day at the barn, only Mary, Jodi and Skylar present when we arrived.

The reason we went......or the excuse given......the feeding of grain. Katai had to work for it first though.

That pocket surely has one more treat.......

Back to town for pie and coffee, then our good-byes for now and time for reflection on the drive home.

It was a very grand day.

17 comments:

Erik RDecember 1, 2013 at 9:37 AM
It's great that you got to meet up with some fellow bloggers. That's always a good thing.
I see the tractor tucked away in the 3rd picture... An Allis-Chalmers WD? Nice.
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SonjaMDecember 1, 2013 at 9:46 AM
A beautiful day indeed, full of friendship and family. That's what's life is pretty much is all about.
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Martha December 1, 2013 at 11:02 AM
You moved around a sleeper sofa? Stronger, younger men have been known to be reduced to permanent disability doing that....

That's great that you and Richard and Bridget got to meet and share time together, and sharing more than stories of cold!

What is the breed of the pony? This made me vaguely remember the terms "tobiano" and "overo". Beautiful pony. I can smell and feel that arena. I'd choose being there over just about anywhere.
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TrobairitzDecember 1, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Definitely a grand day. Again so cool that you were able to meet up with Richard and Bridget. How much outside of motorcycling we bloggers have in common shouldn't surprise me, but it usually does.

Very nice of you to haul that sleeper sofa too. Those have to be the worst things to move.

Beautiful pony. Been a long time since I have ridden a horse.
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DebDecember 1, 2013 at 3:20 PM
What a nice day in every way!
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RichardMDecember 2, 2013 at 9:49 AM
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RichardMDecember 2, 2013 at 9:54 AM
It was great to meet you and some of your riding friends. I'm glad that you had time. We thoroughly enjoyed the time.
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LuckyDecember 4, 2013 at 9:17 AM
I'm glad we were able to meet up! It was great meeting you. Diamond's was a great suggestion, what a cool place.
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UnknownDecember 5, 2013 at 10:38 AM
Coop:

always nice to meet up with other Bloggers and get to know each other and their other interests and hobbies.

bob
Riding the Wet Coast
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The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

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The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

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