Heaven is where the horses are

I have a postcard in my office pinned with a pushpin to the wall. There are 2 white horses in a meadow of tall green grass & yellow flowers. And at the bottom there is a caption: "Heaven is where the horses are".
I think I was there this weekend: Heaven, you know, where the horses are.
I went to Tennessee this past Memorial day weekend, to look at some land. But really out of curiosity. I'd never to Tennessee before. And hey, if Tennessee Recreational properties wanted to put me up and let me go horse riding, then why not check out a new nook in the world. The Cumberland plateau was where we were, 2800 feet above sea level, 2 hours drive from Nashville. No mosquitoes but unfortunately the locust were everywhere. Apparently, they emerge once every 17 years- just my luck. They were harmless but really scary ugly looking creatures. Freaky!




We went riding with southeast pack trips the first 2 mornings. I rode Tennessee walkers both days but they were really lame. Slow plodding along. First day we did Spruce Creek trail which was not very scenic. 2nd day we did the Cumberland trail which did go into Big South Fork state park. It was quite pretty at some points , along the creek and past the bluffs and giant rocks.

During our tour of the gated communities with Blaine, we also visited the East Fork stables campground. The scene was truly inspirational. I was so delighted to see that there are still so many horse lovers in this world. There were so many people and horses there. All sorts of horses! And huge motor home/horse trailer- in-ones! What a life. I can only imagine it. I couldn't live it- there are to many other things in this life I am bound to. Owning horses is a full time hobby. I would love it, but I would hate what I'd have to give up.



On day 2, Mike & I drove up to Kentucky and took the scenic railway to an old coal mining town. We also did a short hike to Yahoo falls in the northern most part of Big South Fork.



On the 3rd morning, Blaine took us out on 2 privately owned horses own by their builder Scott and his wife. We rode for 2.5 hours on the trails around the Highlands. I rode Jake and Mike rode Reagan. Jake was the most amazing horse I'd ever ridden. So incredibly responsive - always listening to the signals. It's like he could read my mind. In dance, we would compliment a great follower for being able to follow any lead. The dance was perfect. And when the Tennessee walker really gets down to do their walk, it is the smoothest gait I've ever experienced. I'm hooked- I must one day have a Tennessee walker! When Jake was in his gait, it seemed like he was tireless and as for me, I could have braved any tight turn & still would have felt secure. But I am told that it's just the tip of the 'gaited horse' iceberg. Apparently ,there are also Paso Finos and other amazing gaited horses to experience. And these horses are so loving. They are affectionate and they really do want to please you. I've never known horses to be like this. In my experience with horses, I have always known it to be a power struggle: my will is greater than yours, so you will listen to me. I suppose horses can be loving when they are loved by their owners. Just like cats.



I don't know if I will buy land there- but I hope that they will be successful in building their equine community. I plan to go back there this Thanksgiving- to experience another taste of Heaven: where the Tennessee horses are.

Honduras

We went to HOnduras in April (2-12). Our purpose was to go to Utila during the whale shark season to see the whale sharks. But guess what, we didn't see any!
We spent the first night at Bannarama dive resort. It was a pretty basic, inexpensive room. Comfortable for what we paid. The diving was good but we only got 2 dives in. The highlight was the huge & very curious black sea bass that I saw. On the morning, we dove a site called Spooky channel- basically it is what the name implies- "Spooky channel"! Yes, narrow crevass & so-so visibility makes for one spooky channel.



The dive trip to Honduras is my first time diving with UW camera & strobe. I've discovered the photos are even more beautiful that what you see UW with your naked eye. The strobe brings out colors that get lost in the ocean. It's a little disappointing to realize that UW photos you may see in a magazine may not really represent what you may see when you dive. The strobe brings a little piece of sunshine into the ocean. Writing about the underwater beauty of Utila is pointless. You have to see the photos:



A word about Deep Blue. I wouldn't stay there again. The rooms were clean ,comfortable and aircon was powerful. BUT... the food was sometimes unpalatable, esp at dinner time. The hostess Jasmine was very moody and very self righteous. She went on a long rant about how we should not eat lobster because lobster is being overfished. The divemasters were nice enough, but not always considerate. For instance, we were taken to the same not so exciting dive site Little Bight twice. There are so many dive sites in Utila, there was no excuse for them to take the same group of people to the same site twice. Apparently, one person asked to have the site repeated but the dive masters did not bother to ask the rest of us if that was acceptable. Secondly, even though we had 2 divemasters diving with a group of 14, both dive masters would be at the front of a dive. On one drift dive, I was last in the group and got left behind. I lost sight of everybody, had to to a drifting saftey stop by myself and to surface by myself to find the boat. The divemasters did not even realize I was missing.