Learning potential

I jotted some things down on my mental "to do" list yesterday. They might just prove to be good feature topics one of these days. It was supposed to be a fairly simple, focused Saturday. Get the horses and cart to my sisters. Take a lesson on proper harnessing and driving techniques and hope for the best with Casey. Success was on my mind until I pulled in my sisters' driveway with my lovely new cart in the back of the pickup.

"I hope that cart doesn't turn into a pile of Amish kindling."

That's what Monty Collison said to me as I passed by. I'll always know Monty as Skeeter since that's who he was when he was 9 and I first met him as he waited outside my classroom door for his first-ever 4-H meeting). Well, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. Skeeter grew into Monty and, since his first days of horse instruction with my sisters and mother, he has become a nationally known and successful horse trainer, clinician and rider.

Years after that first meeting at the Room 4 door, I taught him as a sophomore honors student. I still remember the chuckles we shared whenever crazy things happened in that rollicking after-lunch English class. So, for him to suggest that my cart would turn to Amish kindling is par for the course with his ever-on-the-mark witticisms.

All went well with Casey during our session. After figuring out what harness parts would work and which should be cast aside, Monty began driving Casey around the arena. That was before he hooked up the cartless car tires. Instead of poles, he thought dragging car tires would test out Casey's toleration for noise and weight from behind. With me at his head and Monty behind, Casey passed with flying colors.

He did not pull a cart yesterday, but all who watched were impressed with his willingness, his cool attitude and his cuteness. Casey is going to be one handsome cart horse. Today Monty is bringing a banged-up cart from his training stable to start him out with the real thing and with the real sensation of inflexible shafts banging at his sides. If we're really, really lucky, maybe the Amish cart will get its test too, and maybe we won't have any stove kindling when it's over.

While preparing for the day, I had the opportunity to explore the surface of three unfamiliar disciplines besides cart and harness. While looking for some boards to drive the cart into the back of the pickup, two members of the Taylor family---Mary and Elizabeth---came walking into the driveway, toting a half-gallon jug of honey. They handed it over as a token of thanks for our hosting the honey bees from the hives across the road.

They don't own the hives, but the family has invested a lot of time in helping out the beekeeper with his set of hives in the Taylor hayfield. Mary told me he's got thousands of them around Bonner County, and her kids have helped him extract the honey from each hive at his facility in Sagle. They've been stung a few times too. Mary and Elizabeth both agreed that the process is fascinating to watch, if you don't mind a sting or two.

We're lucky to have those hives in the neighborhood, and I haven't minded one bit having those bees come over for their pollination visits. Mary says everything within at least a mile benefits from their cruising around and landing on fruit trees, clover, and berry bushes. One of these days, when I'm feeling really brave, I might go meet the beekeeper and learn more about bees and their habits.

After a good visit with Mary and Elizabeth, we all teamed up to load up the cart. I then took it over to the Tibbs farm. It was there that I ran across other potential stories for my future book. One of the clinic participants is a lady named Dee who works as a sawyer at a local mill. She's been working there for a few years. She told me it's her first mill experience, but she's had another fascinating job with Alaska Airlines. After some time spent cleaning jets, she worked as the operations manager for the cargo sections of jets at the Anchorage airfield. Definitely more story potential.

I gleaned another potential while visiting with Angela Turnbaugh whose daughter is on my sisters' judging team. Seems the family is in to archery, in a big way. All but Baby Kaleb have bows. He'll probably have to wait a year or two since he's only two months old. A while back, Angela bought her husband a used bow and knew really nothing about it. He took the lead and started studying the sport and the bows. Now, they host archery contests at their place with an assortment of stuffed animals at strategic locations. They also compete on other archery tours around the area. Angela said her husband has even constructed a stuffed elephant for the competitions.

My day of focusing on getting my horse to drive a cart would have been satisfying enough, but I must say that the people along the way enriched my life far beyond expectations. So, it's possible that one of these days this ol' journalist, who's always looking for a good story, may eventually know a few things about bees, lady millworkers and straight arrows. And, by that time, I'm hoping my Amish cart has gone into full action and not the wood stove.

It was a fun Saturday.