Stranger than Fiction

I had a small home listed about 15 years ago in our county. The lovely owner, an older lady had decided she had met the man of her dreams, (a previous client of mine, so I was a "referral"). She was not going to waste any more of her life living in the snowy, cold winters of Ohio, so she called me, listed her house, packed a suitcase and moved to Florida with her new love. They did not marry, but lived blissfully ever after.

Here is the glitch. She left everything she had owned over 45 years and everything her late husband (the hoarder) had collected for 50 years and just got in her car and drove off into the sunset. The property consisted of 17 acres, a ramshackle barn which was only being held up by the abandoned school bus that was inside and a small little house that still had the kitchen trash can under the sink filled with trash.

How can I sell this house which was filled with a nightmare of stuff? I had a brilliant idea. It was not a good idea, just a brilliant one. At least I thought so at the time.
I held a"garage/estate/yard/barn sale/come and get it while it's free sale!"

Here was the twist. You could have whatever you wanted for free. But...you had to haul a bag of trash off with you when you left! I provided the big black trash bags, they folks just had to fill them. No joke folks, this was the real deal. I placed the ad in the newspaper, put a sign in the yard and stood back. I served coffee and cider, and laughed all day.

One memorable bit of "treasure" makes me laugh still today! A man came wandering up from the barn carrying a motheaten Deer Head on a wooden mount. The Deer Head had long given way from the mount, so it was hanging from the bottom of the mount board at a right angle. On the flat spot of the base of the deer's neck was a bird's nest. Quite a large bird's nest too!!

The comment the man made about his treasure was so profound, I can close my eyes and see the story unfold in my head.

"I am so excited to get this birds' nest. My mother- in -law collects birds' nests and I can hardly wait to give her this one to add to her collection"! That's right, you heard me...he took the whole thing, deer head and all and gave it to his mother -in -law. This was one of those "when you just wanted to be a little mouse in the corner" moments!

There must be a mixed message here somewhere.

The house got picked clean like the Thanksgiving turkey, only needing a few broom strokes to neaten it up. I sold successfully sold it with the help of a cooperating brokerage, and the people have been living there ever since.

Who knew?

I can't look a birds' nest without smiling!

Happy Birthday to my Son

(photo the right is one of my favorites...Nathan with "Grandma" Neta Koons)

October 13, 1970 was the day this baby boy entered into the world. I was a "first time" mother to be when I entered Berea Hospital the night of September 30, 1970. I had labor for almost 13 hours by the time he was born. I knew nothing, I didn't know what to expect, the doctor Myron Welty, MD was my family doctor and OB.

Labor pains are not comfortable. No one taught me how to breathe. No one taught me to relax. No one told me my husband would stand outside the labor room leaning up against the wall, fall asleep, then ultimately go home from there leaving me alone in the hospital.

I guess those were the days of blind faith, and no questions asked.

I remember sweating my ass off during the contractions, and Tim asking me, bending low so he could whisper in my ear "can I turn the air conditioner off? It's cold in here"! Ya' think!

They brought the baby into my room during the wee hours of the morning so I could see he was physically perfect...all his fingers and toes, all his little arms and legs. 8 lbs. O oz. 20' long.

I remember like it was yesterday. The nurse had taken him from the incubator (he needed to be quiet and warm, no oxygen needed as he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his throat).

I was grateful for her bringing him to me so I could touch him and kiss his little face.

There were some other things I remember...I remember standing in the hallway of the hospital, longingly peering through the glass window of the isolet room wanting to hold my baby and not being able to do so for four days.

When the nurse came into the hospital room that I shared with another new mother, speaking to Tim and me she brought in the "regulation birth forms" that had to be filled out. She asked "what is the name of the baby boy?"

Tim and I had decided on a name for the baby. We had chosen "Peter Winfield Von Duyke" (Winfield was Tim's father Lee Von Duyke's middle name) if it was a boy. Back in those days, no sex was ever revealed to the "to be Moms and Dads". I don't even know if an ultrasound was ever performed during my pregnancy. "Sarah Elizabeth Von Duyke" was the name we chose if it was a girl.

You can imagine the shock on my face when Tim replied:

"His name is Nathan Winfield Von Duyke".

And so it is.

Love you baby boy!

Another day in paradise

Truly, I am in paradise. I am here at the Kentucky Horse Park, enjoying beautiful weather, sunny days and cool nights. Living in and old (1987) "Georgie Boy" RV and loving every minute. Georgie squeeks and groans, rattles and rolls, much like me. I am able to cook on a tiny teeny four burner stove, wash up in a tiny kitchen sink, cook for Sarah and her two students, Katie and Kelsey, shower in a tiny space, conserve water, and have a ball. I am sittng at the dinette, looking out at an arena with horses warming up for their Dressage tests, sun streaming through the window, enjoying a hot cup of coffee and listening to a distant announcer call for classes. All is right with the world.

For me, this is heaven.

"And God took a handful of southerly wind and blew his breath over it and created the horse". ...Bedouin legend

Since the day many years ago that I used to sit on the curb with a carrot in my hand (circa 1945) and wait for the Producer's Milk Wagon to stop and deliver milk to our house, and the driver would allow me to pet the horse and feed him the carrot, I have been "horse crazy". I am old now, but I would still wait for the horse to come to give him a carrot.

It certainly works for me!

Tackle Adversity, Hoda style

Four years after mastectomy and divorce, TV's Hoda Kotb, 47 says life is "great again"

Copied in part from the USA Weekend Magazine, Sept. 23-25, 2011.

1. Surround yourself only with people who fill you up. Get rid of the toxic ones.

2. Don't sweat the little stuff--90% of what you worry about won't happen.

3. If you're still standing after surviving an illness or death of a loved one or whatever your cross to bear is, you get the four words: You Can't Scare Me. Use them!

4. Don't hog your journey; share it to help others.

5. Allow yourself dark days to stay under the covers watching Law & Order reruns and eating junk food.

A little far fetched...but it could happen

At a large wine merchants' warehouse, the regular taster died and the manager started looking for a new one to hire.
A drunkard with a ragged, dirty look came to apply for the position. The director of the warehouse wondered how to send him away.
They gave him a glass tof wine.
He tried it and said, "It's a Muscat , three years old, grown on a north slope, matured in steel containers. Low grade but acceptable."
"That's correct", said the boss.
Another glass. "It's a cabernet, eight years old, a southwestern slope, oak barrels, matured at 8 degrees. Requires three more years for finest results."
"Correct."
A third glass..''It's a pinot blanc champagne, high grade and exclusive,'' the drunk calmly advised the warehouse manager.
The director was astonished. He winked at his secretary to suggest a different tactic.
She left the room, and came back in with a glass of urine.
The ragged drunk tried it.
"It's a blonde, 26 years old, three months pregnant, and if you don't give me the job, I'll name the father."

The excitement is building!

Today is only one week from the time we depart for the Sport Horse Nationals Horse Show in Lexington, Kentucky at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Although Sarah is only taking two horses to show, they are both genuine contenders for High Marks!

Kissemsong is a Half/Arabian-Half/Thoroughbred chestnut 3 year old filly showing in Sport Horse Mares in hand (showing in halter), owned by our friend Shirley Nowak.

Canadian Justina is a purebred bay Arabian mare that Sarah owns and she will be showing in four carriage driving classes.

(Photo on the top: Justina pictured in 2009 at Walnut Hill in New York in 2009, her first driving competition and Photo on the below is Justina hitched to the new Wicker carriage driving at the Hossfeld's last month for harness tweeking)

The two girls going with us are Kelsey and Katie. Both will be sixteen by the time we leave for the show. The girls are working for the Arabian Horse Association on the "Jump" crew. They will be setting up jump courses and replacing any knocked down rails or jumps etc. They start their jobs on Tuesday at 8 a.m. and finish on Sunday. Each girl is working for pay, to help defray the expense of their individual horses.

All the classes will be shown in the covered arena. Two of Sarah's clients will also be attending to "root for the home team".

It is nice to have that kind of support. Nice that they will bring food to contribute to the communal pot for meals in the motor home. The concession stand on the grounds is "blah" and that would be a compliment! We will be camping for the whole week with the motorhome "Georgie Boy" (it's a 1987 model).

We are going with the intention of bringing home "the gold"!

Wish us luck and sunshine.

(Last time we competed in 2009 it rained for 8 days straight. The sun came out the day we left)

Into the valley of death rode the 40

There are 40 people that I would like to thank today. The 40 people who boarded United Airlines Flight 93.
40 people huddled in the rear of the cabin of the plane
after they learned it had been high jacked.
40 people voted knowing their decision was to die
40 people acted as one
40 people became heroes on September 11, 2001
40 people died protecting the lives of unknown Americans on that fateful day.
Shanksville, Pennsylvania is just one of the three tragic sites we honor today.
We honor their bravery, their courage and their commitment to humanity.
Sandy Dahl, the widow of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl. Is quoted:
``If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.''
We thank those that gave their lives that fateful day
We thank those that worked bravely and tirelessly to search for survivors,
We thank those who continue to live their lives with the sad memories of their loss.
Today we honor their legacy. They made a choice, a choice to lay down their lives for others.
Their gift to us is this:
We do not live in fear……..we live in Freedom!
We thank those 40 people.