Carhart vs Babour

At the Far Hills Steeplechase Saturday - a muddy-medley of cultures colliding at the porta-potties; there only incidentally for the love of horses, most for betting, all for the drinking.

The majority gathered under one-room tents, a pick-up flanking the enclosure's back-side and ramparts of beer cases. This was a drinking event first-and-foremost - tail-gating vs race-attending. Clothing was utilitarian, layered, Carhart.

Atop the hill, the event's sponsor, Mercedes, had a series of wedding tents with garlanded chairs. Inappropriately-dressed corporate invitees listed into the sodden ground with drinks clenched. In a location farthest from the races, the horses – the sponsors indicated only a passing interest in the event. Within the Mercedes compound, the gathered turned away from the action, inwards around the bar in uncomfortable clutches.

Middle-tier were the country-folk: feigning squiredom in wellingtons and barbour jackets, patina-ed, range rover-driving, and implying authentic with every single malt, wishing they could just loose the hounds and be done with everyone else. These were the people of the tent R had been invited to - a corporate sponsorship of long enough standing (it appeared) that we were, in fact, there for the racing and actually track-side). The tent split itself nicely between the busy work of warming by drinks and watching the races themselves.

Steeplechase means the horses jump (over streams, hedges and gates). We saw some of this. Thrilling seeing the horses, the jockeys in their colors and skinny bow legs, the bugle call to start. I dressed silly/faux-equestrian part for the day and, for a few hours, was that Greenwich-girl who'd segued from horses to tennis to field hockey to just plain being insufferable, but with a wardrobe for every sport.

Fun, muddy, involving horses, red blazers and not at all like other Saturdays.


Now to learn to ride.


C

Juxtapositions, and other cultural contrasts

From The Parachute Artist: Have Tony Wheeler's guidebooks traveled too far?, Tad Friend, The New Yorker, April 18, 2005

“Even Lonely Planet, however, hasn't figured out a way to market its epiphanies other than by using the impoverished language of travel writing.

And so 'palm-fringed beaches' and lush rain forests and other 'sleepy backwaters' are invariably counterpoised against 'teeming cities' with their 'bustling souks'. Every region has a 'colorful history' and a 'rich cultural tapestry'.

And every place on earth is a 'land of contrasts'. As the Arabian Peninsula guide observes, 'Bedouin tribesmen park 4WDs alongside goat hair tents; veiled women chat on mobile phones while awaiting laser hair removal,' and so on.”

And from the latest LP Bulgaria:

"Bulgaria has changed swiftly over the last decade, though in the villages you can still find folk who ride the donkey to work, eat homegrown potatoes and make their own cheese. The difference now is that they wash it all down in front of a satellite TV."

C - in Starbucks on the upper west and observing altogether too little contrast

Rabidity is hokum

Little recently update-worthy on my upstate house purchase (in Germantown - can't claim Clermont). Inactivity on my end, and frantic packing on the owner's as they extract 20+ years of themselves.

I imagine they've been turned inwards for the past few months but, with our closing (minus key turnover) this Friday, a finality's seized the packing household and my spectre: owner/outsider, has entered the picture.

Suddenly, like parents assessing a child before the first day of pre-school, they've stepped outside their beloved home. To follow is an email I received from the husband-owner: a catalogue of the house's quirks so that the one-soon-in-the-world will find the transition smooth.

It reads like a love letter.

Dear Courtney,
Rather than burden everyone, especially you at the closing, and at the risk of me appearing overly emotional, there are a few things I think you should know about the house, barn and yard.

The barn, which I understand you are considering renovating, has a healthy returning colony of migratory bats. This is a very good thing, but not so if you have intentions of using the barn to display merchandise. Bats are more responsible for the pollination of fruit trees and flowers than bees, believe it or not as well as eating mosquitoes and other biting insects, as such we have very few of them. Rabidity is hokum, more chance of that with raccoons. I would suggest that once renovation starts you can coax the bats out of the barn with the simple addition of a bat box outside. I'd be happy to tell you how, as odd as this may seem, I belong to a conservation group specifically devoted to bats.

The large black locust in the front yard has a thriving honey bee hive in the lower trunk. It has been there almost 10 years and if not disturbed will be there for 10 more. Plus the smell is pure heaven when you get close. They don't sting either, just busy at what they do.

I'd also suggest putting up bird feeders front and back. During the winter the pine trees, lilac and forsythia are home to hundreds of cardinals, doves, chickadees, sparrows, titmouses etc. They come back every year and without us to feed them the winter can be very hard. Also they are delightful to watch, as you probably know already.

Second to last, there are 2 laid up stone wells, one off to the right of the burning/ compost area. Good to use if you plan a garden. The other is right off the front doors of the barn at the base of the apple tree. Should you plan on bringing water into the barn, that well would provide all that you would need. A shallow well pump is all that would be necessary.

Should you want to dig a small pond the area to the west of the barn below the brush line has water at about 2' so a pond would be an easy project. The clay below assists in the lining.

Short of that, we'll see you at the closing, and thanks for being patient with this note.
Regards,
N

C - overwhelmed + pro-bat