Life is like a merry-go-round or a carousel. I looked up the difference between these two terms and found this interesting: A carousel and a merry go round are almost the same with one major difference, the direction that they go. A merry go round in Europe turns clockwise, while a carousel in the United States turns counter-clockwise. The two phrases are so identical that they can be used interchangeably. At the very end of last week, Ava and I both attended the
local county fairs where we live, thus giving me this week's blog title.
"And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look behind"
from Joni Mitchell's song - The Circle Game
Blood, Sweat & Tears sang - Spinning Wheel:
What goes up must come down
Spinning Wheel got to go 'round
Talkin' 'bout your troubles
It's a cryin' sin
Ride a painted pony
Let the Spinning Wheel spin
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For The Glory lyrics state that we all have our ups and downs and life is always going round and round.
Paul Lule lyrics mention that people come and go and also that it doesn't mater who you are, your'e going to take a ride.
Terri Quaye's is a jazz singer and listening to her song made me think of my mom, who loved jazz. A line in her song says that life is a cosmic freeway. Not exactly like a carousel, but once you're on it's hard to get off.
In the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical - (The Carousel Waltz), you hear the typical carousel music and feel the magic of the ride.
Joe Hiashi's song declares - The earth is just a merry go round of life, spinning round and round.
Michael King's song utters - As the world goes by, turn and walk away, and then later it says get back on board (the merry-go-round).
I really like Merry Go Round of Life - Howl's Moving Castle, a metaphor of the journey of life on the merry-go-round. Listening to the (music) you can imagine life from childhood, to youth, to adulthood, to the climax of our lives and careers, all the way to a soft and harmonious closure. And in this (video) of the same song with just piano (OST for Meow), watch the cat getting a massage while the piano player plays.
Saturday 8/19 - Friday was a late night at the fair, and I wasn’t in bed until after 11 PM. So I was moving a little slow this morning. This photo was taken later in the day when Courtney was at Dan and Vale's to babysit Ava. Ava loves going through Tia Courtney's purse. 
Mary and I had planned to ride so I made an effort to get to the ranch as early as possible, before the heat of the day. As I turned onto Eli Ford, there was a crew starting to tear down the house across the street.
I had seen them taking down several trees a few days earlier. When I was heading home 3½ hours later, this is where they were at on the tear-down process.
There was some confusion as to when to be ready to ride. I was ready at 9:30, before Mary had even gotten down to the barn. So I decided to take Amiga for a quick trip
around the back pasture to check fence line. 
Amiga and I arrived back at the barn just after Mary had come down with Mesa. Mary was working on getting Mesa to stand still and not be so anxious about being away from the two boys up at the upper paddock. They were all three 'yelling' back and forth to each other.
I needed to keep Amiga in sight of Mesa to help with her anxiety. In this photo she actually looks pretty calm, but she was struggling to stand quietly. 
We finally hit the trail at 10:10 and had a wonderful relaxing ride. And it was just 80° when we got back, so not too terribly hot yet. Amiga had felt off to start out with, but seemed much better by the time we got back. This makes me think the problem is arthritis stiffness. I did a bunch of cosmetic and wound care on Amiga. She had a big cut in her back heel and also scratches on the other back leg. 
I grabbed some protein with a glass of milk when I got home, let it digest while I read my book out in the sun for an hour, and then hit the gym. I did the elliptical with the weighted vest for 45 minutes and then concentrated on leg work since I had done arms and abs the day before. Patty sent this photo when at the ranch to ride Zorro in the evening. 
Legacy was playing at the Grove, so that was my next 'ride' on the carousel for the day. I sat with Donna, DJ and Mickey. DJ took this photo of us three girls. Joe joined us for a little bit. I had a good time on the dance floor with some of my lady dancing friends and enjoyed the music and the beautiful night.
During the bulk of the day I got this blog started, did some domestic chores, and played with my kitties.
I made a salad for an early dinner and then went to the ranch to check on and work with Amiga. In this photo, I had ridden her (bareback) into the shop.
Amiga was really off today. I only rode 15 minutes, to see if she would improve, but she didn't. So I gave her a close look over when I was treating her heel wound and scratches. The leg with the scratches was slightly swollen below her fetlock. Ugh.
After taking the first photo of these three, as I was leaving, I walked closer to get a better shot. But Zorro lifted his head to look at me, and then Amiga walked off. Oh well. 
I went up to the ranch house to join the party. After I 'helped' with leftovers, an ear of corn and salad, we went out to sit around the bonfire. Joe also joined us after he had played some poker. 
Seen in these photos are - Joe, Greg (Jack's brother) Jack and Tito, Mary, Ann, and Maggie. I like the lighting in the second photo better, but nobody was looking at me. It was a beautiful night and so relaxing by the fire. I didn't head home until after 9pm.
Monday 8/21 - I was planning on an evening of dancing, so while at the gym (10-12:30) I did elliptical, just arms and abs, stretching, and shower.
I had a big (frozen dinner) for lunch, which Monita was trying to get a taste of. I kept pushing her off the chair.
She was being quite persistent and annoying. At one point when I smacked her paw, she retaliated. LOL.
I spent the bulk of the afternoon in town doing my massive shopping trip. It had been several weeks, and I was nearly out of a lot of things.
Joe had gone to poker and I went to Mirror Lake Blast. I sat with Micki, DJ, and Donna again.
It was a very hot and humid evening, but the band was fun and we danced a lot. In fact, I wore a hole in the heal and toe of my first pair of boots that I have always loved, even though they were cheap (patent leather) in comparison to my better leather, newer ones. I guess this is the end for them.
Tuesday 8/22 - On my drive to the ranch at 6:30, I hit areas of fog. The day was already heating up.
One of our resident bunnies at the ranch, and you can see the fog still lingering in the background.
In addition to doing the usual mucking chores, I tended to Amiga's needs (her heel cut, scratches, swollen fetlock and then fly spray).
The lot at the corner of Eli Ford and Chestnut Hill no longer has a house on it and has been cleared quite a bit, for who knows what is next.
The tree guys came and went while I worked at the pool from 9-2:30. Here is the pile of 'mulch' we had them leave after shredding all of the branches.
Below is the stump of the dead tree (got hit by lightening last summer) they cut down.
I had asked Joe to take some photos while I was at the pool working. Here's what he shared.
This is the dead tree they were cutting up into fire wood that they sell as a side business.
As he went up the tree, he trimmed off the branches. Look how much more open the sky is with all the branches gone (in 2nd photo).
And then the tree was cut down, timber (video).We have so many trees, that I didn't think this one would be missed, but was surprised by how much light now comes in and how bare it looks and feels. The other trees will branch out to fill in the space. I also had the lower branches of three trees trimmed to give the Leland Cypress and red bud more light.
I didn't have a lot of time to shower, rest, and pack a cooler for another night of fun. Patty sent this photo of Wanda trying to 'beat the heat' on a warm afternoon when she was out at the ranch doing chores.
Joe and I picked up Micki, squeezing her into a back 'seat' in the truck and arrived at Lake Tansi just after 5:00. We spent a few minutes looking for a good place to sit. Joe is by the tree (waving) so I could send our location to Jack and his kin folk.
We had dinner from a kiosk and waited for the band to begin.
Soul Soup was playing and was awesome as usual. The slow songs gave us dancing girls time to rest and cool off, and I even had the pleasure of a dance with Joe.
And look at the beautiful backdrop of the sunset and water we enjoyed during the evening.
Soul Soup is a wonderful band out of Nashville with lead vocalist Jonas Weathers who is a marvelous saxophone player and also picks up the flute every now and then.
We danced more than the night before and it was as hot and humid, so we worked up a sweat.
We were home by 9:30 and I was soon in bed, still singing songs in my head I had heard and danced to earlier, as I drifted off to sleep.
Wednesday, 8/23 - I had decided to skip the gym and ranch and set aside the day for yard work here at our Flossmoor house. We had a pile of 'mulch' (a mixture of leaves and wood chips) sitting on the drive that needed to be hauled down to my back beds. But first I had weeds, lots of sticks and very old leaves from last fall to remove. I only took a few photos, this first one during my progress.
I just kept at it all day long. Weeding was the hardest, most time consuming task. Here’s the results at the end of the mulch hauling for the day. Joe had done six loads and I did ten. 
I took a few breaks to come in and get more water and grab a snack. Three of the four cats, lounging and looking cute, their main contribution to the day. 
While weeding, I decided to 'clean up' the oasis by mowing it. I had the mower set on high to get through the tall (over one foot) growth of mostly weeds. 
This is all the farther I got before I ran out of gas, literally and figuratively.
I had a pool party from 7 to 9 to get to, so I did not stop for dinner or even to shower. But I did come in early enough to feed the dog and cats, clean up a little, and take care of some household things. 
Diana throws great parties, and this was no exception. She used to work at the pool so all the pool staff was invited along with her neighbors and pickle ball friends. 
Joe dropped into the party after poker for a little bit and then headed home. It was a perfect night for a swim and a great way to beat the heat. 
We played several different games, both in and out of the pool. I stayed till almost the very end, so it was after 9:30 by the time I climbed into bed. This was the sixth night in a row that I’ve been up past my bedtime.
I am enjoying the carousel ride, but need to get off to rest at some point. LOL
Thursday 8/24 - I left the house just before 9am and did not get home until almost 7pm. I did not take any pictures of my day at work at the pool or ranch. I did take two photos the following morning, of work Joe had done at the Flossmoor yard. More mulch moved →
↓ and he finished mowing the oasis for me.
It was a hot, busy day at the pool.
Before doing ranch chores, I finished trimming fence line behind the dam and met with our new boarder Brooke. She will be bringing her quarter horse (Banner) to board in the upper paddock with Mary and Jack's horses the first of September. She will be co-oping with them and working for them when they are out of town.
I made it to bed 'on time' for a change.
Friday
8/25 - It was already heating up fast, 80° by 9:00 when I went out to
work in the yard for a bit. I decided to do yard work first before it
got too hot. I was going to save housework and my gym workout (both in the air
condition) for later in the day.
Seen right, sticks all over, in the yard and bed. Lots of bare spots in the yard and lots of weeds in the bed.
This after photo was taken at the end of the day, of the same section of yard and bed. It's hard to see, but it is much improved, even though this end of the bed didn't get mulched yet.
I can't get 'Blogger' to let me move these next four photos across from each other. Ugh!
I got Joe to help me for a little bit, after he got back from doing chores at the ranch. He brought down six loads of mulch to this bed, which I later spread out. Also, before he left for poker I got him to bring me a few more loads to the other bed where I was working.
I worked at raking up rotten leaves and sticks from the bed that extends across the middle of our back yard, and then weeding it. All the debris went into the black tub.
I worked in sections, hauling mulch to the cleared part and then starting on the next section. This way I took a break from one activity, to do another.
It was work raking, picking up piles of debris, walking the black tub of debris across the creek to dump in the woods, on my hands and knees pulling weeds, scooping mulch from the pile in the drive into the wheelbarrow, and then hauling, dumping, and spreading the mulch out.
At some point I decided I was getting a good enough workout that I would skip the gym, and I wanted to finish clearing the drive of the pile of mulch. 
I took little breaks to fill my water glass, get a snack, use the restroom, and move the hose (I was watering very dry trees and shrubs). This is all the farther I got before I ran out of mulch. So, more is needed.
At one point I had raked some branches out of the swampy part of the pond by the oasis, and I dug up several cat tail. And another job I did was dig up four (5 gal) bucket loads of dirt in front of the new door to under the porch where I feed Rose. I will be filling in the area with gravel. The dirt was used to fill holes in Brian's yard that the dead tree had made when it was cut down. 
While I was working, this buck came up rather close to me. Just look how near he is in the second photo. Well, of course I took a break to go get him some corn. I know this is not good that he is so tame.
I felt very good about getting so much yard work done, but I hadn't cleaned house or made guest beds, gone to the gym or done my shopping, and I didn't even make it to the ranch to care for Amiga's sores.
Life certainly has its ups and downs, and we go through seasons, round and round. And the seasons have varying difficulties and blessings. It seems like when you’re working full-time you’ve got more money, but no time to spend it. Also, much of it is used to raise your children.
At least I had a rather productive and very fun week, enjoying the carousel of life.
