Changing.... Hats

     I like most people wear many hats throughout my life.  For the past twelve years, the hats I have worn/ am wearing are as varied as the autumn leaves falling from the trees.
   

     My most important hat right now is that of a mother.  I have a 12 year old son, and he totally rocks my world.  My love for him is boundless, and I am so proud of the choices he makes as an individual.  He is a role model for other children around him,  he is has a clear and cutting wit mostly associated with adult intellect.  He is funny, kind and considerate most of all, he loves all things around him.  I am constantly being floored by some of the profound statements he makes.  I believe his is, an old soul...  I know that sounds corny, but I think it is true, even when he was a newborn, his face held so much wisdom, I knew he was special.  So, without further ado, let me show off my son:

My fondest desire is to raise a well rounded emotionally stable child,  at this point my young man is exceeding any expectations I might ever have had.   He is so cool!

       This Sunday, my hat is that of a beekeeper,  went out and checked on my 3 hives of bees this morning.  They are all doing well, considering we got off to a very slow start this spring.  I think I might have a small honey harvest yet this year!  At least one can always hope!

     Last Sunday that hat I wore was quite different from this Sunday's hat.   At the last minute, the judge for the local 4-H club fun show backed out, so they called me, wondering if I might be available to judge their show!   You can't imagine my surprise in being asked to judge, even if it is only a fun show!  I happily told them I would be delighted to judge the show!  Of course, I had some doubts, woudn't anyone?  I mean, I have never judged a show before, but it IS only 1 person's opinion on one specific day... At least, that is what I have always told the kids I have had the pleasure of coaching.  So Sunday morning July 18 dawns, and off I go to judge a horse show...  I think I must have done alright, no one was waiting to lynch me after the pleasure classes, and it was a lot of fun and quite a learning experience also!  I learned, no matter how many horses are in the class, there will always be one horse/pony that is going to be a brat.  This particular class I am thinking about had a couple.  It was a walk/trot 11 and under class, and man, it was CHAOS!!  I had the ring steward watching 1 pony, the announcer was trying to keep an eye out on another horse, I told her at the first sign of more trouble ( had already had a taste of the nastiness of this horse) stop the class on the rail and we would deal with it...  Luckily, there were no mishaps, I did end up excusing the one horse from the ring ( he was totally unresponsive to the rider), for the safety of the other riders and their mounts.  But how the heck to judge a class like that?  All I could do was take the rider with the least amount of mistakes and place them first, and then go down the line... all in a short amount of time.  I have oodles more respect for the tough job those judges have to do now.  At the same time, I have realized, this is a hat I kind of like wearing, and so my next goal is to attend the judging seminar and take/pass the 4-H judging test.  Here are a few photos from the show:

A  good time was had by all I think.

  

   I thank all the people I have gotten pictures from,  since I don't have a camera of my own, I rely on others people's photographic skills to get the pictures for my blog.

    Today,  my hat is that of a straw hat, because that is the kind of hat you wear at the beach, which is where we are headed now, before my riding lesson!