Irons in the Fire

Sunday July 11 2010

"Have you lost your mind? Crewing!!" Barbara White (39 Tevis starts, 29 Tevis finishes) said to me, when I told her I was going to crew Tevis this year.


I probably have lost my mind. Although Nance has offered me her horse Quinn to ride again (!!), I figured after shooting and reporting on Tevis one year, and riding it last year, this year it was time I crewed it, to get the full spectrum. (One of the main draws is, we crew get to eat at In N Out Burger in Auburn as we are moving rigs and racing to crewing spots!!!)

I am afraid Barbara is right: I expect that during and after crewing Tevis, I will wish I had ridden it! However, I am committed to crewing for Nance and the Yosts (we rode with 3 Yosts last year), and whoever else I can step in to help, by dousing them with a cool bucket of water when they come into Robinson Flat and Forest Hill (after I douse myself of course). Besides, I have to admit, I'm pretty darn proud of my 100% one-for-one Tevis record - the whole thing was an unrepeatable magical first experience - and I want to hold onto that for a while. : )




After Tevis, I'll be home in Owyhee a few days, then it's off to St Paul Minnesota for my alternate life as a sound mixer for The Gospel at Colonus - a black gospel version of Sophocles' tragedy, Oedipus at Colonus, featuring the 4-time Grammy-winning Blind Boys of Alabama, Chicago's Legendary Soul Stirrers, Minneapolis' Steele Family (you might recognize the voice of Jearlyn, who's often a guest on the Prairie Home Companion), and many other extraordinarily talented singers and actors and actresses. We have a week-run of the show at the Ordway Theatre. (You can see my June 2008 archives for the last show we did in Athens).

You can get a glimpse of the Athens show (a promo for Ordway theatre) here on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij6t_ofrZFA .

Then it's home in Owyhee a few days before heading off to Edinburgh Scotland (!) for a 3-day run of The Gospel at Colonus at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Here's a promo for the EIF on youtube (also clips from the Athens show):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO8ncyNZCMM&feature=related .


Afterwards, I'm staying on in Europe for a couple of weeks, visiting Seren Arabians in England, and covering an endurance ride in Belgium and at Florac, France - the pre-ride for next year's European Endurance Championship.


Then I'm back home a few days before taking off for the World Equestrian Games - covering the World Endurance Championship in Kentucky. And I'm looking as much forward to that as I am to riding in the Shawnee National Forest with Genie Stewart-Spears, before the WEG!

I get back to Owyhee the night of Day 1 of the September Owyhee Canyonlands... and I hope to saddle up Jose and ride 50 miles starting on Day 2!

Of course The Raven will be accompanying me on my travels, as well as doing some reporting on his Forevermore The Raven blog.

Stay tuned for some fun adventures - and look for me at Tevis - I'll be the one wearing my silver Tevis buckle : )