This message is from: "Frederick J. Pack" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
On Saturday, always the third weekend in July, our little city has the annual Hand Car races. Teams of men/women compete against the clock (over a closed course) hand pumping an old rail car common up here years ago when the mines were booming. Wilkeson, Washington is a sleepy ex-coal mining city on the Northwest face of Mount Rainier. On that Saturday, however, the city explodes with visitors for the Wilkeson day's festival. The day begins with a canon shot, signifying that the parade is about to begin. We were the only horses in the parade. Four of our beautiful mares showed off the attributes of the Norwegian Fjord Horse....except in front of the grandstand. The parade was composed mainly of old vehicles. A beautifully restored 1928 Model A preceded us. Lois followed us with our Kawasaki Mule, equipped to pick up any "left-overs". I tenderly refer to our kids as computers (input/output processors). Each person filed a written narration about their entry. I wrote a brief description of the breed which the announcer was supposed to read as we stopped in front of the grandstand. As he began the narration, the girls (in unison) all decided that the proper time for the output procedure had arrived. It blew the announcers mind. He got flustered, lost his place in the narration, cut the narration short (but did not shortchange the horses), and began to extol the virtues of the Picker-upper (Lois) cleaning up behind. Lois got more applause than we did. It was great fun for all of us. With all the oooga horns, sirens, and noise...our girls didn't even blink. We were so proud of them. When we finished the parade route, and doubled back....the girls had had enough. It was time to go home. We rode, at a walk, down from our mountain to (and in the parade). We came home at a trot or gallop. We had at least a hundred people ask us about the Fjords. It was a great promotion for the breed. Many people took pictures of their children sitting on our girls while we were waiting for the parade to start. We had a blast. Fred All Mail is scanned in AND out by Norton Anti-virus. Fred and Lois Pack Pack's Peak Stables Wilkeson, Washington 98396 http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3158
