Quotes

 

 If there's one thing I can do, it's pick a quote.  Books are my world.  If this looks like another book list, it's because it is;  if there are repeats, it's because they're good.  These quotes have resonated strongly within me for the past 6 months.

   "Acts of injustice done, Between the setting and the rising sun, In history lie like bones, each one." 

  --  by W. H. Auden, quoted in Watership Down, by Richard Adams (1975).

From Taking Chances by Molly Keane (pub. 1929):

image taken from Amazon

"Her own heart cried out for justice, while there is no justice -- only consequences.  And consequences are the most inconsequent and incalculable things in the world.  They are just as likely as not to skip over the unrepentant head of the evil-doer who has brought them about, and light heavy with calamity on the bowed neck of a sufferer whose load is already heavier than can be borne."

 I hunted so hard for the above quote, once it had stuck in my head.  Molly Keane is one of my favorite finds, on a par with Isak Dinesen.  Her work can easily be obtained as e-books.

Another that stuck in my head is from Weaveworld by Clive Barker (1987), speaking about unleashing the Scourge:

           "What have you done?  It knows no mercy!"

image from BetterWorld Books

" 'Very well.  I'll go.  But there's one thing I jolly well mean to say first.  I didn't believe in Magic until to-day.  I see now that it's real.  Well if it is, I suppose all the old fairy tales are more or less true.  And you're simply a wicked, cruel magician like all the ones in the stories.  Well I've never read a story in which people of that sort weren't paid out in the end, and I bet you will be.  And serve you right.'

"Of all the things Digory had said this was the first that really went home.  Uncle Andrew started and there came over his face a look of such horror that beast though he was, you could almost feel sorry for him."

  From The Magician's Nephew, by Clive Staples Lewis (1955).  Emphasis on the "almost." 

image from Old Gold & Black

"But sir, a solid gold plane wouldn't be able to fly!"

"Kowalski, we're rich!  The laws of physics don't apply to us!!"

-- from the movie Madagascar 3, Europe's Most Wanted (Dreamworks, 2012).

The Stand, by Stephen King, published 1978.   Unfortunately my memory is letting me down on this one;  I don't recall exactly where in the book the quote is.  It's about the devil being gigantic and stupid and only being able to repeat the same 2 or 3 simple patterns. 

One of my favorite books (as if there weren't dozens) is a hauntingly appropriate family memoir, not to mention exorcism, about the Stanford White story.  I opened it recently (April 9) and a paragraph leaped out.

"Others found Stanford harsh in his criticism and offensive in his use of foul language.  Still other reminscences mention self-centeredness and a pattern of domineering, all of which were tolerated because of his charm -- powerful when he turned it on -- and his overflowing giftedness.  He was the baby of the office, a big, inspired toddler, indulged, angelic, oblivious, tyrannical."

--from Architect of Desire, by Suzannah Lessard, 1996 

 David Gerrold (of Star Trek fame) in 2016:  "... a 268-pound toddler."

Back to rabbits.

 

 

image from Watership Productions 1978

At the risk of spoilage for those who have not read Richard Adams' Watership Down:

“A rabbit has two ears;  a rabbit has two eyes, two nostrils.  Our two warrens ought to be like that.  They should be together —not fighting….  Rabbits have enough enemies as it is… A mating between free, independent warrens-— what do you say?”
At that moment,…, there was offered to General Woundwort the opportunity to show whether he was really the leader of vision and genius which he believed himself to be, or whether he was no more than a tyrant … For one beat of his pulse the lame rabbit’s idea shone clearly before him.  He grasped it and realized what it meant.  The next, he had pushed it away … he could see clearly the track along the ridge, leading … to the bloodshed for which he had prepared with so much energy and care.
“I haven’t time to sit here talking nonsense,” said Woundwort…"

---from Watership Down, by Richard Adams, page 421-422, Avon Books, 1975.

The Sledge Patrol

The Sledge Patrol, a beloved old 1950s clothbound book, relates the adventures of a small group of Eskimos, hunters and weather station operators after Germany invaded Denmark in 1940.  'Eskimos meet Nazis.'  It is set on the east coast of Greenland, and comprises one of  2 books I possess about Greenland (the other is Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow, most decidedly rated R).   The Sledge Patrol is rated G and is a perfectly wonderful tale on many grounds.  It is not fiction.  I have always been interested in sled dog racing and the Arctic (thank you Farley Mowat!) and this is a treasure.  Again at risk of spoiling the story, I quote the last sentence.

"His ex-enemies, among whom I incude myself, all wish him well;  we all recognize the old truth which was shown again in that arctic spring of 1943:  that it is proper for all true men of every nation to act together in opposition to evil and oppression, wherever and whenever they arise."

-- David Howarth, The Sledge Patrol, 1957.

image from Tara McGrathMFT

 Exvangelicals by Sarah McCammon (2024), has given me a mere pair of words, but oh, what a pair.  This phrase has become extremely powerful for me.  In the book it refers to the mind's difficulty in comprehending the distance between Christian values and White Evangelical Christian values as practiced by the current administration:

                                         "Cognitive Dissonance"

If we're down to just words, there's a single word that speaks oh so much for those who know their World War II history:

                              Wolkenkuckucksheim

This is German for "cloud cuckoo land," the realm of ideal but imaginary perfection that lived inside Hitler's head, and in many other politicians, untested (untainted?) by reality.   It was first used in the 1800s.

image from Amazon

 From Elizabeth Chaney's Oath & Honor (2023):

"I asked Condi [Condoleezza Rice] if she could think of any historic examples of countries successfully throwing off cults of personality.  She replied, 'Not without great violence and upheaval.' "

 From my own Notebook:  "If he really had won in 2020 then he's serving a third term now.  And that's against the Constitution."  Certainly against the 22nd Amendment, introduced for this very situation.  For his followers:

Can you imagine what it would gain him to lie to you?

 Not a book but a poster seen online (I'm afraid I don't know who to credit; will when known):

image from eBay

"... nearer and nearer came the roaring march of the ice.  At last the fields round them cracked and starred in every direction, and the cracks opened and snapped like the teeth of wolves.  But where the Thing rested, ... there was no motion.  Kotuko leaped forward wildly, dragged the girl after him, ... The talking of the ice grew louder and louder round them, but the mound stayed fast, ... land it was, ... shod and sheathed and masked with ice so that no man could have told it from the floe, but at the bottom solid earth, and no shifting ice."

-- Rudyard Kipling, from Quiquern, Book Two of the Jungle Books, 1895

I can't resist slipping in another movie:  Moana, by Disney, 2016.

 "They Have Stolen The Heart From Inside You;  But This Does Not Define You.  I Know Who You Are.  Who You Really Are..." --- Lin-Manuel Miranda

 2503.29, written in the very early morning:  "My country's heart has been or is being stolen.  But this does not define her... The 'n' makes all the difference:  Define not defy.  She must become what her people see her as becoming.  This is a spiritual law that cannot be broken.

"My own life's experience, of how desperately a split life yearns to be whole, is beyond precious now.  But the only way [to be whole] is a compromise, a partnership:  Working together to find ways to not just share the pie, but make more of them.  Government is not a business, any more than the TSII is solely for profit.  Any more than a model horse [of mine] is solely for showing purposes.  An entire mature dimension is left out if you think in simple, brute force phrases, in jingoistic black and white.  As a child does.  As one would who does not know how to compromise, [or] to feel for another different from one's self.

"My response to Covid was make an enormous sacrifice:  To give away all my secrets.  In practice I couldn't give them all -- !!! -- but enough to make a difference.  Enough to count.  Certainly enough to learn how to teach.  And Geo, bless his professor's heart, has taught me to see from the other person's point of view.  Nothing less than complete transparency is acceptable or will do the job.  [of teaching]  [of anything!]

"We cling to the strongest within us.  Almighty God, What is the right thing to do?  How to restore harmony and balance & beauty in a world gone mad?    //   I'm sure the Germans asked the same question.  //  We can tolerate division but our heart yearns to be whole.  //  I need a new symbol for America.  A buffalo?  An elk?  A wolf?  A mustang?  Certainly a rainbow.  [But] The symbol only has as much meaning as you invest in it.  This is true for all symbols.

We are certainly going through an ugly stage right now."  

[A reference to the stages of painting a model.]

***********************************************************************

Since this really is about books, here's one last beautiful favorite, above the fray.  This is Elizabeth Goudge's great classic from 1946, The Little White Horse.  Transparency and effort are rewarded.  I can't tell you how often I have turned to it for comfort and succor.

Thanks for reading.

Carl Chelius 1934 - 2025

 

 

Carl Chelius was an old friend of my husband's, and thus of me, ever since we arrived in PA more than 30 years ago.  As you can see in the candid shot above, he bore an uncanny resemblance to Papa Hemingway.  Although I was not close to him as I define a friend, he was nonetheless instrumental in our lives.  He gave us gifts of enormous value and his hospitality was without par.  At a time of great stress in my life (cancer treatments) he was kindness itself, showing me what I did not know existed, that a crusty old Marine could have a heart of gold.  He gave us our first custom wooden canoe paddles (his own) and a canoeing book, both of which immensely expanded our field of operations.  He took us out to dinner many times (strike range 50 miles), provided endless quips and phrases (the most famous is probably "and this is a problem how?"), and, most personally, gifted me with a priceless tiger skin rug.  It now lies in the master bedroom where I see it every day.  

My tiger rug is 9' 3", seriously respectable although probably not trophy.  Carl bought it in Hong Kong in 1962, when he was a young helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war.  At that time it was one of the best to be had, and featured glass eyes and an open mouth with wooden teeth.  When I acquired it in 2014, I demounted the head and developed the current display, which uses a pillow and some turquoise suede leather for the eyes.  About all I can say of "Felix Tigris" is that he was going to throw it away.   Being a leather person and otherwise drawn to big game trophies, I could not resist.  Being Carl, he asked whether I'd posed nude on it.  Ah, Carl, you knew we were happily married;  that is enough.

Carl Chelius was Associate Professor of Meteorology at Penn State until he retired in 1994.  He flew the H-34 in the Marines deployment in the Vietnam war, subsequently serving with the Golden Eagles (HMM-162), and then the Knightriders with the CH-46.  He was awarded 14 Air medals and the Expeditionary Medal during those tours.  Later he also flew Penn State's research airplane.  He was an active member of the Army Navy Club in Washington DC and of many other clubs and organizations.  He also donated a great deal to Penn State Athletics.  Since George had been a pilot and glider pilot (as well as being a Penn State Meteorology Professor Emeritus), the two men had much in common.  

Carl was at once both terribly vulgar and royally a gentleman.  He became an in-loco-uncle when my own nearest uncle was an unavailable 800 miles away.  He leaves behind a wealth of stories and a standard of behaviour that, despite the bad jokes, would do well to be adopted by more people in power these days.  And oh yes, at least once he saved George's life -- as if I could owe him more.

I only have a few pictures of Carl and his family.  These were taken during a picnic on private land, a place we could never have reached on our own, another gift.  The man was a gourmet, and even picnics were occasions for rejoicing. 

On the left above is Lizzy Kanavy Chelius, Carl's daughter by his first wife Joyce.  Carl and Joyce were an inseparable pair for as long as she lived.  (Amoung other things, Carl was a role model in how to care for an Alzheimer's patient until she died.)  Lizzy's husband Mike stands to the right of the table.  In the shade, looking down in a black t-shirt, is George Young, and seated next to him is Judy Burke, Carl's second wife.  Lizzy was crazy about horses, which of course sparked our own friendship.  Model horse people may recognize her name:  She was the artist who knitted the blankets for my Clyde Goehring Mexican parade saddles.

 Taken in the woods near the ridgetop of Bald Eagle Mountain, overlooking State College:  From left to right:  Lizzy, Carl, Judy, George.

Pretty good for a candid shot, I must say.

 Dear Carl,  I didn't thank you enough for the rootbeer floats, not to mention all the cooking advice.  No one could take your place.  You will be missed.

New Unicorn Pins

 

Returning to blogging after a hiatus of sorts, some subjects are easy for me to slip back into.  All along I've been collecting enamel pins.  Yesterday I created a new display board and today arranged its pins, after logging the new Cave Pony Unicorns into my spreadsheet (so I could tell them apart).  Clearly I am a big fan of Mink Studios.

Let's start at the beginning.  Here are my new boards.  Sayonara JoAnn Fabs:  I bought black flannel and black velvet, as much as I thought I could ever use (the flannel) and as much as I could afford (the velvet).  My boards are hastily wrought, using cardboard and staples (tips folded over by hand with pliers), but they do the job.  Next to them are my most recent new pins.

A trio of winged Cave Pony Quaggas, which I'm calling FlutterQuaggas, holds a position of honor.  Although Sarah has not used this term in her newsletters, I cannot think it is wrong, especially when you consider her other FlutterPonies.  I'm particularly proud of the fact that I got all three permutations of her Quagga form.  The bottomost one is a Christmas release and actually the first FlutterQuagga;  note his neck wreath.

Speaking of Cave Pony series, the Zebras have been taking off.  Since I already had the earliest Zebra (upper leftt) I only needed the next two, and fortunately they were released as a pair.  The center one is Zebra 3 "Plains" and the lowermost is Zebra 4 "Grevy's."  I'm sorry to say I'm not sure who Zebra 2 is.  I'm also very sorry that the Neon Green Zebra wasn't fully photographed;  I dashed these shots off in a tearing hurry.

[Editor's note from the future:  Zebra 2 is the uppermost shown below;  Zebra 1 is Zigby.]

The Cave Pony Unicorns are aptly named.  My original intention, to collect every unicorn pin Mink would ever release, was severely tested when she started putting horns on things like batwinged dragon-ponies.  (Not to mention the Unilumes, or the 3D metal ones, or the -- !)  I had long resisted the Cave Pony series because, compared to the Imperial Unicorns and Dancing Horses, they were so obese.  These are cartoons!!  not real horses.  However, their cuteness factor found ways around my resistances, as my 4 earlier Cave Pony pins reveal (seen above, first pic).  I did, indeed, "cave."

 The interesting thing here is that what you see (above) is the 2nd and 3rd of the first group of three Cave Pony Unicorns, and the 1st of the second group.  Sarah has promised 9 Cave Pony Unicorns, in batches of three.   I carefully chose which two I absolutely had to have of the first group, back in August of '24;  I must have been short on funds.   When the second group of three debuted, in February of this year (2025), I plumped more easily.  So that's how I came to have 5.

Do I automatically collect all of a series?  "God no!"  But what if I should change my mind later -- ??  Do you know, I went back and tried to buy the missing Cave Pony Unicorn just now!  The odds were low -- they really were offered in August, 8 months ago-- but I succeeded!!  Here is my (her) newsletter file picture of it:

What was I thinking?  you might well ask.

That does seem to be the question.  When my collection is sporting Batwinged Cave Ponies, where before it only went for Imperial and Jewelled Unicorns, it is a good question.

"Glitter" is part of the answer.  I am susceptible to glitter.  Sparkle candy-apple-flake will always move me. 

I could not decide amongst these three, so I got them all.  Please excuse the shading on the shoulder of the purple-winged.  It is reflection off the gloss.

Shooting this last, amazing creature, I got a vibe from no less than Disney's Fantasia.  I guess there is a soft spot for cartoon horses in me after all.

Thank you for sharing your incredible talents, Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig.

 

Back Cover Progress (Report 5)

 

No, my next book is not done yet.  Yes, this is a progress report, but only about the covers.  No, the above picture is not on the cover, but yes, it'll be in the book:  I'm thinking it will be the title page.  I've been so busy I can't list all that has been accomplished in the past 3 weeks;  but one -- just one! -- glorious goal was finally finishing Fancy's chapter.  Only two more to go...

When we last saw the back cover, it was in November of 2023, more than a year ago.  It looked like this:

In December of last year (2024), deep in the night of the 27th, I drew this in my Notebook:

It doesn't look all that great, but believe me, I'd been turning over this arrangement in my head almost from the beginning.  Only with the completion of April's -- here represented by the Indian Pony on lower right -- did I feel the time had come to try depicting it.  The figures are arranged clockwise according to their placement in the book:  Ricky's the easiest in the upper left, then Duke's the next easiest to his immediate right, then Malaguena's laid out, and so on.

The back cover had to be perfect.  You know how heavy that sort of punishing weight lies on any creative endeavour.  It dang near kills them.  Only the slow accumulation of all 8 pieces' chapters would give me the material for the back.  But it was happening.  After Malaguena's, the Peach;  after the Peach Rose, April's.  After April's, Fancy's.  Through very little fault of its own, Fancy's would take a staggering eleven months, from May 2024 to now.  Most chapters took far less;  indeed, the Peach Rose had taken only two.  But all that time has not been wasted.

In a hotel room in Florida in January this year, around the 10th, I drew up what you see here.  Oh it still needs work:  The Snowshoes balloon is in the wrong place, I'm not happy with Fancy's or April's positions, everything's unfinished.  But oh, what a huge leap it was!  I wrote along with it, and below is the transcription.

"2412.27   For months, years, I've shuffled that thing around in my head.  Tonight, without benefit of PhotoShop ---on a hotel desk in Florida --- using drafting paper & pencil & eraser, I worked it out.  There were some intermediate stages.  There is still MUCH to be done.  But the 'design sheet' stage is now accomplished.   

Oh Oh OH!!  The power & the glory!!  The sheer lovely excitement of creativity.  There's nothing like it.  And this is all my own.  This is what I was born to do.  This is what my whole career has been leading up to.  I'm amazed at the many sneak peeks, leaks, outright giveways I've published over the past 2  1/2 years.  (2 yrs 7 mos)   Anybody w/ an evil copying bent could've pinched the Peach Rose by now.  It's in the blog and so is Ricky's.  But blogs get short shrift.  Or else my target audience is not geared to reading them.   After all I am not geared to reading my books online.  It's all I can do to use the Kindle,...

...I don't care.  Here, tonight, by drawing and tracing & transforming, by plain raw pencil & paper, patience & erasure I have done what so desperately needed doing.  The back cover is advertisement, index, promise & ornament all in one.  Instant judgement attends it.  I see it in paper, glossy of course.  The power of it.  No one will be able to resist this book... "

 

The goal is two in black-and-white (Ricky's and April's), and two as drawings of just the tack (Malaguena's and Tissarn's).  The rest, four pieces - Duke's, the Peach Rose, Fancy's and Rinker's - will be full color photographs, so like the old Guide.  Above is the intended photo for Ricky's.  I think my drawing exaggerrated the forelock!

Here's another sneak peek:  Peach Rose, the rightmost upper middle.  It's going to take some fiddling to fit her in that narrow space, maybe even unto a re-shoot.

And finally, (drum roll...!) a REAL sneak peek:  the current state of the Front Cover!!  Of course it is not finished.  My dream vision was the horse passing through the bosal, emerging on the left, hidden behind on the right.  He will not have grass blades on his hooves and his tail-tip will be covered by the border.  But this is basically what the Front Cover will look like.  Except, ahah, for the white background.  Remember the Guide cover, with its colored-pencil rainbow shadings all around, fading to white in the center?.... yeah, like that,...

This was my vision, seen in a dream all those years ago, even to the specific model horse.  (So it can't be older than year 2010, hah!) [editors note: previously said 2000, this was wrong.]  Heaven knows it's been long enough.  The tiny dates at the bottom of this cover refer to when I first drew this cover, and then to the refinements.  I actually cut out the central figure the old-fashioned way, knife and scissors.  His photo was taken in Sheyenne National Grassland, ND, in 2023.

So, what's next, and when can we expect publication?  The short snappy mean answer is "taxes,"  but then, "Cover work, Rinker's, Tissarn's.... and maybe sometime around BreyerFest, or soon thereafter."   You shall hear about it here, on FB and at BFest, for starters.

For the longest time I thought Rinker's would be the last in the book.  His hackamore is the most stunning and it has many new elements; the bosal uses a 3B, not a 4B like the other two, and his mecate could be a separate chapter all its own.  The back cover reflects this.  But now that I'm here, I believe Rinker's and Tissarn's to be equal in their complexity.  I'm thinking Rinker's needs to be next (7th of the 8) simply because his is a bosal hackamore and we've just done 2.  Why not put them all together, a trio, same as I did for the harnesses in the Guide...?  Each one is an elaboration on the previous, more and more detail, harder and harder to build.  Tissarn's isn't a bosal hack but a Mechanical; and hers has knots the other 7 pieces never even dreamed of.  She will get more formulae than all the rest.  It is hers, and not Rinker's, that is the hardest.  This will not shift my layout of the back cover, but accurately reflect the many changes the book has undergone.

Changes,...  certain insecure figures (unsatisfied, shall we say unsatisfy-able), have greatly distracted and worried my muse;  that has not changed.  Yet I refuse to give up hope.  This dream of mine has been underway for almost 3 years.  I am starting to curse it and that's a sure sign we are nearing the birth.  I am getting ready to be seriously wanting to do something else.  Hang in there:  we're down to months not years.

And thank you for your patience.

Some R. Nikolaidis Tack

 

A friend asked me to show her my Regine Nikolaidis bridle.  As usually happens, two pictures turned into nine and one bridle expanded to 4 representative pieces.  This post covers all my known Regine Nikolaidis model tack.  My absolute favorite is this gorgeous 2004 ring-cheek curb with its throat tassel so huge it could easily pass for a jowl plume.

 The best feature of this particular bridle is its simple but elegant design, combining rawhide braidwork with flat braid on plain rust-colored lace.  The red, white and wheat tones go well with my red chestnut Luan.  The braided-ring foldover cheekstraps and the slip-fashion throatlatch are amoung my favorite features in model braidwork.  The browband is tied (not shown well here) while the (non-adjustable) curbstrap is merely glued.  The small red and white buttons, not actually braided just wrapped, -- grace notes, not overdone -- add a delightful pop.

I remember Regine telling me how she'd made the tassel.  "I dipped it in hot water," she said, "over and over again, sitting there in the kitchen, until the wax was all melted away.  It took forever!"  Regine was always an excitable collector and tackmaker.  Despite her Greek name she was a German and lived in Germany.  She was active in the hobby throughout the 1990s and into the first half of the 2000s.

Regine made this extraordinary fully-braided rawhide bridle circa 1996, and delivered it in person to me at BFest in 2001.  She came to BreyerFest several times.  She knew Brigitte Eberl and was instrumental in introducing her to the hobby in this country;  when Brigitte first arrived she did not know English very well, and Regine helped her.

 The tag says "Regine Nikolaidis" on one side and "1996" on the other.  This shot (above) shows the design of the romal.  Clearly this bridle is too large for this horse.

The bit was made by Anja Schmidt, of Germany, from aluminum.  The bit shank brace, not shown well, is matching in design and workmanship.  The braided end knots, holding the white tassels, are coated in some kind of glue.

My camera lens refuses to stop regarding Luan, so we're stuck with him, even when the sloppy bit angle makes him look rather silly.  At least the (adjustable) curbstrap is more or less correctly posed.

Earlier I mentioned four pieces of tack.  Here is a Traditional scale Old-West style saddle by Regine.  I am not sure where the blanket came from.  It's entirely possible I rustled it up myself.

This saddle is a really solid-feeling, beautiful piece, standing out in my collection for its comfortable-looking seat, so unlike the Rio Rondo mass production.  Regine made her own trees, usually from some sort of plastic.

Birds Eye.

Here is my last piece, an extraordinary braided Western cinch by Regine.  It's rather large for a Trad.  In fact it is overdone in every way, but that's very typical of this particular tackmaker.  I was amazed when I first saw it and I'm still amazed.  The material is some kind of glossy nylon-like or rayon-like heavy thread.

The German model horsers were, and still are for all I know, quite devoted to and crazy about the American Old West.  This was certainly the case with Regine Nikolaidis.