August Birthdays
trinanagele
Member
A Birthday Poem for Diana Stuart
(August 1, 2012)
As a with-it 60’s California girl,
Diana herself into life hurled.
Now she jokes she was at the hub
Of a special 4-H club—
Horses, hotrods,
Helicopters, and hombres with hot bods!
First of course
Came the horse.
Already at ten
She with her parents did attend
Thoroughbred races
At Santa Anita and Hollywood Park,
And horse shows, mostly Arabian.
As a pre-vet student at Cal Poly,
She to the Arabian herd did tend
And a draft-horse club start,
And then,
Good golly,
Our dear lass
In the California State Fair did contend
Where she took up the traces
Of a Belgian colt
Just two years old
And in state-wide competition
Guided him through a rendition
Which garnered first in the class—
High hoof to them!
In town she rode around
In those days
Of smoggy haze
Like a Hollywood star
In her blue first-generation ’68 Camaro,
Fast as an arrow,
Yet designed not just for the straight and narrow
But to also take her ’round life’s curves.
Together they went far, yea, VERY far--
In fact, if memory serves,
Three hundred fifty thousand miles!
All of them filled with “See America” smiles
And all of it done
With only the ONE
Original engine—
Just imagine!
Diana was California born and bred
And there would remain, it did seem,
But one of the curves ’round which she careened
Was, I fear,
A change in career
From horse to flying machine:
At Cal Poly she had it made in the shade,
But she took to the sky
And rose up on high
To hover, as I’ve heard,
Like a hummingbird,
Thanks to a helicopter’s whirling blades.
She does relate
How, as those blades above her did twirl,
They our dear girl
Did intoxicate
With a new dream,
And this exciting scheme
Would bring also a change of state
As it to offers from Sperry Aviation led,
And Diana couldn’t resist ’em!
Thus she in ’71 forsook LA
And San Francisco Bay
And in their stead
With her loyal “Blue Beast”
Drove southeast
To the Arizona desert land
To try her hand
At marketing and sales
Of heli flight control systems.
She can tell you tales
Of giving many a demonstration
In cities and towns
Our hemisphere around,
From up in freezing Barrow
To down in steaming Guatemala City.
It’s a pity
That in the late 80’s civil aviation
Did collapse,
And alas
‘Twas the ruination
Of Diana’s chosen path.
But as you know, nothing could stop her,
So after said phase
Of the helicopter,
Diana, nobody’s fool,
Returned to school,
Again casting her gaze
About for useful ways
Her mind to use,
And she did choose
For her MA
The applied biological science field,
A very wise decision,
For I’m glad to say
Those studies her did yield
A great position
Where she can do a great deal
The flora and fauna bounty
Of Maricopa County
From destruction to shield.
Now you, dear reader, may
At this point an objection raise
And say,
“Hey, what about ‘los hombres’?
Did you about them forget?”
Well, I regret
I have not much ’bout them to relay
Except that there were hubbies along the way,
Numbering two,
Though there’s none these days;
But what’s a gal to do?
Before I conclude
I wish to praise
All the work in kitty rescue
That our dear Diana undertakes.
The number of strays
For whom she, with her heart of gold,
A loving home makes
Would you amaze--
I’ll just hint, it’s quite a few!
Additionally,
She does trap, spay/neuter and release—
Her valiant efforts for felines never do cease!
She’s also active in equine rescue;
She’s adopted an OTTB,
Hot Under Pressure, known now as “Hoot,”
A handsome boy to behold!
No one who him does see
Will dispute
That Hoot is really cute!
Diana in addition,
Without seeking recognition,
Writes to Congress
Horse slaughter to redress,
Signs many an equine welfare petition,
And targets with her verbal ammunition
The BLM’s abuse
Of the wild horse and burro--
For animal abusers she has absolutely no use.
By the way,
In closing let me say
That Diana parted company
With her cherished Camaro
Back in 1993,
But, a rescuer to the core,
She found her Blue Beast
A loving new home
With a mechanic artiste
Who did the car restore,
And remarkably
Diana those two still does see
As they together
Through the neighborhood roam,
And today
The Blue Beast is worth even more
Than ever
Before!
Hip, hip, hooray!
Happy birthday, Diana, and many, many happy returns!
(August 1, 2012)
As a with-it 60’s California girl,
Diana herself into life hurled.
Now she jokes she was at the hub
Of a special 4-H club—
Horses, hotrods,
Helicopters, and hombres with hot bods!
First of course
Came the horse.
Already at ten
She with her parents did attend
Thoroughbred races
At Santa Anita and Hollywood Park,
And horse shows, mostly Arabian.
As a pre-vet student at Cal Poly,
She to the Arabian herd did tend
And a draft-horse club start,
And then,
Good golly,
Our dear lass
In the California State Fair did contend
Where she took up the traces
Of a Belgian colt
Just two years old
And in state-wide competition
Guided him through a rendition
Which garnered first in the class—
High hoof to them!
In town she rode around
In those days
Of smoggy haze
Like a Hollywood star
In her blue first-generation ’68 Camaro,
Fast as an arrow,
Yet designed not just for the straight and narrow
But to also take her ’round life’s curves.
Together they went far, yea, VERY far--
In fact, if memory serves,
Three hundred fifty thousand miles!
All of them filled with “See America” smiles
And all of it done
With only the ONE
Original engine—
Just imagine!
Diana was California born and bred
And there would remain, it did seem,
But one of the curves ’round which she careened
Was, I fear,
A change in career
From horse to flying machine:
At Cal Poly she had it made in the shade,
But she took to the sky
And rose up on high
To hover, as I’ve heard,
Like a hummingbird,
Thanks to a helicopter’s whirling blades.
She does relate
How, as those blades above her did twirl,
They our dear girl
Did intoxicate
With a new dream,
And this exciting scheme
Would bring also a change of state
As it to offers from Sperry Aviation led,
And Diana couldn’t resist ’em!
Thus she in ’71 forsook LA
And San Francisco Bay
And in their stead
With her loyal “Blue Beast”
Drove southeast
To the Arizona desert land
To try her hand
At marketing and sales
Of heli flight control systems.
She can tell you tales
Of giving many a demonstration
In cities and towns
Our hemisphere around,
From up in freezing Barrow
To down in steaming Guatemala City.
It’s a pity
That in the late 80’s civil aviation
Did collapse,
And alas
‘Twas the ruination
Of Diana’s chosen path.
But as you know, nothing could stop her,
So after said phase
Of the helicopter,
Diana, nobody’s fool,
Returned to school,
Again casting her gaze
About for useful ways
Her mind to use,
And she did choose
For her MA
The applied biological science field,
A very wise decision,
For I’m glad to say
Those studies her did yield
A great position
Where she can do a great deal
The flora and fauna bounty
Of Maricopa County
From destruction to shield.
Now you, dear reader, may
At this point an objection raise
And say,
“Hey, what about ‘los hombres’?
Did you about them forget?”
Well, I regret
I have not much ’bout them to relay
Except that there were hubbies along the way,
Numbering two,
Though there’s none these days;
But what’s a gal to do?
Before I conclude
I wish to praise
All the work in kitty rescue
That our dear Diana undertakes.
The number of strays
For whom she, with her heart of gold,
A loving home makes
Would you amaze--
I’ll just hint, it’s quite a few!
Additionally,
She does trap, spay/neuter and release—
Her valiant efforts for felines never do cease!
She’s also active in equine rescue;
She’s adopted an OTTB,
Hot Under Pressure, known now as “Hoot,”
A handsome boy to behold!
No one who him does see
Will dispute
That Hoot is really cute!
Diana in addition,
Without seeking recognition,
Writes to Congress
Horse slaughter to redress,
Signs many an equine welfare petition,
And targets with her verbal ammunition
The BLM’s abuse
Of the wild horse and burro--
For animal abusers she has absolutely no use.
By the way,
In closing let me say
That Diana parted company
With her cherished Camaro
Back in 1993,
But, a rescuer to the core,
She found her Blue Beast
A loving new home
With a mechanic artiste
Who did the car restore,
And remarkably
Diana those two still does see
As they together
Through the neighborhood roam,
And today
The Blue Beast is worth even more
Than ever
Before!
Hip, hip, hooray!
Happy birthday, Diana, and many, many happy returns!
Comments
A Birthday Poem for Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs
(August 10, 2011)
Dottie’s the one who gives Zenyatta a voice
And makes Zenyatta.com the blog of choice.
Dottie composes with much wit and charm
So Z can tell fans of her life on the farm.
As Z transitions from one role to another
And undertakes to become a mother,
Dottie channels Z’s news
To the many who love her,
Easing those “I-miss-Z” blues.
With her diary we suffer less sorrow
’Cause we still are part
Of Z’s tomorrow
And she speaks to us heart to heart.
When a new post arrives, we all hurry
To read our dear Z’s soliloquy
With her wonderful life philosophy.
We pause to ingest
Because it’s the best.
Then there’s a flurry
As to our keyboards we scurry
And rush to reply,
For we all have something to say---
Such a bright spot in our day!
Then we return
Again and again to learn
What others have written--
With Z’s diary we’re all clearly smitten.
Yes, with Z now in Kentucky,
We sure are lucky
That Dottie’s her scribe
And that she makes us part of her tribe,
For at Zenyatta.com, the DOT COM that you see
Refers to the COM-munity
DOT-tie has founded
Where we all reside
And all that is good can abide.
We are made part of “Zenyatta’s connections”
And truly feel
Strong bonds of affection.
Here we share Zenyatta’s story
And relive her amazing glory.
We share horse racing lore---
But also much more.
When we’re feeling adrift,
Here we get our uplift.
When we are weary with worry,
It’s here that we hurry.
Here we can share
With people who care.
So let’s lift a stein of good lager---
For Zenyatta, make that a Guinness---
And drink a toast to our Dottie
To show her,
THE WORLD’S GREATEST BLOGGER,
Just how much gratitude is in us!
Hoof, hoof, hoof-ray
For Dottie the Great!
Hoof, hoof, hoof-ray,
She’s truly first rate!
Hoof, hoof, hoof-ray
For dear Dottie on her birthday!
(August 20, 2012)
A treasured jewel with many sparkling facets,
Verily, that’s our dear Carole Kennedy,
With beauty, wit and kindness ’mongst her many assets--
Of all that’s gracious, the epitome.
If you this lovely woman have not seen,
Just picture elegant, blonde, petite, and svelte,
(Very like dear Dottie, lady to the Queen!)--
And yet a world explorer who loves the African veldt.
A hippo wandered daily in Uganda
Across the open terrace of her lodge,
A gorilla mom with baby in Rwanda
Brushed ’gainst her, rushing by with scarce a dodge.
She’s a Shakespeare lover too, and thus it’s in my bonnet
To honor her today with this little sonnet!
(August 31, 2012)
For those who may not yet know,
Marty R, that true Zenyatta fan,
Is not a man,
But a lovely señora,
Now resident
In charming Aurora
In the state of Colorado,
But born and raised in Ohio,
Where as a teen
She turned the “drive-in” movie scene
Into a “ride-in”
When she would (land sakes alive!)
Bareback bestride
Her horse arrive,
Nor would the manager her chide
For once inside
They in the back did bide,
And he quite magnanimously
Gave them literally
“Free ride”
To watch the big screen!
Now Marty’s a great aficionado
Of Zenyatta and her Diary.
Today marks the one-year anniversary
Of when we first started to see
Marty herself post,
’Twas coincident
With her own birthday!
Hoof, hoof, hoof-ray!
Now she’s a mainstay
Here on Z’s site
Where we all take delight
In reading what Marty does write.
Here she’s become a loyal fan
Of the Redneck Club that Terry Crow does host
And in which she’s risen to the lofty post
Of state chapter president!
So let’s again drink a toast
To our dear Marty,
And, Marty, we hope you have a most marvelous party!