Pain and Love

It's really hard to get any sympathy for an ache or pain when you're around serious horse people. Just try mentioning that your back is out of whack and you can't bend over. They'll launch into a story about how they "came off" their horse, lacerated their liver, suffered a concussion, underwent hours of surgery -- and then were back in the saddle within a week, strictly against doctor's orders.
As if that's perfectly normal. Broken ribs are scarcely worth a mention unless they puncture something. Get more than one rider together, and believe me, the litany of injury stories you will hear will be downright gruesome.
I was told recently that I had a high pain threshold. It was a nice thought, but obviously the person had no other Unionville clients.
All kidding aside, though, sometimes catastrophic accidents do happen. Local amateur steeplechase jockey Jake Chalfin, age 32, was severely hurt in a Sept. 18 accident at the Blue Ridge Fall Races in Berryville, Va. "Stealin' the Start," a fundraiser to help with his expenses, is planned for Dec. 4 at The Stone Barn in West Marlborough. Details are on http://www.chasinforchalfin.com/

Huh?

1. Sign on the gas pump at a local convenience store: "Gas Prices You Can Trust." I'm not sure how "trust" comes into it. I choose where to buy gas based on where I am when I'm running low, plain and simple.
2. In a drugstore circular: "Get a FREE Eagles T-shirt with $30 purchase." Seems to me the Eagles, and any other commercial enterprise, should be the ones paying us to wear their logo-emblazoned clothes.

Game Set Match

My tennis partners and I finally decided to pack it in for the year: It's just gotten too cold and windy to have fun. It was a terrific season, despite the kamikaze vole that raced across the court at game point and that marathon game-that-wouldn't-end in the rain (it must've gone to 12 deuces). And though we had a few spectacular falls and some mid-season dental surgery, there weren't any career-ending injuries.
It must be amusing to watch us getting ready for a match, coddling our aging joints with various braces and wraps, anointing ourselves with SPF100 sunblock per doctor's orders, and making sure there are plenty of ice packs ready for the drive home.
A young member of my family has been taking lessons from Tony DeFelice of Tony's Tennis Camp, and I'm so glad to see the kids having fun learning the sport. He's a terrific instructor.
(Pay-to-play FYI: the district cost per participant at Unionville High School is $184 for the boys' tennis team and $243 for the girls' tennis team. That's less than basketball, cheerleading, field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, sottball, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.)

Sentence structure

Ponzi schemer Tony Young will learn his fate in two weeks. Sentencing is set for 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, before the Honorable Juan R. Sanchez. Mr. Young pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud and money laundering.

From the past

Just a reminder that the Revolutionary War re-enactors from the Fourth Continental Light Dragoons will be camping out at Primitive Hall this weekend, and you are welcome to visit the encampment, free of charge, and talk to the soldiers from noon to 4 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 13. At 1 p.m. there will be a mock court-martial for an unruly soldier. At 2 p.m. there will be a "Children's Muster," where the soldiers will teach kids how to drill using wooden muskets. Then at 3 p.m. "the infantry and cavalry will perform a joint drill to demonstrate how a combined legion of troops operated in the 18th century."
Primitive Hall is on Route 841, between Route 926 and Route 842, near the village of Chatham (830 North Chatham Road).

Over timber

It was a beautiful, sunny, bracing afternoon for the 76th running of the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup on Sunday. My friends and I had the best (and possibly warmest) vantage point on the entire gorgeous course, and we had heaps of fantastic food (from Hood's) and drinks. It was great to see so many friends and neighbors and dogs, and the races were dramatic. It's especially exciting when you know some of the jockeys who are galloping by.
Many of the spectators were so wrapped up in jackets, blankets, scarves and sunglasses that it was sometimes hard to recognize folks walking by. But we saw one unfortunate woman in a short skirt walking in stocking feet toward the parking area, carrying her high-heeled shoes. It looked painful.
At one point the wind died down, we were standing there looking over this beautiful vista and somebody waxed philosophical and said, "We are so lucky." Yes, indeed.
One particularly merry group of Unionville tailgaters set up their lavish buffet table under a large white banner featuring a brown stink bug emblazoned with the red letters SBP.

What does that stand for, a curious passerby asked.
"Stink Bug Party!" they chorused, going on to explain that their party's platform consisted of flatness, persistence and sheer strength in numbers.
(I will spare you my own stink bug experience this week. Suffice it to say that they really, really like my scarf drawer.)

Archery

Congratulations to my friend Joel, who on Election Day bagged an eight-point buck with a crossbow near his home in Cochranville. It was his first-ever success with a crossbow. The buck is already at the butcher's, and I have dibs on some of his wife's delicious venison lasagna.