Beautiful Wx Saturday now Evening; + Oireachtas + Chincoteague

These were done via IM and intended to be 3 completely separate entries.  I'm not sure yet how to make them all separate.   I'd closed out the one before starting another, but AOL Journals meshed them into one.   I'll differentiate via colors at least.   No time to even do basic proofreading right now (and I rarely EDIT), so hopefully not too convuluted.

Beautiful Weather Saturday now Evening; the Big Dipper was very clear and big, the moon a glowing white crescent slice, the sky about this color of dark blue.

Daisy is snoring, lol, I took her for a walk that ended up being 45 minutes or so. Down to a soccer field near us, a "park" where another sweet dog, Brandy, was. They didn't play-play, but more parallel actions as if toddlers. Her "mom" is real nice, too, and we'd not gotten to chat often for long previously.
Gorgeous day out now -- it was around 70, bright blue sky with white clouds, from this mornings chilly breeze. It stormed against last night, more flooding, etc. Daisy couldn't wait to, um, urinate outside, tho she'd go to the front of our building, wall of rain, go to the back of our building, wall of rain, go inside, and want to try it all again, lol. Indie got nicknamed stupid cat. I let him come out b/c what cat would wish to walk in THIS weather. Loud thunder he couldn't hear, but flashing lightning and real heavy downpour. I forgot. He likes to watch the shower water in the bathtub. He checked out a few drops as if to play, then skeddaddled under a bush nearby. GRREEEEAATTTT not. So Daisy and I followed. Indie darted for better shelter, under pine trees, but, um, that was flooding and not protective, of course, either, so he raced to other bushes and a patio. We somewhat followed, and wet Daisy finally went enough, then I lost what bushes Indie was under. Stupid cat. I took Daisy in. I'm standing outside in M's creek shoes/sandals, thankfully, and an umbrella, and had thrown onthe pants that got soaked the night before, lol. I see Josh, sheltered on steps in his building. Apparently Josh and Indie didn't meet up, couldn't smell each other in the storm, and Daisy hadn't smelled Josh, either. I'm walking back and forth and dodging branches weighed down with water, and thinking, okay, this isn't really smart of me, either. No one is out driving in this, he's got to be someplace.
Finally, I just figured I'd go home and try again later. It was around 11pm, anyway. Gee, guess who was the stupid one after all? ME. lol. I had let him out.   AND he was waiting for me by our door when I finally decided to get myself out of the storm. Oh, well:)
So, TODAY, for breakfast, I didn't go to Race for the Cure, with great disappointment. I always do and I like it, now that I"ve been and not overwhelmed with the crowds. I couldn't afford it this year, could not justify it. I still hold in memory my coworker friends, Nancy Cobb Ball and Suzanne Rappoport, and my survivor cousin!
So, instead, met a Girl Scout leader online friend of mine!!! I SO respect her, how she runs her troop, has the girls running it a fair bit at this point as SHOULD be happening. Just encouraging and proactive, and works well w/ her coleader.
Cindy also has girls just a bit older than mine, always has good advice, etc. We met at the Silver Diner, which was surprisingly more expensive than I anticipated, but still, for "brunch" so not a lot. (I had saved $20. for Thursday, didn't need any money for the party, so did a rare splurge of a real lunch on Friday for under $5. but gosh, soup!! and bread! and a drink, and eating normally has helped my stomach.) Anyway, meaning I had $15. so I could "do" breakfast! It was fun to meet up with her
So many options for the day. Washington Folk Festival at Glen Echo is a blast, but not for me this weekend. Meg's school was to have a HUGE party, maybe I'd go later, I had some auction items I could bid upon. I hope M got to go -- BIG deal party, she'd have loved it, but who knows whatC would allow, or really, his g/f. Maybe if Sh thought the little sister, Si, would like it, they'd go.
I wanted to do some cleaning, too. So, short visit to TYC (Tyson's Corner Center), just to L.L.Bean. I'd see t-shirts with pretend camp logos on them, from various towns in Maine. I miss Maine. I got reminiscing, and about where I wished to have M see when we go. My mother doesn't want to drive or fly, and taking the train oy, how long will that be. We'd end upwith only about 3 days there, which is NOT sufficient. I'll have to tell her let's go with August; I'll be less stressed.
Came home, 3-4 pieces of mail from my condo company, wow, they NEVER write me this is scary. One from M's teacher, work w/ your kids this weekend to prepare for an event Tuesday, gee, well, hopefully C will with her. And send her book log from his home (he'd insisted he do half the months, but at mid-year check, he had NOT sent "his" with her and the teacher wasn't too happy. I'll just have to see if it comes back with her this time, to add to the one I'm marking w/ her. If not, as I know she's read the books, sometimes me WITH her if a PITA one, lol, I'll just sign for "his" months, plus the ones where I had her pick out a book, and we read the books and I reviewed the book with her.
I laid down for a bit. Dag, 4 hours later. FOUR hour nap. I guess w/ the pets getting up earlier, as dawn arrives earlier these days, plus allergies, I get wiped. After I got up, was the beautiful walk we had:)
I had been planning to call my mom earlier when driving, but I rather liked the quiet. NPR was on the radio, actually fairly good. At home, some good classic rock for a bit. I got online and she'd said something like, "Will you just decide already, June or August." Huh? This was up to me?
I regret how I wrote it back, cuz I said, "Mom, please don't be snotty." Oy. That'll get me. I did mean it, though, and yet maybe she hadn't meant hers in a snotty manner but gosh. I didn't think it was up to me, I just thought mine was input. She does what she wants anyway, I'm her daughter, and admittedly she's being nice and paying our transportation costs, so I defer to her. If she doesn't like my input, she might even get upset with me about it. So, I never said definitely.

I did include that I had been leaving the decision up to her; if it'd be too hot in August for her, it wouldn't be worth it. That is true. Plus, she likely just had a TIA (mini stroke). This one w/out any long-term effects, so I'm going with heightened concern for her, sure, I do love her and all, but I'm not really worried about it per se, at least not until her tests come back.
And I told her of my trip to L.L.Bean this a.m. and the shirts and how it's been so long for me, and M hardly even remembers visiting, and I really don't wish to be rushed. Personally, I'd like to just fly there and back, and spend that extra time THERE, but that is money I don't have and my mother wishes to use in other ways, like renting me a car for part of our trip there. Which is really nice. This is her way of helping me keep M in her current school.
Sigh, so I regret wording it that way to her. A longer trip is not likely to bode well for us, 3 days is about max at least when in NYC, and Maine brings out her old feelings. But. Let's just do it, and I can make plans for M for the other times, and she can be in her Oireachtas classes, I can switch her lacrosse camp she's not in to field hockey that other week. Or something. Plus plan when to Chincoteague with just us and maybe one of her g/f's.
Summer is too complicated this year:)
This wasn't intended to be a bunch of ramble. I'll call M soon. It doesn't feel this late. C and Sh won't even give her the message; they rarely do but still, I am STILL going to call.
Tinkerbell is hanging in the bathroom sink:) lol She likes the bathroom. Tinker has vision problems, plus is deaf, so I think she likes the brighter lights in the bathroom. I keep a little basket in there, too, in case she wishes to curl up in it.
Another Saturday night. It's peaceful here. On to call M. (oops, it wasafter 9 when I went to call, and that's too late to call a home line, so I left her a message on her cell, and also called her at C's home # on Sunday plus tried her cell first as I forgot oh yeah, not M even tho I'm calling for her, but c/o C duh.   Even said I couldn't remember if I'd sent her riding pants for a lesson Monday, so please call and let me know so I'll know about whether or not to bring them by.   Did she call?  No.   More likely, she wasn't given the messages.   I HAD left riding pants for her, but I couldn't remember when I was calling her.)

Oirechtas classes (to be second entry sigh, not continuation)

I had to look up Oirechtas (sp). It is some type of parliament, but it's also a different type of Irish dancing competition than a feis is. To me they sound real similar, both being Irish dancing competitions, but they are run separately and both well respected, etc. The O one is done regionally, and then one can qualify to go to Nationals and even Ireland for Worlds. M's teacher, whom I've been calling Ma on here, has told M a couple times that she'd like M to take the preliminary classes and that
and Ma thinks that M has the right look that they tend to like. Not sure what specifically, but M has grace and poise when she dances, and can get down steps with technical accuracy, so ? Or her height and size? I don't know. M is all excited:) Oireachtas competitions include some solo dancing, I'm pretty sure, but Ma is looking for M to do figure dancing. Ma smiled and looked over at me, and mentioned how M may get more exposure to this b/c of my influence.
It is interesting, really, that M's interest in Irish dancing, got her and I taking ceili and set classes. Ceili means dance, but it's also a type of dance. Classes I take and dances I perform are typically set dances and some ceili dances. This is themore social form of Irish dancing -- always with at least one other person, and sometimes in sets of fourcouples. There was no real Irish step dancing classes open for beginners in my area at the time, only downcounty.
M and I enjoyed this type of dancing, and being able to do it together:) Naturally, it's Tuesday nights, so C insisted in court, that his every/other weeknight be Tuesdays. Ugh. Anyway, I met my former serious boyfriend, SO, from taking these classes. His two daughters take Irish stepdancing from another instructor and Irish dance school. I got to observe a few classes, and M tried some steps she'd seen them do. We'd all go to ceili's together sometimes even.
Sometimes, M and I would go and bring a friend or two of hers, and/or mine! (BJ's gone to two things, a class and a J. Patrick's pub ceili, and yep, he could do it if he had practice time!!). M STILL wanted to do Irish stepdancing. She took a 5-class short summer trial with wonderful dance school, where she'd attend if she couldn't go with her current one. They're also based in N. Va, so it's a trek.
What Ma wants to do, is hold two sets of two figures classes with an emphasis on Oirechtas (sp) prep, and from that, pick teams for a more intensive one time summer class (naturally that one, M's with C for but we'll see). Then if all goes well, have these teams commit to meeting once a week until December. This year, Regionals is being held in Northern Virginia! Last year or last time, they were in Atlanta.
So, if we got to Maine in August, then M could make the first set of two classes for the Oireachtas training. There are other classes being held as well for those of higher levels than M, for solo dancing. Naturally, all of these are being held an hour away ugh, but, to stay w/ this school, which is worth it, all of the performances and "modern" style choreography combined w/ traditional learning, and to stay with Ma, it's so worth it. 

Thanks, Amy, for the question:) Sometimes I just rattle things off. *I* know what I"m talking about, lol. If anyone is interested in the Irish dancing community, especially if looking for contacts within the greater D.C., or even Baltimore, area, whether stepdancing or ceili / set dancing, feel free to contact me. I'm also Scottish but don't dance that regularly, however, I could connect someone to people who do.

Chincoteague and Assateague Island 
They are barrier islands off of the Atlantic Ocean, Assateague Island is in both Maryland and Virginia, and Chincoteague is in Virginia. IIRC, lol. The town of Chincoteague is in Virginia. National Wildlife Refuges get their names from the most local town, so the NWR, on the VA side, is called Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, and is ON Assateague Island. Assateague Island is reserved land the entire island. The northern part, in Maryland, is state parkland, plus perhaps another bit of Federal
Federal land, too? I'm forgetting. I know this, have maps on this, just not remembering for sure at the moment. The Maryland portion is just south of Ocean City. Ocean City has a jetty that sticks out to help keep the sand from drifting southward, which is natural. This keeps sand awat from helping AI from disappearing altogether, however. Sand is still washed away southward, naturally, from AI. One can see this clearly in aerial maps over time.
M used to be good friends with another girl at her school, and I with the girls stepmother (she lives w/ her father and stepmother primarily). I had camped on AI in college, but hadn't seen the VA side. This friends invited us down to join them for a weekend of their weeklong stay or something like that; they rent a single-family home/cottage. Wow, a vacation! M and I fell in love with the town of Chincoteague. We've been back, once or twice more with that family, but we'd then extend our stay.
M now thinks we go annually:) It's cheaper and less busy than other areas, and I just love the whole NWR idea / saved environment deal. We always take at least one nature class while there, too. M once took the time to earn her Junior Ranger award:) which takes awhile!, and I went ahead and earned the adult equivalent, which is more intensive. It was fun. We go the last week in August, which surprisingly is when most local areaschools in VA , DC, and MD, are back in school, but M's isn't.
This year, maybe we'll be in Maine then, or some of it, and we can visit Chincoteague 3 days worth the first week M is out of school. She wishes to take a friend along (like Mad). I should find a link and post it:)
Ah, sigh, this pc needs an upgraded browser to access AOL's internet help. Whatever. I'll try to add a link another time. I have a sticker on the back of my truck that says "CIA." :) What -- it's for Chincoteague Island / Assateague! Better than AssI right? :)

Assateague Island itself is of course home of the wild ponies. The VA side keeps its ponies rounded up in basic areas, and the fire department "owns" them, and keeps them in medical care, etc. Misty of Chincoteague was a famous book and then movie, about a real horse. M likes to take a riding lesson while there (rolling my eyes, b/c really, it's still a HORSE, yanno? and it's pricey but it makes her trip and I balance it with other activities, x amout of money per trip).  There are further books in that series, by Marguerite Henry.  I loved them as a child myself, but didn't visit. 

The famous pony swim and auction are always the last week in July.  We hadn't fully figured this out until the summer before the big court date.  But, that year, C had some family thing that week, heck, so I told M, next year.  Except now, she's with me the first 2 weeks of July (so always for her birthday!!! he didn't even ask for tho he always told me I do it up right for M so whatever), and she's with him the last 2 weeks in July. So, no watching the pony swim and auction and carnival, etc., until the year she's 18.

The Maryland side of Assateague Island lets the ponies stay completely wild. Oh, they've learned they can get treats like apples and carrots from the human tourists. It's quite forbidden, in part b/c then it teaches them to come into the roads and sometimes, they get hit.
Wildlife becoming partially dependent upon humans can have its dangers. If it was a human-caused malady, they will get medical attention for the horse. If it wasn't, nature takes over. IIRC, they do some darts for birth control? to help regulate the herd size. Too many could decimate the balance of other things on the island (food sources, etc.).  We each sponsor one of the horses there.   At least one of the two tends to hang out mostly in the protected areas where we can't ever get to.  The Chincoteague Pony is an officially-registered breed of horse. Anyway, M loves the horse part of visiting:) 

Assateague Island (both sides/states) is also a prime area for bird watcing and migration. A couple of the hotel/motels run year around b/c of the tourists coming in for birdwatching and for fishing. The place we like will take dogs off-season.  Dogs aren't allowed on the refuge any time, but they're allowed in town.  We kept saying we'll do that some year with Daisy.    I haven't camped there myself in many years, but I do have fond memories of a January camping trip with my best guy friend from college:)
That's probably enough information for any casual questioner:) lol

Tags: Irish stepdancing, Oireachtas, Chincoteague, Assateague