I ran to my KIA and the bird tried to resist, but was immediately calmed by the silence and the warmth inside my vehicle. I know there must have been several pairs of eyes staring at my white coat flapping in the wind as I dashed to save the bird, and an equal number of mouths laughing at me. Who cares? That's what I want to know - when can people afford to care? I know that this little robin robbed me of a couple minutes of my time, but I believe it was Providence. You see, I almost didn't go to school this morning. I almost called in "sick", as my daughter had taken ill last night and I have had two other young ones at home who have had the same virus. In fact, I phoned the assistant principal at 6 am this morning to inform him that I had changed my mind and would be coming to school, after all. So I got in my car at just the right time, on just the right day, because if I had been five minutes sooner or five minutes later, the robin would not have had someone there for her when she needed it.

I cried and prayed all the way to school, giving the Lord an argument out loud as to all the reasons why He should spare this little bird. I quoted scripture, especially the one about "He knows every sparrow that falls to the ground, so how much more does He care for us...........". I bargained, pleaded, and continuously babbled like a little girl talking to her Father in a time of crisis. I rebuked the fear and did not receive the possibility that the bird was in shock and the blood I saw behind the eye may be an internal injury that would result in certain death.

When I got to school, I got out of the car and the robin heard the other robins singing in the morning sunshine and she immediately tried to fly out of my hands. I knew this was a good sign. I found the school nurse, who is a compassionate person who loves animals, and together we built a box and put the robin inside. We have left her in a dark room in a warm place, and now, five hours later, the little robin is recovering. The blood behind the eye is gone. The wing looks a little dinged up, but we have a vet who has agreed to donate her services. It looks like the little robin will return to her sleepy little small town in rural Wisconsin and raise her family, hopefully staying out of the path of cars!!! One question that came into my heart when it was uncertain what would happen to the bird was, "If the bird does not survive, how will it affect your faith?". I have to keep searching my heart on that one, but experience has taught me that I would not turn away. How about us? Are we too busy? Do we have faith even in the little things? I am the first one to say that I am working on these questions every day.

Now to get on to the wonderful events of the IOWA HORSE FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First, let me say that Mary Lou Lawless and the members of the Iowa Harness Horseman's Association are a precious group of people! Mary Lou made ASAP feel so very welcome, and we enjoyed the two days we spent at the IaHHA booth giving out literature to people about harness racing and about what happens to horses when they are done harness racing! Our demonstrations were colorful, and we got a full eight minutes in the arena with IaHHA - there was a trotter and a pacer with the race bikes, and there was Janimal and Randy with Kellie and me and the two little ones (again) under saddle. Janny did an excellent job this time, now that he has some experience under his belt! Kellie and he were the first horses in the arena for the STB demo, and Kellie went flying in with Janimal doing the free-legged pace all the way around! It was the most beautiful group of horses, with red/white/ and blue from ear to tail Kellie did a fantastic job of getting all of the costume materials together, and the Twinkle Toes sure made those manly geldings' feet glow and sparkle! In fact, they are still wearing the Twinkle Toes out in the pasture to this day!

What were the funniest events of the horse fair in Des Moines? Well, as usual there are several stories to choose from. One is that we left on Friday in an ice storm (imagine Craig's face as he gets behind the driver's wheel to pull the four horse trailer in this weather). I assured him that there was rain up ahead - not ice. I was wrong. A four hour trip took over six hours, with semis and cars to each side of us upside down, tipped over, crashed, bashed, and in every other position except going straight down the highway! I got "the look". The good news is that we made it safely there, just in time for my four year old Rachel to come down with a nasty virus and high fever and horrific, croupy cough. I gave her a children's Benedryl cold tablet in the evening. Big mistake (she was only supposed to have a half) She was zonked. The next morning I gave her another tablet. Big mistake (finally read the box and realized why she was so "out of it"). I readjusted the dose (I really am not unintelligent, just distracted!). Poor girl!

On Sunday we had plans to all meet and get to the fairgrounds early in the morning to groom and tack the horses. Needless to say, neither Kellie nor I remembered to set our clocks ahead! We dashed to the fairgrounds on that cold morning, and primped and decorated. Then the little ones came to get into their costumes. All set, and early too, despite the late start! I lifted the kids into the saddle, and immediate fighting began over who would have "front". All the way to the pavillon the kids fought. Into the pavillon and arena there was a temporary quiet from the storm, but two minutes in to the demonstration the fighting once again started where it left off. I kept giving them "the eye", smiling the whole way for the audience. If you listened very closely you might hear me whispering under my breath, "You are SO not getting a toy when we leave here!" I think I must have repeated that about 10 times as my kids were in front of the public, elbowing each other and Rachel crying. Thankfully, we made it through the whole eight minutes without Rachel or Zach killing each other, and people in the audience never noticed the silent fighting going on! I had a little trick I used - each time the fighting got too intense I just picked up speed and Randy would trot. That kept them from fighting!!

AFter the demo we high-tailed it back to the barn - the storm was coming and the wind was howling. We went over to the livestock arena where the trade show to the restaurant for some yummy hot stew. My kids ordered nachos and hot dogs, and "Papa" Craig showed up once we had started eating. He came and sat down at the booth, and Rachel my four year old had a packet of mayonnaise in her mouth. She kept playing with it, then said, "Papa, LOOK!" Just then she bit down by accident - the packet of mayonnaise burst and the mayo squirted five feet across the booth and hit Papa. He was wearing white creamy stuff from shoulder to nose. I had to leave the restaurant because the sight of it made me laugh so hard I had tears running down my face. I couldn't laugh out loud to draw attention to us, since papa is proud and it might anger him (I was already in enough hot water)..................but it was a hoot.

We got on the road before 3 pm because the storm was on its way. WE arrived home a little after 7 pm, and had a picnic on our bed to celebrate my 29th birthday (okay, I'm lying!) . The picnic was a fun time, especially for the kids.

I want to sincerely thank Mary Lou from the bottom of my heart for the hospitality we received. Seven of the IaHHA members had to bunk in one double room that weekend, while two of our volunteers shared one room and our family of five shared another. It was a very selfless act to have the Standardbred IaHHA members give up their rooms so ASAP could be a part. This generosity will never be forgotten!

It was good to meet many of you at the horse fair that are either placing horses or seeking to adopt. You will always be remembered and we anxiously await new adventures if we are allowed to return for another year in Iowa next April.

We will send pictures of the Midwest Horse Fair next week - be watching for new adventures!!

Susan

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