Reason 789694739383837595054 Why I Love Spearfish

Yesterday afternoon I went for a quick run despite my grandmother's lectures about the heat and not having enough energy to play in the sprinkler with my cousins. I had more than they did, thank you very much. As I was coming around a corner I came to a fence of a tiny horse pasture. As I neared the fence a large, beautiful, perfectly brown horse came to the fence. This is an odd statement but I always think the colors of horses would be such pretty paint colors. The horse waited for me to come to the fence and then let me stroke its long nose. I probably talked to it and petted it for about ten minutes and then when I started to run back it watched me until I was out of sight.

My grandpa doesn't have the best hearing so when I told him the story he thought I said I had to shoo away a horse fly. Not quite but I would have pretended that was equally enjoyable.

Reading Roundup

I mentioned my most recent purchase in the previous post, Roundup, but I decided it needed its own moment in the sun! It is truly lovely and I am determined to find the following books in addition to this version which is Book One. Reading Roundup is a child's reading guide that is filled with stories and poems and pictures about people, animals and adventures. The inside cover is inscribed in blue ink, 'Beach School 1959.' There is even a ballerina on the back cover!

This book seems to be an introduction to the greatness of literature for young readers. The table of contents is divided into the following subheads: Ourselves and Others, Animal Parade, Looking Backward, Let's Play the Game, Unforgettable People, Just for Fun, In Quest of Adventure, Modern Marvels, and The American Way. Some of the notable contributing authors include Robert Frost, Charles Lamb, Emily Dickinson, Laura Ingalls Wilder (my personal favorite), Mark Twain, Carl Sandburg, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman. One excerpt that I am very excited to read is entitled The Laurence Boy and is listed as a radio play by Walter Hackett and adapted from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

On the division page of Ourselves and Others is this poem by Elizabeth Madox Roberts from "The People."

The ants are walking under the ground, 

And the pigeons are flying over the steeple, 

And in between are the people. 

The division page of Animal Parade has this poem by George Eliot...

Animals are such agreeable friends- 

they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. 

The division page for Looking Backward features a perfect poem by Soren Kierkegaard for the title of the section. 

Life can only be understood backwards; 

but it must be lived forwards.

The division page of Let's Play the Game features a two-page illustration in blues and whites of sailboats in the sea and numerous people standing on a dock and the following line from John Masefield from "Biography."

The days that make us happy make us wise. 

I was quite delighted to read the quote on the division page of Unforgettable People because it was written by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet in A Book of Americans, which I also own.

We couldn't put in all the great

Or even all the small,

And many names with sterling claims

We haven't used at all. 

The quote featured on the division page of Just for Fun is by the literary great, William Shakespeare in The Taming of the Shrew.

And frame your mind to mirth and merriment,

Which bars a thousand harms and lengthens life. 

The division page of In Quest of Adventure presents the poem by John Vanderbilt in "Highways and Byways." And I LOVE it!

Oh, you may take a highway,

A wide, straight highway,

A fine cement highway, 

For yourself.

But give me a byway, 

A rutted, narrow byway, 

A turning, wooded byway, 

For myself.

I love the poem by Nancy Byrd Turner in "Sic Transit" on the division page of Modern Marvels as well!

My grandson's grandson somewhere in the rack 

Of time will wake one night, and hear below

The levels where the winking air-lines glow

A rumble like a beetle on its back,

And smile, and bless the last old motorcar

Rattling to join the horse and dinosaur. 

Again I was elated to open to the division page of The American Way and who do I see? George, Thomas, Teddy, and Abe! The poem on this page was written by Abraham Lincoln.

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.

This expresses my idea of democracy. 

Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference,

is no democracy. 

502 pages of literary and future library loveliness. 

And it only cost me $5.30

RoundUp!

I love it when there is an stumbled upon theme in life. My Fourth of July weekend definitely had it! One of my best friends, Abbie, came to spend the holiday weekend with me in Spearfish and we celebrated in ways that would have made our founding fathers proud. Our Fourth of July including going to Belle Fourche to enjoy the parade, a carnival, a rodeo and the overall awesomeness of the town. We succeeded. We have come to the conclusion that we can make any place fun and our pending T.V. show would be titled "Finding Fun in America."

Also our Fourth of July celebrations in Belle Fourche will now become an annual thing. I have 84 more Fourth of July's in Belle to look forward to!

The parade was great and the best part was when one of the floats threw out baggies of cherries. We had been sharing our candy and popsicles with the little girls standing near us but we claimed the cherries for ourselves. As well as pens.

Belle Fourche and its fantastic parade

The festivities continued with Patriotic Red (cherry) snowcones in the park and corn dogs and the two slide rides at the carnival.

Why wouldn't Belle Fourche have the BEST snow cones??!

Nothing says America like corn dogs on the Fourth of July

This is where Belle Fourche demonstrated why it is so great... As we were walking towards the rodeo a tractor pulling a trailer asked if we wanted a ride. Hells yes we wanted a ride on a tractor to a rodeo in Belle Fourche! We enjoyed the rodeo as all rodeo-goers should, not with cowboy hats and boots but with binoculars. My mom and my aunt Jackie used to cart binoculars with them to the Black Hills Roundup Rodeo to check out the cowboy's butts. We followed suit and it was well worth it!

We were starting to get a little excited about the Rodeo...

Then came the binoculars!

Thanks for humoring me, Kyle!

Is there a better name for a bucking bronco than Lipstick 'n Whiskey?

We kept the merriment going for a couple more days. We stopped at an antique store in Spearfish where I purchased quite possibly the greatest thing ever! "Reading Roundup: Book One" is the newest addition to my future library as a lovely beginner's reader book. The inside of the front cover is inscribed with 'Beach School 1959' and the back cover has a ballerina. This purchase also put a big shiny bow on the weekend's theme of Roundup! We were on Roundup Street in Belle Fourche, went to the Black Hills Roundup Rodeo and now I own Reading Roundup. My grandpa also added that he uses Roundup in his garden which is also an important element to the theme.

On Abbie's last night here we rounded up some boys and went to Deadwood. We ate, they gambled, we rode a trolley through the entire town and danced and laid in the middle of a football field. A perfect way to end my Fourth of July weekend that went all the way to Wednesday!

Trolley Ride through Deadwood 

Oh the Suspense!

I have not posted since last Saturday! Ufdah! I extended my Fourth of July weekend about five extra days so to make it up to myself and my readers (side note: I often pretend there are throngs and throngs of people reading my blog!) I have about seven posts planned. All this fabulous blogging will happen TONIGHT while I am waiting for a phone call from the lovely Miss Becca at midnight! I promise it will not be disappointing!

I Am Not Writing This Because I Was Told To Write About Her... ; )

I am currently watching a movie called, "Charade." It was released in 1963, the same year my mom was born, and stars Cary Grant and my sister's favorite icon, Audrey Hepburn. I have always noticed many similarities between the famous actress and my equally stunning sister. During one scene of this movie Audrey Hepburn's character is wearing a red wool coat with big gold buttons and a leopard print hat. She is being interrogated by a member of the CIA about the illegal activities of her husband who was recently murdered. When the CIA agent informs her that her husband was wanted by the U.S. government her response is, "Can I have a sandwich?" Just like Brytten. They are both dainty, classically beautiful, a little (maybe a lot) bit quirky and they even move similarly- somewhat gracefully with a bit a pent up nervous energy.

Very Audrey-esque

I am also sorry that it has taken me so long to give them the recognition they both deserve on this blog! My lovely sister is even getting her own label now!  

Harney-Marney-Bo-Barney Peak

My new obsession: HIKING! For the second time this summer I was at my uncle's house at 6 a.m. to head out for a hike. We have somehow managed to pick the absolute perfect days to hike each time we have ventured out this summer. We arrived at the trailhead at 7:30 a.m. and it was beautiful the entire way. I am pretending that I have developed an immunity to poison ivy because I know I brushed against some today but so far, so good! Harney Peak was obviously more populated but it was still my favorite hike yet. My uncle is going on a week-long backpacking trip through the Bighorns in two weeks so to condition himself he has been hiking with a pack and today it weighed a whopping 55 pounds. Kudos for him! The best part of the hike was when we got to the top and as we looked at we could see shadows from the clouds on the surrounding hills! I wish I had taken a video! "Cloud Shadows" could possibly rival the "Double Rainbow" video.

Me and Finn at the top of Harney Peak 

It was a tad breezy...

The sub-head of this blog is "Continuing my quest of self-discovery in my favorite place in the world." I think a major component of my self-discovery is my new love for hiking. I have decided I want to hike in every state. I shared this idea with my grandpa and he said that at one point in his life he had planned on hiking the highest peak in every state. He only got South Dakota, Texas and Hawaii. That is still more than most people could say. I am going to do all 50! I only have one down but that's besides the point!

Also, I peed in the woods today and am shockingly proud of it!

Yes, you are on the trail.

Very cool rock tunnel stairway

My crew!

Hitching posts for horses

And for a refresher on the "Double Rainbow" video:
I played this for my little cousins the last time they were here. They didn't laugh nearly as hard as I did but my grandpa did! Now I just need to plan my "Cloud Shadows" video

Library Inspiration

Yes, several of my posts lately have been about the library I will one day have in my house. Well, here is another! This past St. Patrick's Day my friend Kaycee and I went to a Lady Gaga concert in Omaha and then we took the next day off as a early spring break present to ourselves and did some power shopping through Omaha. Old Market is one of my favorite places to shop, eat, and walk on a cobble stone street. During this trip I was finally able to check out a book store that I had passed during several previous trips to Omaha.

This store was glorious. Every inch was covered in books and even the floor had stacks of book. There was a single aisle that only one person could walk through at a time. Random chairs were placed between shelves and these chairs usually held a few books as well. There were also a few books that had been deliberately displayed to show the cover. I bought a beautiful vintage book about a dog and took an assortment of photos. As I was searching through my photo library I found these pictures and decided they need a spot on my blog. I hope one day my library somewhat resembles this store. I love how the colors were all natural and most of the palette came from the covers of the books. It smelled like books too. If Yankee Candle made a book-scented candle I would certainly buy it. Hell, I would even buy the car air freshener. This store was for books and books only which is rarely the case anymore. That statement is somewhat hypocritical because I strolled through the store with coffee from Scooters in my hand.