Seven Tears Into the Sea
Phantom Stallion Series
Bio
Blog
SubscribeQ&A
Schedule
Workshops
Press Room
FAQ
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Use Your Lovely Hula Head!
Dear Readers,
I'm working on my next newsletter & wanted to give you a heads-up on the August contest.
I'll be sharing Hawaiian research photos and asking you which fictional event they helped me to describe! Of course this will be a book from my WILD HORSE ISLAND series. You don't have to supply the book's title or number, because if you're correct about the event & character, I'll send you a free, autographed copy of the book.
Start thinking hula thoughts!
Aloha,
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 8:20 PM 0 comments
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Which Wolf? a proverb
An old Cherokee told his grandson, "There is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies & ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy & truth."
The boy thought about it, and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?"
The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed."
Rayna, shown above, lives just outside Reno, Nevada, and welcomes humans to summer dusk howl-alongs at the
Animal Ark refuge
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 12:13 PM 1 comments
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Thousand Year Old Horse Festival helps heal Fukushima
Japan's quake region holds samurai festival
(AFP)
TOKYO — Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima region has kicked off a thousand-year-old horse festival, with riders in samurai armour defying an ongoing nuclear crisis to take to the streets and vow recovery.
The "Soma Namaoi", or wild horse chase, featured some 80 horses with riders in full samurai armour, and was dedicated this year to praying for those killed in the March disasters and for the reconstruction of local communities.
Locals marched through city streets just outside the 20-kilometre (12-mile) exclusion zone where nuclear workers are still battling to cool overheated reactors at a stricken atomic plant.
Michitane Soma, a direct descendant of the Soma clan which once governed the area, addressed the riders, each of whom carried a black mourning badge.
"Believe in the strength of the tradition of Soma Nomaoi," the 36-year-old said tearfully.
"March on and pray for the swift reconstruction of eastern Japan."
The three-day festival originates from secret military exercises held by 10th-century samurai warriors under the Soma clan, using horses as mock enemy soldiers.
The festival organisers had considered cancelling this year's event after many local residents were killed in the March 11 tsunami and earthquake, which left about 22,000 people dead or missing in total.
Other residents were forced to evacuate their homes, while many horses were also killed in the twin disasters.
But organisers decided to go ahead with the festival on a reduced scale from previous years, when the horses numbered 500.
And it took a more sombre tone than usual. Horse races with armoured riders were cancelled, as were the usual competitions to catch flags shot into the air with fireworks.
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 9:35 AM 0 comments
Friday, July 22, 2011
Read ONLY if you appreciate sarcasm & cynicism
We Who Are Your Closest Friends
by Phillip Lopate
we who are
your closest friends
feel the time
has come to tell you
that every Thursday
we have been meeting
as a group
to devise ways
to keep you
in perpetual uncertainty
frustration
discontent and
torture
by neither loving you
as much as you want
nor cutting you adrift
your analyst is
in on it
plus your boyfriend
and your ex-husband
and we have pledged
to disappoint you
as long as you need us
in announcing our
association
we realize we have
placed in your hands
a possible antidote
against uncertainty
indeed against ourselves
but since our Thursday nights
have brought us
to a community of purpose
rare in itself
with you as
the natural center
we feel hopeful you
will continue to make
unreasonable
demands for affection
if not as a consequence
of your
disastrous personality
then for the good of the collective
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 3:45 PM 0 comments
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wild Horse Annie speaks
Velma "Wild Horse Annie" Johnson's gravestone
Dear Readers,
My friend Carrol Able is a tireless champion for the West's wild horses. She uses her heart and head to find solutions that will suit humans as well as horses. Always, the horses come first, but even a champion can grow weary. Here's how she was able to go on, just the other day. Terri
I sat down with Wild Horse Annie today. We had quite the conversation. I complained of how convoluted her law had become, how it was now a life sentence for the very animals it was intended to protect. She listened quietly, never uttering a word. “ We really need your help.” I told her. She offered no reply.
The grass surrounding us was cool & refreshing, the day warm & clear. I closed my eyes and imagined a band of wild horses grazing peacefully nearby. How fitting it would have been. But alas ! Imaginings are nothing more than imaginings. There were no wild horses and Wild Horse Annie was not going to answer.
Beside me was a small and unassuming grave marker. In that, it was much like the woman buried there. Beneath the name Velma B. Johnston, Wild Horse Annie and the dates March 5, 1912 - June 27, 1977 are three mustangs, running wild and free. As I ran my fingers across the relief and looked closer at the image, I realized there was something unexpectedly ominous portrayed there.
The running mustang trio has reached the edge of a dangerous precipice with no choice left but to jump. The last of the three is rearing and looking over his shoulder as if deciding whether to fight or flee. Tears started flowing when I put the scene in the context of the battle we’re waging today. I started sobbing like a crazy fool and blurted out, “ Help me! I don’t know what else to do.”
It was then that a voice came to me,
a gentle but strong whisper in my ear.
“FIGHT” it said, “ Fight like a wild stallion.”
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 9:35 AM 2 comments
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
YES, YOU CAN (tell yourself a story)
Dear Readers,
Lots of your are writers as well as readers & you often write for advice.
Click here for Some of my best writing tips and then check out Writing Fix
You will love exploring!
Happy trails,
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 1:33 PM 0 comments
Sunday, July 17, 2011
To be a kelpie
photos by Kate McLachlan
Dear Readers,
Can you be homesick for an island you've only visited once? I am.
Shackleford Banks is a place of wild horses, wild bird, huge shells, swamps, swales and no human residents.
It was a long visit; for 10 days I worked with Earthwatch. Though my purpose was academic, every day I wondered how it would feel to BE one of those wild horses or a kelpie, a Celtic horse shape-shifter.
With that in mind, I'd like to share photos from one of my teammates, Kate McLachlan.
Enjoy!
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 7:58 AM 1 comments
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Love Poem with Horses
Love Poem
by Paul Zimmer
In southern France live two old horses,
High in the foothills, not even French,
But English, retired steeplechasers
Brought across to accept an old age
Of ambling together in the Pyrenees.
At times they whinny and kick
At one another with impatience,
But they have grown to love each other.
In time the gelding grows ill
And is taken away for treatment.
The mare pines, pokes at her food,
Dallies on her rides until the other
Comes home.
She is in her stall
When the trailer rumbles
Through the gate into the field,
And she sings with impatience
Until her door is opened.
Then full
Of sound and speed, in need of
Each other, they entwine their necks,
Rub muzzles, bumping flanks
To embrace in their own way.
Together they prance to
The choicest pasture,
Standing together and apart,
To be glad until
They can no longer be glad.
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 10:30 AM 3 comments
Monday, July 11, 2011
Needed: Blog Test (non)Dummies
"Help, help, this is a serious cry for help!"
Kermit the Frog, the MUPPET MOVIE
Dear Readers,
I admit I'm
-- in over my head
-- lost and confused
-- technologically challenged
but I'm beginning to think there's more than that going on. My blog WABI SABI WEST tells me it only has two followers.
I would take this to heart (and take to my bed, sobbing...uh, no, too hot for that)
if I hadn't tried repeatedly to sign up for my own blog & failed.
If you have time to give it a try & share your diagnosis, here's a link to my TerriFarley.com home page . Just click on my blog & see if you're able to subscribe.
This is not a transparent attempt to snag subscribers. It is, a Kermit the frog said
Thanks!
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 1:51 PM 3 comments
Friday, July 08, 2011
Newsletter Crossword Puzzle Answers!
If you've finished the crossword puzzle in my July newsletter, check to see how well you know the world of Terri's books.
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 4:54 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Wild Horses: Admirers Can Kill with Kindness
This rare photo (courtesy of Bonnie Matton) shows the real Phantom in a rural neighborhood. When captured, his herd had been decimated by dogs and cars and only one mare and one foal remained with him
Dear Readers,
If you love wild horses, don't treat them like pets.
Don't feed them treats. Don't touch them. Don't let them come up and touch you.
Your magical moment might cost a terrible price. Wild horses might pay with their freedom or their lives.
Not far from my Nevada home, one neighborhood not only has basketball hoops, mail boxes and lawn sprinklers, but mustangs. The horses have learned the dangers of cars and dogs, and usually take their spring foals to the cool mountains in summer.
But not this year. Maybe the new herd stallion grew up up near people and saw no reason to move on. Maybe he liked grazing on lawns or got a horse laugh from his domestic cousins breaking down their fences to see his pretty mares.
But maybe the stallion just felt no reason to head for the mares because his band was being lavished with apples, salt licks and soft touches.
So far, these neighbors have worked together to balance civilization and wildness.
So far, the Nevada Department of Agriculture has not rounded-up the mustangs and taken them to be auctioned off by the pound.
Please don't teach a wild horse to trust people, She may learn too late that some human hands carry guns, not carrots.
Best,
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:31 PM 1 comments
Saturday, July 02, 2011
We are Family
photo by Palomino Armstrong
Honeybandit, so long without a family band, is sandwiched between DaBubbles and Patches. Suri is just a stride away.
Anyone who questions the family bonds of mustangs needs to open his eyes and watch these four.
Happy Saturday,
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 5:11 PM 2 comments
Friday, July 01, 2011
Second Summer newsletter
ALOHA!
My second summer newsletter should be out this weekend and I'll be taking you to Hawaii!
You'll learn about the beautiful Pa'u Riders, the Kona Nightingales and, if all goes well, the Phantom Stallion newsletter will premiere its first crossword puzzle!
Keep your eyes open for its arrival and, if you haven't signed up for your free subscription yet, click on this link
Phantom Stallion newsletter , then jet on over & fill in your email address. That's it!
Mahalo,
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 5:33 PM 0 comments
Use Your Lovely Hula Head!
Dear Readers,
I'm working on my next newsletter & wanted to give you a heads-up on the August contest.
I'll be sharing Hawaiian research photos and asking you which fictional event they helped me to describe! Of course this will be a book from my WILD HORSE ISLAND series. You don't have to supply the book's title or number, because if you're correct about the event & character, I'll send you a free, autographed copy of the book.
Start thinking hula thoughts!
Aloha,
Terri
Labels: August 2011 newsletter, Hawaii, wild horse island
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 8:20 PM 0 comments
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Which Wolf? a proverb
An old Cherokee told his grandson, "There is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies & ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy & truth."
The boy thought about it, and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?"
The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed."
Rayna, shown above, lives just outside Reno, Nevada, and welcomes humans to summer dusk howl-alongs at the
Animal Ark refuge
Labels: kindness, Two Wolves
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 12:13 PM 1 comments
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Thousand Year Old Horse Festival helps heal Fukushima
Japan's quake region holds samurai festival
(AFP)
TOKYO — Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima region has kicked off a thousand-year-old horse festival, with riders in samurai armour defying an ongoing nuclear crisis to take to the streets and vow recovery.
The "Soma Namaoi", or wild horse chase, featured some 80 horses with riders in full samurai armour, and was dedicated this year to praying for those killed in the March disasters and for the reconstruction of local communities.
Locals marched through city streets just outside the 20-kilometre (12-mile) exclusion zone where nuclear workers are still battling to cool overheated reactors at a stricken atomic plant.
Michitane Soma, a direct descendant of the Soma clan which once governed the area, addressed the riders, each of whom carried a black mourning badge.
"Believe in the strength of the tradition of Soma Nomaoi," the 36-year-old said tearfully.
"March on and pray for the swift reconstruction of eastern Japan."
The three-day festival originates from secret military exercises held by 10th-century samurai warriors under the Soma clan, using horses as mock enemy soldiers.
The festival organisers had considered cancelling this year's event after many local residents were killed in the March 11 tsunami and earthquake, which left about 22,000 people dead or missing in total.
Other residents were forced to evacuate their homes, while many horses were also killed in the twin disasters.
But organisers decided to go ahead with the festival on a reduced scale from previous years, when the horses numbered 500.
And it took a more sombre tone than usual. Horse races with armoured riders were cancelled, as were the usual competitions to catch flags shot into the air with fireworks.
Labels: horse festival, Japanese tsunami, Soma Namaoi
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 9:35 AM 0 comments
Friday, July 22, 2011
Read ONLY if you appreciate sarcasm & cynicism
We Who Are Your Closest Friends
by Phillip Lopate
we who are
your closest friends
feel the time
has come to tell you
that every Thursday
we have been meeting
as a group
to devise ways
to keep you
in perpetual uncertainty
frustration
discontent and
torture
by neither loving you
as much as you want
nor cutting you adrift
your analyst is
in on it
plus your boyfriend
and your ex-husband
and we have pledged
to disappoint you
as long as you need us
in announcing our
association
we realize we have
placed in your hands
a possible antidote
against uncertainty
indeed against ourselves
but since our Thursday nights
have brought us
to a community of purpose
rare in itself
with you as
the natural center
we feel hopeful you
will continue to make
unreasonable
demands for affection
if not as a consequence
of your
disastrous personality
then for the good of the collective
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 3:45 PM 0 comments
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wild Horse Annie speaks
Velma "Wild Horse Annie" Johnson's gravestone
Dear Readers,
My friend Carrol Able is a tireless champion for the West's wild horses. She uses her heart and head to find solutions that will suit humans as well as horses. Always, the horses come first, but even a champion can grow weary. Here's how she was able to go on, just the other day. Terri
I sat down with Wild Horse Annie today. We had quite the conversation. I complained of how convoluted her law had become, how it was now a life sentence for the very animals it was intended to protect. She listened quietly, never uttering a word. “ We really need your help.” I told her. She offered no reply.
The grass surrounding us was cool & refreshing, the day warm & clear. I closed my eyes and imagined a band of wild horses grazing peacefully nearby. How fitting it would have been. But alas ! Imaginings are nothing more than imaginings. There were no wild horses and Wild Horse Annie was not going to answer.
Beside me was a small and unassuming grave marker. In that, it was much like the woman buried there. Beneath the name Velma B. Johnston, Wild Horse Annie and the dates March 5, 1912 - June 27, 1977 are three mustangs, running wild and free. As I ran my fingers across the relief and looked closer at the image, I realized there was something unexpectedly ominous portrayed there.
The running mustang trio has reached the edge of a dangerous precipice with no choice left but to jump. The last of the three is rearing and looking over his shoulder as if deciding whether to fight or flee. Tears started flowing when I put the scene in the context of the battle we’re waging today. I started sobbing like a crazy fool and blurted out, “ Help me! I don’t know what else to do.”
It was then that a voice came to me,
a gentle but strong whisper in my ear.
“FIGHT” it said, “ Fight like a wild stallion.”
Labels: wild horse Annie
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 9:35 AM 2 comments
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
YES, YOU CAN (tell yourself a story)
Dear Readers,
Lots of your are writers as well as readers & you often write for advice.
Click here for Some of my best writing tips and then check out Writing Fix
You will love exploring!
Happy trails,
Terri
Labels: Writers Corner, writing fix
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 1:33 PM 0 comments
Sunday, July 17, 2011
To be a kelpie
photos by Kate McLachlan
Dear Readers,
Can you be homesick for an island you've only visited once? I am.
Shackleford Banks is a place of wild horses, wild bird, huge shells, swamps, swales and no human residents.
It was a long visit; for 10 days I worked with Earthwatch. Though my purpose was academic, every day I wondered how it would feel to BE one of those wild horses or a kelpie, a Celtic horse shape-shifter.
With that in mind, I'd like to share photos from one of my teammates, Kate McLachlan.
Enjoy!
Terri
Labels: Earthwatch, Shackleford Banks, wild horses
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 7:58 AM 1 comments
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Love Poem with Horses
Love Poem
by Paul Zimmer
In southern France live two old horses,
High in the foothills, not even French,
But English, retired steeplechasers
Brought across to accept an old age
Of ambling together in the Pyrenees.
At times they whinny and kick
At one another with impatience,
But they have grown to love each other.
In time the gelding grows ill
And is taken away for treatment.
The mare pines, pokes at her food,
Dallies on her rides until the other
Comes home.
She is in her stall
When the trailer rumbles
Through the gate into the field,
And she sings with impatience
Until her door is opened.
Then full
Of sound and speed, in need of
Each other, they entwine their necks,
Rub muzzles, bumping flanks
To embrace in their own way.
Together they prance to
The choicest pasture,
Standing together and apart,
To be glad until
They can no longer be glad.
Labels: Ghost Dancer and shell flower, Paul Zimmer
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 10:30 AM 3 comments
Monday, July 11, 2011
Needed: Blog Test (non)Dummies
"Help, help, this is a serious cry for help!"
Kermit the Frog, the MUPPET MOVIE
Dear Readers,
I admit I'm
-- in over my head
-- lost and confused
-- technologically challenged
but I'm beginning to think there's more than that going on. My blog WABI SABI WEST tells me it only has two followers.
I would take this to heart (and take to my bed, sobbing...uh, no, too hot for that)
if I hadn't tried repeatedly to sign up for my own blog & failed.
If you have time to give it a try & share your diagnosis, here's a link to my TerriFarley.com home page . Just click on my blog & see if you're able to subscribe.
This is not a transparent attempt to snag subscribers. It is, a Kermit the frog said
Thanks!
Terri
Labels: blog, Kermit the frog, subscriber help, Wabi Sabi West
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 1:51 PM 3 comments
Friday, July 08, 2011
Newsletter Crossword Puzzle Answers!
If you've finished the crossword puzzle in my July newsletter, check to see how well you know the world of Terri's books.
Labels: july newsletter answers
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 4:54 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Wild Horses: Admirers Can Kill with Kindness
This rare photo (courtesy of Bonnie Matton) shows the real Phantom in a rural neighborhood. When captured, his herd had been decimated by dogs and cars and only one mare and one foal remained with him
Dear Readers,
If you love wild horses, don't treat them like pets.
Don't feed them treats. Don't touch them. Don't let them come up and touch you.
Your magical moment might cost a terrible price. Wild horses might pay with their freedom or their lives.
Not far from my Nevada home, one neighborhood not only has basketball hoops, mail boxes and lawn sprinklers, but mustangs. The horses have learned the dangers of cars and dogs, and usually take their spring foals to the cool mountains in summer.
But not this year. Maybe the new herd stallion grew up up near people and saw no reason to move on. Maybe he liked grazing on lawns or got a horse laugh from his domestic cousins breaking down their fences to see his pretty mares.
But maybe the stallion just felt no reason to head for the mares because his band was being lavished with apples, salt licks and soft touches.
So far, these neighbors have worked together to balance civilization and wildness.
So far, the Nevada Department of Agriculture has not rounded-up the mustangs and taken them to be auctioned off by the pound.
Please don't teach a wild horse to trust people, She may learn too late that some human hands carry guns, not carrots.
Best,
Terri
Labels: neighborhood mustangs
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:31 PM 1 comments
Saturday, July 02, 2011
We are Family
photo by Palomino Armstrong
Honeybandit, so long without a family band, is sandwiched between DaBubbles and Patches. Suri is just a stride away.
Anyone who questions the family bonds of mustangs needs to open his eyes and watch these four.
Happy Saturday,
Terri
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 5:11 PM 2 comments
Friday, July 01, 2011
Second Summer newsletter
ALOHA!
My second summer newsletter should be out this weekend and I'll be taking you to Hawaii!
You'll learn about the beautiful Pa'u Riders, the Kona Nightingales and, if all goes well, the Phantom Stallion newsletter will premiere its first crossword puzzle!
Keep your eyes open for its arrival and, if you haven't signed up for your free subscription yet, click on this link
Phantom Stallion newsletter , then jet on over & fill in your email address. That's it!
Mahalo,
Terri
Labels: july newsletter
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 5:33 PM 0 comments