I wonder if they have a designated person to keep the pea gravel raked. For those of you who might be interested in the young equestrian and his mount here's a link to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. And we're not speaking about a Welsh Mountain pony either, Roby is astride a Percheron. Can you imagine what a driver might think when he's sitting at a stop light and sees this crossing the road at 6:30 in the morning. I did read where he had to stop riding to school. "Burch told The Philadelphia Inquirer that school trustees decided in October that the horse was a liability. The teen then began keeping Jet at his uncle's house nearby. However, Burch said Jet hurt his hoof from the repeated trips over pavement. Another family horse twice escaped while Burch was in class. Now he's getting a ride from his parents. The 16-year-old hopes to get his driver's license in February." The first article was printed in Sept, 2010 so Roby should certainly be driving and probably off to college by now. Here is a link that might be useful: Roby and Jet This post was edited by maire_cate on Thu, Jan 2, 14 at 16:27

Wow, thanks. I had not seen that. One frustration with my tour is not enough time in Florence. I hope to get to as much as I can and plan to return some day. I am busy pulling my hair out with packing while also learning about what I will be seeing and how to plan free time Thanks for sharing that, Mtn. Off to read it now!

Thanks for all the new wishes! This birthday has lasted all weekend. I had a great day today marching in the Memorial Day parade, carrying the library banner. Only one kid on a bike ran into the back of my ankle -- that was better than other years!

Thanks for the additional wishes! The parade was a riot, as always. More people in it than watching it. This year we were behind the kids on bikes but in front of a giant Percheron horse. Guess it's better to be in front of a horse! He kept whinnying and I thought for sure we would be trampled. Actually, he did pretty well and so did we.