Thursday, June 21, 2012

Wild Horses, Wild Weather


Here in the Mid-Atlantic, we’re in the grip of a sticky, sweltering heat wave today. As the afternoon steamed on, the thermometer outside my office window read 96 degrees, but with humid air sitting over everything like a damp sponge, the heat index was well over 100. I had ridden Remy early, but there was no beating the heat, even at 8 a.m. Both of us, I and my wonderful horse, sweated and puffed and were happy to be done by 9. Then he got a cold shower, some sweet hay, and a couple of horse cookies that he enjoyed under his fan which, though it only blew hot air around, at least kept the flies away. I got the air conditioner in my car, cranked up to full blast.

On Assateague Island, Maryland—some 200 miles to the south—I imagine the wild horses made their way to the ocean and stood up to their bellies in the surf during the hottest part of the day. Greenheads and other biting flies would be out on a day like this, along with clouds of mosquitoes, and this is one method these small feral horses have devised over hundreds of years to survive extremes of summer in their unnatural home.

When I first thought of writing about the wild horses of Assateague, it was their vulnerability and toughness that most impressed me. It still is. By the time my book, Wild Horse Scientists, is published on November 6 of this year by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, as part of the acclaimed “Scientists in the Field” series, the Atlantic hurricane season of 2012 will be nearing an end. I hope it will have been kind to humans and other animals alike. Now, when summer storms or winter blizzards hit this part of the world, I always think of the island horses who manage to survive whatever nature throws at them without any of the comforts or protections my pampered domestic horse enjoys. The brilliant Diane Ackerman wrote about this very thing last month in the New York Times; you can read her article here.


This is my very first blog post ever, so I’m going to be figuring out what I want to say at the same time that I’m saying it. As publication date nears, I expect to post a bit more frequently, but for now I just want to say, “welcome!” I hope you’ll come back often, and that you’ll share your own thoughts and comments. In the meantime, I just want to share a bit of good news: Wild Horse Scientists has been chosen by the Junior Library Guild, and will be featured in their fall 2012 catalog. This is a huge honor, and what makes it even more exciting is that the JLG picks the books it will showcase prior to the actual publication of those books. These last few months of waiting for the book to become real are hard, but hearing that my book was selected makes that day seem just that little bit closer!

6 comments:

  1. What a journey you've had from inception to finish of this book, and how pleased and satisfied you must be with how it all turned out. I can't wait to see it either! Is this beauty included in the book, or was this one of the many wonderful photos you had to eliminate?

    As a "false start" blogger myself, I wish you success at this new endeavor. I'll be following you :>)

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  2. Thanks, Judy! As you well know, you were a part of this journey from the get-go, so you know all the twists and turns. Yes, this photo will appear in the book. I'm lucky to have had two such wonderful photographers along on the journey, too.

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  3. Beautiful first post, Kay! I plan to return often.
    I can't wait to read your book this fall.
    Congratulations!!

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  4. Thanks, Sheri! I look forward to seeing you here, and can't wait for that book, either. It's been a long time coming!

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  5. I enjoyed your post, Kay. Very interesting to think about how wild and barn-dwelling horses deal with the heat.

    I'm so looking forward to seeing your book. November doesn't seem that far in the future anymore.

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  6. Hi, Karin!! Thanks for commenting :)

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