Painted Ponies

For much of this weekend, I have had "The Circle Game" by Joni Mitchell in my head.  Earlier, I was singing to Miranda and I heard Gary say, "Sing that last one again".  I looked up and asked what he was talking about.  Apparently the song was not just in my head.  I had been singing it out loud.

I wrote about that song back in October 2012 and how much I liked it.  How much it resonated with me.  And here, less than a year later, I am able to sing that song to my daughter.  It brought tears to my eyes.

I could not figure out why it popped into my head now.  Why it was on repeat all weekend long.  Then I took a step back and it all made sense.

On Friday evening, pre-bath time for Miranda and post-work time for Gary (I had the day off),  we went to a new local comic book store.  My husband loves any and all things comic related so when he said there was a new store that he wanted to check out since a friend from work told him they had a good selection, I did not think twice about it.  I just asked when we were leaving.

When we arrived, I had this odd sensation that everyone was looking at me.  Gary's coworker met us at the door and ushered us in.  Now usually, in a comic book store, I am one of the only women.  And in this instance, Miranda was certainly the only baby.  But it wasn't that.  It was something else entirely.

My memory is a little fuzzy as what came next was a surprise and I am very rarely surprised.  Gary mentioned that he had a surprise for me and I turned around and saw the wife of his coworker sitting at a little table.  On the table were 2 little painted clay ponies. No more than 5 inches tall.  One in the style of Captain America and the other like Wonder Woman.  I had never seen anything like it!  Turns out, this woman is an artist and she makes little clay ponies for whomever wants them!  She had a display in the comic book store and her husband mentioned it to Gary when he was telling Gary about this store.  Gary asked if she did commissions.  Like that, an idea was born.

As I was looking at these unique pieces of art, the woman reached down into a nearby box and said she had something else that might be interesting to me as well.  And out came this piece:

Our Family

There are 4 ponies.  A dragon pony for Gary as that has been his nickname since we got together.  We joked once that he did not have a Hebrew name so that is the name he and my brother decided would be his Hebrew name.  It stuck.  Next, there is a turtle pony to represent me.  She even has my hair.  Next was a slightly smaller rainbow pony / unicorn for Miranda.  She has a heart with an "M" and all the colors of the rainbow.  Last, but not least, is the butterfly pony for Allie.  A dark mane of hair and full, beautiful wings make her stand out.  They are all on a walnut wood base.

I started to cry.  Good tears.  Sad tears.  Surprised tears.  Happy tears.  I always love to be reminded of Allie and to see "her" sitting there snugly with the rest of our family, well, it was almost magical to me.

All the characters together

 And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

I was speechless the whole ride home from the comic book store.  In some ways, I still am.


The ponies are a reminder of the how much I am loved.  Of how whimsical my husband can be.  Of how cute my family can be when made into ponies!

All weekend long, during brunch with my side of the family yesterday and then again today, during lunch with some friends we met through our adoption agency, the ponies kept leaping into my mind.  No wonder I keep singing this song!

Since going back to work, I am finding myself feeling overwhelmed quite a bit.  I feel pulled in so many different directions and I am not sure I am getting it all "right".  This special and rare and one-of-a kind gift from Gary is a little reminder of how much I mean to him and how much our family means to us.  Little clay ponies!  How cool is that??

I can't wait till Miranda gets up in the morning and I can sing that song to her.  I can't wait for her to get older and for me to share the ponies with her.  I can't wait to see what our carousel has in store for us!