Johanna M. Bolton
Author    Artist  Musician    Teacher

Home

My
Books

Contact

.
Resume

Pets

IDBPI
International Digital Book Publisher

GrayPonyLady

"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."

Brief Bio
My father once told me not to tell him what I was going to do, but to show him what I had done.  I listened to him.  I've done a lot of things ... I'm still doing a lot of things.

Leonard Thomas Bolton, Jr. with his plane in Japan - he was a liaison pilot for the artillery in WWII

I need to write my father's story one day: he started in the Army as a buck private and after many years of dedicated service, retired as a Colonel.  He started with less than nothing; he was an orphan, passed from relative to relative since no one wanted him.  He never had a real home until he married my mother and my grandmother more or less adopted him.  She adored him!  My Dad was what they called a self-made man, he never complained or made excuses. Everything he achieved he did through honest hard work.  I am very proud to be his daughter.

Although I was born in New York City, my parents immediately took me traveling, first to Oklahoma, then to Japan, to Virginia, to Germany, back to New York.   That first trip, however, was my initiation as an Army brat.  It has been a great life-style, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Over the years, I have studied fine art, biology, history, tai chi, karate; taught classes in pre-school, high school, college.  I have written textbooks, fanzines, features for a newspaper, science fiction novels; worked on comic books and cartoon shows; kept horses (still do), trained show dogs, bred tropical fish, ridden my BMW motorcycle through the Rocky Mountains.  Oh, and I play music, too ... flute, keyboards, harp, recorders, autoharp.  I used to play guitar, and now I am learning to play the Irish fiddle.

I was married twice, helped raise three step-children ... might consider marriage again if I found the right partner/friend (male). Any and all of this is subject to change at any time and without notice.

"Women and cats will do exactly what they please,
and men and dogs had better get used to it."
Robert Heinlein

Pets
These are my special friends

Here are the horses, 1) Gus 2) Penny, Dolly, & her filly, Robin.
Gus is my beautiful old Lipizzan gelding, aka Gus, The Magnificant.
Penny is a lovely little Haflinger mare I got to pull my cart in the woods …
except she’s also a pretty good saddle horse, so she hasn’t learned to drive yet. And Dolly is the other Haflinger who does pull my cart in the woods ... except she got a bit of a vacation when I discovered she was bred! She delivered this beautiful half Arab filly on May 2nd, 2010. I got to videotape the whole thing! I put one of the videos up on YouTube - It's called Robin’s Morning.m4v:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=K68-FVvZD1U
My YouTube ID is TheGrayPonyLady

The BIG Dogs: 1) Oliver and Tomiko, 2) Tomiko.
The title of the first photograph is:
"We know you're eating something. Where's ours?" 

Oliver was a puppy that someone threw away -- he was about a month old when he showed up here ... a tiny thing, scared to death.  He's now quite large. He looks like a cross between a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler.  The tan dog is Tomiko, an Akita, which is a Japanese breed once used for hunting bears.  She is also quite large.  She eats houses and chain link fence.  As for the poodle (below) ... well, he just happened. I wouldn't consider myself a poodle type person, but apparently I have no idea what that means.  (So, exactly what is a poodle person?) And so a small poodle came to live in my house.  And the terrorist ... I mean terrier!

Mouse is a color called sable, which is quite beautiful – it’s a sort of champagne beige shaded with gold and black. The color is not recognized by the AKC – they only accept solid colored poodles, alas, but if you want to see some gorgeous poodle colors, check out the parti-colored poodle world at partipoodleworld.com. (I want a phantom!). Mouse is UKC registered, and soon to be AKC, but he is only allowed to show in obedience, agility, and other performance competitions. He cannot be bred or shown in competition classes.

People still can’t understand why I got a poodle.  To be perfectly frank, neither can I.  But I’m very happy with the result!

My favorite photo of Mouse

All photos by JMBolton (c) 2010

My pets aren't spoiled,
they always smell this way!

It's difficult for me to think of these beings that share my life as mere "pets."  They are my dependents in that I take care of them and provide them with food and shelter.  In return I receive their companionship, affection, and a share of their joy.  But I try not to impose anymore of myself on them beyond teaching them basic good manners,  and so their natural personalities are able to express themselves.

I am constantly amazed at the wonder of animals --  these entities that share the Earth with us.  Of this population, my non-human companions are only a small part,  but my life would be impoverished without them. They make me happy and they make me humble.  They have taught me that we are not alone on this Earth,  and that we must take better care of the place that is home to all of us. And that we need to respect these, our gentle brothers and sisters.

In memory of Max,
1985 to 1998;
Mastiff x Doberman,
my very special friend.
I miss him.
I always will.