You have three magic genie wishes, what are you asking for?
That will do.
How much would you pay to go to the moon?
Nah. I have no need to go to the moon. I like it where it is and me where I am. All the lunar romance, metaphor, and legend falls away when you view the moon as a large cratered hunk of rock. I do think it’s amazing that our moon is the exact right size to create eclipses, though. That is one thing that makes me wonder if there’s an intelligent designer of the universe. Maybe the only thing…
…meanwhile, back in my little spot on Gaia, Mother Nature has taken on a benevolent aspect, at least for a time, and graced us with rain not just one, but two nights in a row! Yesterday’s total was over two inches, and tonight it’s rained hard for quite a while. There was a little water in the creek today. I look forward to seeing how our tanks look tomorrow.
But during the day, it was pleasant, which enabled me to get my eyes examined right in Cameron, Texas (what a luxury), which included interesting conversations on current events where I just listened. I rewarded myself with a visit to the bakery for a nice sticky bun. Mmm.
I’d thought my next task, getting Apache ready for a lesson, would be quick and easy. I was mistaken. I now have all dark gray horses, the exact color of our dirt. Apache had really been getting into his mud spa treatment and was concentrating particularly on his mane. He was encrusted. I regret not photographing it, but was pressed for time.
I did my best in the limited time I had to wash him off, but it was not successful. At least he was clean enough to put a saddle on and did well even with the distractions of gunshots and frolicking foals. He’s sure come a long way.
That’s about all I have to write about today, because rather than contemplating wasting my money going to visit a cratered rock, I spent the rest of the day contemplating the value of life, the importance of friendship, and how we need to enjoy every moment we have on this planet, even when things are more than a little wonky.
Please know that if you’re my friend, you matter to me very much. And even if I don’t know you, I wish you a good life.
Where to start? The day started out good and kept getting better. Look at this sunrise!
And I was happy to see yesterday’s new calf and mama cow looked much perkier this morning and nursing was going well. I think they’re fine.
I also felt better today, after a slow start. Maybe my head is healing. I’m at least able to do complicated tasks at work.
After work came the best part of the day, very healing and gratifying. Jackie came to do bodywork on Apache, and I decided to see if she could maybe help out Drew, too. He’d been pretty good recently.
After grooming my sweaty Paint boy, I brought Drew out and proceeded to groom him. He was fine. So, as we waited for Jackie, I got to work on his tail, which, sigh, was full of burs, thanks to the horses grazing in the only spot that still has them (I couldn’t even see them when I called them in to eat; I just heard thundering hooves until they came around the pond). With no trouble at all, I got that tail all smooth and shiny.
After Jackie arrived and started working on Apache, who she says is doing very well, I bravely approached his mane, sprayed detangler, and started brushing. There weren’t too many burs, but they came out with no issues. THEN he let me get burs out of his forelock! And asked to have his head rubbed!! What the heck?
That was the start of a wonderful afternoon with Droodles. Perhaps the Adequin (or however you spell it) really kicked in and he feels better. But we had a nice bit of exercise in which he walked, trotted, and cantered pretty calmly, followed by some hand grazing and bonding. I could stroke him, rub his head, let him nuzzle my hand…no scary biting or kicking! Wow!
And he did a good job with the bodywork. When he wanted to say he was uncomfortable, he did, but Jackie could calm him right back down so he could stretch or whatever she asked him for.
Afterwards, she showed me how she used calming breaths and distraction, while keeping herself safe. My mind was blown. I can do that! And it’s more how I’d like to work with him. This information was invaluable and encouraging.
We also had a great talk about how long it takes to create a great partnership and a great horse. Her story of Jambo, her horse who just retired, has inspired me. Maybe I can keep going slowly with Drew, work on the ground some more, make sure his pain is managed, and we can go forward.
I just have to get both horses to the vet to get assessed. Now that I feel less head pain, I will get to work. And maybe I can go back to enjoying both horses. It was SO nice to have a good day with Drew.
And one final good part of the day: IT RAINED. I think it was enough to measure, and will know more tomorrow. It was so exciting that Kathleen and I ran out to check for raindrops in the pool. We hope more substantial rain comes tomorrow, since it’s badly needed.
I miss rain. There was a trace while I was out of town, but otherwise no rain since early September. Today the weather toyed with me.
Some nice clouds rolled in early this morning. It got very quiet and the air felt encouraging. It was oddly warm. The birds and I were hopeful.
Alas, the beautiful dark clouds drifted away. Sigh.
On the positive side, it was a great day for birds. I declared it to be the start of Ornithological Winter, because a White-throated Sparrow appeared (more than one, actually). Combined with Chipping Sparrows, Pipits, and passing Sandhill Cranes, I’m confident the season has changed, bird-wise. It will cool off and rain soon!
I’m admittedly tired of having my head feel weird every time I try to do anything more strenuous than walk. Horse grooming and exercising got me worried the cut would re-open, so lucky horses are just getting Bur removal. Yes, as hard as we tried to eliminate them, horses can still find burs.
Ugh. I’m just not feeling 100% so I’ll write more when I’m more myself.
Ah. Today we got beautiful rain, over 2” but I won’t measure until the morning. It was another great day to read on the porch!
I was sorry to miss my horse lesson but we’ve rescheduled for tomorrow. Let’s hope tomorrow’s rain is not between 10-1 or at least not heavy. I can ride in light rain. The horses spent the day blissfully cool. Once it wasn’t raining hard, they were out enjoying the “low” temperatures.
I, too, appreciated having a day without drips of sweat in my eyes and sopping wet bras. I did try not wearing a bra, but the sweat running down to my wisdom belly was also unpleasant. I’m not gonna sit inside all day like a delicate creature, though. Knowing it will be more pleasant in a few weeks gives me hope.
The other thing I liked about this respite from blazing hot sun is that sunsets are so pretty with clouds in the sky. I enjoyed today’s sunset by the pool while I watched nighthawks eliminating excess insects.
I guess the best part about staying inside most of the day was that I got a lot of comforting reading done (Braiding Sweetgrass), got my August birds added up, crocheted almost all of the August section of the temperature blanket, and got my journal ready for September. What that really means is that I played with all my toys: books, colorful pens, paper, washi stickers, and oh yes, yarn! My indoor toys sometimes get neglected when I’m outside all the time.
Today was lots of fun in the bird department, as lots of songbirds decided to let me see them. At last I truly believe that Orchard Orioles and Yelliwthroats live in my trees. There was also a Kestrel around all day.
So, I was in a meeting with no agenda (open office hours) with my three fellow Subject Matter Experts, and we were collaborating on various issues when one of us mentioned going for nature walks. That got me and another woman all excited about this ghost plant (Monotropa uniflora) she had seen earlier in the week, and we got into fruits we can forage in Oregon and Texas.
About ten minutes into our rapturous discussion of things we see in the woods, our more urban counterpart told us that she gave in and we’d converted her into looking more closely wherever she walks. I think we felt like we’d accomplished much more that just solving work issues today.
I guess that’s enough cheerful talk for the day, but I must interject that, even though rain was close again today, none fell, so Apache and I had a nice practice session and great time on the trail. I think he’s used to it now!
I woke up this morning struggling with some of my “areas for improvement,” and I wasn’t feeling well at all. I’m grateful that I e trained myself to find the good around me, and after adding up all that fine energy, I ended the day with a smile on my face.
I struggled a bit with what I was working on this morning, thinking it just wouldn’t do. But I went to lunch with my friends and ended up enjoying two new people, and chatting with them about their lives helped me out of a downward spiral. Another good little thing!
I went to a meeting after lunch and was able to brainstorm solutions to a problem and then got help on what I was working on. Just a little feedback and collaboration and I felt more confident. The collaboration and support we give each other in this job is gratifying!
I sent my draft document to the person who’d requested it, and he liked it! I got quite happy about then. Plus I heard that (after much effort by me and my nurse-practitioner) my thyroid medication was approved by my health insurance, and I managed to figure out why I couldn’t enter my expenses from my trip and got that done! Win win win!
And to top off the list of small but good things, Vicki came over and we rode horses together. The weather was unbelievable for August, very pleasant with light cloud cover. Only the horses got all sweaty.
Apache was in good form and practiced all his tasks very well. The best part for me was that because we went to the round pen so Vicki could ride Drew with some boundaries, Apache and I had lots of time to practice our walk-trot transitions. At some point I realized we were having a great time together. Drew was a challenge, but Vicki handled him very well. She is far more confident than I am on him.
I could have ridden for hours in that lovely weather, but we ended at a successful point. I even practiced getting correct bends with Apache on the way back.
Oh, one more Apache story. Today I figured out why he was refusing to jump over the cavalettis. After he refused three times again today, I went over there and found a large Yellowjacket nest. He was trying to tell me! There was also a nest on the mounting block, and I eliminated both nests. Moral: listen to your horse.
I’m glad I paid attention today! Those were so many fine little things.
The morning was pleasant and fair.
Then it got very hot, over 100°F. Suddenly a small but mighty storm blew in. It really blew.
Winds came up and I watched dust and bits of harvest debris flying around. The horses were in a tizzy. I flew around in the heavy winds until the lightning got close and I sensibly went onto the porch.
Luckily it was just a severe thunderstorm and not a tornado cell. Lee and I watched it blow through, with sideways rain and spectacular lightning. It turned out the people across the road were doing the same thing on their porch!
We only got .08” of rain, but that’s better than nothing.
Once the storm passed, the temperature went down 15° and it was lovely.
I went for a nice walk and enjoyed watching swallows and nighthawks catching bugs around sunset. A wonderful surprise was seeing a nighthawk sitting on an electric wire in front of our house. You rarely get to see a perched nightjar.
I ended up seeing or hearing 53 bird species today. Looks like some early migration is happening. We are getting some warblers and quite a few sandpipers. It’s good to have them to distract me from other sudden storms that blow in out of the blue!
Tell the people you appreciate how much they mean to you.
What did you do today? As you can guess from the title of this blog entry I did at least two things. Both were fun.
First thing this morning, neighbor Vicki and I went to College Station to a fun Horseman’s Market Fay hosted by the Brazos Valley Driving and Riding Club. This is like a giant garage sale of horse stuff. I had no idea there were so many moldy saddles and bridles, not to mention very used halters, bits, and blankets. But I also saw some beautiful used tack and true treasures.
Each of us saw people we knew (yes, I know a couple horse people, too) and even found a woman who lives in Ben Arnold and knows where we live due to Vicki’s sheep and matching pony.
We did find treasures of our own. I got a baseball cap that says Cowboy Hat, a horse thermometer, a come-along string (green), a funny shirt, and a bunch of hoof picks with silver accents that I will donate to Tarrin for show prizes.
The most fun thing I got was a really pretty leather breast collar with silver accents and black-and-white leather detail. I just loved how it was elegant but not gaudy. It will go with Apache’s saddle.
If you don’t know what this is, it is decorative and also keeps the saddle from slipping when climbing steep hills. If I’m able to replace one hook on it, I’ll show it to you on Apache.
After we had each found our horse equipment treasures, Vicki took me to see border collies doing herding trials. This was in a nice arena with air conditioning and lots of large bags of wool. I think she said they also grade wool there.
I met some of Vicki’s herding dog friends and had a great time watching the dogs staring at the sheep.
The reason we glared at the sheep is that they were pretty weird. They spent most of their lives so far eating grass under solar farms. It’s a good gig. Lots of shade.
The problem is that they didn’t know much about anything except eating grass. They didn’t realize they were supposed to be intimidated by dogs, so once they were let out, they just stared back at the gate they came out of, not paying attention to the dogs. Occasionally one would stomp its hooves.
Many of the dog/human pairs just gave up, but a few of them got those sheep going in the right circles, separated one from the group, and got them all into a pen. That was really impressive.
I hope I get to go to more of these in the future. I’m very impressed by the hard work both the dogs and humans have to do to move the sheep!
I relaxed most of the rest of the day, which featured suffocating heat. You can get overheated so easily!
I’ve been in the Portland, Oregon area since yesterday morning, here for work meetings at my fine new job. I’ve had a great time so far, and feel like I’ve contributed to some good work with this company.
I’ve had no issues getting my exercise in, because I’ve walked back and forth between buildings many times. Each meeting seems to be in a different building. It would be fun, except it’s as hot as Texas! It will cool off, maybe.
It’s pretty here but I don’t see myself having much time to see any nature. I’ll keep trying! The work setting is great, too. I’ve learned a lot about the amazing machines this company produces for the semiconductor industry, and I enjoyed seeing the research areas very much.
Mostly I’m really enjoying meeting my coworkers and the people we are helping. I’ve had a lot of fun chatting and laughing as well as getting lots done. Any hiccups have been worth it. Maybe I’ll get to come back someday.
I hope to be less tired and more coherent tomorrow! Maybe I’ll be able to describe my days better.
The tarot card of the day was the Child of Water (Page of Cups).
She reminds me of myself as a child, who ran along the beach in Sarasota, Florida. I found out a coworker now lives there today, so the card evokes my memories. The card just reminds me of myself, the little dreamer. Currently the very tired little dreamer in the Pacific Northwest.
The Hermits' Rest 