and now, fog

We woke up this morning to dense fog, so thick our neighboring houses were not visible. It felt like we were on top of a mountain here, very isolated from the outside world.

I kind of like that.

My husband took my camera out when he opened the back gate for the horses, and got a few photos of the herd in the fog.

I think personalities become pretty clear, even when surrounded by fog.

Keil Bay and Apache Moon go about business as usual. Eating tops pretty much any weather event.



Cody follows more slowly, looking like a spotted horse because of the shavings he's wearing. A young man needs his beauty rest!



Salina is ready to head out, but is held back by the donkeys. Redford is ready to go too, but can't quite bring himself to leave Rafer Johnson, who says Do you REALLY expect us to go out in this?



Supposedly the fog will burn away in a bit and we'll have more sunshine.

here comes the sun

No rain today, and this afternoon, later than expected, the sun finally came out. The horses and donkeys were ready for it - Keil Bay galloped in from the field for his breakfast tub, Cody spent his time waiting for breakfast in the arena doing beautiful trot work all on his own, and Salina was doing pirouettes in the paddock. I kept having to leave the feed room to see all this lovely action, which made breakfast take longer than usual, and the longer it took, the more they moved.

In spite of my happiness to see the sunshine, I still had a case of the blahs, and did not manage a ride as I had planned. Finally in the late afternoon I groomed two of the mudcakes, Keil Bay and Salina, and worked on the donkey boys a little while my daughter rode Cody.

They were all happy and ready to come in from the first full day in the field they've had since last Wednesday. And according to the 10-day forecast, there is nothing but sunshine in our near future, with nice temps for the horses.

I came in with the lovely soft, relaxed muscles that come from doing the exact right amount of work. That grooming was a good idea, and I hope the horses have the same good feeling.

rainy day donkeys

Each morning when I come out to the barn I get at least one good morning bray and always two sweet donkey faces letting me know they are ready for breakfast. Even on rainy mornings!



I love that they can eat together so respectfully. They get the privilege of eating in the barn aisle because they are so very controlled and courteous. I can't imagine the horse geldings behaving this responsibly!



Everyone got about 8 hours in the field before the rain kicked back in, and tomorrow is supposed to dawn sunny and nice, so if they can hang in there one more soggy night, we should get some relief from the wet stuff.

salt

Isabel Zuber's novel Salt was published in 2002, and has been on my list of books to read ever since. When I was on my writing retreat earlier this year, one of my fellow retreaters was a poet who is in Isabel Zuber's writing group, and when she learned of the kind of writing I'm doing, she suggested I put Salt at the top of my list.

I bought it last week and let it sit on my bedside table for a few days, to savor the idea of starting it.

Last night I did, and could hardly set it down. It's beautifully written, with a poetic use of language and description, and an engaging story that pulls the reader in quick.

As if a good book isn't enough, there is a touch of synchronicity: the book travels from chapter to chapter back and forth in time, using places and years as chapter titles. And it takes place in the NC mountains, so as I read last night I came upon passages taking place in the same places my current editing is taking me.

I had no idea!

What a treat. I recommend this book, particularly if you've enjoyed reading Charles Frazier, Lee Smith, Silas House, and Dot Jackson, all authors I admire.

it is still raining!

Thankfully it's a bit warmer than it was the first two days, and there is no wind, so it's just wet, not so much cold.

But I think we're all getting tired of slogging through the muck. Even musical stalls has lost its excitement. The apple chunks are still welcome, but seem to make them all that much more grumpy, like bored kids who argue over the treat that's supposed to buoy them.

After lunch, though, when I'd moved everyone back around to their "regular" spots, Salina and the donkeys went in the barnyard in search of green, and Keil Bay left his messy stall to go poop in Cody's clean one, which always makes me laugh, and Cody went to the arena gate and looked back, inviting me to play.

So I took a break from mucking and in we went. We did some slow dancing, as it is raining so steadily the arena is draining more and more slowly, and I didn't think running around would be good for footing OR dancers. The pony came to the open gate and waited for his invitation to come in too. After a few minutes, Cody was done, and the pony declined my invite to play, so I went back to mucking.

The moment I turned my back, those two were trotting around and the pony led the way to a small jump and went right over it. When he saw me looking he slowed to a halt like "uh oh, she wasn't supposed to see that."

He's been on a break from jumping for some time now, but maybe he's ready to try it again.

When I came in, the two of them were still in the arena playing. Salina and the donkeys were nibbling grass and Rafer Johnson seems to have made peace with the rain. Redford is like the little boy who never stays inside. He'll go out no matter what.

Keil Bay thinks they're all nuts. He went back to his messy stall and played boxing match with the hay net.

One more day of wet stuff and then we can start drying out again.