A.S. King's "Writer's Middle Finger" Part 3 is up at mystic-lit

Go HERE to read. As usual, she has nailed another piece of the writing life.

and finally, the tack room is clean

Yesterday I spent nearly 12 hours cleaning the tack/feed room, with the help of my dear husband, who was cheerfully willing to pick things up and carry them to the barnyards, lest I accidentally touch a spider. He also washed things down - with the barn aisle being dirt floor and the tack room dirt with crushed stone, there's a lot of dust.

There were a few spiders, but none alarming. No black widows! We did, however, find a snakeskin, about 30 camel crickets lined up on a wall behind a big sheet of wood paneling (which is now gone), and many dung beetles.

We took every single thing out. I washed down the walls and all the nooks and crannies with Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap to get the dust and cobwebs out. I leveled out the crushed stone floor while husband rescued the camel crickets and released them elsewhere. A few managed to leap at me and elicited small shrieks.

Meanwhile, the horses stood munching their hay and watched from stalls as all this went on. Cody had the best view, and at one point he was waving the lunge whip around. Then he tossed the dressage whips, one by one. Keil Bay was hoping this break from routine had something to do with extra food.

The donkeys kept poking their noses into the crack in the barn doors. Rafer Johnson, especially, was wanting to come in and help.

Around 5 p.m. my husband went to buy two big boards to make a shelf on one side of the room, up high, to get the blanket bins and other bins of stuff we don't use regularly out of the way. He also took all the tools and assorted "junk" back to the garage so the tack/feed room could cease doubling as a storage unit. Over the past year, it's become easier to put things in there 'so we'll have them next time' - but it had become too much. I suspect finding the snakeskin did it. There was so much excess stuff in there we'd created the perfect spa for critters.

I cleaned all excess tack that doesn't get used on a daily basis and put it inside a bin so it will stay clean. I labeled bridle racks and saddle racks. My husband fixed the extension cord for the fans so it isn't lying on the floor. All my feed cans are now sitting on the pallet, and I have the shelves clear for the vitamin/minerals and the supplements.

There's also a bin of stuff to sell.

The one drawback is that the room is now so clutter-free all my "stands" for feed tubs are gone! I need to work on a solution, as mixing them on the ground is tedious. What I really need is a long counter-top that stays clear. We talked about one day making the feed room a dedicated space, and adding on a dedicated tack room. There's no obvious place, so I'm not sure that plan will ever materialize, but it was fun to dream as we worked.

I realized when I came inside and took my boots off that the bottoms of my feet were sore - I barely sat down all day long!

Friday's unexpected treasure

This afternoon I went for the first time to the tiny post office in our tiny town. I usually go to the bigger post office in the slightly bigger neighboring town, and combine the trip with other errands.

Today, though, I wanted to try something new.

I thought I knew where it was but couldn't find it, so a quick cell phone call to husband yielded access to the internet and he guided me to the right place.

The moment I saw it, my eyes lit up. It's a tiny brick building that adjoins what looks like an old general store. (apparently, it used to be that, but is now the studio of an artist who makes bird houses!) The gravel parking lot is shaded by huge oak trees. About the time I stepped out of the truck, a friend and neighbor pulled in and we walked in together.

I haven't seen her in several months so we did a quick catching up. She's a writer, editor, master gardener, and teacher, and she was putting up a beautiful hand-made flyer.

I walked on into the post office and was very warmly greeted by the postmaster. A few moments later, my neighbor walked in to introduce me and express her hopes that I will now use the small post office instead of the bigger one in the bigger town. About that time a mother and her daughter, around 8 years old, came in with a slip to pick up a package.

I stepped aside and asked if they wanted to go ahead, as I had a stack of packages to send as well as a question. The girl was so excited she could barely stand still. When I said they could go ahead, she gave me a big hug. "I think my Junie B's are here!" she exclaimed.

The postmaster handed over the big box and the mother said they could open the box up right there. I immediately loved her - knowing how hard it would be to wait if you were 8 and got a package. It was 25 Junie B books and the girl was ecstatic. The rest of us got excited right along with her. I know so well the feeling of getting not just one, but a big stack of new books, and the pure pleasure of knowing all those pages await me.

It was such a wonderful treat to set off on a not-very-excitable errand and discover a treasure, run into a friend, and watch a little girl wrap her arms around a big stack of new books.

According to my friend AND the postmaster, this is just one typical day at the little post office. I suspect I'll be going back.

uncoiling the life energy, with horses

Sheryl from my classical dressage list wrote the following sometime last week, and kindly gave me permission to post it here.

I was so moved by it. She touches on something very potent that I feel on a daily basis with our horses, even though I'm not rehabbing damaged horses.

The last paragraph, especially, feels like a gemstone. It describes the gift I feel every day when I spend time with the equines here.




The uncoiling of the life energy of both the horse and the rider is hardly ever discussed on this list because it seems that the members that post are usually caught up with technical details.

I have found it to be true that when one works with a horse that has had prior injuries or is unsound that one is constantly working on bringing out the inner horse. The technical knowledge on how to train the horse is important to a certain extent but success is dependent on getting to the inner horse for it is the inner horse that decides if you will succeed or fail at rehabbing a horse.

Some horses will never recover mentally from something that has happened as deep down at their core being they are unable to overcome it.

I am sure that Nuno was very aware of this.

We can look at top level competition horses and see the physical damage that has been done to them. Maybe with correct training the physical damage can be helped but the inner light of the horse can often never be kindled again.

It takes a very brave horse to work through the layers to get at the very core of themselves.

Sometimes the horse is not able to do this no matter how much the trainer may want it for them.

It can be very dangerous for the trainer working with them as often they can be suddenly explosive and dangerous. Other times they can become depressed.At times they can be calm and at peace but as you go deeper with them this can suddenly change and they can become irritable.

The trainer also has to go deeper and deeper within themselves and grow within themselves so that their life force is uncoiled along with the horses. This is a very hard thing to do as one also has to face their own short comings. At times one needs to become reclusive so that they can go deeper within themselves to unfold a part of themselves. I am always surprised at how the horse can sense this change deep within the trainer and the positive way the horse reacts to this change. I can only describe it as once a door opens inside ourselves then the horse joins us to go thru it.

day at the barn

Although a bit warmer than it has been, today was gorgeous, with lots of sunshine and blue skies. I had intended to clean out the tack/feed room but got sidetracked by some chores in the barnyard that ended up taking most of the day to finish.

Working in the barnyard always turns out to be more fun than not, once I'm doing it, especially when the season is changing and that change is palpable in the air.

We discovered yesterday that Dickens E. Wickens, who occasionally gets scarce and worries us if we don't see him either coming in to eat or hanging out in the barn, has a new hide-out. He is sleeping in the hay manger in the horse trailer.

Now that we know where to find him, he was lured out for a photo shoot by my daughter, who had a good time capturing Dickens in all his cowboy glory.



After marching by as if he owned the place, he did his characteristic Dickens yoga stretch:



And his regal Dickens In the Sky With Clouds and Tongue pose:





He played with the grass:



He gazed demurely in front of the Lilliputian gate and muck bucket:



And when sister Keats was brought out to join in the fun, he barely flicked a whisker and she went running back to the safety of the back yard, turning to make sure he wasn't in pursuit before she launched herself up and over the fence to safety:



If it didn't take a bit of time to upload all the photos, I'd show you the entire set. There are so many good ones, and the sheer number of poses would convince you that Dickens Edward Wickens quite possibly has a second career as a male model.

The requisite headshot (this one is better if you click and enlarge):