Andrea Barrett on feeling at home in the world

I'm thinking a lot about writing today, and the process, and happened across this passage in a Paris Review interview with Andrea Barrett. 

Sure. I’ve never known a writer who didn’t feel ill at ease in the world. Have you? We all feel unhoused in some sense. That’s part of why we write. We feel we don’t fit in, that this world is not our world, that though we may move in it, we’re not of it. Different experiences in our lives may enforce or ameliorate that, but I think if they ameliorate it totally, we stop writing. You don’t need to write a novel if you feel at home in the world. We write about the world because it doesn’t make sense to us. Through writing, maybe we can penetrate it, elucidate it, somehow make it comprehensible. If I had ever found the place where I was perfectly at home, who knows what I would have done? Maybe I would have been a biologist after all. No great loss if that had been the case, but it didn’t work out that way.

I think she nails it. 

Yesterday I was dealing with the Housing Office at my son's university, a man in a white truck who was probably casing our neighborhood, the Army Corps of Engineers asking for a public hearing about coal ash dumping and its impact on the environment, and a group that has formed to take on a big development nightmare encroaching close by. 

All of which center around the notion of home.

None of which made sense to me. 

Today I start the writing part of a new novel. Not a moment too soon.

taking a little break to celebrate...

I'm so proud of and happy for my daughter, who has been accepted to two colleges and offered a merit scholarship at one!  And a good friend has moved to the beach and it was a great time to visit and see her new place.

Lots of birds and wind and surf this afternoon, and videos and photos from husband who is taking care of everyone on November Hill. 

For today, a new view:

me and Darth Bay

Yesterday was so warm we needed the fly mask to keep the gnats out of Keil Bay's ears. But we are HAPPY to be riding and stretching our muscles. 

I've got a little bit of a Mad-Eye Moody thing going on so maybe it should be Darth Bay and Mad-Eye Me.

:)

Today's ride was cooler and no fly mask needed, so we were back to me and the Big Bay and triple peppermints at the end of some nice work. 

a cocoa-puff turns 12

Yesterday we had a big birthday party for our lovely Quarter Horse, Cody, aka Cocoa-Puff, aka Coden-Locomoden. He came to live with us when he was only 2 years old and now he is 12. It's amazing to think that he has spent so much of his life on November Hill.

Cody is a sweet horse and a handsome one. He also has PSSM, which is controlled by regular work, a balanced low-carb diet that includes freshly-ground flax, extra vitamin E, and ALCAR (acetyl l-carnitine). For most of his years in the November Hill herd, Cody has been the horse who never pinned his ears, was easily moved away from food or the best spot or pile of hay, and always sent out first to investigate scary things.

The past couple of years he has started to assert himself more. He and Keil Bay are best buddies and he also loves playing tag with the pony (over a fence which keeps him from having to deal with the pony's relentless bossiness) and with Redford donkey with whom he has a very special friendship. Cody was the natural choice to be with Rafer Johnson the first night Rafer came to us as a young 6-month old donkey. Salina was all over Rafer and so intense we felt Rafer needed a calmer buddy for his first night, and that was Cody. He and Rafer remain fast friends. (Keil Bay and the Little Man thought Rafer was something from another planet and were completely out of the running as donkey companions at that point!)

Cody has beautiful movement and is the most playful of the horses. It's been really fun to see him grow up and come into his own in the herd. Under saddle he is sensitive and responsive, a real joy to ride.

Happy birthday, Cody!! Whether in sunshine or snow you're a prince!

jean luc cornille on compensations

http://scienceofmotion.com/the_price_of_compensations_.html

This gorgeous post reveals how we might view our horses as we do ourselves when going back to work after injury, or time off, and also how we might listen to what our horses are telling us when they say no in the ways they can.

We've had our own experiences here with this kind of thing. A pony who needed acupuncture stopped jumping. A QH with PSSM stopped moving. A Hanoverian who needs his chiropractor stamps his hoof when his hip is brushed. 

All of these could be viewed as "disobedience" or "bad" behaviors, and yet these are all good-natured, willing horses. They tell us things with their bodies, they do not use words. A wonderful vet once told me: Assume every negative behavior comes from pain. 

The next question to ask is what's wrong? What's going on? I can all but guarantee you that if you stop and ask this question the horse will give you more information, but first he will drop his head and touch you with his muzzle and say thank you for listening.