Out Holidaying
Last night was a festive dinner and a [somewhat] holiday-ish concert at the Dakota in Minneapolis with our friends, the Wilkuses. Singer/songwriters Karla Bonoff and Livingston Taylor performed a mix of their solo pieces with duets and a handful of Christmas songs.
It is such a treat to hop in the car and find ourselves transported from the rural countryside to the downtown streets of the big city within an hour.
Tall buildings!
Highlights include the delicious deviled egg bite followed by a chicken sandwich and fries. Food and flavors that matched my desires perfectly on this occasion.
I was greatly entertained by one of Livingston’s songs where his lyrics sort of break a fourth wall if that can be applied here. I’d never before heard his song, “Railroad Bill” in which the main character, Bill, gets into an argument with the songwriter, Livingston.
Karla performed each of the songs that I wanted to hear in addition to her renditions of the holiday tunes and duets with Livingston, frequently backed by the very effective guitar artistry of Sean McCue.
The one thing missing that I truly enjoy in live concert performances is a blending of voices and spot-on harmonies, to put it in as gentle a way as I can think to say.
Despite that minor gripe, the show and audience contributed to a pleasant dose of holiday cheer. Getting in and out of downtown was a breeze, for which I, as the driver, was very pleased. It didn’t hurt that the weather was unseasonably gorgeous with temperatures well above average.
It felt more like October than December, which made it only a little bit weird to be reveling in the season of having ourselves a merry little Christmas now.
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What Again
It’s back again! A fresh new edition of everyone’s favorite image-guessing game. It’s simple to play. All you need to do is guess what is depicted in the image below.
Do you trust your first impression, or ponder the possibilities? Can you hold off long enough to wait for the answer to come to you, or will you look for the solution right away?
You are in charge, but it is strongly recommended you come up with some kind of guess for yourself before clicking on the image to find out what this could possibly be. Guess your best, and enjoy the mental exercise! What are you looking at?
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Different Shadows
Walking with Asher yesterday I spotted interesting shadows where the overnight snow didn’t land.
Do you think maybe it was a calm night? Yeah. Me too.
Later, coming out of the barn, I looked back at Cyndie and pointed out a bit of a shadow on her jacket from when she gave Mia a dose of medicine from a syringe.
No barn pigeons were involved, despite how it looks.
The full story starts from the night before when we were riled up over Mia’s pain and suffering. In Cyndie’s defense, she has only recently been getting back into outdoor activities and had no intention of spending more than a minute looking at the horses when Mia fell ill with that choke.
Cold, and walking painfully in her winter boot before her incisions have fully healed, Cyndie ended up making multiple treks back and forth between the house and barn. She came down with a syringe filled with a recommended dose of a pain med for Mia and suffered an epic failure to deliver.
Cyndie slid the syringe into Mia’s lips and pushed the plunger to deliver but the tip wasn’t in Mia’s mouth it was against her lip. The fluid of medicine sprayed straight back, covering Cyndie’s jacket, face, glasses, and hat. It was hard not to laugh but her frustrated cursing indicated it wouldn’t be considered laughable until much later.
The good news was that it helped Cyndie decide she had mixed the powder with too much water. She hiked back up to the house to prepare a fresh dose and ultimately delivered that batch like a pro who does this all the time.
Yesterday, Cyndie washed her jacket before heading down to help me with the afternoon feeding. Mia received most of this dose from the syringe but the fresh-out-of-the-dryer coat still took a hit.
I think that’s what a barn coat is supposed to look like, but we don’t always share the same standard.
Mia continues to improve. Yesterday morning we heard one occasion of just two coughs from her but by the afternoon we heard no coughing at all. She looked to be in good spirits and eating well.
We have the herd divided into two pairs: Swings with Mix and Light with Mia. After Monday night’s snowfall, I found evidence yesterday morning that Swings and Mix had walked all the way around through the hay field into the back pasture to approach the backside of the large paddock where Mia and Light were confined without food for the night.
The four of them were hanging out together on either side of the wooden paddock fence. Their hoof prints in the snow provided a shadow of their companionable activity from the night before.
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Another Choke
The new buckets for feeding the horses have been working well for me. Cyndie arrived home from a weekend away and I was excited to show off the new routine for her yesterday evening. Her ankle is still a little sensitive to the pressure applied by her winter boot, but she made a go of it and joined Asher and me in the barn.
Naturally, things didn’t go as smoothly as the last three feedings. Mia was overly anxious about moving past both Light and Mix to get across to where I’d been hanging her bucket. Instead of simply moving the strap for her bucket to where she was standing, I focused on trying to coax her over.
In hindsight, I fear we may have contributed to her subsequently inhaling her food too fast. It seemed like the horses had finally all settled down to eat. Cyndie and I were about to wrap things up, after practicing a few back-to-basics training with Asher in the barn. Then I noticed Mia had returned to the far side and she was lying down.
Uh oh. That is not normal behavior. Well, not normal for healthy, happy horses during feeding time. I looked into her bucket and verified she hadn’t even finished eating. She was rolling back and forth, getting up, then laying down again. Her early signs were mostly indicative of colic but eventually, she began coughing which is very normal behavior for having choked on her food.
When we initially suspected colic, it became important for us to get Mia up and walking. It was a bit of a trick to get a halter on her in the anxious and uncomfortable state Mia was in, but Cyndie eventually succeeded. That allowed us to attach a lead rope so I could coerce Mia into walking as a way of preventing her from lying down.
That was a little dicey for me at first because the other three horses had gotten a little jumpy and were crowding us which was making it hard for me to feel safe. Meanwhile, Mia began to cough up great blasts of air and spray I was dodging as well.
Daylight was fading, Cyndie had taken Asher back to the house, she was calling the Vet, and looking for meds that would help Mia if it was colic. I was trying not to panic and stay out of trouble while attempting to keep Mia up and walking.
As fast as the chaos started, things seemed to calm considerably. Mia’s productive coughing and the walking appeared to be easing her discomfort. The other horses decided to leave us alone and stood over by the dying willow tree. Cyndie returned with instructions from the Vet.
For the next few days, we need to monitor Mia for any after-effects. We will also return to adding water to moisten her food like I did a year ago after the first time she choked.
It’s a hassle but will be worth it to protect her from the unsettling discomfort and risks of an equine choke episode.
Horse fact: Choke in horses doesn’t interfere with the ability to breathe. So, unlike choking in people, it does not pose an immediate threat to life.
Here’s hoping Mia suffers no additional problems from yesterday’s dramatic affair.
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Lower Branches
There was a time when I neglected to put effort and energy into trimming the lower branches of pine trees, especially ones growing in the natural field on the north side of our driveway. I’ve changed my mind.
My old thinking was that trees out in a forest don’t have people trimming branches. I wanted nature to be able to take its course. My new thinking is that pine trees look better when their growth is managed, and the sooner, the better.
Over the weekend, I was able to give some of our long-neglected pine trees fresh attention and found myself surprised by what I learned. Even though we strive to always pull out vines that start growing up our tees, unseen vines were making their way up most of the trees I trimmed.
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The tool of the hour, day, and weekend was my Stihl GTA 26 cordless chainsaw pruner. Even in cold temperatures, the battery lasted longer than I did. That saw is perfect for this chore.
After seeing how poorly some of the trees have grown, in terms of putting energy into long lower branches instead of strong leaders gaining overall tree height, I made a point to start early on all the young trees I came across.
Why wait?
While I worked, I had Asher tethered to my hip on a 30-foot leash, occasionally enticing him with dropped handfuls of his food bits for him to snuffle through the grass to find. His patience lasted until he spotted someone walking on the road. That led to extreme straining against the leash and annoyingly desperate barking.
After a lunch break, I decided to reward his mostly good behavior of the morning with a chance to play off-leash. He did not make me proud. Sprinting directly from our front door to the neighbor’s woods in pursuit of squirrels, he disrespected every attempt I made to entice him to return.
He nosed around in their woods, extending the distance away from me with each zig-zag. When he got out of sight, I headed off across the cornfield to intercept him but by the time I got there, I spotted his paw prints headed in the direction of the neighbors’ place with the outdoor cat.
Fool me twice… shame on me.
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Impermanent Art
The many random balanced rock sculptures I create around our property are impermanent by design. I expect them to tumble back to earth, sometimes within mere minutes. Other times, they can last more than a year. I have an affection for placing balanced stones atop the stumps of trees.
Somewhere in the archive of past posts (Previous Somethings) there are photos of me using the loader to raise rocks too heavy for me to lift so I could balance them on a tall stump. The upper rocks fell rather quickly but the last one sat on that stump looking rather phallic for far longer than it should.
Eventually, the lopped tree trunks rot to the point of not adequately supporting large stones. I think that is my favorite end to these installations. Once the trunk is no longer standing, the piece cannot be recreated. Sometimes the rocks get repurposed into the labyrinth.
Earlier this fall, Cyndie and I dug up a rock along one of our trails that was too big to lift so I just leaned it up against a stump where two rocks balanced above.
The stump for this artistic masterpiece didn’t get a chance to rot to tumble the stones. I can’t be sure whether the rocks fell before some woodland critter in search of insects attacked the stump or not.
I admit to cruelly imagining the stones tumbled while the animal was within range of being superbly startled. It would be really sad if one got hurt by them, but I suspect wildlife is quick enough to dodge more than a bump from the collapse of one of my creations.
Hopefully, the scavenger got a good snack from the stump shredding. Think of the poor insect victims!
Nature can be harsh. But it’s beautiful to observe!
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Lyrical Meander
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on the edge of a shadow
walking briskly to avoid stagnation
nothing is obvious in the thoughts that meander
one thing I will always miss
is the number of your expressions
that formed on your face
as you looked toward my eyes
in the middle of stories
we told ourselves
returning often
to themes both intimate
and benign
successfully avoiding to cross
boundaries that might matter
to each other
and everyone within earshot
clickbait for the souls
yearning for something they can’t perceive
oblivious to the bold sensibility
of simply listening to themselves
with a divine authenticity
we surfed the enlightened feeling
connecting brings
taking intellectual flight
for time-defying hours
allowing ancient history
to flow into the future in a blink
elemental impossibilities that echo
as if the wars of every civilization
are different from the ones being waged
every single day
like a dog returning to passionately dig
through tangles of grass
where a nest of rabbits once existed
just in case they might still be there
our breath exchanging fabricated truths
about wants and needs
solving mostly nothing that tomorrow brings
beyond the rendering of titillation
that fed our hearts
fueling love
which serves to fuel love
perfectly well
fearlessly healing untold emotional wounds
without knowing
we were even trying
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Incremental Improvements
We have tried a variety of solutions to address the issue of Light kicking over her feed pan with a spastic leg flex when she eats. None of them have proved to be all that effective. Recently, we came across a method that looked like it would better fit our situation. Cyndie did a little research and ordered us some new buckets and straps.
Swings took to it instantly, gleefully even.
Mix didn’t have a problem with the change, either.
This is what happens when the vendor decides to split the shipment between two of their stores…
Mia gets served with the same old feed pan as always until the fourth bucket arrives.
Light appeared to make a bit more of a fuss about it than the others, but that didn’t stop her from munching away.
At the same time, it also didn’t stop her from flexing her leg.
I kept hearing her bucket getting bounced around but I missed seeing if it was from kicking it or knocking it with her snout. Each time I looked back in her direction, she was munching away normally.
It was quickly apparent that sharing will be a lot harder to do compared to the big round pans. They can only fit one nose at a time so when Mia finished first and came over to borrow extra bites from Light, it required a lot more finesse on Mia’s part and acceptance from Light.
Based on yesterday’s first feeding, I think the buckets will work well as a solution that will produce less wasted spillage. It will take me a few tries to figure out the most efficient steps for serving up the feed in them, but I’ll come up with something.
It’s a promising step of improvement on our methodology at feeding time. I’m looking forward to perfecting the minor details.
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Wonky Weather
When you woke up today, did you realize it was the last day of November? Our weather took a step back toward October yesterday. That served to complicate my assessment of what day and in which month we find ourselves at the moment. Of course, that confusion rides on top of the daily challenge one experiences when living in retirement and not having anywhere one is required to be on any particular day.
Warm sunshine was a welcome change and reduced our snow cover significantly.
Only the areas shaded from the afternoon sun retained evidence snow has already fallen this year. 2023/24 is an El Niño winter year for us, meaning many storm paths will shift to our south. We still may get some snow, but it is predicted we will see more occasions of mixed precipitation or even rain. Not my favorite scenario.
Yesterday’s pleasant weather made it comfortable for the farrier to trim the horse’s hooves. The horses were relaxed when I showed up to put on their halters but by the time the trimming got underway, it was precariously close to their usual feeding hour. With each passing minute, they showed an increasing impatience for feed pans to be delivered and a decreasing interest in standing around calmly for trimming.
Life’s an adventure.
My adventures with Asher were a little different. He was confined to a leash all day but I tried to give him freedom to choose his path. Unfortunately, all he wanted to do was revisit the very same off-property places that got him in trouble the day before. We’d walk a while until I stopped at the limit of our property line and then he’d do a little tugging and redirecting until he gave up and then the same thing would happen further down the line.
It wasn’t very rewarding for either of us, but at least I was able to prevent him from running off. That was a win for me.
My brain is not able to tell that 29 days of November have already passed. Maybe I should be putting an “X” on each day in a calendar as they become history to help my perception. The wonky weather sure isn’t helping me out.
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Around Again
Sitting on the cold, hard ground with a pile of dog treats beside me, I watched as Asher passionately made another manic pass around the neighbor’s outbuilding. Their cat had dashed under a tiny opening to avoid capture. Sure, I was feeling angry. He had clearly disrespected my commands for the last twenty minutes as he freely trotted along well beyond the repeatedly demonstrated limits of our property, but that wasn’t entirely unexpected.
No, what was irking me even more was the way our horse, Light, walked right up to my face while I was cutting through the back pasture and without warning, reared up on her hind legs giving me a much too close encounter with one of her front hooves. WTF, girl!
My startled audible response was enough to get all the horses to react, rearranging themselves to different positions. I didn’t have time to deal with them at the moment because I was on a mission to regain control of Asher while thinking about what model of shock collar I wanted to convince Cyndie we should buy.
When I crested the hill of the hay field, I caught sight of Asher and saw him turn toward me in response to my call. Then he crossed the road and continued his illicit sniff-fari along the cornfield’s edge in gross defiance.
I phoned Cyndie and asked her to ring the “dinner” bell at our front door because we’ve trained him to return to that and sometimes it actually works. He definitely heard it. He turned and began to run. I thought we had him and I started running for the gate near the driveway to meet him, but he kept going along the road and headed directly for the neighbor’s place with the cockapoo and the barn cat.
Did I mention it was cold? I really didn’t want to be sitting on the ground, but it was obvious that Asher was not going to allow me to catch him. I needed him to come to me. Offering food was not enough enticement. Each time he came around the building, he returned to the spot the cat had snuck under. Each time he took off around again, I moved closer to that spot.
Finally, I was able to reach him and attach the leash to his harness. I am not proud of my performance as I practically dragged him back the long walk to our house on that leash.
The ambiance in the house was warm and pleasant as I whipped dog and leash through the door before slamming it angrily to go feed the horses and pretend I wasn’t thoroughly pissed with Light’s unsafe behavior.
I was triggered, majorly. My old self would have proceeded ignorantly. I wanted to shut down. I didn’t want to look at the dog ever again. I didn’t want to be the only one feeding the horses every day. I didn’t want animals. I didn’t want to be married.
You see where this was headed. But, I know better now. My depression has been treated by professionals.
I have also learned life lessons from horses. I quickly got back to grazing. Deep breaths. When Light began her spastic leg flexing that always ends up spilling her feed pan, I stood beside her and moved my hand soothingly along her chest and leg until she calmed down.
We don’t always take the time to do that for her. In this case, I was also doing it for me.
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Relative Something 