This is not a complaint. Rather, it’s a statement of fact. I’m still waiting on a good number of things. The feeling is akin to being in a supermarket line and having the person in front of you decide to balance her checkbook; this after having run a full shopping cart of items past the checker.

No word yet from John Engelhardt about my Writing Sustainably proposal. (I talked to my father, who said that this was really stupid title, maybe that’s the problem.) I’m feeling increasingly less optimistic about this. I submitted my draft to the University of Alaska Press two years ago. About six months ago I

realized that in that time, I could have written a book.

Rather than write any more proposals, I instead began working on a book. I’ll write the proposal for Lessons Twice Learned: Recollections of a Returning Rider when I’m done with this project. A writer doesn’t make a name for themselves by writing endless proposals. I’ll bet you Virginia Woolf never wrote a one. What she and Leonard Woolf did was found Hogarth Press. Actually, Pete and founded Red Horse Press. So maybe we’ll publish my book.

I also have not heard back from Storey Press about my proposal on horse trekking. I started working on it at the same time that I began working on the Writing Sustainably proposal.

And, I have not heard back from the person, who promised me that she was going to check out my doing a riding instructor internship, and also see if there were any centered riding instructor clinics going on in the Washington area.

Writing Sustainably ties in directly with the latter project. If I were to teach, and if I were to teach returning riders, I’d have each and every one read this book. Another thing that this has going for it is that it has a clearly defined audience.

Tonight I’ve been waiting on election results. I would like to see the Republicans get trounced, but this isn’t going to happen. As I’m now telling family members and friends, fasten your metaphorical seat belts because things are going to get worse before they get better. There are going to be many major messes and someone is going to have to clean them up. I’m good at picking up animal dung, but no, it isn’t going to be me.

I went to lesson tonight. I’m not riding at the Sindorf Center because I can’t afford to pay for lessons and the arena fee both. So, I’m also waiting for spring, and lessons to resume at Beth’s place, where there is no additional charge for riding in her outdoor arena.

I’m not very good at waiting. I want it all, now. I’m wondering though, are there people out there who by virtue of being more pushy, have to wait less? I suspect that this is a truism. We live in a time when pushiness is an attribute rather than a detriment. I have heard that those who push the clerks in airports (for this, that, or the other) usually get what they request.

So how do I go about developing a more pushy persona? Seems like if I did this that it would backfire on me and I’d lose whatever credibility I had on hand.

So I’ll continue to twiddle my fingers; this in a manner of speaking because twiddling doesn’t get one anywhere. Working hard gets one somewhere. At least this is something that I wish to continue to believe.

Next: 296. 11/5/14: The Real Dog and Pony Show