Home > Dispatches > Daily Dispatches 2014 >Daily Dispatch #321

December 2, 2014: Snow Day

Pete stayed home today – he was planning on going to Anchorage, but the snow blower parts had not yet come in. This, plus our getting our first real dumping of snow made it seem like a snow day. Snow days (at least in my mind) are like holidays in that they’re both a break from the regular routine, and at the same time, a cause for celebration.

Otherwise, it was just the same old same old around here. I first tended to animals, and then worked on the Competitive Trail Ride article. This one is going to do triple duty – I’m going to submit it to both Tolt News and the AIHA



Newsletter. I think it’s good – it has several logical and well thought out twists and turns, one being that I initially grouse about Raudi’s untoward behavior towards the horsemanship judge, then after having a change of heart, find cause to focus on her toward behavior.

After (at 12:30), Pete and I weighed the pros and cons related to going for a ride. He was opposed to this idea because the snow was really coming down. And I was for this idea because the snow was really coming down. I turned out to be the motivator, which isn’t usually the case. My reasoning (which was that of Good Horseperson) was that because Pete will be at school the next few days, Hrimmi won’t be getting out for any lengthy jaunts. Pete finally agreed with me that we also needed to get out and pack down the trail. Otherwise, it might become impassable, consequently putting a major crimp on our riding-related endeavors.

Our trail ride was one to be remembered. The freshly fallen snow was about four inches deep, and the spruce branches were laden with the white stuff. I was not at all worried that I might fall off, one reason being that there was so much fluffy white stuff around, and the other being that I was wearing my bulky Refigerware suit.

We rode all our trails, this including newly named Tin Can Alley. Raudi and I were wearing Tinni’s CTR rump blanket – it warmed Raudi’s rump, made me toasty, and kept the falling snow off of us both.

We returned home – Pete put the loader back of our Kubota tractor and plowed the driveway. He had to do this today because he won’t have time to do this the next two days. I did the horse chores and cleaned the goat and chicken pens. I then used the super scooper and shoveled the now snowy pathways.

This evening I resumed working on Lessons Twice Learned, again going over the CTR chapter. I think that it’s quite good – tomorrow I’ll work on the first of the two creative visualization chapters. Yes, I am now seeing the light at the end of the Lessons Twice Learned tunnel. If and when I get through this draft, I’ll feel a sense of completion, meaning that this project really is coming together as a whole. We’ll see.

I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring—this depends on how much snow we get tonight and how much will need to be moved. Moving snow is a real pain in the ass. At least we got a two month reprieve, which turned out to be time well spent.

Next: 322. 12/4/14: Come What Will: A Conversation with Mr. Tinni