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April 10, 2017: Getting Ready

Today I’m getting ready to embark on my east coast trip. I will be back May 7. I am going to first do a Centered Riding internship at Hillcroft Farm in Schenectady, NY. Then I’ll go to a Centered Riding gathering in honor of the founder, Sally Swift, In Brattleboro, Vermont, and then I’ll attend a Centered Riding update clinic in the same town, and then I’ll do an agility workshop and co-instruct a Creativity Workshop, this in Groton, NY.

How things work out is really going to be dependent upon my attitude. It all might go as planned but then again it might not go as planned. That is the nature of adventures/ventures like this.




So I have been packing. I macro-packed last Thursday, got my stuff in two piles: one pile was to go into my carry on knapsack and the other pile was to go into my baggage backpack. And today I did the micro-packing, putting things directly in the bags. I have my kitchen food items (these are in another bag), my home entertainment center, my tack shop, and my clothes closet. If I have forgotten something I’ll undoubtedly live without it or purchase another.

I leave at 11:30 p.m. tonight, I am flying to Chicago, and then to Albany. Pete booked the flights. I am flying direct – indirect would mean flying to Salt Lake City, then Atlanta, then Albany. Don’t like doing that kind of thing.

I am going to go from Buffalo to Seattle on the train. I am looking forward to that. I wish I was going cross-Canada, but that will have to wait until another time.

Here, on the home front – this morning we did agility. It did not go great – neither the horses nor I turned in a stellar performance, but then we did not have a lot of practice time this month. What’s important is that we got out there and did it. Because I’m going to be travelling, I am just a bit on edge. I could tell that the horses knew this. I calmed both Raudi and Hrimmi down by having them lower their heads and then giving them treats. They are very adept at reading me – in fact, I sensed that if they could, they would have put a treat on the ground and had me lower my head for it.

They all are a mess (as is the pen) because it’s now mud season, aka break-up time. And the pen’s a mess. I now have only so much time to get what remains to get done, done – but I am going to make sure that I go through the pen one more time and give each of them a good brushing.

The hard part about doing a lengthy trip like this – I am going to be gone almost a month – is first leaving Pete, who actually has encouraged me to do this trip (go figure) and secondly leaving the animals. I am lucky, I have Pete and the animals to come home to.

Next: 101. 4/11/17: The Writing Life: Writing to Observe

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