I have a reactive personality. I have, always will. It is just who I am. I don’t think that this is ever going to change. What is changing is how I am dealing with situations right after. I’m getting far better at putting what has happened behind me, and quickly adapting a more positive attitude. It’s like being a rubber band. The rubber band, me, is who she is but springs back (in this case) increasingly more quickly.

Today was just another one of those days. The dog – we made it through the night – she was restless, kept chewing and scratching herself. I did not sleep very well. I got up this morning and discovered

that the lump under her jaw had shrunk in size but the area was bloody. Later, when I cleaned it up, I discovered that there was a hole and that some drainage was occurring. After muttering for a bit about this I cleaned it up and then put a compress on it.

Later, much later, in the truck, on the way home from Sutton, she had projectile diarrhea in the back of the truck. It was all over everything. We pulled into the lookover area on Buffalo Mine Road. I got her out of the truck, got the untangled leash on her, had Jacki take her in hand, and I cleaned up the mess. Of course, I at first swore loudly about this. But once it was over, I paid it no mind.

Then later, Eva left the garden gate open and the horses got in. I had let them out. They were indeed in the garden. I swore, not at Eva, but about the situation. I then calmly went into the pen, realized that I needed to put a halter on all three mares, got the halters, got them out. I was calm after my initial outburst.

But poor Eva – she felt so bad about this – she blamed herself. I found her in the upper cabin and told her that no, she was not at fault, that things happen. My goodness, this woman is a ray of sunshine on a rainy day. She is just all goodness and light. I felt bad when she said that I was her hero because I did not act in a heroic fashion. I felt even worse when she said that she misses her boyfriend Sean. He was supposed to get here today; however, his flight was cancelled. This is cutting into their limited vacation time together.

Tomorrow Eva will spend a day at Sun Circle Farm, learning about Alaskan agriculture. She is actually considering spending a summer here and tending to our garden. I have my fingers crossed that this might happen – we’d be so fortunate.

So tomorrow, I will take Eva to Anne Corinne’s and take Ryder to the veterinarians. Pete will return home (I think) late tomorrow night. It will be good to have him back and shouldering some of the load.

Better days are right now.

Next: 225. 8/14/18: Glamping