Last fall and winter’s strength training followed by a rigorous horse trek has left me in pretty good shape. Today’s activities were indicative of this. The day began at mid-day (we are back to going to bed late and getting up late) with Pete and me doing volunteer work at the Alaska State Fair. Every year for the past five years, we’ve put approximately 100 green recycling barrels on our flatbed trailer and then driven around the Fairgrounds and dropped them off in pre-determined locations. We place them next to the red, green, purple, and yellow barrels. The latter are for regular waste. The green barrels are exclusively for aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Later in the week, volunteers will empty the contents of the

green barrels into large plastic bags, and then take their wagon loads back to the recycling area, where the goods will be dumped on a table and sorted.

The lids are generally hauled out of storage – special needs kids take them by cart and drop them off by the red, green, purple, and blue barrels. This has always been a time-saver for us because all we have to do is put the lids on the green barrels.

The vendors were (we noticed) finishing up their booths. We dodged some traffic in our quest to get the barrels in the right places. And the carnies were tightening nuts and bolts on the various rides. The pony wheel lady was out working on her site. Looks like she’s going to have two wheels going this year.

Loading up the barrels was easy, as was getting them in the right place. This year, I did things differently. I decided that I was not going to over exert myself in doing this task. So I treated what I was doing as if it was a dance. I got most of the barrels into place by tripping them on their side and rolling them into place. And I rolled them lengthwise across the grassy areas whenever possible. As I did this, I attempted to move with grace and fluidity. I was not sore before or after doing this.

When done, we headed over to John DePriest’s Tiny Moose Farm and moved 88 bales of hay onto the flatbed, then put two bales in the truck bed for good measure. I pushed the bales off the stacks, John tossed them to Pete, and Pete stacked them. Once at home, I first assisted Pete in untying the ropes that held the hay in place, and then I tossed bales onto the ground. Pete picked them up and stacked them in the hay shed.

We were half done when our friends Claudia and Frank appeared, with the intention of going for a trail ride. So we abandoned our half done project, and switched gears. Pete rode Hrimmi and I rode Tyra. Claudia rode Ketla, her older mare, and Frank rode Indy, his younger gelding. We did Peaches’ and Tin Can Loops, and then we rode to Grizzly Camp. The fireweed was past its peak but it was still a lovely ride.

I am glad to be in good enough shape to do what I did today. I need to remain in good shape. I have four horses to exercise. Tomorrow I need to get Raudi and Tinni out. Having this many horses to exercise is a lot. As my friend Heather once said, I am horse rich.

230. 8/20/19: Tinni et al.