Spring is not here yet. Today’s weather was a reminder of this. It was windy and blustery, with temperatures in the high twenties. It was the sort of day where you just want to crawl back into bed, get up late, and then later curl up in the covers with a good book.

But no, not around here. We who are disciplined continued to do what we’ve been doing so well. Pete worked a better part of the day on his chainsaw book – something I’m sure he did not want to be doing. And I worked on my journal article, which was something that I was sure I did not want to be doing. It’s coming along just fine – I see this as a very imaginative way of talking about how instructors in body awareness courses might better incorporate journaling into their lesson plans. In other words, it’s about time someone decided to do this. To tell students to keep a journal and not give them any ideas as to the who, what, when, where, or why of journaling is academic malpractice.

Then, together, Pete and I worked on the hands-on portion of our Wilderness First Responder class. We did primary and secondary assessments and then took turns putting splints on one another’s lower legs. And then we worked on splinting femur fractures. I keep telling Pete that if we continue to do this for just a few minutes each day that we’ll do just fine on the final. I hope that I never have to

put any of what I’m learning to use, but I want to make sure of course that I’m able to do this – just in case.

It was then 2:30 p.m., time for me to interact with the ponies. The weather being what it was, I wasn’t planning on doing much. I figured that at the most I’d dole out hay, clean the pen, and take Tinni for a walk. But once I got going I did far more.

I rode Raudi and ponied Tinni around the loop. They of course did amazingly well. Pete and I then took photos of Tyra for an article that my friend Lisa McKeen is working on – the subject is safety vests. After, I first ground drove Tyra to the Murphy Road turnoff and rode her home, then did the same with Hrimmi. It was overcast --the sun was partially obscured by clouds. And it was windy. The horses didn’t mind that it was blowsy; in fact, they seemed to be energized by this, particularly Hrimmi, who moved out on the way back to our place.

Yes, it was difficult getting out. And today, Pete was not a motivator. Beforehand, I simply reminded myself that like it or not, exercising horses is an important responsibility. Otherwise, they (and I) will become fat and lazy. Of course, knowing we are going on a lengthy trip in two months was also a motivator. It just would not be fair to them to ask them to exert themselves after a winter of being idle.

Next: 74. 3/16/19: Surround Sound