The dispatches that I’ve been writing this winter seem to indicate that my literal world view has become quite narrow. It extends about 3 miles in all directions. And so, all things being connected, my figurative world view is now quite small. This is why my dispatches, of late, just seem like the same old same old.

Yes, today I again spent the daylight portion of the day with my equine friends, and in this way, I continued to pay justice to the KEMP or Keep Equines Moving Program. If exercise and longevity walk hand in hand, then all the animals here are going to live past their normal life expectancy. Shadow got out three times

Alys in the waves at the mouth of the Stakine River

today: she accompanied Tinni and me on a morning walk, then she went for a bicycle trail ride with Pete, and after, she went on a horseback riding outing. Ryder got to go on the horseback riding outing.

I got Hrimmi out first, then Raudi, then Tyra, then Tinni again. I logged five hours of ride/walk time. Yes, I am now feeling windburned. I took advantage of a window of opportunity in getting out – early this morning it was again blowsy. I opened the kitchen addition door and could hardly see where I was going. The sun soon came out and the wind died down. By the time I got out again it was overcast and breezy.

So there. I have now put my non-horse friends to sleep. I hope they have really good dreams.

I have been doing a lot of reading this winter, and in this way, I have been keeping my figurative world view broad in scope. This morning I updated my reading journal – in January I read 10 very substantial books. Right now, I’m reading The Last Traverse: Tragedy and Resilience in the Whites by Ty Gagne. My friend Lynn Chong sent it to me a month ago. I read books that people recommend and give to me.

The setting of The Last Traverse is the Franconia Notch Trail in New Hampshire. Ty writes about the fate of two hikers who go for a walk on the nine-mile trail. One dies and one nearly succumbs to hypothermia. He writes about the events leading up to their demise, and of course, their lack of preparation. It’s winter and they take off, neglecting to check the weather report first. The two get caught in a blizzard, crawl under a ledge, and the next day attempt to make it back down to the trailhead. One dies of hypothermia and the other nearly dies of hypothermia. Ty also goes into considerable detail about the search and rescue effort. All this in narrative form, makes what otherwise would be exposition, quite readable.

In the past I’ve enjoyed reading these kinds of accounts, particularly in Sea Kayaker Magazine. I guess I am not as intrigued as I am by the latter because these writers make their accounts more of a guessing game. You pretty much get an idea of what’s to come in the Franconia Notch incident on the first page.

So, this is my most recent world view, expanded. I am taken in time back to New Hampshire and the area I was once very familiar with.

If I wasn’t reading, I would have little to write or talk about beside my daily outings on my wonderful ponies.

Next: 34. 2/3/21: The Bright Lights Book Project: Having a Vision