If you eliminate the probable, what remains is most likely.
--Sir Alfred Conlan Doyle

The above quote got me thinking –exclude the extraneous and you find what you’re looking for. I think this is why the thought of my purchasing a metal detector appeals to me so much. I’ll jettison the usefulness metal and keep the good stuff. Maybe I’ll get one before Part II of our trip. This way, I can spend my evenings detecting under stadium bleachers when we stay at rodeo grounds.

Hoarders hang on to what they see as being most valuable, which is everything. Odds are, most never use what they acquire. Rather, they keep acquiring more. I’m a selective hoarder. My hoard is books. I keep telling myself that I’m going to read all I have on hand, but deep down, I know that this is an impossibility. The best I can do is keep the numbers in check. For every book that I take in, I read three I have on hand. And for every four I read, I give one away.

People seldom return books any more. I’ve accepted this as a truism, so I no longer expect this. People also don’t elaborate when talking about what they’ve read. I finally figured out that this is because there’s a time and a place for this, and that time and place is in classrooms. There, people go on and on and on about the most insignificant of details.

I remember taking a course called Austin and the Brontes. It was excruciating, listening to my classmates pick apart what I considered to be rather dull books. I felt like I was 14, and was again having hives. My entire body, including the insides of my ears, was itchy. I was glad to see that class come to an end. Amazingly, I still have my copy of Pride and Prejudice on hand.

Update: Tinni. He’s coming home for the weekend, we’re going to go and pick him up shortly. I’d ride him home, but the Moose Meadow trails are rain drenched and therefore somewhat dangerous. I don’t want to have to extricate my buddy from a mud bog. I’ll be glad to have him back here again, although this will be for just a few days I really miss him. I’ll ride him this afternoon, and pony Signy. This will give a sense of how he’s doing. I suspect that upon his return, that I’ll be using him for light riding. My gut feeling is that he won’t be able to hold up to the rigors of another summer like this one. I’m going to talk with Emily and if she wants, start scouting around for another summer horse for her to use.

Hrimmi: She’s getting bigger – her face has lengthened some, and her mane is now a floppy mass of long red curls. She has a very good personality – and in fact is the carbon copy of her mom. I have this theory about naming things – you have to do it right, or else you’ll gum up the works. Hrimfara, or Frosty Traveler, is aptly named. She’s not like Raudi, who believes that it’s the world’s job to check her out, but rather, that it’s her job to check out the world.

Next: 239. 08/4/12: Baggage