I woke up thinking that today was going to be a good day. I then decided to ignore what this day had going against it. First of all, it was raining. Second of all, it was warm. And thirdly, it was overcast. This, I knew, did not bode well for the next few days, because when the temperature again drops, the outside surfaces will be icy.

Pete gave me a hand with the morning chores, which I appreciated because I have a cold. Actually, I have the end stages of a cold, the runny nose part. It’s a pain in the ass to constantly have to stop and blow my nose. I did not get sick the way Pete did – he was down and out for two days. But I have not felt in top form.

Yesterday our friends Alice and Andre came over and dropped off some hot soup. We can go days on end and not see anyone – then people seem to appear out of the woodwork. Yesterday was such a day. Vicki and Hunar (Raudi’s boyfriend) were here at the same time. And, at the point in time in which A and A appeared, Signy was suffering from a slight bout of colic, brought on by getting overheated on the afternoon ride. And we were also, near simultaneously, playing dress up with Raudi. No, Vicki’s saddle didn’t fit Raudi.

Heather on Signy

This all got me thinking—Alice and Andre, who knew we had colds, probably thought that we were taking it easy. I then realized that we don’t take it easy, not even when we’re sick. We just keep going.

Anyhow, even with a cold, I took great joy in cleaning the goat pen, bringing in the firewood. And Pete seemed to take great joy in plowing the driveway with Raoul, our tractor. Fun watching him use the front and rear implements.

Then my friend Heather arrived. We went for a ride, Pete riding Siggi, Heather riding Signy, and me walking Hrimmi. I would have ridden Raudi and had Hrimmi follow, but I was worried about Hrimmi’s being able to negotiate the ice flow at the road’s end. She figured it out, in her own Hrimmi-like way. She got past 3/4s of it by climbing up onto the roadside berm and leaping through the snow. (This reminded me of Signy’s doing the same on a pass on our Colorado trip. Like mother, like daughter.) Then, she decided to go down onto the ice. My heart was in my throat as she cakewalked across the ice, her nose to the ground. After, she ran behind the other horses, kicking up her heels several times. I think she knew that she’d figured out something major.

We finished the ride by having Pete pony Hrimmi. She got a gold star for her efforts. She hung beside her buddy Siggi and did not attempt to run off.

We untacked the horses, groomed them, and put them away, this before eating a late lunch. It’s always good to see Heather, who is very busy with work, school, and childcare responsibilities. She also has a horse, Rio, who takes up any remaining time she might have.

After she left, I took Raudi for a walk, then spent considerable time, in the dark, among other things, pen cleaning, spreading sand on the rubber mats, putting salt in the shelter feed trough, breaking up the packed snow in the outer shelter.

I have to say that it has been a really good day. I wish they were all this good.

Next: 384. 12/31/12: Going Full Circle