Right now, it’s the toughest time of the year for me. The sun’s set by 4:30 p.m., and it is pitch black out now by 5:30 p.m. Then after, there is all this time spent inside. I am actually making good use of my day and night-time hours. I’m not doing really well at maximizing my time spent outside during the daylight hours, but I have been getting out around 1:00 p.m., which leaves me a few hours to do horsey things.

Today it was overcast and warm. Blustery, too. Pete rode Hrimmi and I let Tyra run free. It does my heart a great deal of good to see her running and kicking her heels up. It also does me good to first hear her thundering hooves and then see her race up next to me. This is total intrinsic behavior. This is what she and I both need.

A lot of people were out on our trails today, getting Christmas trees. Add to this, Pete and I figured out that the tree that was cut down on the entrance to Siggi’s trail was the one that contained a large burl. I actually am angry about this – there was no need to cut down that tree.

Shortly after, we started out we came to cross-country ski tracks that closely followed our previous path. I was mystified – thought the single set might belong to one of our neighbors. Got home and got a call – our neighbor Karen, who lives a few miles from us said thank you for putting in the trails, she had an excellent ski.

I am glad that she had a good time on our trails. She thought that the tree at the base of Siggi’s Loop had fallen across the trail and that someone had been kind enough to cut both sides and make a passageway. I set her straight on this one, and told her that someone had actually cut the tree down and then taken the burl. Of course the degree of her dismay was not as great as was mine – but then again she is not out on those trails every day.

I later took Tinni for a walk around the loop. By then it was getting dark. After, I took Raudi for a walk on our lower loop trails. Walking the horses in the winter is good for them and good for me. It’s exercise for us all, and is an autonomous activity. I don’t let Raudi run loose because she might run home; however, I know that she enjoys getting out.

This evening I worked on Fork. I worked on chapter entitled “A History of VCRS.” I was at first annoyed with myself because I was not able to get the exact information I needed in the initial interview. But I then realized that we are looking here at a 20-year history. I am just going to have to go back and ask for specifics.

What I am doing is really win-win. This is not investigative journalism or expose writing. It’s instead an informational account about a subject that more should know about. And to this end I am getting and will continue to get a great deal of feedback.

A really good project to be working on during the shortest days of the year.

Next: 335.12/4/17: Recycle!