I think most people would agree with this statement. I feel bad for those who, for various reasons, think otherwise. I like it so much here that I dread those days in which I have to go elsewhere. I wake up in the morning and what I have to do, where I have to go, come to mind.

I would not feel this way if the places I do have to go weren’t so far away. It takes 25 minutes to get to Palmer, round trip 50 minutes. It takes 45 minutes to get to Wasilla, round trip an hour and thirty minutes. It takes an hour and fifteen minutes to get to Anchorage, round trip two hours and thirty minutes. Yes, call me spoiled. My time estimates here are very conservative and don’t

include the unforeseen, like bad weather conditions or long waits due to earthquake damage.

Some travel from our hood to these places on a daily basis, five days a week. Of course they create little entertainment-related diversions for themselves. The time adds up. My commute, from the first floor to the second takes fifteen seconds, round trip thirty seconds. I use this time well; I either think about what I’ve done or what I expect to accomplish. Seeing as I don’t do much, this is all the time that I need.

Sometimes I take breaks, but not often. If I worked for someone else, I’d take more breaks because they’d then own me. And in being owned, I’d feel less motivated to work. It’s sort of like owning versus renting a house. If you own it, you just tend to take better care of it.

Today was a very good day on the home front. I resumed work on a project that I started last September, a book proposal for Traflagar Press. The title of the book will be The Gift of a Good Ride and will be about my experiences as a Centered Rider, the four basics, centering, breathing, alignment, and soft eyes being the framework. I hope to get this done and out before I hear back from the University of Alaska Press. I sent them my proposal entitled When You Come to a Fork in the Road pick it Up a week ago. Far better, I am thinking, to just keep working rather than put all my eggs in one basket.

My subconscious has been working on this project for some time, so I got a lot done this morning in a short amount of time. I then cleaned my office space. And after, Pete and I took Hrimmi and Raudi out on the trail. We opened up Peaches’ Loop, which we had not ridden on in some time. It was a great ride, the horses, they knew what to do.

Then after, we got Tinni and Tyra out for a jaunt. Pete walked Tinni and I rode my fat tired bicycle and ponied Tyra. This was something I did a lot of last year. It’s going to take a few more outings before she again gets the hang of this.

The temperature is supposed to be between -20° F and -30° F tonight. An evening commute, that would be the worst.

Next: 11. 1/11/18: A Conversation with Tinni (The Dude)