My days end and begin and begin and end in the same way. I go outside and tend to the horses. I also tend to them at midday, but the mornings and evenings are similar in that in the mornings I think about what I am going to do, and in the evenings I think about what I’ve done. My track record is pretty good – most days I accomplish what I set out to do.

As I realized tonight, today was different in that in the morning I exited the horse pen thinking that all I was going to do was study for a while and get all the horses out. Turns out that this was not at all the way the day went.

I did study. Then Pete got a call from our friends Carmen and Eric who wanted us to come over and pick up a horse cart. We

Loading up the cart

did this. Then I suggested we go to the recycling center and drop off some books I’d set aside for Steve Brown, the new director. We did this. After dropping off the books, I told Pete that I needed to go over to the animal shelter and pick out a cat for the recycling center. He came with. I found the perfect cat in minutes, a 2 year old tri-colored feline with a good disposition.

I went back to the shelter with Steven, and while waiting to talk with the clerk, I listened in as an old man tell her he could no longer keep his dog – he was going away for three months.

As we were waiting to adopt the cat, the old man brought his dog into the shelter. The term that’s used to describe leaving animals behind is surrender. He surrendered the dog he’d had for six years.

Oh oh. The staff worker told me the dog’s name is Curly. He’s 13, is black with white eyebrows. My heart went out to this dog. I did weigh the pros and cons of taking on a dog that old – there is the expense. There is also the fact the dog doesn’t have many years left. Why not just get a young dog? And there is Ryder.

Well, by the time Pete arrived on the scene the dog had been whisked off to the staff kennels, so we could not even take a look at him. And the desk clerk didn’t even think to take our names.

I guess this is okay. The dog will get checked out by a veterinarian who will determine if there are any health issues. If there are, then it will be a no go.

We next went to school and went to a concert – the band was named Pam Yua and they were Yupik. They were quite good – and they have a following, so the Glenn Massey theater was packed.

So, yeah, I had all of this to think about tonight, as I fed and cleaned up behind the horses.

My parting thought as I closed the mare’s gate was that tomorrow will be yet another day.

Next: 317. 11/16/19: The First Major Snow of the Old Year