It was a proper May 1, perhaps a little chilly, but spring was definitely in the air. In my sojourns around the loop, I have been catching sight of three magpies who all hang out together. I think that they’re guy magpies (har har) going through that hanging out with the guys phase. Sad to say, a female will come along and break up the gang. It will be like Linda Eastman snagging Paul McCartney or Yoko Oh No snagging John Lennon. Happens to the best of them.

What seems most self-evident this spring (even more so than in the past) is that now everything seems so easy. In the winter you have to bundle up and keep your gloves on and work in a very efficient fashion – then, it’s all about getting the

Hrimmi and Tyra at t he hitching post

job done. Now that it’s warmer and sunnier, I am lollygagging more. I don’t mean that I’m kicking back in the lawn chair and drinking Margaritas, but close enough. Rather, I’m doing things in a more relaxed fashion.

For instance, after today’s ride I went back up to our cabin, grabbed the camera, came back down to the hitching post area, and spent considerable time taking photos of Tyra and Hrimmi, focusing on their feet. We ordered new boots – the old ones fell apart during last summer’s trek. I took photos at several angles and played around with the aperture and shutter speed. I do not do these things in the winter. When I take photos in the wintr, I take them quickly. They’re then more like snapshots.

I also cleaned the tack room and the trailer – and spent considerable time deliberating about where to put things. It was a macro-sort – in the next few days I’ll attend to the minutiae of tasks like cleaning tack. Actually, this will take me a few weeks because I won’t do it all at once. Rather, I’ll sit in the sun and go at the leather with an old toothbrush.

In the meantime, Pete’s doing other things – changing car tires, doing garden preliminaries, putting up cabin rain gutters. I obviously could not function if he were not here. I’d have clean tack but no garden. I’d most likely starve to death when the grocery stores go belly up. And they are going to go belly up.

Like I said before, Alaska has a boom and bust economy, and right now it is in the bust phase. Few are talking about it because of the social distance thing. I am actually glad to see the oil fields close down and have my fingers crossed that those who for so long have been so short sighted will start to think about the economics that could drive renewables.

Tyra and Hrimmi did very well today, trotted most of the way back up Murphy Road, in the direction of home. I think that they too feel more limber in the warmer weather. Fingers crossed that there will be more of the same tomorrow.

Next: 122. 1/2/20: You and Bright Lights Books