I do not like Wednesdays when school is in session. Pete’s away all day and then gets home very late at night. The getting home late at night part is the part I don’t like.

I really don’t like it in the winter when it gets dark early. Now it’s easier to deal with because it’s light later, and I keep myself busy with outdoor related activities.

Tonight, for example, I went for a ride on Tyra. This is something that I won’t do when its dark. The ice on the road has melted and the ground is soft, so it’s easier on their joints than previously.

Ryder and Shadow

Winter, however, is still with us. I know this because the snow berms are still quite high. And there is snow on the far side of them. At least there are now fewer snowmobilers, for which I am grateful. Soon, most likely in the next few days, the guys will swap out their snowmobiles for ATVs. They don’t waste much time.

It hardly seems right or fair, this insistence that motorized vehicle users feel as though they should have the right to be on the trails. However, there is no convincing them otherwise. I’ve tried and failed. They take great delight in being inconsiderate, so my powers of persuasion generally fall on deaf ears. So in a few weeks, our trails will again be muddy and rutted. All I can say is arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgghh.

I took the dogs for a short walk on the trails earlier in the day. If I’d had more time, I would have taken them for a more lengthy walk. It brings me great joy to see them running, playing, and checking things out. Ryder, on these outings, seems like a young dog.

It is the time of year in Alaska that’s called break up. This is for two reasons. The first is that those who partnered up at the onset of winter are now going their separate ways. The second is that the ice in the rivers has now busted up and is moving with the current.

Me, I know it’s break up because of the condition of the horse pen and surrounding environs. There is water everywhere. There is also some mud. In the mornings, I find the evening’s horse manure embedded in the frozen ice. This morning I chipped at it some, then said oh #$%^ it and left it, knowing that it would be easier to remove later in the day. And it was.

The snow berm on the driveway side of the fence is such that the drainage pipe is not yet visible, so the lower part of the pen is filling with ice and water. We go through this every year, but because of the heavy snowfall, even more this year.

The pussy willows are now in bloom on the trees. In just a few weeks I will again smell my favorite smell, which is that of the Cottonwood trees. I can hardly wait.

Next: 102. 4/14/22: Raudhetta’s 19th Birthday