A nice day, I think sandwiched between not so nice days. A break in the weather – we are all cautiously optimistic, but the weather forecast is calling for more rain.

This is the absolute best time of the year – the days before the solstice. We will plunge back into darkness shortly after the solstice. I say plunge into darkness even though this is an exaggeration.

4:00 a.m. It was light out. I could not sleep. It was equally light at 8 a.m. Then, I bounced out of bed because it seemed like a good time to get up.

Alys and Judy with Hrimmi and Tyra

I decided to start wearing my hearing aids. I got them fixed up and ready to go.

There was heat in the sun at that early hour. I got the horses out at 10:30 a.m. and began grooming them. Pete’s friend Judy, who is a veterinarian, getting a vet tech program going at the college where the pair work, arrived shortly thereafter.

She wore a baseball cap, had graying hair in a braid, had glasses, was driving a bright red Ford SUV. We introduced ourselves to one another, and I introduced the horses to her. I’d decided that she’d ride Tyra. Tyra did not disappoint. It was about seventy degrees when we set out and rode our trails.

I could not hear what Judy was saying. I am afraid of wearing the hearing aids when riding horseback. So I faked it. And I faked it at noon, when we got back, and I didn’t then put them in.

I learned a great deal about this most amazing woman –but then again, any woman who makes it through veterinary school is amazing. We discovered that she and I did have friends, some horsey, in common. This includes our mutual friend Mary Sackenger. I didn’t get a chance to say that I recently pitched a tent and slept on her lawn.

She also was good friends with Putt and Madge Clark – the pair were good friends of mine in the late 1980s. Putt was in the first class that I taught. Madge died in the early 1990s.

Judy might be looking for a horse. She likes Icelandics but isn’t sure yet what breed that she might be going with. I proposed that she board the horse here if it is an Icelandic. The horses were (I think) a major draw, as was our trail system. Tyra and Raudi behaved admirably – Hrimmi, who was last, considered the ride to be graze fest. This is why I rode her. I didn’t want to subject anyone else to her grass obsession.

Yes, it is something to consider – the horse would have to be easy to be around and have good manners. It would also have to be a gelding since a fourth mare would not go over well with Raudi, Tyra, and Hrimmi. I’d also have to do a swap out, with one horse in the shelter area and three in the paddock, changing the order every so often.

Something to think about, for sure.

Next: 168. 6/19/23: Juneteenth