I have just finished typing up all my trip dispatches. My injury is such that I have had to lay low. I don’t like not being able to do as much as I usually do, but my hope is that if I take it easy that my hip ball and socket injury will heel more quickly. I’m trying to be patient, but I’m not doing as well as I should.

I get up in the morning and take care of the animals. At first it’s slow going, but as the day progresses, I feel better and better. I hope this is a sign that I am getting better.

I didn’t ride today. If the ball and socket seize up again, it will mean a few more days of down time. I’m not taking chances by doing anything that might end up with me hurting myself.

William Faulkner once said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” This is because we all reside there. A sound, a smell, the taste or feel of something, all bring back memories. Now some may have no short-term memory, but all have long-term memories. What if it were the other way around, and we had short-term but no long-term memories. We might be better off. . .

Typing up the dispatches did bring back memories, mainly of specific trails and campsites that we stayed at. Most likely, because I wrote about them first, in longhand, they will be easier to recall.

As I said yesterday, writing up the trip notes left me feeling despondent because I wanted the trip to continue. I did not make any new horsey friends. I will just have to keep working on this.

Another overcast day here with it threatening to rain. If tomorrow is a bright and sunny day, it will be impossible to resist the urge to get out and ride. I’m also going to resume doing groundwork with the horses in the Playground of Higher Learning.

Our good friend Bill Schmidtkunz came over and took the manure. He actually came up to our house and spent time with us, which is very rare. We then, before he left, gave him a tour of Pete’s garden. This made me think that I should get out there and do some fence weeding.

Tomorrow. I don’t feel up for doing this today. Could it be that the ball and socket injury has taken the stuffing out of me? It sure feels like it.

It’s only 3:45 p.m. and I am falling asleep here, at the kitchen table. I am going to take a nap. It feels like it’s getting light out, but it is not.

A nap on a rainy day is a good thing. A nap on a sunny day is not a good thing.

The earth circles the sun. The earth is going to be the closest point away from the sun in the next few days. I wonder if this will result in more cold weather.

Next: 184. 7/6/24: When You Can, then Cannot get er done