Lots going on. This I say to just about everyone I meet or interact with. When I look back, and I look back a great deal, I see that nearly every minute of my life has been filled with my doing interesting things. It has been partially that I have sought out things to do that are interesting. And so, at this stage of my life, I have a lot of good stories.

Today there was a series of events that I will look back at; for example, this morning Mike Walsh, the Foraker Group guy, appeared with his grandson, Quin, so as to see the horses. Quin was dubious – he just turned three, he knows the words his grandfather has taught him – “cool” and “dude.” Mike, Quin, and Maya, Mike’s wife, came to basecamp for just a short while.

Shortly thereafter Mary, arrived and we got on our three horses and went on an outing. Mary rode Hrimmi, who aside from periodically diving for grass, did just fine. I do think that Hrimmi and my short outings did her some good – she again remembered to better listen to her rider.

Ours was a varied ride, through forested trails, alongside the Mayo’s hayfields, on residential roads. All three of the horses crossed busy Sheep Creek Road and the perpendicular railroad tracks, with willful Raudi taking the lead. Proud me. There weas no spooking or jumping around.

We visited with Mary’s 91 year old friend Christy who had lives in a forested area, in a log cabin, which can be called horse property. There are outbuildings and an arena and a few other structures. This would be my ideal place to live.

And we visited with Mary’s daughter Erin who was laid up after recently having an ankle replacement. She was on her couch, her Pembroke corgi by her side. I told her so and added that I also liked her dog.

We had hoped to ride to Ester Dome and in hopes of this took the Ester Dome trail. We got three quarters of the way there, as was indicated by an Equinox Marathon trail sign, but headed back in the direction of basecamp when we foresaw that in order to get to our destination that we’d have to road ride on a busy street.

Raudi, Tyra, and Hrimmi are all seasoned trail horses who move, but not at the speed of light. Why bother? They think there is more ground to cover, so let’s not expend all our energy all at once. . .

We were late getting to our off horse destination, our good friend Fran, Skip, and Sarah’s summer place. They also have a winter place, which to me seems the best of both worlds. We had a wonderful visit and did some catching up in their bug tent. On all sides, it seemed, we were surrounded by foliage and Sarah and Fran’s gardening efforts. Everything right now is in full bloom. And they dodged a bullet or a bullet dodged them in that it seemed that the fire danger was now past, meaning they could all breathe easier.

Next: 195. 7/19/25: Off Balance