Okay, yeah, so it’s spring. One month until the solstice, one month with a daily gain in daylight. Today I noticed that the fiddlehead ferns are in bloom, which means that most likely the Asian popups (called this because this is what they do when a horse passes) will be out on state land this weekend. I notice more greenery. What keeps me from saying that we are into the magical phase of spring is that it is still pretty damn cold and overcast.

I am not a birder, but I know what robins sound and look like. I’ve mainly heard them, and what sounds like other birds.

And I can again inhale the smell of the horses and manure, something that because of the cold is impossible in the winter months.

The horses are also now on the flip side of shedding. They’ve blown their coats and what remains is the post blow shed. Lots of hair still, but it is no longer coming out in what I call sheets. I leave the hair on the ground for the birds. I’m sure there are many nests out there lined with fire horse red hair.

Not so cold though, to keep me from riding tonight. I rode Raudi while Pete rode Tyra on Siggi’s trail, and then I rode Hrimmi first going around the loop and then down Siggi’s trail. As always, I was wonderous about their being such well-behaved and considerate animals.

Hrimmi is again grass diving, so I will do more road rides with her.

Riding the horses is the best thing I can do right now, mentally and physically. And I now have time to ride if I leave the former banquet room of the historical Eagle hotel later because there is ample daylight.

Well today, I lost my right hearing aid, so I’m back to pretending that I can hear people and avoiding conversations. I keep hoping that it will turn up – and it might. It has (or other ones have) in very unlikely places. Now if I don’t find it, I will have to go to Anchorage and get a new one.

I would have a cochlear implant if such things were possible. I don’t think that my ears qualify. I think those who are the best suited for this kind of thing are those who are really deaf. I’m not deaf. I just can’t hear very well.

It was overall a good day, with people chipping in and helping with the book project. This morning when I entered the side door, the place was a mess – we got a lot of books from the consignment sale, and they had tags taped on them. By this afternoon, the tags were off the books and they were ready to be stamped.

Summer in the Park(s) is coming along. The main impediments right now are bad weather and bad weather.

We also have our Friday event, and the main impediments are bad weather and bad weather.

Time to call it a day. Day.

Next: 138. 5/21/26: Stuck, Stuck, Stuck