Someone wrote this on the men’s bathroom stall wall at Roosevelt harness racing track many years ago. It was relayed on to me. I never forgot it.

It came to mind today, when I again thought that I want the next two weeks to be over. This, I know, is not a good thing because in essence I am pissing away summer, which in Alaska, and particularly this year, is extremely short.

One week from now, it will be the first week of August. It will be darker, and it will be autumn, well almost. So yes, there is a part of me that wants time to stand still.

Alys and Tinni in 2007

Pete and I went for a ride this evening. The foliage is now lush. The fireweed blooms are inching their way up the stalk. They are one third the way up the stalk. The Monks Hood, in full bloom, is dangerous to horses but they tend to ignore it. The cow parsnip is now in full bloom. I pulled hemp nettle today, also in full bloom, in the upper quadrant, up against the fence. It’s an invasive species.

It was yet another beautiful day here. Hard to believe that there is a sixty percent chance of rain tomorrow. I hope not. I got all the train curriculum items to the hotel; this includes train signage. Now if it rains, we have no alternative plan.

The Summer in the Park(s) was a major undertaking for me. I wanted to see if there was an audience for such a program at Bugge and A-moosement Parks. I think there is. But of course, it is slow going, getting parents on board with this. I suspect that if we did this next year that we’d have an even larger audience for our program.

I do not know if I will do this. I want to go horse trekking. In Iceland, I want to go sheep herding.

I want to get on a three-day-a-week schedule, so I can do more things around here. On days like today, when I’m here most of the time, I see what needs to be done and what I have neglected. I get to some but not all of it. Today I took the spruce trees that I acquired at a May event, and I planted them on Tinni’s grave. The mares actually stood by the fence and watched. They know this is where Tinni is.

As I was finishing up, I found a rabies tag by the compost station. It has a number but no name. It could have come off of Tinni’s halter when he was buried. I want to know, so I will do further research.

Today I also cleaned the goat shed. It was worse than I thought it would be.

I guess that what I must do, instead of wishing for the next two weeks to be past, is to stay in the present tense as best I can. Quite obviously, easier said than done.

Next: 202. 7/28/26: Pete’s Home