February. We are now on the flip side of winter. We got the same amount of daylight November 1, 2025. Then we saw the daylight decreasing. Today we see the daylight increasing. It’s now 5:11 p.m., and as I write, I am watching the sunset. There is a cloud cover but underneath is a thick band of salmon colored light, with the sun at the band’s epicenter. The sun will set and the moon will rise. There is something very comforting in the circular logic of nature.

Alys and Hrimmi

Beautiful weather, temperatures in the mid 30s. I worked for a while on my Shelf Life proposal. I wish I could say that I’ve nailed it; I mean, I think that I have, but I would feel best if an editor, after reading my proposal, agreed. It was ridiculously hard, this proposal. I think that I’m now at the point in which I have a decent draft that summarizes my project. And in the process of writing this proposal, I may be further gave shape to what the final product will be. (By the way, composing that statement took me a long time, at least five minutes.) A book, yes, a book, to add to the growing number of unread books. I say, if this is the last book ever published, than this will be most apropos.

I need a good editor who will work for gratis. This is nonsensical because good editors don’t work for free. If I found a good one, I would have to pay him or her. And I would do this. I know that this will make a difference.

I remember reading somewhere that the quality of the prose and nonfiction in the New Yorker magazine is as high as it is because the very best editors work with the writers most likely before and definitely after the work is on the page.

I was able to let go of proposal think for a bit – we took advantage of the sunny day and higher temperatures and went for a ride. The trails were a little punchy and so were the ponies. Tyra and Hrimmi didn’t want to do yet another slog through the calf deep snow. They are not packing down the trail, rather they are continuing to step in their own hoof steps. Hrimmi thinks that there being no grass on the trail that she should be compensated with treats.

It's my job to tell her otherwise.

I am continuing to fight chronic illnesses – my toothache/ear ache/neckache put in a cameo appearance this morning. I packed the tooth infection area with myrrh. My acid reflux returned last night, and this afternoon. Pete’s chickpea soup was the culprit. I put peppermint on my chest and salt under my tongue. The tooth/earache/neckache is better, the gut less so.

Some people go on and on and on about their ailments. I’m not sure why. Maybe the answer is that such things are all consuming. They become one’s reality.