Monday, March 9

Today I am grateful for:

Sunshine and warm temperatures. It's going to be cold again in a few days, but nice enough for now.

Getting in a ride on River before the lessons started. He was good, a little jittery the last few days when I get started, maybe because of extra energy because it's nicer days now. He settled in after a bit of work, and did just fine.

Seeing the barn owner's new Bernese Mountain Dog puppies. She's going to breed them. I have to say, I have a lot of mixed feelings about dog breeding. Sure, someone has to breed dogs. I feel weird about farming them, and deliberately breeding dogs that will sell for three or four thousand dollars depending on whether or not they are perfect. At least she is doing the diligence of testing for things like hip dysplasia. I guess I have such a passion for rescuing animals, I feel very strange about breeding more dogs, knowing that the people who want to pay four thousand dollars for a dog likely have no interest in adopting a mixed breed dog. Yet, purebred dogs are often very beautiful.

I've never wanted to breed and sell animals, even though with our property, I could likely breed and sell a few horses, goats, dogs, cats. I could make decent money doing so. It just feels weird to me to do this, knowing how many animals are already out there being put down for lack of a home, and you can't always assure that you're sending your babies out into the world to the best homes. Yet, probably purebred animals aren't in the same position as these rescues.

For a nice "check in" phone call from the friends who helped us so much with the house this summer. It is so very rare that someone who isn't family calls, and they just want to see how I'm doing. They even let me know that they were ready to help again, whenever we're working again. I know that one day we'll help them in return when they build their own house, and that's fair. I truly appreciate having people in our lives that are willing to trade work.

For tackling some of the squalor in the house, and getting the dishes done.

Sunday:

For okay temperatures today. A little colder than it has been, but warmer than yesterday. The roads were okay, even though we had a snowfall yesterday.

For managing to ride River, even though my riding friend cancelled. I don't ride if there's no one at the barn, but I got a reasonable ride in while some other people were finishing up and putting away their horses. It often takes people half and hour or more, by the time they sweep up and put everything away, and I got close to 45 minutes. That's long enough.

This woman who was there is a very nice person, and I enjoy talking with her. She also gave me a really nice compliment on River, saying she thought he was a handsome horse and moved well. It feels nice to have someone compliment River, because he IS handsome, but he's not a super flashy, super talented horse. He doesn't stand out. He's a nice horse, but often he goes un-noticed.

For having the time to paint, and it's keeping my morale up while my sweetie is away. I'm trying to make the best of it, and to do a lot of painting right now. I suspect that when we get working on the house and the yard this spring, I won't have much time to devote to my art.

Saturday

I'm glad I chose to go to town, though it was snowing. It wasn't too bad, and the roads were fine. It was cold enough that the snow wasn't melting, so the traction was good.

Micheal's took back the palette of pearlescent paints I got last week with no qualms. I felt that the paints were a rip off, because there was almost no paint in each little pan. It was like they just lightly coated the pan with a bit of paint, but the way the packaging was designed, you couldn't see it until you opened it. I'll look for better ones at a real art supply store some day down the road.

Finding an inexpensive dress at Winner's that is that perfect mix of casual/arty/sophisticated. It's black, short-ish, like a well-cut sweatshirt. Kind of art-student looking. The kind that would look great with tights and booties.

More painting, working on negative forms.

Unrealistic life goals.

Having Weird Al parody a song of mine. Since I'm not musical and don't write songs, it isn't likely going to happen. I would settle for hanging out with him for a day, but that's likely not going to happen either.

Travel to some cool places with Henry Rollins. I dig Henry. He seems a little scary, but very smart and very cool. He travels a lot to places that aren't really 'tourist destinations", and I think it would be an interesting experience. The food is always going to be a deal-breaker though. I'm not big on sheep heads.

I have a list of places and things I would like to see that are a mile long. I barely travel anywhere, so it's unlikely that I will get to see my "top 25" destinations. Mostly, it's that I don't have anyone to look after the animals.

Sing like Aretha Franklin or Nina Simone. NO ONE is going to be able to sing like those women, so I guess I shouldn't feel too badly about this.

Learn to control space and time like Dr. Strange, or be a Jedi, or a ninja. I would love to be able to move objects with my mind, or make people explode with my "energy" (yet, I would likely abuse this gift. It's inevitable.)

To see a lot of really good art. Andrew Wyeth, for example, but I think you'd have to travel to go wherever those paintings are, because they sure don't come to the art museum in our city, though I've seen some good stuff there. Part of the whole travel/destinations thing.