gottawonder

Today I am grateful for:

That we can go back to not worrying about the astrological implications of the solar eclipse. The very woo folks must get bored when there isn't a major planetary event taking place, though truly my Facebook feed seems to make it seem like there is one just about every week.

A quiet day over all. I did a bit of cleaning before I went to the barn.

I went to see River a tad bit early today. He was pretty crusty from lying in mud. One of his favorite things. I did ride in the outdoor arena a bit, but K (R's husband) had to come over and tell me he thought it was still too wet to ride upon, in spite of the other hoof prints already in the sand.

I'm fairly sure it was fine to ride on, but K needs to be concerned about a lot of things, as a guise for his need to control. It pops up from time to time.

I finished my work in the indoor arena, using the saddle again. I do feel like my lower legs are not very stable at the rising trot.

River did okay, and he was in a decent mood, but very slow and hard to motivate. One of our ongoing issues that seems to have no real solution.

Yet, R can work with him for five minutes and get good energy with him.

I came home and my Sweetie was working on the counter tops in the mud room. Yay!

I spent some time with the ponies/goats in their larger pasture, and then spent some time grooming Wonder's beautiful mane, and just walking with her. She's "okay" since Hollywood's passing, but I know she's not terribly stimulated, being alone so much. I'm trying to spend more time with her, but I know it's not the same as having a friend in her pasture.

I really don't know what to do about that. River is a few years away from being fully retired, so that's probably too long to wait to get her a companion. We could move the ponies to where she can be with them or next to them, but they kind of protect the goats and keep THEM company.

I don't want to get another horse, because if I do keep riding after River is retired, that means buying a new one at that point. Horses are expensive and a lot of work, so I would rather not be too heavy on the "pasture ornaments".

Sigh.

We watched another episode of "Boardwalk Empire" which is a pretty good show. I was happy to see Steve Buscemi, who is a very good actor but not classically handsome, get a lead role.

Bahrain is a bit of a jump on the globe, but it IS another micro country. It is and archipelago within the Persian gulf which is made up of 33 natural islands, and about 50 man made islands. The main island, where most of the population lives, is Bahrain Island.

Bahrian Island is connected to Saudi Arabia by the King Fahd Causeway.

Being very near Mesopotamia, the earliest known civilization, Bahrain has been occupied for a long time, once by the ancient Dilmun Culture. For most of it's history, Bahrain has been famous for it's pearl fisheries.

It was heavily influenced by Islam, and went through a long period of Arab rule before being ruled by Portugal from 1521 to 1612. After that they were ruled by Iran, then back to Arab rule.

"In the late 1800s, following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom.[17] In 1971, it declared independence. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared an Islamic constitutional monarchy in 2002."

Bahrain fought with the Allies in WWII, though anti-British sentiment caused a lot of tension and uprisings. A lot of hostility was directed towards the Jewish community, and most of those people chose to leave Bahrain.

Bahrain gained Independence in 1971, but the unrest and internal civil war was and is ongoing.

You wouldn't think a group of islands would be mostly desert, but they are. Mild winters, and hot and arid the rest of the time.

The coral reefs are not doing well, and the water is quite polluted from oil spills and other industrial chemicals, and from illegal land reclamation. What arable land it had is being ruined by irrigation (which brings up salts out of the soil).

Fresh water is always in short supply and the single aquifer is become saline.

Bahrain does have a great diversity of birds, reptiles, and a few mammals. It used to have a native species of gazelle, and it used to have Arabian Oryx, now extinct.

So not great on the environmental front.

"Consensual male and female homosexual relations between adults over the age of 21 are legal in Bahrain and the only Muslim Gulf country where it is legal since 1976."

Overall, the human rights are slipping, with torture being used again,"Amnesty International's 2015 report on the country points to the continued suppression of dissent, restricted freedom of expression, unjust imprisonment, and frequent torture and other ill-treatment of its citizens.[204] As of October 2014, Bahrain is ruled by an "authoritarian regime" and is rated as "Not Free" by the U.S.-based non-governmental Freedom House.[205] Freedom House continues to label Bahrain as "not free" in its 2021 report.[206] On 7 July 2016, the European Parliament adopted, with a large majority, a resolution condemning human rights abuses performed by Bahraini authorities, and strongly called for an end to the ongoing repression against the country's human rights defenders, political opposition and civil society.[207]"

Lip service has been paid to women's rights, but they are sorely lacking in real advances.

As mentioned, tourism is becoming more important to this small nation. There are plenty of attractions like ancient fortresses, lots of bird watching opportunities, beaches, mosques and temples, festivals, and scuba diving opportunities.

Bahrain is also trying to develop it's science and technology sector, and to seize opportunities in the space industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain

https://youtu.be/P2gHUcwZbYk?si=-97G1oCHot5jwegU

Bahrain is quite wealthy, and has made efforts to develop other income besides oil. It developed it's banking/financial services sector, and tourism, which seems to be a solid endgame for these micro countries.