Virtual Brush Box

Nature photos of the outside world. “When the intrepid traveler confronted a picturesque vista, he would turn his back to it, whip out his Claude Glass, then manipulate it so that its reflecting surface formed an ephemeral, well-composed painting.” The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond, by Stephen O’Shea (Norton 2017), page 15. Tourism selfies are the modern day Claude Glass. Later in the book, the author makes the same association but believes the two are different since folks tried to keep themselves OUT of the image in the Claude Glass, page 45. I still see a parallel in the desire to distill the experience. What think you, similar or different? Related, JSTOR: The Claude Glass Revolutionized the Way People Saw Landscapes. Soth 2021.

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Pink Muhly Grass
Adopt A Plant
Railroad Park
Birmingham AL USA

I have “adopted” Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia Capillaris). One bush I assume?

I understand that Adopt A Plant or Adopt An Animal is a just a different way to frame a donation, and perhaps increase identification with the organization. That’s fine. I’m happy to support Railroad Park. I’ve never adopted an X. Thought it might be interesting.

I think I have the plant in question. The descriptions I found identify the plant by its pinkness. This is problematic in January. I think there is a blush of pink in the top photo. We’ll see if I got the correct plant come spring.

AlWF: Pink Muhly Grass

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. The link is a for a post about authors but I figure the principles apply elsewhere. Two points I found interesting. Conversation may come before the money request. Generate your own AI test letter as a way to be forewarned about the style. Whatever: Reminder: Scammers Are Out There Pretending to Be Me (and Other Authors as Well).

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Bone is healed. Doc doesn’t need to see it again. Yay! [Doctor’s Appointment]

Soft tissue is taking longer.

Intellectually, I know that there is progress.

When I began doing again, I could lift all manner of things, including the pitchfork. Yay! [The Joys of Barn Cleaning]

I could lift, but not twist. One day the pitchfork was resting with the tines curved downwards. Without thinking, I swiveled the handle. Immediately, I had to spent several minutes wandering around the barn, holding my wrist, and questioning my life choices.

Similarly, I could not use the water at the barn. The handle is stiff and requires a sufficiency of horizontal force. Turning it on and off with the right hand was a no go. The bucket arrangement requires right-handed handle management. When I tried doing it cross-handed, water went everywhere.

And then, a week later, I could do it. It feels like forever and then I look back & see that I can do something I could not do the week before.

The other dilemma of rehab is being tired. You can do more. So you do more. And then you get tired. I spend most of my time tired.

Consider the scenario. After a productive & successful day, you put your feet up with a feeling of rest well earned. This is not that. This is doing one tiny task & being prostrate for two days.

Irritated is still the best way to describe it. “I am not in dread pain. I am not in despair. I am irritated.” [Note on Word Usage]

Onwards!
Katherine

Animals of the outside world. AKC: Snoopy Facts You May Not Know, Haid, Oct 06, 2025. Hat tip to Life, the Universe, and Everything: Random Stuff, again.

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Started strong.

After I was cleared for all activities, my first communication was to ask about a lesson. [Wrist Update]

Had lesson. [A Lovely Lesson]

A few days later, had long chat with Coach Deana about taking a bunch of lesson to see if I could remember how to jump.

Multiple lessons planned.

Multi-lesson post planned.

Then it got freakishly cold.

No lessons. No lesson post.

Sigh.

Have a cat. In a box. On the lawn.

Pamplemousse
December 2025

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Gizmodo: Finally, Some Good News in the Fight Against Cancer, The American Cancer Society’s annual report found that 70% of patients now survive at least five years after diagnosis. Lapointe, January 15, 2026. Hat tip to G.

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Milton has returned to off-lead for the entire morning walk. This is his usual status. He clearly thinks, ‘We walk. This is what we do.’

Recently, we tried to see if we could get Rodney working at liberty as well. We would do one warm up lap and then leave Rodney to his own devices for the next four laps.

He was fine for a few mornings. We, of course, were chuffed at our magnificent horse training.

Then.

One day, Rodney got to the middle of the walk and began freestyling. Leap here. Circle there. Wheeeeee. Part of a lap. Circle again. Aaaaaaand back to the barn.

This was hard on Milton. He wanted to stay with the program. Milton is a great believer in routine. As well as a believer in the cookies that go along with the routine. But. But. His herd had gone back to the barn. He lasted one more lap, then did an about face and skedaddled to the barn.

So, now, we do three laps with Rodney under partial supervision and then he does the last two on his own.

Seems to work.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. ABC 33/40: Vigil held in Birmingham, Scarano, January 8, 2026. Did not attend (just restarted driving). My point is that a demonstration was held over 1000 miles away (1045 miles by Google Maps) in a deeply red state. The world is smaller than it used to be.

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“Fertilior seges est alienis semper in agris.”
Ovid, SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE: Ars Amatoria 1.349-50.

It’s not just humans. Horses do it as well.

Rodney is a picky eater and a hard keeper. He gets whatever hay he will eat, mostly alfalfa. He often leaves hay behind. If the hay has not been stomped too badly, Milton gets the leftovers.

So.

Go into stall. Pick up Rodney’s leftovers. Exit stall carrying bucket. Rodney will happily barge his way into eating from the bucket.

Dude, this is the stuff you rejected.

Milton is not a picky eater and snarfs his hay up with speed. He gets some alfalfa for taste and a lot of timothy, which is nutritious but less yum. We refer to it as broccoli for horses.

Rodney will eat the timothy hay if he thinks he is stealing it from Milton’s pile.

Go figure.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. Colossal: LEGO Bricks Transform into Letterforms in the International Design Project ‘A2Z’, Mothes 2025.

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Colors: Deconstructed Mauve & Navy Blue.

Color Comments: Mauve is between purple & pink. My color wheel was not behaving. Have one of each. With navy, I had too much choice. I picked one. This navy blue is closer to a denim that has been washed a few times.

Project Description [Colorwork Alphabet Introduction]

Previous Posts [Colorwork Alphabet]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Travel Advisory, “Level 4 – Do not travel.” Travel.State.Gov: Russia. For perspective, “Terrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in the US.” Gov.UK: USA>Safety and Security.

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“Seventy-five percent of an experience was better than never having the experience.” [Going Virtually]

I was having a text exchange about The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (waves hi!). Given the state of the world, IRL tourism is not an option. So, I got to wondering what was online. Here’s what I found. Thought you might be amused.

The main site for The Hermitage includes a page of Virtual Visits, listing collections of panoramas, including The Manege and Stables of the Imperial Residence. 1846–2025, six panoramas with information tags.

There is at least one long YouTube tour. However, art museums are not my thing, so I did not watch it and cannot attest to the quality. Easy enough to find if you are interested.

A short post that I enjoyed, Rick Steves Blog: The Hermitage Museum. You may also be interested in the sidebar link to Comrades No More. I continue to be an unexpected fan of Mr. Steves. [Cairo Travel, Confession]

Since the TV shows are available online, RS: Watch, I looked to see if there was one on St. Petersburg. No. A post on reddit discussed possible reasons, which boiled down to permits &/or business model. r/ricksteves: Why has Rick never made an episode for Russia, Belarus, Serbia, or Ukraine.

In general, I am fascinated by the extent to which you can bring the world into your living room. I have joined live walking tours, taken hybrid classes, and livestreamed multiple horse shows. And this is me out in the boonies with video that is only slightly faster than carrier pigeon. I can only imagine what is possible at high speed.

In some ways, it has been an evolution from telegraph to radio to television to digital chose your own adventure. Imagine what could be next. Interactive livestream where we can choose which horse to follow? I have heard the theory that science fiction lost market share to fantasy when it became clear that we were not getting hovercars and robot butlers. We foresaw the wrong things coming.

Speaking of things we didn’t see coming.

A forum message came up in my search, RS Travel Forum: Private guide for Hermitage. In the message, a person is looking forward to visiting St. Petersburg at the end of April. The message is dated 2/07/20. We really had no idea the size of the rock that was rolling down on us. [Exploring The Rabbit Hole]

Name not redacted since it is a publicly-posted forum.

This all started as a conversation that I had no intention of blogging. However, possible blog posts are never far from my mind. To know me is to be blog material. I will never reveal personal data without asking. Everything else is fair game.

“5. Use everything. My friends find text from my emails reappearing on posts.” [10 Tips for Daily Blogging 2012]

“If you felt strongly enough to type a message on the subject, then you feel strongly enough to get a blog post out of it.” [10 Tips To Help You #bloglikecrazy 2017]

Where have you been virtually?

Onwards!
Katherine