Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Salon: It’s not just hopium: People really are leaving MAGA, Logis, June 8, 2026.

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When I walked on my own, I used an auditory cue. [Counting With Sound]

Now that I walk with the horses, I use nature’s abundance. [Counting with Pine Cones]

For swimming, I use my footwear.

To stay out of the germs, I wear a pair of rubber clogs out to the pool deck & leave them on the edge of the pool.

To keep track of laps, I figured out how to use what was available. I rotate one clog 90o per lap. Turn as indicated in the image. Lap #8 would be back to the starting position. Will deal with lap #9 and beyond when I can swim that far.

One choice is when to turn the indicator for the next lap. 1) At the end, similar to tally mark. I have now performed X number of laps. 2) I prefer to turn the shoe as I start. I am starting lap number X. That way, I can look down the length of the pool and know which lap I am on.

Yes, I did just type show instead of shoe up there. Tell me you are an equestrian journalist without telling me you are an equestrian journalist.

Exercise Recap

Bike: 10
Swim: 2
Row: 1
5K: 0

Biking. Halfway through the month, we had difficulties with husband’s bike, so evening bike rides stopped. As a result, everything other than morning walks also ground to a halt. 4.5 miles.

Swim. Once a week, for the first half of the month. 5 laps.

Rowing Machine. We have one in the basement. I hope to make it my rain, cold, dark exercise option. This was proof of concept. 5 minutes.

5K. Under the weather for the last week of the month & then ran out of month.

From The Comment Section

Last month, debandtoby said, “I’m exhausted just reading about how much you do!” [Two Types of Tired]

Please let me emphasize the leisureliness of my exercise program. I walk at a stroll. I bike short. I swim so poorly that a bystander felt the need to console me. A hardcore athlete I am not.

Mox nix. I am happy with my level of effort in each area. If I need to improve anything, it would be to exercise more often. The idea is get out and move.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. FEI: Heidemarie DRESING, Major Results, “World Championship CH-M-PED Aachen (GER) – Para Grand Prix A II, POESIE 143, 1″. Translation from FEI speak: First place at Aachen at the age of 71.

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In which I ponder my response to lessons and how my brain works. This may not be of interest to anyone else on the planet. Much navel gazing follows. You have been warned.

I had a good lesson. [Back To The Goldy Mine]

Why?

Physical

I have always liked walking to start off a ride. Previous Horse and I used to do a lap of the field before adjourning to the ring. It’s a good way to ease the body into the activity, both for rider and horse.

Since the kid in my lesson was relatively new, her mount didn’t always do as the rider wanted. So I wandered over to walk with them and chat.

After a few laps of this, I decided to trot. Then canter. A bit this way. A bit that way.

Generally, we started off slowly.

Mental

The slow start also accomplished something else. I was making my own decisions.

In a hunter/jumper lesson, you wait for the group to gather and then get started. We might walk a little, but never as long as I would on my own. Then, trot and canter as a group. In an ASB lesson, you trot from the gate. In each case, I am doing what the instructor says when they say to do it. My hypothesis is when I do this some part of my brain fails to engage.

In hindsight, we already know this is a bad way for me to operate. When we first started showing together, my wonderful husband would step up as a wonderful groom. He would do all manner of work. Then I would get on. And sit like a lump. I wasn’t making decisions before I got on. I wasn’t making decisions after I got on. When we show now – or used to, but I digress – I do all my own work. Husband sits, which is actually hard for him. I ride so much better.

If this is true of grooming, why wouldn’t it be true for lessons?

The need to make my own decisions does not arise from a fierce desire for independence. I am perfectly happy to sit about like a princess and have my groom get my horse ready. Similarly, I will defer to perceived authority at the raise of an eyebrow. Nine years of nuns will do that to a person. It’s just that if I do either of these things, my brain gets stuck in passive mode. And, apparently, I am willing to let that happen.

If I have to think for myself, I start thinking for myself.

Social

Husband is of the opinion that I show off for the kids. I don’t think it’s conscious, but he probably has a point. He usually does. [Group or Solo]

In this instance, reaching out to someone else gave my brain something else to focus on. It also gave me a chance to pontificate, which I will never turn down. That’s one of my standard lines when I am introducing people to the horse world. Horsepeople love to talk.

I don’t think it’s age as much as skill level. A hot-shot kid on a fancy pony would be a different ring companion than a beginner adult.

Yes, I made sure the other rider had a chance to speak.

Other

Simple luck of the draw. Had a good ride.

So Now What?

Take ownership and make my own decisions.

Obviously, its more complicated than that. I already do to some extent. Nothing is clear cut one way or the other. But I think not getting my brain engaged is a factor.

I’m not going to change the lesson format. Nor am I likely to change me at this age. As long as I am working with others, I will have to institute any changes with their framework. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. IFL SCience: This Is The First Przewalski’s Horse Born In The Steppes Of Central Kazakhstan For 200 Years, Hale, 26 August 2026 (6 days after 1 September). I think(?) Takhi foals have been born in Mongolia. Kazakstan is next door.

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Goldy
Rosewood Stables
29 August 2026

First lesson for me of any type in over a month. Combination of schedules and ridiculous heat. Mostly ridiculous heat. [Group or Solo]

Step One, The Whining

I was not happy before my lesson. Not from nerves, for a change. I was not happy because riding a borrowed horse once a month is not what I want as a riding life and I do not see a way forward.

Plus, I had just spent the week livestreaming Louisville. Happy for them. Sad for me. [Watching Louisville 2026]

I got on.

Step Two, The Riding

“Your leg looks amazing. Maybe you should take a break more often.” Coach Deana.

She was not wrong. First, my leg always looks good. It’s my best riding feature. Second, I seem to do well after time off. [Back in the Saddle Seat]

Lesson was scheduled as solo, in order to give us time to finish our barn before we left. We ran early and the day ran late, so I ended up sharing with a kid.

I had already announced that I planned to do a lot of walking to ease back into this. There was even thoughts of taking an easy day and coming back the next morning once I remembered how to ride.

Ended up having one of the better lessons I’ve had in a while.

Jumped multiple jumps. Granted they were all cross rails but I rode them well. Started out trotting each time, but cantered the rest in most cases. The first jump was extreme grandma mode but then I sat up and got my act together. I rode down to all of them and saw where I was going. Most of the jumps came up as planned.

At one fence, there was the option of chipping or standing back. I asked for the bigger spot (being ready for the conservative option). Goldy said okay. I always like it when he does that. I feel like I did something right when he’s willing to jump big(ish).

At other jump, I had came around the corner with the feeling of ‘I’ll just canter down and jump over this crossrail’, which is how you expect to feel on a nice horse over a low jump, and was how jumping used to feel. I had to go back to riding hard, but once was nice.

Ended with a course of seven. And then we were out of rider. Horse was fine.

Why did the lesson go so well? I have thoughts. Tune in tomorrow.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. BBC: Scotland was the ‘murder capital of Europe’. Then it started treating violence like a disease, Livingston, 29 Jun 2026.

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{Backstory. Each morning, people & horses go on team walk: one-mile, unmounted, & off-lead. Route is back and forth five times along one side of the pasture.}

My magic counting hands have returned.

A while back, Rodney was on daily meds. “Rodney’s gastric medication requires 14 pills per dose – there’s a lot of horse to dose. I’m amazed how often my randomly poured handful is exactly 14 pills.” [Say Aaaah!]

Now, it is horse treats.

Two cookies to start. [Find Your Header]

One cookie per horse per lap = 1 x 2 x 5 = 10

Four extra.

That’s 16 cookies to pull out of the bag before I head to the barn. [Treat Security & Cookie Tin]

That’s too many for one handful. Grab handful, count to six, put in pocket, repeat, grab remaining. Interesting how often the third handful is the number I need.

Or perhaps it has happened once or twice and I am seeing a pattern where there is none.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. More about the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope. I did not know this. Space.com: From spy satellite to space telescope: The unlikely origins of NASA’s Roman Space Telescope, Gohd, 26 August 2026. [All Aboard]

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It’s Friday evening.

I got nothing.

Content creation is closed.

Horses are good.

No recent feed changes to discuss.

No new purchases to show you.

Spread the remaining bag of lime on an outside mud spot. [Floor Maintenance]

All is good.

Which is good.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the extremely outside world. “Sometimes Hubble Space Telescope data is best visualized through art.” NASA: Art of Hubble. Nancy Grace Roman was “NASA’s first chief astronomer, the ‘mother of the Hubble Space Telescope,’ ” NASA: Nancy Grace Roman Telescope. Previous Hubble, images. [Lunar Eclipse]

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My digital “boarding pass” for the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, which is scheduled to launch today. This is what prompted yesterday’s thoughts on history in the making. [Where Were You When?]

If you are going to do something, might as well make it pretty.

Is it an exercise in public relations? Of course.

Is it free? Yes and no. I did not pay for it directly, but it is my tax dollars at work for design, computer time, logistics, and so on. “NASA is a U.S. government agency that is responsible for science and technology related to air and space.” [NASA: What Is NASA? (Grades 5-8)]

Does it have bearing on the mission? Not on the science, but it does generate excitement, and increase public interest. Also, to be less cynical, people doing a project like to have other people interested in that project.

Am I more likely to follow the progress of the telescope because of this? Yes.

Am I susceptible to a well-done PR campaign? Absolutely. NASA: Message in a Bottle for “Europa Clipper launched Oct. 14, 2024, on a journey to explore Europa, Jupiter’s ocean world.” Arrives April 2030. NASA: Europa Clipper [Welcome Mat/No Welcome Mat, A Pair of Space Haikus, secondary mention Sustaining The Shoeing Record]

Mentioned previously. [Feed Split]

Onwards!
Katherine

History of the outside world. Strange Horizons: Why All Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Are Historians, Palmer, 23 February 2026.

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1981. When President Reagan was shot, I heard the news as I walked into the student center in college. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum: Assassination Attempt.

1986. When the Challenger exploded, I remember talking about it with someone at work. NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance: Challenger STS-51L.

2001. When 9-11 happened, I was at home, watching the Weather Channel on mute, wondering why all the airplane icons were red. “The order went out to land every aircraft at the nearest airport.” NATCA: ATC on 9/11.

Sometimes it is a personal concern.

1982. When an Air Florida Flight 90 ran into a bridge in DC, I was studying abroad and worried because my father was flying a lot at that time. He would not have been going to Florida, but the specifics had not made it to where I was. FAA: Boeing 737-200 – Transport Airplane.

These are the moments we share with a society at large. Those moments when we know that we are seeing capital-H history unfold in real time. “We didn’t know the size of the rock, but we could see it rolling down on us.” [One Year Later]

As a side note, I always wonder about the people who avoided the big event. Missed their plane. Stopped for coffee. Called in sick. Imagine being annoyed about whatever inconvenience life has thrown at you, only to step out of the subway and see that. It must feel deeply odd.

Where were you when?

Previous post, with list [Witness to History, Blog Hop Invitation]

Onwards!
Katherine