Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Vicarious travel post. Mostly Harmless: Galapagos Adventure. Amazing photos. Text that made it clear this is not the trip for me, or for other fair weather sailors.

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Photo repost [Spring Is Springing] 2021

Originally, this was going to be a comment over on Heccateisis’s Blog: Static Electricity or Vent Part Deux detailing my experience with static & horses. Then I thought, ‘Hey, blog post.’ A basic tenet for cranking out a daily blog is never to let text go to waste.

Also, I realized I don’t have anything helpful to add. My experience would make for a poor comment. Instead, I am recapping the story here.

Short version. Rodney used to be susceptible to static. Now he isn’t. I don’t know why. Weird.

Long version, as told in posts.

“The afternoon would have gone even better if I hadn’t kept zapping him with static electricity shocks.” [Baby Steps] 2012, January

“We dropped all oil. Unfortunately, this lead to dry fur and static shocks.” [Guest Post by Karen Briggs: The Oily Truth] 2012, February

“My biggest problem with Rodney is the weather. Cold, dry air increases the odds of static electricity. Rodney does not appreciate being zapped while being groomed.” [Safety]. 2013, January

“Long story short, the poor horse was getting zapped by his blanket.” [ZAP!] 2013, December

Milton arrived in 2014. Static was not and is not an issue with him.

“Rodney has been awesome. We’ve been able to put him back on oil [The Oily Truth] for the static.” [Meanwhile Back at the Ranch] 2015

(We no longer add oil to their feed. 2026)

“We ordered new brushes. While Rodney is less fearful in the barn, he is still prone to sudden spooks. We think he might be unusually affected by static. Either he generates more shocks, or he is more sensitive to them, or both. His winter grooming kit now consists of a hoof pick and a cotton towel. I wear leather gloves. I thought a rubber curry comb was safe. Turns out electric insulator and generating static electricity are two different properties. We have ordered static-free brushes. More on these once they have been judged by the staticee. Super-duper-special snowflake.” [All Better. For Now.] 2018

Years pass.

Rodney was once again wearing a blanket. “What changed? Different food? Change in body chemistry? More eventempered? Better tolerance of small inconveniences? No idea. Before he couldn’t; now he can.” [Blankets Are Back] 2021

Note, this was the same year as the photo above, so static was still happening. Reblanket post was Jan, photo was March.

“Rodney’s old man cardigan, WeatherBeeta Anti-Static Fleece Cooler Standard Neck.” I don’t recall if we specifically bought this one as anti-static. Probably didn’t hurt. [New Equipment, Horse Sweatshirt] 2022, emphasis added.

“Blanket static hasn’t bothered Rodney for years (crosses fingers) but we’ll take the anti-static feature as a bonus.” [New Equipment, Horse Sweatshirts] 2025

I can’t say when Rodney stopped being shocked by grooming. It’s hard to recall a negative. Also can’t say whether or not the brushes were anti-static. We still have them. They work as grooming tools.

When I read the Heccateisis post, I realized it had been a long while since we’d had to deal with static. Hadn’t thought about it in years. Grooming, tails, blankets, nada. I wish I knew why. Wanna to make sure we continue to do whatever it was that fixed it.

While We Are Here

Another post from this blogger. Heccateisis’s Blog: Empathy. Be kind, because you never know. [You Never Know].

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Global Mural Arts & Cultural Tourism Association. Dates on the website lead me to think this group may no longer be active. Still, interesting info on murals, including articles and past conferences.

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Oak Mountain State Park
Joan Babcock
2023

Close-up from the mural.

Other work by the artist with artist’s statement, Friends of the Locust Fork River:  Let Nature be Your Teacher Mural.

The mural graces the back of a restroom. Why not? The facilities are necessary. Why not make them pretty?

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Yesterday. “At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first known explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.” History.com, This Day in History: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach Everest summit. When I was growing up, the only name we heard was Hillary. This is progress. Did you know Norgay had gotten close before? “Two climbers, Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay, reached 28,210 feet, just below the South Summit, but had to turn back for want of supplies.” ibid.

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The struggle was real.

I remember a joke going around, perhaps early 70s?

Father and son are in a car accident. Both hurt. Taken to hospital.

Surgeon announces, “I can’t operate. This is my son.”

What?!?!

The surprise implication being that the surgeon was a woman! the mother!

We were evolved enough to know that women could be doctors, surgeons even. The shock of the joke was, ‘Oh, of course, women can be doctors.’ and then be a bit embarrassed that this hadn’t occurred to you. The joke confounded assumptions that you didn’t realize you still had.

Nowadays, no one would get the joke.

Even more so because the surgeon could be a man and also be the kid’s parent.

Previous Post

I seem to be doing a Women in Medicine series. [Witness To History, Years Ago In The Emergency Room, With Apologies]

I really & truly didn’t think she was a doctor. On the plus side, my mother was probably horrified. Times were changing.

Onwards!
Katherine

Visuals of the outside world. General, timeanddate: Eclipse LIVE Streams 2026–2027. Specific, timeanddate: LIVE Stream: Total Solar Eclipse August 12, 2026.

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First column, 21 December 2014. [Winter Solstice in the Pasture]

Second column, 20 March 2015. [Vernal Equinox in the Pasture]

Third Column, 21 June 2015. [Summer Solstice in the Pasture]

Fourth column, 23 & 24 September 2015. [Autumnal Equinox in the Pasture]

Project Notes

Photos taken over the course of a year at 6 am, 9 am, noon, 3 pm, 6 pm, & 9 pm.

Most of the photos were taken in our pasture. March had one photo taken in a second location, September had three. Since the idea was to record the amount of daylight, the exact location was not critical. I went by clock time, did not correct for Daylight Saving.

Info previously presented as four galleries. Screenshot [A Trip Around The Sun]

I was surprised at the lack of symmetry.

Process Notes

Downloaded the photos from the blog. The originals were several computer changes ago.

The composite was made with layers in GNU Image. Fortunately, I had labeled each photo with season and time, so it was easy to keep track. The originals were not all the same size. To match the smallest dimension, I slid layers under other layers, sacrificing sky pixels. In the columns image, winter 9 pm is a duplicate of winter 6 pm

Oddly, resizing caused problems. I usually reduce photos to save storage space in WordPress. When I did so, lines showed up between the images. So I went back to full size.

The idea was to mess with post production techniques. In this case, the tools were layers, select all, copy, paste. Then zoom in to line up the corners pixel by pixel.

It was not a swift process.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Slate: Three Judges Just Dared SCOTUS to Say What It Really Thinks About Black Voting Rights, Romero & Stern, May 26, 2026.

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Stepping Stone Farm was away at a show all last week. No ASB lessons to report. Still not showing. [Leaning Into Lessons]

Is the show hiatus permanent? Temporary? No idea.

Anyway.

Tiny steps on the horse search.

First seller. A horse sales business that routinely announces they have X number of horses available. We filled out the form, including contacts for recommendations from farrier, vet, second grade teacher, etc.

Crickets.

They are far away, which makes us more of a PIA client, especially for a one-off sale. I can only assume they can find the buyers they need. They are in a more horsey area of the country, so that is possible.

Yes, I am being deliberately vague.

Second seller. Nice chat by phone. Sent one short video of the horse in the distance. Did not respond further. I have not doubt that I could ask a lot of – possibly too many – questions. It’s what I do by inclination and by profession. In this case, we were asking for such things as the size of the horse.

More crickets.

I don’t know how people buy horses these days.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Starkey: How a coastline 100 million years ago influences modern election results in Alabama, 2021.

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Goldy
Rosewood Stables
20 May 2026

One of those posts where I will record the lesson in detail so that I can refer back.

Hot day. Also, the sand footing reflects up, making the ring even hotter. Let’s use the covered for shade. Since the kids were busy with end of school activities, I ended up with a solo lesson. Let’s have a biomechanics day. [Dissecting My Position, Lesson Notes]

Walk, good. Trot, good. Seated canter, good. Need to work on two-point.

Coach Deana told me I needed to keep my wrists straight. Better contact and a better upper body position.

Coach Deana: Use your core.
Me: Don’t have one.
Coach Deana: Not true. Otherwise you couldn’t do this, (Waves hand to indicate riding in general.)
Me: huh.

If she had said, ‘You are good at riding’, my response would have been along the lines of, ‘Yeah, yeah, sure, fine’. Instead, she gave me an incontrovertible fact.

My leg position is good. So I asked if the problems started at my waist, or at my upper back, i.e. shoulder & head.

Coach Greg said it starts with my hips. He made the observation that I rode with a stiff/fixed/rigid lower back. Yes. That is exactly what I was doing. I attain The Correct Position and then attempt to hold myself there.

Coach Greg? Yes. In addition to be a supportive partner, husband has become an excellent groundperson. He has an understanding of priopreception in general and of me in specific. He will often say things in a way that makes sense to me.

I put these into practice. Trot in two-point. Trot-canter transitions in two-point. Canter circles in two-point. A few jumps: mildly larger crossrail & a small vertical.

Rode around telling self …

… I’m better at this than I give myself credit for.

… Lower back position is about being in the right general area, not in one specific location.

Combined these two to excellent result. Coaches pleased. Much complimentary noise. Rider pleased. Position felt solid. Goldy pleased. Cantered & hopped with elan.

Yay!

Next step. Remember what I did & redo it. Having done it this time, I know it is possible.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. I was this many years old when I learned (or forgot & relearned) the difference. Memorial Day, died in service. Armed Forces Day, active and former. Veteran’s Day, all veterans, with emphasis on living veterans. History.Com: How is Armed Forces Day different from Veterans Day and Memorial Day? & Hisotry.com: Veterans Day

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{Backstory. Each morning, people & horses go on a unmounted team walk in the pasture.}

Day 1. Experimented with taking horses out without halters. They are at liberty anyway, so why not.

Rodney: Am I walking? Am I grazing? What is happening? What am I even?

Milton: This is weird. But. What we do is walk. So. I walk.

Day 2. Halter on Rodney, who clearly likes external rules, compared to Milton who has internal rules, see above. Milton remained au naturel due to bug bites on his head in the halter area.

Rodney: It’s all good! Let’s walk!

Milton: I notice Rodney has a halter. I don’t have a halter. I’m not saying I *want* a halter. But. I notice.

Day 3. Halter for Rodney. Loose grooming slip for Milton.

Harmony restored.

Onwards!
Katherine