Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. This occurred to me as I was walking next to Milton one morning. Cats, dogs, horses, people. Does any living being actually enjoy being patted? As in thump, thump, thump with an open hand? Not stroked, not scritched, but actually pat, pat, pat? I think not. [Current Marching Order]

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Continuing the series of horses I will probably never ride.

Here is the incident I mentioned a while back, “I am now up to speed on all recent lessons, except for the bad one. I will – I intend to – tell you about that at some point. Short version, high ears combined with cow flashbacks.” [Recording My Lessons]

Last time I did not get on a lesson horse, in 2024, there were extenuating circumstances of a loose horse and loud, clanky noises. [After The Show, In Which I Try To Corral The Frogs]

This time, the assist goes to the home team. The main problems, of course, were in my head.

One. New horse. Since I was a kid, I’ve been dubious of new horses. The level of concern varies with the individual horse and my state of mind at the time. Stems from being overfaced at summer camp. I was tall and thin and looked good on a horse, so I was given more horse than I could handle. The habit of giving new horses the side-eye did not improve over the years. But that’s a whole ‘nother blog post.

Two. Saddlebred ears. First lesson back in 2012. Cited many times since. No change. “Picture a horse with a high head, bulging eyes and ears so alert they almost touch. In a Thoroughbred, this means lift-off is imminent. In a Saddlebred, it means hello.” [Sam I Am] 2012

“I will never get used to Saddlebred ears.” [Ears Up!] 2025

Three. This is a nice horse. Fancy enough for Louisville, reliable enough for National Academy. Not a fragile flower who would faint if someone dropped a ferret down his pants. (That would be me. I’m the ferret.) And yet. I had developed a fixation that this horse and I would not get along. As I said last time, “If one starts a ride with that attitude, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.” [The Frogs]

I showed up for lesson. Coach Courtney pointed to this horse. She had been talking him up for a while. Thought he would help me learn to ride a show horse.

Okay. Fine. I can do this. I can get on. I can walk in the round pen. No promises, no pressure to do more.

This was on Thursday.

The preceding Monday was the affair of the visiting cow. I spent the evening watching my TB come unglued. He cantered – yes, cantered – back and forth in his stall. [Bovine Visitor]

Fast forward to my lesson three days days later. Standing at stall. Girding my loins. Noise off in the distance. Horse put his ears up and began to mill about.

Nope. Nope. Nope-ity nope.

New horse. ASB Ears. Mental block. Cow flashbacks.

Not gonna happen.

I left. Gathered my things, said a brief good bye, and drove away. The alternative was sobbing for an hour in Coach Courtney’s office.

I am not good at diagnosing my melt-downs. I don’t know why they happen. I can’t find the words to explain while they are happening. That’s part of the problem, I don’t know how to deal with something I cannot put words to.

Anyway. Looking back.

Trepidation. I really did not want to ride that horse.

Upset with myself because I really did not want to ride that horse.

I never did get on. Coach Courtney has not brought it up. Either, the barn has been busy or Coach Courtney has known me for long enough to know a losing argument when she sees it. Or both.

So why tell you? It wasn’t as traumatic to recall as some posts have been. “My stomach is knotting up as I type this.” [Trip to Tennessee, Nerves]

It happened. Moving on.

I promised to tell you the whole story. “I have no intention of avoiding bad news. Ups and downs are part of life.” [Bright-Eyed, Bushy-Tailed, & Back to Blogging]

And now you know.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Life in the digital era. I have taken to snapping a photo of shelf price to double check the register. Also useful if one is buying big items that one doesn’t want to lug back into the store. I’ll take 5 of these please, holds up phone. I just found out that the scanner can read the bar code from my phone. Cool.

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Today we meet a nice horse I will probably never ride.

He lives at the same barn as Goldy.

I’ve seen him in lessons.

Pleasant soul. Looks kind. Willing.

Gelding.

Requires leg rather than tact.

Sounds like my kind of horse.

What is problem?

He is a gray.

His name is Milton.

Not gonna happen.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Have you heard about the aerodynamic bra controversy? The Guardian: Tour de France Femmes cyclists face checks for aerodynamic-boosting chest padding, Whittle, 4 Aug 2026.

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As I said yesterday, we are seeing if Rodney wants to go barefoot. [Going Bare]

For walks, we decided to let him choose. Let him do as much walking as he felt his foot was up to.

By the end of the week, it was clear that his foot was fine and that he had lost the plot. He was so disruptive in class that he was getting the good students to misbehave. Not only was he stopping for snacks, but Milton had also started snacking.

Time to refocus. This is his only exercise and he has 23 1/2 hours of day to eat. I brought out the header strap.

When I used to head Milton, I did not want to use a leadrope that I had to unsnap. I cut a piece of flat biothane leadrope. I looped it through and held both ends. It slipped out easily. Similar to the leads that pony horses use at the racetrack.

I used the strap to lead Rodney out of the corner and get him walking. Then I let him go. By the third lap he had it. By the fourth lap was offended that I would doubt him.

Next day. Rodney was back with the program. Milton needed to be reminded that snacks were off the table.

Person: Keep going
Milton: Shrug. Okay.

Rodney will probably need reminders about gratuitous snack stops. His concentration tends to wander.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Advice from personal experience. Check the dates on OTC meds before you buy. I was burned by a bottle this year. Since it was for a recent injury, I know it was a recent purchase. Memory says the bottle was two years out of date. Memory may be exaggerating. Over the weekend, I found a bottle on a store shelf that was 5 months out of date. In fairness, the pharmacist accepted it and thanked me.

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A week ago Sunday, Rodney pulled off his right front shoe.

Instead of scrambling to get the blacksmith out, we’ve decided to see if he can go barefoot. He’s not doing any work and his feet have gotten much tougher.

So far, so good. (Cross fingers. Cross fingers.)

As of yesterday, it was one week. Still sound. Still willing to dash about. A diva horse will tell you if the slightest wrinkle exists in the mattress of their universe.

He is gradually wearing away the rough edges, instead of having them chip and break. Score one for walks, hoof goo and, a hay upgrade. [Setting A Shoeing Record, Again & Sustaining The Shoeing Record]

For the non-horsey among us (waves hi!), Thoroughbreds are bred for speed, not for robust feet. They have notoriously thin hoof walls and thin soles. Rodney being able to successfully go barefoot would be, if not a big deal, at least a medium deal.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. AnOther: Artists and their Stripes, 2014.

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#5 in the series Don’t Quit Your Day Job. I call this – Playing with Office Supplies.

Acrylic Painting with Anthony Best
Shelby County Arts Council
July 2026

In the first class, I found myself with a brush full of paint in a color I was done using. Instead of rinsing it, I took a small panel and wiped the paint off on it. I continued through the class. When I was done, I had a mini-rainbow of the colors from the painting.

This amused me.

I decided to continue.

Once it was dry, I taped off a quarter strip of the panel. During the next class, I wiped paint off on the remaining three-quarters of the panel. Third class, half. Fourth & final class, final quarter.

Is it art? Probably not. It is interesting.

I have two takeaways.

One. I needed to be be more precise or less precise. The lines are straight and clean but slightly skewed. Either make sure the tape was perpendicular OR do the whole thing by eye.

Two. Each time after the first, I was painting over previous paint. It’s paint. It’s opaque. I figured the paint would cover the previous layer. It did not. By the final section, on the right in the photo, I was painting over three layers of paint. You can see how rough the coverage is. Paint behavior, it’s a thing.

Previous Posts
[Landscape, Acrylic Painting Class #1, Art]
[Seascape, Acrylic Painting Class #2, Art]
[Floral Still Life, Acrylic Painting Class #3, Art]
[Sunset, Acrylic Painting Class #4, Art]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. How old is the Internet? Science + Media Museum: A short history of the internet, 2020. Full disclosure, it’s Friday night & I have not read this yet. Going by the name of the museum, I’m making the assumption that they did a decent job.

Update. Done. Informative.

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Activity from a five-year-old post.

Back in 2021, I offered to clear out my accumulated supplies. Several people took me up on it and I happily shipped off packages. [Free To Good Home, Pens, Pencils, Notebooks]

Last year, someone asked if I still had stuff? Why yes, I did. Off went another package.

In May of this year, another inquiry.

These days, I don’t have many stray pens. The pen subscription box canceled. I still have the Field Notes subscription and I still don’t get out much.

“The stuff accumulates. Particularly Field Notes. I use them for notes when I go out. I don’t go out much. So, I have extra.” [Free]

In addition, I now get Dapper Notes. These are beautiful, tactile, hand-made, sewn-in, small fabric notebooks. I did it for one year. Loved them. Didn’t use them. For me, they make great trip journals. Alas, I don’t go on many trips. Thought about canceling. Decided to continue because they are lovely and supporting artists is never a bad idea.

So, yes, I did have supplies looking for homes. Off went yet another package.

Everyone was as nice as could be. They realized that the post was old and that they were addressing a stranger who had made this odd offer.

Scam? Could be. Anything can be turned to the dark side and I’m probably not as clever as I like to think. I recall reading an article about how anyone – anyone! Yes, you. – can fall for a scam. However, I don’t see the percentage here. Stuff I’m happy to give away that has marginal resale value. I prefer to picture the recipients as delighted and putting all the things to good use.

Old posts live on. The Internet is vast & weird, and can be wonderful.

Archives [State of the Blog]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Lawyers, Guns, & Money: The unending obesity panic in the face of the data, Campos, August 6, 2026. Hat tip to G.

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The good news. I did second exercise on more than 40% of the days in July (13 exercise/31 days = 42%, 10 bike, 2 swim, 1 5K). Morning horse walks counts as first exercise.

The bad news. It’s kicking my ass.

The interesting news. I have discovered that there are two kinds of tired.

Swimming

Let’s start with swimming. Last month, I swam twice. While that doesn’t sound like much, it’s actually okay. The plan is to go once a week and eventually build up to twice a week. That will hold me for a while.

Five laps once a week is hardly an exercise regimen. Right now, trying to instill the habit of getting out of the house and getting in the pool. For me, swimming is an afternoon thing, once horses & tasks are done. Unfortunately, afternoon thunderstorms are also a thing.

After swimming, I’m tired. Mild aches in places that don’t usually move in those directions. Not inclined to frantic activity. So far, so normal.

Biking

And then there is biking.

I started with all three days of the long weekend at the beginning of July. Husband has been coming home to bike in the evening when it is cooler. I join him at the beginning for a short, proof of concept ride, approx. 4 1/2 miles.

I waited until I had confidence that my right wrist would be able to grab the brake lever if needed. Much in the way they don’t let you drive until you can confidently stomp the brake. Wrist was good to go. [Doctor’s Appointment, Wrist Update]

Oof.

Apparently, biking involves much leaning on the hands, especially when sitting up and holding the handlebars, rather than down in the drops. I was sore before I even got home. Nothing getting damaged, just using the joint in a new way. For me that meant an activity other than typing, riding, or activities of daily living.

After. Took me days to recover. Task completion was minimal. Attitude was low. Not just tired. I sat. I stared into space. This is what I did while the wrist was healing. [The Mental Aspect, Wrist Update]

Got better as the month went along. Not as quickly as I would have liked, but it never does.

Conclusion one. Rehab tired is a different beast than exercise tired.

Conclusion two. Injuries bite the rotten potato.

Walking, Daily Mile

Check. A few days off, here and there, for early lessons & rain.

Walking, Monthly 5K

Hot! I walked the indoor track at the Y. A mile was 14 laps. No way was I going to count to 42 (3 miles = 14 laps/per mile x 3). I have trouble keeping track of single digits. [Counting With Sound 3 & Counting with Pine Cones 5]

I had to measure it. Since I was walking indoors, the measurement was going to be off. I walked for one hour and called it done.

BreyerFest did not have their IRL 5k, so no virtual 5K for me. Using a medal I found online, I made my own. There are some pretty ones celebrating the Year of the Horse. Yes, I am doing the medal thing again. I blame the lack of horse show ribbons.

Did having a medal help? Didn’t hurt.

Ostensibly, many things to look at during the walk. Activities below on the gym floor. Out the window at the wide world. And yet, bored! My fav walks in order, 1) IRL city 5K walking along the streets sans traffic, 2) a nice park, preferably with a big loop, 3) parks surrounding athletic fields, & 4) indoors. Clearly I rank my walks by quality of visual stimuli. The walk got better when I made the mental switch from 1 mile to a 5K. [Moseying to the Music]

OTOH, it was cool in there.

Onwards!
Katherine