Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. Ode to Joy, singing of & thoughts on. Balloon Juice: Sunday Morning Open Thread, Laurie, May 10, 2026. Posts cited, Bluesky: Adam Schwartz May 9, 2026 & Bluesky: Malaclypse the Middle May 9 2026. History of, EU : European anthem

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Rodney has dapples.

Dapples are a sign of robust good health.

He is gradually putting on weight, which is the ideal way to do so.

He has a ridiculously shiny, glossy coat.

Pretty good for a geriatric pasture ornament.

Well.

Chronologically, he’s geriatric. Calendar reads 27 years.

Physically, he’s better than he was when he came here 16 years ago.

Mentally, he’s – um – youthful.

Milton is doing well, but grays don’t dapple out the same way.

Yes, that was Firefly reference.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Peace Alliance: History of Mother’s Day as a Day of Peace: Julia Ward Howe.

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Paper Folder

Process Notes

I re-used unexciting packing paper for this as it was the only paper I had that was long enough for the starting dimensions.

Links

A project of The Paper Year by Helen Hiebert. According to the directions, this project appears in Playing With Paper by Heibert, and was developed by Hedi Lyle. Gallery of Projects, HH: Paper Year Library. This folder is April 2026.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Pulitzer Prizes have been announced for 2026. Winners by year, Pulitzer: 2026 Pulitzer Prizes. Announcement video, Pulitzer: The 2026 Pulitzer Prize Announcement. List of categories, Pulitzer: Prize Winners by Category.

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🚪🖥️🚪

It wasn’t everyone’s idea of a vacation, but I had been waiting all year to be in this room. I was about to attend a board meeting of the Jasmine Institute, named for the woman who made quantum computing possible. The facility was straight-up old school. Nothing electronic from the outside world was allowed within the walls. Meetings were open to the public but had to be attended in person and notes taken with pen and paper. They knew more than anyone else how vulnerable digital could be. Tomorrow, I would turn around and drive eleven hours home. Worth it.

🚪🖥️🚪

Afterword

This month I will be sending submissions into the Micromemoir Marathon hosted by Five Minutes. The submission guidelines are a personal experience, 100 words, and a short period of time, i.e. five minutes. They consider blogs to be previous publication, so I will share the results once the winners are announced and I am cleared to do so.

In keeping with this project, today is a fictional experience, 100 words, and a short period of time, using Micromemoir Marathon #16, Unusual Vacations. The travel was inspired by own overnight train trip to see the Spanish Riding School. Worth it. [Pondering A Fork In The Road]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Pulitzer Prizes have been announced for 2026. Pulitzer: Feature Photography & Pulitzer: Breaking News Photography. Please note, award-winning photos are seldom happy photos.

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Daily 1 Mile Walks

Airport floor.

Gates were ~half a mile apart. Left first gate. Walked through concourse and center shopping area. Walked past second gate to end of second concourse & back. Voilà, daily mile done.

A handful of other non-pasture walks. Took photos but letting the one speak for the all.

Pasture walks. Check. No media. [Fitness Photography]

Monthly 5K Walk

Leafy sidewalk.

April 5K walk. Mt Laurel. “Mt Laurel is a traditional community that is master planned in concert with nature.” About. So fancy it even has sidewalks, large stretches of which are not interrupted by driveways. Cars are sent behind the houses. Lovely place to walk, although it did occur to me that if I wasn’t white and harmless looking, I probably would have been visited by security. As with all of the civic spaces I visit, saw other folks enjoying it.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. Lexington Herald Leader: There are 21 living Kentucky Derby winners. Here’s where they all are now, Hale & Roberts, May 1, 2026. Hat tip to G.

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I did not attend the horse show at Stepping Stone Farm last weekend.

What!?

Gonna focus on lessons, for a while.

Why?!

Sam enjoyed trotting down memory lane to relive his glory days with me as his admiring audience. Back then, Captain Fabulous and I had fun simply being being in the show ring. [Spontaneous Showing]

These days, Optimus has decreed that his job is to take care of littles and be an emotional support horse. He sees no reason to bring on the fancy feet. This attitude makes him invaluable as a school horse, but does not impress the judges at the shows. I’m not saying I have to win every time. Not at all. I’m saying I want to go in with a chance. [Lesson Horse, School Horse]

There were other horses available but none that generated show sparkles. [Dream Rides, Dottie]

Hence the horse show post last week. I was pondering the decision. How does this show measure up to those metrics? [Why Horse Show?]

Experience. Saddle seat academy classes. I’ve been to a few. The horses even more so. No one would be going in the ring to learn how to do it. Do it better? Sure. Know the basics? Covered.

Points. Last year, I was high point with a handful of shows, most of them fun shows. Ain’t no way to beat that, and highly unlikely to repeat. [Back in the Bling]

Enjoyment. See above.

So, I did not show. I was a joy & a delight all weekend.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. “I’m glad I can be representative of women everywhere,” DeVaux said in a postrace interview on the broadcast. “We can do anything we set our minds to.” NBC News: Golden Tempo claims 152nd Kentucky Derby; Cherie DeVaux makes history as first female trainer to win.

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Goldy
Rosewood Stables
4 May 2026

Previous ride was 11 April. That’s over three weeks. [A Goldy Opportunity]

Walk. 100%.

Trot. 100%+. Even achieved some dressage-esque carriage and bend.

Canter. 75%. I had trouble with my two-point position and Goldy felt fast occasionally. [The Pondering of the Plans, Quandry]

Jump. 0%. Jump is gone. I’m back to trotting low crossrails. This was discouraging and disheartening to discover.

I realized that if was going to have trouble with jumps, I was on the right horse for it. We were able to end on a good note.

It will come back. Probably faster than last time.

An upside. My illustrious groom was correct. “It was the time gap, not the other riding.” The rot set in without me having graced an ASB saddle. This means saddle seat is a separate project, not something that detracts from jumping. [The Pondering of the Pondering, Encore]

Onwards!
Katherine

Post inspiration sparse (gasp). Pretty day (Monday). I’m gonna go sit in a park.

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Decoration? Suggestion to keep your dog close to the rail when crossing the bridge? No idea. There is a second faint pawprint that you might be able to see on the third board.

Taken during 5K December 2025. [Walks]

Onwards!
Katherine