Thoughts
Awareness of the outside world. From the bookshelf, *A Christmas Cornucopia: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Yuletide Traditions* by Mark Forsyth (Penguin 2016). Book announcement. Don’t think of this as a repeat posting. Think of it as the start of a Christmas tradition. [Christmas Gift]
~~~
Last year, I made of list of things to do before my next milestone birthday in 2022. [60 Before 60]
It will be a year tomorrow. How many have I made progress on?
Not.
A
Single.
One.
The only item that came true was number 60, and that was only half true.
60 Left blank for things wondrous and unthought of.
I think we can all agree that 2020 has been unthought of.
But seriously folks.
The entire list was an exercise of the imagination. Some of the goals were clearly aspirational. No way am I going to ride 3rd level dressage within the next two years. I’m not even sure I want to.
I could blame the pandemic for failures in activities that are travel- or horse-show related. But I’d be lying. I can barely drag myself off the farm for a once-a-year trip within the US to see family. Suddenly, I’m going to start prancing around the world? Even if I could? I think not.
Nor have I been near the pandemic-suitable activities, such as riding my bike 100 miles, doing a photo show, or writing a book. I’m not saying I should have achieved these. I’m saying I haven’t even started.
Every so often, I used to get a wild hair and decide I needed to draw up a budget. I diligently recorded all expenditures. I created a spreadsheet. I compiled categories. There may have been charts. The answer was always the same.
Books. Food. Pets.
The amounts spent in other categories are too small to matter: entertainment, clothes, music. Money gets spent on these things, but so little in comparison to the big 3 that the categories become statistically irrelevant.
To the point now that I don’t even bother with budgets. I know where the money goes. Saving money is a matter of controlling those three expenses.
The 60 Before 60 is much the same. I can make all the lists I want. I can have all the passing fancies I want: model horses, stamps, art. I’m going to keep doing the same things: words, horses, walks. This is not a bad thing or a good thing, simply an observation. But it does leave my 60 Before 60 list blowing in the breeze.
Dang. I was looking forward to using the list as blog fodder for several years.
Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 
I’ve got the same three big expenses. Although books have slipped a bit. Nothing replacing them, sadly.
Maybe it’s time for new lists for blog fodder? lol
As 60 looms over the horizon, it doesn’t seems as old as was when my grandparents were 60.