Our intrepid New Orleans parade reporter is back. Welcome, Michelle.
Parade by the Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc to celebrate the birthday of Joan of Arc. The date coincides with the opening of Carnival season, which starts 6 Jan and ends on Mardi Gras.
For safety reason, horses are no longer used in this parade. Instead, they have horse statuary on wheels, Michelle refers to them as, “Rolling pieces of art.”
“Joan was the military hero of our namesake city Orléans, France, and her golden statue in the French Market, a copy of one in Paris, was a gift to the city of New Orleans from the French people.” Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc: Who We Are.
The rest of the parade, below.
Facts & Links
Carnival varies in length. Starts on 6 Jan, a fixed date. Ends on Mardi Gras, a moving date.
“Mardi Gras always falls exactly 47 days before Easter (the 40 days of Lent plus seven Sundays).” Gardiner Public Library: What is Mardi Gras? > When is Mardi Gras? Betit, 2022. Detailed discussion of equinox dates.
I post the new blog link each day. I will try not to get too tight about it. For example, if I turn my computer off for the weekend, I’ll just skip the FB posts and move on. Or perhaps catch up on Monday, particularly if there was a guest post over the weekend (I’m looking at you, Sunday).
First Instagram post of reactivated account on 2 December 2023.
Mainly an account to announce new posts. I changed the profile to indicate this & said so in the first post. So far, only one Instagram post that was a not announcing a new blog post, above. That was an experiment in posting post right away rather than saving for the blog. [A Christkindlmarkt in Alabama, Vicarious Travel]
I haven’t done a solo Instagram post since. Probably won’t. I keep thinking it would be fun to have an active Instagram account. Then I tell myself a daily blog is enough.
Why?
I stopped because I was getting drawn into the fetid sink hole that was Facebook, see below.
I restarted because I found myself looking at Facebook about once a day. Checking on friends. Logging off. If I was doing that, why not post the blog link at the same time? Either Facebook is a shadow of its former self, or I have developed self-control. For whatever reason, I seem to be able to sign on, post the link, & leave.
Might as well do Instagram at the same time, for the blog posts with photos. I realize Facebook and Instagram are both aspects of the Borg that is Meta. The Instagram algorithm is slightly different, and occasionally works for me.
As for all of the other social media options? Too many rabbit holes. Too many time sinks. These were in place and easy to restart.
For Reference
Below are screenshots as an archive & for those can’t/don’t want to access Instagram. Taken 9 January 2024. To make them identifiable as such, the border color is from the Instagram logo.
Account profile from Instagram.
Posted above. The one Instagram post that is not from the blog. Everything else on Facebook or Instagram duplicates what is on the daily post. Text, “Cullman Christkindlmarkt. (p) No post related to this. Just random pretty photo that occurred and seem perfect for Insta.”
Posted above. Text, “Using this as a Notification Account. (P) Experimenting with putting up links to new blog posts. Will be close to daily, depending whether or not post has a photo. Follow or not as inclined.” with graphic from post & link to blog. [Streak, State of the Blog]
Deleted Project
Speaking of changes. I have dropped the Now page. Status was staying very much quo. This a good thing, given possible alternatives. This was a bad thing, meaning that the news wasn’t particularly novel or interesting for you to read. This was an annoying thing because I was struggling for what to say and being reminded each month of how much we were not doing.
You can see that my last Now page was a repetition of the previous month. I did not see this changing. If we come to a point where we are awash in joyful activity, I may revisit the concept.
‘Why I left’ message posted in 2020, in case I change my Contact page.
“Ending daily link posts. I am taking a personal break from Facebook. Too much angst. There is gracious plenty of that from the news. Don’t need to look for more. Since I have no self-control, that means a blog break from FB as well. I can’t seem to sign on, post the link, & leave. For daily posts, you can Follow by Email over on the blog, or bookmark the page, same bat time, same bat channel. Thank you. Hope to see you there.” RSFB message, May 19, 2020″ From Contact 29 Jan 2024.
In case you were wondering why Rodney’s Saga & Virtual Brush Box. [State of the Blog, Introduction] > What’s with the two names? Clearly, I changed the title but never got around to changing to the url. It’s on my To Do List. Deeply buried.
Had two things to do in the month of January. They were on the same day. Resigned face.
To shirt or not to shirt? There is a tradition in running that one does not wear a race shirt until once has completed the race. I generally abide by this. OTOH, the Drum Run shirt is a useable piece of clothing that was paid for. I compromised by collecting the shirt but tossing it into my husband’s closet.
The 5K That Was
We continue with Dragon January.
Ordered this medal because I needed one more for free shipping, it is pretty, and I’ve done Year Of The X walks & posts before. Maybe walk somewhere that is dragon related … if I squint .. maybe, I could …? I will not admit how long it took me to connect this dragon medal with the three (3!) dragon posts earlier this month.
Now that I had a viable tie-in, I could do the actual walk anywhere. The plan was to walk around the lake at the unnamed corporate park. Flat. Paved. Things at which to look. [Another Lakeside Stroll, Corporate Bronze, Instagram Wrap-up photos]
The day of my walk, I had a technical glitch with work in the morning. Long day but I was running out of month. Back to baseline. Local park/walking track. Walk for an hour. Take a photo of the medal. Boom. Done.
No trouble finishing. Spirit was willing the entire time. Legs were a bit annoyed by the end. Brain got a little bored. Ended up listening to a lecture every other lap, when I was not too close to aurally intrude on others. Virtual race was 2.024. I extended it to 5K. Yes, I did check the units. Carefully. [In Which I Walk … And Have Trouble With Numbers]
I hope this is me getting back into the monthly 5Ks with enthusiasm. Interest was flat for the last half of 2023. [In Which I Walk, scroll to end.]
Sometimes I wonder what is point. Then I come down on the side that movement is good.
Other Exercise
Tai Chi, stretching, biking, rowing. Not regularly yet, but more than once. Made a mistake of playing a rowing game on the Concept2. Worked too hard catching the fish. Gonna take a break from rowing until my back has recovered from the fishing expedition.
Awareness of the outside world. “She’s risen to be one of 30 Fédération Equestre Internationale Level 4 show jumping course designers in the world and the only woman who is currently active at that level.” Chronicle of the Horse: Marina Azevedo Keeps Setting Goals And Courses, Sorge 2022/2023.
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Coach Courtney called my hands gracious.
I like that.
At my lesson, she complimented how well I had done with the bridle at the show. Remember I was showing with the double show bridle. She said she hadn’t seen any infelicitous hand activity.
I had to demur. I said it wasn’t a matter of being good with my hands. It was more a case of working hard to do as little as possible and having Optimus willing to coast along without rein input. [Staying With The Series, Show Report]
She said that was no small thing. Apparently, many Saddlebreds are quite happy to be left alone in the front. You can get yourself in trouble by doing too much, or grabbing too hard with the reins. Again, show bridle, which means two bits, one being a curb. Erring on the side of light hands can work in my favor.
This is not the message I have gotten from the dressage world. They go on and on about the dynamic, humming contact between the rider’s hands and the horse’s mouth. I have never been able to achieve this. My hands have always been soft to the point of ineffective.
My first horse was known to have the occasional moment in front of a jump. We got around by me flinging the reins at him & then supporting like hell with my legs. Any contact with the reins was taken as a request to halt. So, I learned not to touch the reins and to ride without them. The habit never really left me.
Awareness of the outside world. K3DE: New Name for Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian, Moody, Jan 25, 2024. Pet peeve, why do companies keep messing with their brands? I’m looking at you, Dunkin’-no-longer-Donuts. Anyway. As far as I can tell, Defender is a vehicle from Land Rover, which was the title last year.
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On one of the recent days when weather prevented a morning walk, I took Rodney out later in the day.
Milton was not! pleased! at being abaaaaaaaannnndddoooooned. To be clear, he wasn’t tied up or in the stall. He was simply standing in the run-in, screaming about it.
He finally came out to supervise.
When doing this, I usually walk Rodney back and forth along the open side of the pasture. Milton will walk a shorter distance back and forth in the center.
This time, I decided to include the path along the short side that the group takes on our morning walks. There are a few trees. When it became clear that we were going out! of! sight!, Milton came zooming up. He actually ran ahead a bit. (Showing off a nice canter, darn it.) After that, he stayed close as we walked back and forth.
Rodney was not pleased to have a large, gray horsefly circling his sensitive hindquarters. Given Milton’s propensity to express himself with his teeth, Rodney had a point.
Next time, I will go back to staying in the open and hope Milton is content with watching from a distance.
“This year’s Virtual Event starts on Wednesday, April 10th – and will run for 100 days until Sunday, July 21st, 2024 – as the riders of the Traditional Tevis Cup are finishing their own physical journeys under the Tevis Moon!” The Tevis Cup: Virtual Tevis Cup 2024
Given that everything is an if with horses – with life in general, doubly so with horses – we should be in good shape this year. On our morning walks, we have probably been doing an average of 95 miles every 100 days. A few slightly longer days will put us over the finish line. For example, last year I did my April and May monthly 5K walks with Rodney in the pasture.
To start, we will be hand-walking. Later maybe some driving, maybe some riding. Do I wish we were doing 10+ mile gallops through the woods on the weekends? Sure. Meanwhile, we have fun with the Virtual Tevis no matter how we do it. This will be our 5th year.
A week ago, my world was teens and ice and frozen ground.
Last week, my world was 60oF and rain and mud.
Recently, I was thinking about full moons and the theory that people do weird sh*t on the nights of the full moon. What is one thing you can absolutely do during a full moon that you can NOT do during a new moon? See where you are going. Therefore, people give the impression of getting up to shenanigans during a full moon because that is when we can be out & about. It’s not the moon; it’s the light.
Electric lights have put us out of touch with day/night cycles. Oh, we know they are there. They just don’t slow us down any more. Dark? Flip on a light. Cold? Turn up the heat.
(I realize this implies modern conveniences and steady access to power, yada yada yada. Stick with me. I’m making a rhetorical point here.)
I am as out of touch with the natural world as any person in the 21st century, perhaps more so, having grown up as a city kid.
However, I promise you, as a horse owner, I am very in touch with what is coming out of the sky, and how it affects the footing.
Virtual Brush Box 