Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. USFA: Minimizing the Effects of Wildfire Smoke, June 8, 2023.

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Finished!

Virtual Tevis Cup 2023
100 Miles in 100 Days
19 April to 30 July

Rodney – 1 miles this week, 100 miles total
Milton – 2 miles this week, 100 miles total
Tues 20 June to Mon 26 June

Longest Distance
Rodney – 3.22 miles & 3.12 miles, the 5Ks for May & June. After that, longest was 1.31 miles.
Milton – 1.31 miles.

Shortest Distance
Rodney – 0.08 miles. The day he was obsessed with what turned out to be a tick in his forelock.
Milton – 0.03 miles. Probably a warm-up walk before working in the ring.

Number of outings
Rodney – 108 trips
Milton – 105 trips

Average per outing
Rodney – 0.93 miles per trip, 0.88 miles per trip without the 5Ks
Milton – 0.96 miles per trip

Duration
Rodney – from Wednesday, 19 April to Saturday 17 June, 60 days
Milton – from Thursday, 20 April to Tuesday 20 June, 62 days

Numbers may be a little off. Some walks got recorded in two segments. On at least one occasion, I lumped Milton’s daily mileage into one. Still, the general idea is there. We did this one mile at a time.

My spreadsheet isn’t set up to easily calculate days we missed. Not many.

Good job, Rodney & Milton!

Virtual Tevis Posts [Keeping The Pace, Near The End of the 90s, Virtual Tevis 2023], [Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Guardian: ‘Stumbling stones’: a different vision of (WWII events) remembrance, Apperly, 18 Feb 2019. Hat tip to C.

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For years, we’ve used the same feed scoop.

Recently, Milton has been getting half of that scoop. So we bought a scoop that was half the size.

Now, we can simply scoop one unit. No more estimating the amount, wondering if that qualifies as half, or too much, or too little.

It is a small thing. When you do a task twice a day, every day, it doesn’t take long for convenience to add up.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art from the outside world. Globe making. Geographical: Bellerby & Co: the world in their hands, 17 May 2023. Recommended by The Map Room: Bellerby and the History and Craft of Globemaking.

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Yesterday’s fiction was written as a blatant excuse to repost this graphic. [Hope, Graphic Art]

Onwards!
Katherine

Writer: Hello, Muse.

Muse: We meet again.

Writer: Good news. The Powers That Be liked Earth Day. Now they want a summer holiday movie. [Muse & The Earth Day Movie]

Muse: What holiday?

Writer: That’s the first question. They just said holiday.

Muse: Memorial Day. Independence Day. Labor Day. Solstice.

Writer: (blank stare)

Muse: Father’s Day. Summer Solstice. Flag Day. Helen Keller Day. Stop me if you hear anything you like.

Writer: (more blank stare)

Muse: Okay, let’s try a different tack. You’ve hit the Western/Christian tradition fairly hard. What about other cultures? Muslim? Jewish?

Writer: (pokes around the Internet) I can read about a holiday, but can I understand it? I mean, understand it well enough to riff on it? Would Napkin Check make any sense to anyone who had not spent way too many Thanksgiving dinners squeezed into the small space between Uncle Fred and the credenza? [Banquet with a Bonus]

Muse: I see you are really feeling the holiday spirit here.

Writer: (heavy sigh)

Muse: What about a general summer-time movie. No holiday.

Writer: They really like the holiday hook. Since I’m the one who started the trend, I can’t complain.

Muse: Okay. What is summer?

Writer: Summer is hot. Or cold. Main character goes to Australia and has summer vacation where it’s cold? That would work better with Hot Christmas. Do muses ever give up in defeat?

Muse: No. I never have. I won’t now. Did they give you any parameters?

Writer: Well, they have a marketing campaign they’d love to use.

Muse: The campaign before the product? That seems backwards.

Writer: Yeah. They had it designed for another project that tanked. Using it is not mandatory, but I’d smell real good if I could fit it in.

What is the campaign?

Writer: Never Give Up Hope.

Muse: That’s positive.

Writer. It’s too general. Not giving up is pretty much the description of act two of any three-act story. Set up. Rising tension. Resolution.

Muse: So you have a theme without the holiday.

Writer: Yup. That’s pretty much it.

Muse: Well, if It’s general it should be easy for you to work it in.

Writer: (grumbles)

Muse: Let’s go at this another way. Make up a holiday. Something you have always thought should be celebrated. Christmas in July?

Writer: I may be a mercenary hack in thrall to advertisers, but I will not contribute to Christmas taking over any more of the calendar.

Muse: Anti-Christmas?

Writer: See previous about advertisers.

Muse: A non-holiday to do nothing.

Writer: Again sales. Also, we seem to be getting away from the hope thread.

Muse: Never give up the hope thread.

Writer: Cute.

Muse: Okay, try this – short stories.

Writer: But they want a full length movie.

Muse: Have you heard of Love, American Style?

Writer: No.

Muse: Look it up.

Writer: You are *letting* me surf?

Muse: You keep telling me it’s for research. Anyway, stop being snarky and go look.

Writer: (surfing) I see. Three 20-minute stories to fill an hour time slot. Wiki: LAS

Muse: (staying silent)

Writer: … hmmmm …

Muse: (more silent)

Writer: … short stories … little things … don’t give up hope … What do you think of this. Several stories about people celebrating small but important achievements in their their lives, as in things than they did not give up on.

Muse: I like it. What does your inner mercenary say?

Writer: You can always sell celebrations to advertisers.

Muse: Tell me more.

Writer: A work story about a person getting a promotion, or maybe succeeding at a task they were worried about. A family story about finally having that difficult conversation, or finally getting all the cousins to agree on a date for that trip to Scotland. A cellist who makes it through a complicated piece the first time. Anyway, lots of possibilities, the idea is little achievements that people get after struggling.

Muse: Do you …

Writer: … (interrupting) … oooh, oooh. We can mix the casts. The minor parts from one story will become the main characters of the next … I think one story at a time … maybe intertwined so that a scene from the first repeats in the second from a different point of view to show they are all happening on the same day … we could intertwine the narratives, but we’d need a pay-off for confusing the audience … hmm ….I think consecutive recounting would be the way to go …

Muse: It’s usually a good sign if you are starting to worry about structure.

Writer: … uh? … what? … sure, structure … I even have the title.

Muse: Do tell.

Writer: A Day To Celebrate Small Victories

Muse: (smiles)

Update. [Turning Hope Into A Holiday, Muse & The Summer Movie II]

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Awareness of the outside world. Pulseox does not read as accurately on darker skin, which is a problem when you are using pulseox measurements to gauge hospital admission. “The role that pulse oximetry discrepancies played in triage and treatment decisions for Black and non-Black Hispanic patients with COVID-19 infections.” AMA: Eliminating racial bias in medicine is an obligation we all share, Ehrenfeld, 2022.

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Sherry’s Hair Design
Chelsea, Alabama USA
3 November 2022

Technical Details. f/9.0, 1/500 sec.. 35.0 mm, ISO 720.

Update. No connection between the two sections of this post. Luck of the draw. Pulseox was on my mind because someone I know was having frequent blood oxygen checks last week (waves hi!). The photo was one from the reserve pile since several days of unstable weather kept throwing up thunderstorms whenever I wanted to go out for a photo shoot. 24 June 2023

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. arkbiodiv.com: History of World Camel Day, Dr Raziq Kakar.

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No visuals. You will have to use your imagination.

Jasmine was having trouble getting down the ramp from the front door, even with the sling steadying her.

She decided to lean into the skid, as it were.

Now, when she gets to the top of the ramp, she puts her paws together in front of her, lies down, and sliiiides down the ramp.

It looks like fun.

Although.

I worry about her, as one does with an older dog. Is she too dependent on the sling? Is she losing the use of her hind end? What is her quality of life? Yadda, etc.

So.

Over the weekend, we took the dogs up to the barn while we dejunked the storage stall. Rose was in the aisle. Jasmine lay just outside. A very light rain started.

Jasmine was not pleased.

Technically, she was correct. Drops of water were falling from the sky. Wet, she was not getting.

She barked.

She squeaked.

She lay in attitudes of despair.

Finally, she got up and walked into the barn.

Well, okay then.

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Jasmine & Rose Fan Club [list of posts]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. USEF: Pride Collection.

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Teeter-Totter cart in the backyard for the first time. [Wife/Navigator Points]

Harness subsequently adjusted per pointers from Coach Kate. Photos with better-fitted harness didn’t turn out.

This cart would be suitable for driving derbies and pleasure classes. Looking less like an escapee from the Saddlebred ring.

[Scenic Horses]

Onwards!
Katherine