State of the Blog, Weekly Art

Blogging About Blogging

Awareness of the outside world. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers.
~~~

In an effort to bring balance to my interests, I tried a 100-day challenge. The thinking is that if you do something for 100 days, it will become an ingrained part of your life.

I chose daily art.

I would draw something, anything, once a day for 100 days. Lettering. Doodles. Random marks all over the page. Didn’t matter what. Fill up one small notebook page with ink images.

Doable?

Ha!

I lasted less than 25 days even after reducing from a full page to a quarter page. It was a 5″ x 8″ page to start. One quarter of that is 10 square inches. Not a big space to fill.

You’d think, right?

Again I say, Ha!

That 25 days even included letting myself miss a few days.

One issue is that I have trouble doing things for no purpose. Doesn’t have to be a grand purpose, but a purpose none the less. Write to order? Sure. Write a daily blog post? Okay. Journal? Fiction? Crickets.

I’m the same with photography. Almost every photo I have every taken has been to fulfill a specific need, i.e. a professional assignment, class homework, blog post, or text message. Recently, I was scrolling thru my photos to see if I had a one I could use for a quick stand-alone post. All of them had been taken for a reason and used. No spares.

I wouldn’t argue good or bad. That’s too judgmental. I will say it is limiting way to go thru life. There leaves no room for serendipity. [Accidental Art, Horse & Cart]

Good, bad, or limiting, it’s not a habit that I am likely to change at this point.

New plan.

Weekly art …

… for the Sunday post.

My internal hall monitor appears to feel that the blog counts toward purpose, see above examples. I did this with the letter B last week and the blog logo for tomorrow. Success for n=2. We’ll see how that goes. [The Week Brought To You By The Letter B]

You may not see a huge change. Since I recommitted to weekend posts, Sundays have been about about images. This will continue. Maybe a bit more of my own, probably lettering. Images from others only as they are particularly appealing. Or I need to fill the space. [Weekends NOT off]

Mostly, this is a change of internal messaging. If this works, next up is music. Possibly a lost cause. [The Music, and The Mirror, and The Chance To Dance, One Out Of Three Ain’t Bad]

Thus ends this month’s glimpse into how the sausage is made.

Do you have a current self-improvement project?

State of the Blog [archives]
Above, July logo [Blog Logo, Mesh Gradient]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Places and Parks, August Walks II

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Vox: 4 lessons from the early pandemic that no longer apply. Samuel. Aug 25, 2021. Two take-aways. Abstinence-only is not a long-term answer. We need to think globally, if only out of self interest.
~~~

Continued. [Places and Parks, August Walks I]

Cahaba Heights Park
Circling sport fields
17 August 2021
1.05 miles
30 minutes

Leeds Memorial Park
Shade on a sunny day
18 August 2021
1.01 miles
25 minutes

Ross Bridge
Using the buffer land between road and golf course
I was there for a party (?!?)
21 August 2021
1.22 miles
25 minutes

Shelby County Arts Center
Scenic sidewalk
23 August 2021
1.08 miles
28 minutes

August Stats
Daily one-mile walks – 17
Weekly dance class – 1, session ended
Biking – 1
Long walks – 0 [Little Walking]
Total movement days – 19 as of Aug 26
Stretching days – it is to laugh [Or Not]

Accuracy vs rounding. I’m accurate with the mileage since I actually walked those steps. I’m less tight on the time since it includes stopping to take pictures & stopping to take notes. The total elapsed time is relatively meaningless in terms of effort expended.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Places and Parks, August Walks I

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. The ultimate political divide. A high tide raises all boats. If you win, I win. VERSUS Life is a zero-sum game. The only way for you to win is for me to lose. It’s hard to see a middle ground between these two. Either you cheer for the success of others, or you fear it.
~~~

Lots of new places this month. Split over 2 posts.

Started a group chat for walking. (Waves hi with both hands.) I don’t find it as much a matter of accountability as keeping the idea in forefront of my mind. For example, my in-house mechanic was off doing something useful at Lowe’s. I realized I had 20 minutes and and could fit in a walk. (I delude myself that a miles takes me 20 minutes.) So I walked up and down the sidewalk of the strip mall at Colonial Promenade. This led to several sidewalk walks this month.

This week’s takeaway message for those who might not be interested in Bham info. Find .25 mile stretch. Do it four times. Boom. Mile done. Plus the pretty pictures.

Walks tracked with Map My Walk. All mileage credit to [Biking and Walking Virtually, Mississippi River, Part One, Minnesota].

Colonial Promenade
While waiting
7 August 2021
1.01 miles
25 minutes

Zaxby’s, as was
Parking lot of former fast food restaurant while waiting for oil change and tire rotation. [Shod]
13 August 2021
1.04 miles
30 minutes

Pepper Place
Around bike race [Giving Birmingham Its Due]
14 August 2021
1.5 miles
45 minutes

Lee Branch Shopping Center
Running errand.
16 August 2021
1.13 miles
27 minutes

Parks are pretty but they don’t usually come with fries. Lee Branch.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Shoeing Dilemma

Horsekeeping

Awareness of the outside world. Tokyo 2020: Equestrian Paralympic Schedule & Results. Check out the Grade I, walk-only tests, FEI: Para Dressage Tests. Imagination fails me; I have enough trouble with a single diagonal. Paralympics started yesterday (got bumped for Covid news). While I am still dubious about the wisdom of gathering in large herds, I did want to give para equal time. [Splash of Color Dash]
~~~

On one hand (hoof?). The shoe Rodney has been wearing. Lighter. Takes several days post-shoeing to adjust. With diligent bootie protocol, he has not pulled one this year.

On the other hand (hoof?). At the last shoeing, blacksmith tried a new shoe. Heavier. Same make, different model. More suited to Rodney’s size. Rodney LOVED them. I was able to ride the day after the shoe appointment. Went right back to work that weekend. With diligent bootie AND bell boot protocol … he pulled one in three weeks. [Milton Takes Point]

Slippers that are too thin but stay on.
versus
Workboots that are sturdy but fall off.

Two notes for non-horsefolks. Pulling off a shoe often involves tearing off a chunk of the hoof wall as as well. Doesn’t hurt, but leaves the blacksmith nothing to work with. Think a breaking a fingernail. Rodney grows very little hoof between shoeings anyway, so he has little to spare.

Also, some horses can live with a few days of barefoot. Previous Horse and Mathilda used go au natural over the winter. Tried it with these two. Not pretty. Even a day or two without a shoe requires several days to recover.

Yes, Rodney has annoying,Thoroughbred feet. Horses should not be 17 hands and TBs were selectively bred for speed not for hardiness.

Result. Blacksmith went with regular, lighter shoe. Will look into middle-ground possibilities. We are back to booties and a few days of adapting. Although, not too bad. Perhaps a few weeks in workboots allowed his feet time to toughen up. I would love for Rodney to wear those all the time. I guess, as with all things, you can’t plan for the average. You have to plan so that the failure case is acceptable.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Milton Takes Point, Virtual Tevis, 55 & 48 Miles, 31 Days

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Yesterday. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: FDA Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine.
~~~

Pfffttt.

Well, THAT didn’t work. less than five hours after the post on bell boots went up, we came out to the barn to find that Rodney had pulled one of his shoes, without disturbing the bell boot. So much for that theory. [Pieces Of Pink Plastic Armor]

While Rodney waited for the blacksmith, Milton went on ahead. Once shod, Rodney eased back into work. Hence the difference in mileage.

On a good note, horses are doing great this year. We can knock out two miles without drama. This is about double what their baseline was last year. Still mostly at a walk, still slow as molasses compared to real endurance horses and most Virtual Tevis entrants, but progress for us.

Turtle power!

Where are we virtually?

Milestones. All Milton. Note to self. Use badges from last year. No need to upload new images. Duh.

Map. 48/55 miles in. Graphic from Tevis Cup: About the Trail, shading mine.

Tevis Cup: Trail Sections & Historic Notes

Data dump

Tuesday, August 17 – 2.27 miles, 1:01 minutes
Wednesday, August 18 – 2.26 miles, 59 minutes
Thursday, August 19 – Milton 3.67 miles, – minutes; Rodney 0. Milton’s “extra” miles added in. [14 Days, also shoe related. Inevitable with with a four-week summer shoeing schedule, or three weeks if you take your shoe off early. Gaaa.]
Friday, August 20 – Milton 2.38 miles, 1:03 minutes; Rodney 0.
Saturday, August 21 – Milton 1.8 miles, 49 minutes; Rodney – 1.34 miles, 53 minutes. Rodney practiced statue while Milton worked. I usu get on first and start my GPS while waiting. Hence different ride times.
Sunday, August 22 – 1.47 miles, 43 minutes. Rodney done, too slippery for Milton to trot, so we headed home despite it being a weekend when we usually try for longer rides.
Monday, August 23 – 1.6 miles, 47 minutes

Distance this week – Milton 16 miles, Rodney 9 miles
Time this week – Milton 6 1/2 hours, Rodney 4 1/2 hours
Rides this week – Milton 7, Rodney 5

Total distance – Milton 55 miles, Rodney 48 miles
Total time – Milton 23 1/2 24 hours, Rodney 21 1/2 hours. Update, left off the extra minutes that went with Milton’s extra time.
Total rides – Milton 25, Rodney 23
Total days – 31

Pace, time to go one mile – both 26+ minutes, per VT results page

Numbers rounded off for ease of reporting. May not add up as given.

My Links
Last week [Working The Walk, Virtual Tevis, 39 Miles, 24 Days]
[VT Archives]

Official Links
Tevis Cup: Virtual Tevis 2021
RunSignUp: 2021 Tevis Cup – Virtual Western States Trail – 100 Miles in 100 Days
RunSignUp: VT results

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

The Week Brought To You By The Letter B

Images

Awareness of the outside world. Andrea Animates: Cooking With Wool.
~~~

Wednesday, Buckets
Thursday, Bell Boots
Friday, Breyer
Saturday, Birmingham

Not planned. Just worked out that way.

Process notes: Inkscape for scaling & rotation. Finished in GIMP. Started as a sketch! Therefore feeling tres artistic.

On a related note
When I was a kid, I had trouble telling the difference between lower-case-b and lower-case-d. My trick was to use the name of my friend Robin. I would put the letter in the middle of her name. If it came up Rodin, I knew it was D. No trouble with any other letters.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine