Odd & Ends, Other People’s Thoughts

Words

 
Awareness of the outside world. The Scamperbeasts, @scamperbeasts.
~~~
Blogger explaining to non-horsey coworker about progress with trainer.

My horse is away at boarding school and he started doing advanced calculus without me today and I only know math up to addition and subtraction so I’m kind of amazed.

Cob Jockey: Pony’s First FLYING CHANGES!!!!

Does that mean our horses are home-schooled?
~~~

Researchers have found that it takes seven positive comments to override the impact of one negative comment.

“Are You Prepared *Not* To Win?”
by Melonie Kessler
USDF Connection
May/June 2020
p 60
~~~

Your mind is governed by three natural laws: 1. You are what you think. 2. Every thought causes a physical reaction. 3. Imagination is more powerful than knowledge. So be careful what you watch and listen to (even music and TV), and learn to replace worry, negative self-talk, jealousy, and judgment with goals solutions, gratitude, positive relationships, and mindfulness. – Laura King, performance and life coach, certified hypnotist, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming practitioner.

“Through The Levels”
by Jennifer O. Bryant
USDF Connection
May/June 2020
p 50
~~~
The Horse: Study Confirms Horses ‘Talk’ to Human Handlers, by Christa Lesté-Lasserre, 2016.

File this under No Shit. Although I was interested that the horses waited to get the human’s attention before communicating. ‘Hey, you. Yeah you, hooman. That bucket. Right over there.’ I wonder if they sometimes think we are slow.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Intake Interview for a New Year

Come in! Come in! Make yourself at home.

Well, you are at home, aren’t you? It’s your year. Literally.

That’s what we’d like to talk with you about. The sort of year you are planning to be.

As you know, we had a difficult relationship with 2020. The exit interview was acrimonious. A lot of folks are happy to see you. They are primed to believe in you. You just need to run with it.

Frankly, you could redo 2019 and be wildly popular. Not that you are anybody’s copy. No, no, not at all. You are your own year. We recognize your unique position in the calendar. We’re just saying the bar is low for consumer satisfaction. Be an improvement on 2020 and people will adore you.

We’re thinking you could take this opportunity to go big. Why be a mere improvement, when you could be so much more? The time is ripe for something really special. Here’s a branding idea we want to run past you. We are quite excited about it,

2021
The Beloved Year

 
Gardens growing. Bumper harvests. Fewer hurricanes. Spontaneous peace breaking out. Food banks closing from lack of business.

We know it won’t be perfect. There’s a lot of pain in the world. January, specifically, is not looking good for us Covid-wise.

We choose to see this as giving you opportunity for upward movement.

Be a year that people will be sorry to see go. They will write the wrong date until April. That won’t happen for long this year, I can promise you.

Be the year that lives in memories with a golden glow. Forty years from now, comparison to you will be considered a compliment, ”Ah! that was proper twenty-twenty-one, that was!’

We want you to succeed. We’re rooting for you.

Welcome 2021.

Recap Week 2020 Fitness, Medal Medley

Fit To Ride, For The Record

Because I’m going to want to remember where I went.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Daily news briefs by Deborah Cox Richardson. If you’re strong enough.
~~~
“Does bling matter? You might as well ask if horse show ribbons matter. and that’s just plain heresy.” [Green Bay]

I’ll save you the counting. That’s 15 medals.
14 recognized walks
+ 2 DIY walks
+ 1 bonus bling for being in both races [Bee]
– 2 unarrived medals

Three virtual challenges. [Will Walk and Bike for Bling]

Locations
After the first few around the pasture, I decided to see the sights. Outside and away from other people was deemed okay. Aimed for a new park for each walk. Amazed at what I was able to find. 5k unless otherwise stated.

April
Pasture [La Jolla Shores, Medal] first virtual walk

May
Pasture [Green Bay, Medal] second virtual walk, fourth walk, first medal

June
Pasture [Flying Pig] weekend, Saturday
Pasture [Bear With Me] weekend, Sunday

July
Oak Meadow [Gaelic Gallop]

August
Birmingham Botanical Gardens [Calgary & Photos]

Wind Creek [Walk In The Woods & Mississippi River DIY Aug 29]

September
Aldridge Gardens [Dragon Within DIY & Art]

Hoover [Santa Fe] 3-in-1, Monday
Birmingham Zoo [Toronto Zoo] 3-in-1, Wednesday
Heardmont Park [Bronx Zoo] 3-in-1, Friday

Pasture [5th Avenue Mile]

Oak Meadow, return [Mississippi River DIY, Sept 29] inaugural weekly 5k if no bling walk

October
Montevallo Greenway [Queen Bee 4-Miler & Mississippi River DIY, Oct 20]

Orr Park & Greenway [Baltimore & Mississippi River DIY, Oct 27 ]

Chelsea Rec [Mississippi River DIY, Oct 28] 1 mile

Buck Creek Trail [Mississippi River DIY, Oct 30] 2 miles

November
Joe Tucker [LEJOG, Nov 4 & Photos]

Lake Cosby [LEJOG Nov 6] 2 km

Richard Wood Park, Thorsby [LEJOG Nov 13] feed store

Vulcan Trail [Magic City & LEJOG Nov 20]

Rotary Trail [LEJOG Nov 24]

Beeswax Creek [Peachtree] 10K

December
Railroad Park [Savannah Bridge & LEJOG Dec 5]

Lee Springs [LEJOG Dec 9]
Inverness corporate park [Melbourne & LEJOG Dec 10] redo
Hillsboro Trail. Lee Springs walk on part of this.
unnamed woods hike. Lee Springs walk on part of this. Update.

Inverness corporate park II [LEJOG Dec 17]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Alternatively, The WABAC Machine Shows How To Win A Cocktail Party

I went two for two on beta readers telling me that the post drafted for today was confrontational. I didn’t see it that way, but that’s why one has beta readers. Since I couldn’t see the effect, I couldn’t change it nor accurately weigh the merits of letting it stand. This is unusual for me. Le mot juste is the closest thing I have to a superpower. So then I tried to figure out exactly what I wanted to say and why I wanted to say it. So then I ran out of energy. Here, have an evergreen.
~~~
Long ago in the deeps of time.

Party at a friend’s house. Chatting with a fellow I did not know. Host walks over. Says, “Oh, I see the two horse people have found each other.” Walks off.

We exchange looks and nods along the lines of ‘You? Yes. You? Yes.’

He was a large fellow, both tall and heavyset. His physique did not scream At Home In The Saddle. I figured he’d been on a horse once or twice. That counted as a horse person to muggles.

Him: What kind of riding do you do?

Me: Have you ever heard of three-day eventing?

Him: I’m a graduate-A Pony Clubber.

Game. Set. Match.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Recap Week 2020 Horses, Lemonade Made

Riding Journal, Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Sad that the roll-out is going slowly. Logistics are hard. Even I know this. Why weren’t folks running every-possible-contingency scenarios for the last nine months? Any progress is good. Faster would be better. CNN: US officials promised 20 million vaccinated against coronavirus by the end of the year. It’s going slower than that by Kaufman, Grayer, Murray and Kane, December 28, 2020.
~~~
It feels like this post should be longer. We had lots of time at home to fiddle with horses.


We did the Virtual Tevis. [Archives]


Both horses are getting better about walking around the pasture. Not completely at ease on their own yet. Together they do great. We can tack up our two horses and go for a pleasant ride. Almost like normal. [Finding the Lemonade, photo Tailgating]


They have become excellent travelers, at least for the short hauls we have been on so far. Load. Stand. Ship. Reload. Good boys. [Ready For Their Roadtrip Buddy Movie]


In an alternate, non-pandemic time-line, we would have done more of the small, local hunter and dressage shows that Milton & I did. Missing these is not breaking my heart. We might have hitched more. Then again, we were having trouble getting our driving ducks in row at the beginning of the year. [Weekly Check-In, photo Not From Around These Parts]


In this one, narrow, personal area, the year didn’t entirely suck pond water. We made some progress. We kept ourselves amused. Horses stayed healthy. I mean overall healthy. With these two, there are many prince and the pea moments. [Woe Is Us]


Everyone is ears up, hooves down. What more can we ask after this horrendous year? [Weekend Update]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Recap Week 2020 Blog, Linkfest

Blogging About Blogging

 
Awareness of the outside world. Wondering about Nashville. Contacted friends who live even vaguely near. As one does.
~~~
The blog kept going. Everything else treaded water. For 2020, that counts as victory. “So that’s my schedule: blog, bike for exercise, horses, stare into space.” Still true, although more walking than biking recently. Maybe 2021 will bring a more optimistic direction for all of us. [Blogging In A Time Of Crisis] May

One Thing That Changed
This year, I took the plunge into current events.

[Wishful Thinking, The New Normal, Non-Fiction Version] April

[Whither?] April

Started Mood on Monday posts in May. Have done 18. Until I create an archive, they can be found by typing Mood or “Mood on Monday” in the search box at the top of the post. [The Mood On Monday, The Ugly Bits] May

Started Awareness of the Outside World introductions. Off & on. [3000 Dots] June 10. [Mood On Monday, When?] June 15. Started regularly [Doctor Whooves Is Going Places] June 19. In response to the explanation post, y’all said to keep on with it. [State of the Blog, Awareness of the Outside World, Taking a Poll on a New Feature]

One Thing That Almost Changed
In August, I announced that I was reducing the blogload … [State Of The Blog: Weekends Completely Off]

… and then I decided not to. [State of the Blog, Weekends NOT off]

Stayed with weekend posting but made it less daunting. Have to keep reminding self that blog is not a comprehensive documentary. At most, it is a highlights reel.

One Thing Doesn’t Change
I have a hard time picking favorite posts. I conflate form with content. For example, I’m very fond of the Virtual Tevis series. Is that because the posts were gems of the blogging art? No. Or because I enjoyed the VT? Yes! [Tevis Archives]

Picking my fav section is easy …

Guest Posts & Photos
10q!! I love hearing other people’s stories.
[What Riding Means To Me by Lizzy Plaia]
[Green Horses on the Wall, Lisbon, Portugal]
[The Reason I Had To Write This Book!]
[We – The Unicorns … Arrive]
[We – The Unicorns … Go On A Road Trip]
[In The Footsteps of the Inca]
[We – The Unicorns … Bring Their Magic To The Magic City]
[Virtual Kicks On Route 66]
[Vaccine Trials Volunteer]
[The Repost, Deuce Completes The Virtual Tevis]

Popular Posts
Technically, the stats are for the past 365 days as of yesterday rather than for the calendar year of 2020. Barring a recap post going viral, these should represent. Although, there was a slight shake-up in the all-time list since I drafted this last week. Anything could happen. But I digress.

Top 10 for 2020, written in 2020
Guest Posts – 2
Virtual Tevis – 3
BreyerFest – 3
[We – The Unicorns … Arrive, Guest Post]
[The Tevis Sippy Cup]
[I Came, I Saw, I Sat On The Couch, Show Report, Virtual BreyerFest 2020]
[Mood On Monday, Minor Inconveniences]
[The Reason I Had To Write This Book! Guest Post ]
[Virtual BreyerFest 2020, Haul I, Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop]
[Get Off My Lawn, And Take Your Warmblood With You]
[And They’re Off, The Virtual Tevis Starts]
[The Crack Of Dawn, Virtual Trail Report, Tevis Sippy Cup, Miles 45 through 61, September 2020]
[An Exercise in Green]

Top 10 for 2020, written in all years
I continue to be mystified by the popularity of the Fever Rings post.
[Fever Rings] 2013
[ Saddle Seat Versus Dressage, In A Nutshell] 2017
[We – The Unicorns … Arrive, Guest Post]
[The Tevis Sippy Cup]
[Colors Of The Year 2020] 2019
[I Came, I Saw, I Sat On The Couch, Show Report, Virtual BreyerFest 2020]
[Mood On Monday, Minor Inconveniences
[The Reason I Had To Write This Book! Guest Post ]
[DIY Blanket Rack] 2016
[Virtual BreyerFest 2020, Haul I, Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop]

Top 10 all time, written in all years
[Fever Rings] 2013
[ Saddle Seat Versus Dressage, In A Nutshell] 2017
[Watching The Tevis] 2013
[USDF Interview: Heidi Degele, Dressage-Horse Sales Agent] 2018
[Fotography Friday: Texture] 2012
[Why I Ride by Rachel Wamble] 2017
[Why I Ride by Katie Wood] 2015
[The Naked Challenge] 2015
[What Happens at a Model Horse Show?] 2015
[Why Green?] 2013

Last Year
[Looking Back, Blog in 2019]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Colors of the Year 2021

Images

 
Awareness of the outside world. From the bookshelf. What Is Color? by Arielle Eckstut & Joann Eckstut (Abrams 2020)
~~~


 
Ultimate Gray + Illuminating (yellow), Pantone
Orchid Flower, Coloro + WGSN, announcement says 2022. Typo or forward thinking?
Aegean Teal, Benjamin Moore
Urbane Bronze, Sherwin-Williams
Epoch, Graham & Brown, also a wallpaper of the year
Aqua Fiesta, Accent Color of the Year, Glidden, Coatings World

Other Colors of the Year
Behr went with 21 colors in a “Color Trends Palette”
Valspar chose 12 colors.
PPG picked three: Transcend, Big Cypress and Misty Aqua. Two neutrals & a pale blue.
Shutterstock: Set Sail Champagne, Fortuna Gold, & Tidewater Green. Pinkish neutral, gold, & green

Of Interest
Acrylic Pouring, Artistcoveries: Illuminating and Ultimate Gray

Vogue: Pantone’s Color of the Year Is Really Weird—Just Like Everything Else Right Now, by Katy Kelleher, December 9, 2020

“To commemorate over two decades of Pantone’s color choices, the palette below matches each color to imagery from some of my favorite artists and photographers from around the world.” Adam Fuhrer: Visualizing Every Pantone Color of the Year

Fast Signs: 2021 Pantone Color & Pantone Colors of the Decades, by Jayme Nelson, Dec 30, 2019

Last year
[Colors Of The Year 2020]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott