Virtual Brush Box

Random Thoughts

 
Awareness of the outside world. CNN: Watch Rep. John Lewis cross Edmund Pettus Bridge for the last time. Watch this and don’t get choked up. I dare you.
~~~
Am I a terrible person?

I watched the procession across the bridge.

I had thoughts.

… Wow … 55 years later… crossing the bridge again … an amazing moment …. how far we have come … of course, if we really wanted to honor his legacy, we’d stop this voter suppression bullshit … no, that’s a Monday thought; Sunday is for ceremony … stopping at the top of the bridge … a funeral of honor is an impressive sight … the family joins the procession … two guys holding their top hats in the air … so much style on display … so much thought went into each gesture … Good Trouble written on the men’s shirts … the singing, O, my heart …

All true.

At the same time.

I was looking at the horses.

Oooh, pretty … probably Friesians … look at those lovely tails … I wonder who supplied the horses .. I wonder if we know them … not a lot of driving barns in Alabama … hmm, they are wearing poop bags … what good boys (?) … that’s lot of noise … I wonder if the driver has his mask pulled down so the horses can hear his voice aids … big hill to climb … those two guys must be their headers … you can see the horses looking to them for reassurance … there’s a lot of people around us boss, we okay? …

I try to stay focused.

I get distracted by horsehair floating by.

Title quote from Montgomery Advertiser. Updates: John Lewis honored at Alabama Capitol after procession from Selma. By Melissa Brown. July 26, 2020.

National Park Service: Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail

National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, Selma, Alabama, USA

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Awareness of the outside world. Giving credit where due. Mask compliance is picking up in my area. The tire store guys were 100%. Ditto the yuppie grocery store, both customers & employees. Also employees at office supply store – no other customers. (I really got adventurous, didn’t I? 3 stops!) The exception seemed to be the tire store customers, three mentioned below and another fellow who was carefully protecting his chin. Still, better overall than it was. Partly, different time; partly, different stores. Feed store was unchanged the last time I was there. Sigh.
~~~

Truck has new four tires. Michelin Defenders. Not cheap. So beautiful. The choice of discerning trucks everywhere, Cob Jockey: A Cautionary Tale About Truck Tires.

Found a shady spot and waited outside. Felt dorky carrying my chair. Turns out two people in the indoor waiting area had no masks. The other person had a mask hanging off one ear. No thanks. Better dorky than gacking.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Awareness of the outside world. The Livestock Conservancy, LC: Endangered Equine Alliance, LC: Akhal-Teke Horse.
~~~

A Is For Akhal-Teke, long-legged & golden.

No personal connection to this breed. I’ve always thought they were cool. “The Byerly Turk, one of the three founding stallions of the English Thoroughbred, is thought to be an Akhal-Teke.” International Museum of the Horse: Akhal-Teke.

Inspired to start another series of alphabet posts by the article “How To Be In The World,” by Beth Lee, in Letter Arts Review, 34:2. For each letter of the alphabet, Lee has chosen a verb and relevant quote to do with right living: act, balance, connect, and so on.

I shan’t be that organized. The design of the letter may have something to do with word; may not. Depends on the day & the letter. Mainly an excuse to draw a letter. Not trying for an entire alphabet in a year. A gradual project as I have space on Sundays. We’ll see what happens.

Past Letters

[A is for Akrill]
[2018]

[A is for Anderson]
[2017]

[A is for Apple]
[2016]

[A Is For Appaloosa]
[2015]

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Blogging About Blogging

Awareness of the outside world. Meta.
~~~
Since the middle of last month I have been starting my posts with a few words that touch on the world at large, either related to the post, or the events of the day.

I’m torn about this feature and gathering opinions.

Con – Not On Brand
Con 1 – Hollandaise in the cupcake. Years ago, I posited my Cupcake Theory. When you bite into a cupcake, you expect it to taste like a cupcake. I still feel this way. No one is coming here for insightful analysis of the latest news cycle. If I have a gift to give the Internet, it is to be witty and amusing. The outside world is rarely either one. [Speaking Out]

Con 2 – Don’t add to the noise. The are a gracious plenty of places that will inform and infuriate.

Con 3 – Ick. Some days, I hate it. I do NOT want to think about what is going on in the world.

Pro – Being Real
Pro 1 – Suck it up, Buttercup. On a personal level, the feature is good for me. It reminds me, to paraphrase the man on the tarmac, that problems of two little horses don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

Pro 2 – Silence is complicity. [Other Voices]

Pro 3 – Be wary of the ivory tower. The ability to shut out the world is an addictive privilege. Stay engaged.

My Solution
I’ve have tried to thread my way between these two opposing forces by make the text obvious but avoidable. I make the segment short, separate it spatially, and put it in italics. The goal is to clearly delineate the Awareness section from the main post, thereby making it easy to skip, should you so desire. If you are interested, here is. If you are not interested, blog continues below.

Verdict
How do you, as a reader, feel about this?

Result 1 – Everyone hates the new feature with a grand and fiery passion. On one hand, I’m not going to stop. See above re benefit to self, complicity, and engagement. On the other hand, I want to be responsive to people kind enough to visit. I can make the segment as small as possible, keeping it to a link or a line.

Result 2 – You like it or You don’t mind it or You hate it but can ignore it. I shall chug along.

State of the Blog [Archives]

Update. Making an internal rule to skip this for Guest Posts or fiction posts. GPosters don’t have a say in what outside world statements I make. Therefore, it would be unfair to tie them to it. Fiction is about creating consistent alternate world. Awareness statements would be distracting. Still plenty of other days. Also, have been posting word-related on Saturdays and image-related on Sundays. May 2021.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Random Images

The world is vast & weird.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Operating costs can be hard to fund. Donors want their name on a building. People want to be associated with a particular project. It’s not sexy to pay salaries and buy tiger feed.
~~~

In my Virtual BreyerFest recap, I mentioned social media chat. One commenter noted how much money Kentucky Horse Park was losing from not having BreyerFest on the premises. [I Came, I Saw, I Sat On The Couch]

Duh. Obvious now that it was pointed out to me.

I scampered over to spend money. I thought about buying a model to donate. Are organizations taking stuff these days? I wouldn’t. Instead, I filled up my cart with pretty things.

Scarf Teal Tassel Horse. To be used as a tablecloth at horse shows. Remember those?

Towel Horse Head Red. More horse show tableware. What can I say, I was feeling optimistic.

Ornament Eye Dazzler. I have a soft spot for civic street art projects. This is from The Trail of Painted Ponies.

Postcard Go For Gin. For the pile. KHP: Hall Of Champion, Go For Gin. Postcard Posts [archives].

Breyer 70th Anniversary Andalusian Stallion (90’s & 00’s). Because that’s why we’re all here. Identify Your Breyer: Andalusian Stallion.

Mystery Horse Surprise. Gift for getting my cart over a certain amount. Challenge accepted.

While I was flinging dollar bills about, I joined the Man O’ War Society. I have never lived in Kentucky. Yet, KHP has been a big part of my life. One week each year for a while there. It’s been my competition goal for more years than I want to count. May KHP continue for many more.

“The Man o’ War Society is dedicated to supporting day to day operations at the park, and essential for bridging the gap between support provided by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, earned income, and the needs of the park … the Man o’ War Society “keeps the lights on” 365 days per year.” Kentucky Horse Park Foundation: Man o’ War Society

BreyerFest 2020 & Model Horse Posts [Archives]
KHP Posts [Archives]

Update: Ordered two towels. Only one in box. Sent email. KHP took me at my word. Sent a second. Excellent customer service. If you think about it, they had no way of knowing whether or not I was trying to wheedle them out of an extra towel. I guess a) Who does that? Who would go to that much work for a hand towel? & b) Better to send an extra towel and lose money if I was lying than risk alienating a customer in the event that I was telling the truth?

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Fit To Ride

 
Awareness of the outside world. Run benefits Old Friends, a Thoroughbred retirement facility. BreyerFest Blog: The Gaelic Gallop!
~~~

Gaelic Gallop, the virtual 5K run associated with virtual BreyerFest. When I signed up, my walk was a virtual option of the IRL race during IRL BreyerFest. Come the day, everyone was virtual. [I Came, I Saw, I Sat On The Couch, Show Report, Virtual BreyerFest 2020]

The lettering sparkles and the kilt swings. Cool bling.

Gaelic Gallop
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Oak Meadow Park
Time – 54:43
Pace – 17:37
Overall – 93rd of 127
Age Group – 6th of 9

Went to a small park to walk their perimeter, paved loop, 4 laps = 1 mile. It would appear that 54/55 minutes is my pace on concrete. I’d make an attempt to move along, then I’d stop to stare at an overhead biplane. Still, under an hour is feasible. Doubt I will ever achieve that in the pasture.

Let the walking begin. Yes, I walked in public, by myself, wearing my bib number. Why not?

Walk Reports [Archives]
Model Horse Posts [Archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Donation to the ACLU. If that constitutes virtue signaling, so be it.
~~~

Well, that didn’t take long.

We are back on two bags of feed. Milton is back on ProElite Performance. We have ended the experiment to switch Milton over to Rodney’s feed. [Milton Joins the Senior Set]

He was doing great. Fat, shiny, bright-eyed, working well.

Except.

He pulled back during grooming. He does this.

He misbehaved and got smacked by the blacksmith. This happens.

He hopped with a rider (not me!). His go-to move, but not recently.

Momentary disobediences. Nothing usual. Statistically higher frequency.

We had three options:

Option 1) Stay on Senior. It was a calorie issue. Cut down the amount. Might have worked. However, if Milton and I are ever to work together, we need everything as harmonious as possible at the onset. Given our history with Rodney on the wrong feed, I would be suspicious of Milton being on rocket fuel. A self-fulfilling prophecy. [Square One]

Option 2) Switch to another feed. The feed industry does not lack for choices. Within ProElite, low starch feed? Diet feed for easy keepers? A lot of these were soy-based. While we never definitively ruled on Milton being allergic to soy, beet-pulp has been good to us over the years. [Feed Adventures]

Different brand? Nutrena alone has seven types of feed, with two to ten varieties within each type. Thirty-five different bags of feed. Welcome to overwhelm city.

We chose option 3

Option 3) Go back to what worked. Reestablish a baseline. Then consider what, if anything, to try next.

Note to self. Reducing the herd to one bag is a lost cause. It has never worked in the past. It’s not going to work in the future. Don’t even try. Be happy that two horses only require two bags.

Re Milton’s hop. Milton has been doing great with mounting lately. Out of an abundance of caution, I am in the habit of putting Rodney in park and heading Milton. Usually no need. This time, rider on. A few steps. Head down, shoulder up. Fortunately, I had a grip of the cheekpiece. I yelled and hauled. Rider yelled and hauled. Milton stopped.

It was a half-hearted hop, but that is easy for me to say. I wasn’t aboard. After 10 strides, horse was over it. After 20 strides, rider was over it. I choose to blame the feed.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott