Virtual Brush Box

Photography & Vicarious Travel

 
Awareness of the outside world. I got nothing. Taking yesterday off rendered me fretful and lethargic rather than rested and productive. To quote Scalzi, again, “Well, the first two decades of 2020 are done.” Whatever: Five Things: July 1, 2020.
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I took the horse request off of my Postcrossing profile. I am more interested in seeing a subject local to the sender than in receiving random horse images. Plus, I have proven more than willing to use non-horse topics as blog fodder.

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Other Info
Message says the stork is the national Lithuanian bird, VilNews, The Voice Of International Lithuania: Happy Stork Day!! I am assuming Nida refers to the town in Lithuania.

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Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth Restaurant
The Zehnder family has owned and operated this iconic
restaurant since 1928. They are well known for their
traditional chicken dinners as well as scrumptious breads
and pastries.

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Musical chairs with mice, birds, frogs etc and toadstool chairs
by Molly Brett (1902 – 1990)

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Other Info
Message says this is Grodno, Belarus.

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In German.

Other Info
Internet translation, “I don’t let myself be stamped!”
Niedersachsen: Pferde

Stamps

Artists of Paris School from Belarus. Belarus News: Belarus releases postage stamps commemorating artists of Paris school. 2015. No photos.

No info. Lietuva is the endonym. Endonym Map.

Dutch Icons, 2014. Linn’s Stamp News has a article on this, theoretically, but the link does not go through.

No info. Luqa is a town in Malta.

USA. Purple Heart Medal. USPS: Honoring the Sacrifices. 2019.

Previous Posts
[A Herd of Postcrossing Horses]
[Postcrossing archives]
Postcrossing

Not as much luck with my Internet search this time. Please LKM of any relevant sites I missed.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

If you’re riding a horse, you’ve already won.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Lion’s Club: Eyeglass Recycling Centers. I know nothing about this program other that what is here and what I see on the signs at my eye docs. Internet lists several more, although at least one has paused for the moment. Bottom line, I need to go through my drawers & find all those old readers. The ones that accumulated as I climbed upped the magnification chart!
~~~

Picture mainly for visual appeal. Glasses still worn, dressage, mid-2019. [Worth 1000 Words]

Yesterday I talked about why I stopped wearing glasses when I ride. One person mentioned contacts. Several others weighed in. [I See That]

Huh.

I know people wear contacts. I never thought of it as something that applied to me. Dunno why.

I am opening the floor to discussion of contacts while riding. What say you?

Problems mentioned yesterday in the comments were dry eye syndrome (not me) and adjustment period (so me).

Benefits discussed yesterday were durability, better in a barn environment, and better with distances.

Pros? Cons?

My medical advisor doesn’t think I would like contacts. He’s worn glasses for many, many years and has known me for almost as long (there’s a weird thought). Although, he admits that he wasn’t diligent about their care, which may have affected their comfort, which may be coloring his opinion.

To be clear, my problem is not with the variable focus of progressives, although that figures in a bit. The dramatic difference in focus comes from looking through the glasses and then looking off to the side, not through the glasses. Single distance lenses won’t fix that.

Options
No glasses. This was me for years. Ride off into the sunset.

Mandatory Glasses. Your choice is frames or contacts.

Semi-Mandatory Glasses. This is where I am now. While no glasses means I can’t see to read on horseback, I can see anything larger than a phone screen. My choice is frames, contacts, or nothing.

In writing yesterday’s post, I searched for pictures of me wearing glasses on a horse. I got glasses in May of 2016. I was surprise to find that the first show photo of me wearing glasses was late 2017. I can’t remember a) why I didn’t show in them or b) why I started showing in them. Looks? Convenience? [New Glasses]

I know I wore them for navigating. Bought a bright pink safety strap. [Shopping Spree]

Still wasn’t enough to read the data sheet taped to the darn cart. [Show Report ICDE]

I also bought a black strap for pleasure driving. Carts be bouncy.

Distances. Not a problem. Not jumping. Sigh.

Tell me what you think. If you know of anyone who might have an option on contacts and sport or contacts in general, please forward.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

If you’re riding a horse, you’ve already won.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Eventing Nation Announces 1st Annual $1,000 Diversity Scholarship. Posted here to a) boost the signal and b) recognize Eventing Nation for finding a way to use their wheelhouse.

Update. Commenters have raised objections that it is not much money and that it places the burden of education on POC. Good points. Putting my writer’s hat on, I can say that they – probably – will be getting a lot of text for a pittance. Not paying the writer is a different issue. Overall, this has has gotten too multi-faceted for an introduction. For my part, I am envious that EN came up with something to do that utilizes their capabilities. They can’t control how much it costs to horse show; they can promote conversation.
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[Sandra Hall Captures The Moment]

When I switched from occasional reading glasses to full-time prescription, I was mostly riding saddle seat. Style and verve at an ASB show is all about looking straight ahead, zipping along, and making that flamboyant pass in front of the judge. [New Glasses]

[Milton Is Chill]

Even doing dressage and jumplets with Milton, I was mostly looking straight ahead.

Then Rodney and I started … well, I wouldn’t call it jump schooling, that is far to grand a term … when we started wandering around the ring walking over poles, I found myself using more peripheral vision. Spotting the next jump pole out of the corner of your eye as you round the turn.

My glasses became a problem. This part of the world would be in focus. When I looked over there, everything was wildly out of focus. The sudden switch back forth was distracting. My eyes were not amused. Turns out a mild, uniform blur is easier to work with. I’m far-sighted, so I can see large things, such as jump standards and other horses.

Now I wear glasses all the time, except to sleep, shower, ride, and bike. Odd combination that.

Riders with glasses, ride with them on or off?

Update. Follow-up post, [ Expanding the Question, Contact Lenses While Riding].

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Thoughts

 
Awareness of the outside world. It’s all outside world today.
~~~
“We could not even be said,” replied Ford, “to be home and vigorously towelling ourselves off.”

Dear Future Researcher, this is what it is like to be living in a pandemic. [The Ugly Bits]

I’m mentally exhausted.

Physically, much is the same. We remain well and safe. No one I know IRL has gotten sick. (Touches wood. Tosses salt over shoulder.)

My schedule is the same; my mind is mush.

I get up and bike because it’s easier than deciding not to. [Route 66]

Ditto the blog. The earlier hypermotivation is gone. As with biking, I continue because it’s easier than stopping. I spend more time than usual figuratively staring at blank spots on my calendar. This post began as a comment on another blog (waves hi), where I was apologizing for my lack of recent participation. [Blogging In A Time Of Crisis]

The horses continue. They even make mild progress. Rodney cantered to the corner of the field and back. Progress. Yay. Not narratively gripping. Also remedial, in that we are trying to work our way up to normal. We are struggling to arrive at a place where one can get on one’s horse in a variety of circumstances and have a reasonable expectation of being able to walk, trot, and canter in a sensible fashion. Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is. [Why Is This Hard For You]

Reading/watching the news ties my stomach in knots. Not reading/watching the news feels like hiding my head in the sand.

My neighbors appear to be willingly heading toward catastrophe. People I love, people I want to respect are acting in ways I find incomprehensible. The cognitive dissonance is tiring. To quote Scalzi, “I want to be a friend to my friends and I also want to chuck them off the side of the fucking boat and be done with them.” He’s talking about a different issue, but yeah. When Friends Fuck Up, and So Do I.

As for racial justice, the conversation seems to have derailed into discussion of statues. One counterargument is that no one from the past has 21st C values. So what. Maybe it’s time to stop using our public spaces to deify dead white men. Give them an alcove in a museum. Write PhD theses about them. Just get them the hell out of my face. That Lincoln emancipation statue? It has got to go.

I have now shown how easy it is to get derailed into a discussion of statues. I say this as a history major – Who gives a shit about statues? We should be worried about people. Protecting the old, sick, & hungry, educating the next generation, providing everyone in society with space to work and play and pray, you know, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

I never said dead white men didn’t have good ideas. Let’s act like we believe those ideas.

Not to undercut the moment, but anyone else out there read the Preamble & hear Schoolhouse Rock?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Lettering & Graphic Design

 
Awareness of the outside world. I am trying to stay connected to current events. The outside world is not making it easy. Bad weather hasn’t helped.
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Process notes. In Inkscape, make the stroke a different color than the fill. To be changed or removed later. This creates an outline on the letter that shows where path breaks. Why didn’t I figure this out months ago?!?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott