Virtual Brush Box

Training Journal

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

 

Awareness of the outside world. Sally. Too much rain here. Not enough there. Ugh.
~~~
 

The ride is virtual. The lack of media is real.

I have been dropping the ball on photos of our virtual ride.

New phone, old clip-on. No problem.

Rubber bands to the rescue.

Casing blocks camera lens. No problem.

Push clip out of the way before taking pic.

Return phone to belt loop.

Problem.

Because the set-up is a kludge, I need two hands to put it back on my belt. As soon as I take my hand off the reins, Rodney goes walkabout. Mind you, we are talking about reins that are lying on his neck. Taking my hand off the reins makes no material difference to the guidance of the horse. It’s as if he can tell when my attention is not 100% where it should be, i.e. on him. Even a simple check of our mileage has us wandering back & forth.

So I don’t bother. It’s not like the visuals are exciting. Look! The pasture! Look! Other side of pasture! And again! And again!

Virtual Tevis [Archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

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

 
Awareness of the outside world. County Island: Help for Critters in Northern California Fires. Book giveaway announcement. You get a book! And you get a book! There’s only two of you! Everybody gets a book! Giving out books is fun! This is why I don’t have giveaways! Winners, pls PM your snailmail address, virtualbrushbox@gmail.com. [The Crack Of Dawn].
~~~
Overall
Week off. Milton’s rider was busy with work at beginning of the week. Sergeant Softiepaws was shod at the end of the week. A chance for the horses to rest from their labors and to recover from the stress of hacking in their own field. (Looks around for sarcasm sign.)

Milestones
None.

Daily Log
We are doing our rides in 1/2-mile laps around our pasture. Link to standings, Doctor Whooves, Major Milton, All. Daily screenshots from VTevis results page.

Tuesday, September 8 – Monday, September 7. 0 miles.

Two months to go. On one hand, plenty of time to complete, even at a mile a day. OTOH, horses. Our banked mileage could go poof.

Recent Posts
Mine
[Miles 45-61]
[Virtual Management]
[Shadow at the Finish Line]

Others
Haiku Farm: In which “never say “never” ” is a thing, and Fee and I ride Tevis. We often ponder a Standie for CDE. [Turn ‘Em On]

County Island: The Tevis Trail: A Pretend Campground and a Real Food Truck. Horse food truck, he he.
County Island: The Tevis Trail: Pucker Up

[Tevis post archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Thoughts

 
“Predict the future. Use your turn signal.”
bumper sticker
“Everything else is speculation.”
me
 
History books are all about patterns, i.e. because of X and Y, Z happened. Read enough books and you start to think that history is an inexorable march from point to point.

That’s not how it looks from here.

There are no patterns. Or, conversely, there are many patterns, but no indication which one will dominate the tapestry.

From my view smack in the middle of an historical moment, nothing looks inevitable.

In the American election, the polls suggest one outcome. The experience of the electoral college in 2016 raises the possibility of the opposite outcome. Regardless of the result (shudder), countless op-eds will explain the unavoidable reasons this came to be.

Woodward’s book has just come out. Will it cause a swing in public opinion? Will it become another blip to disappear in the next news cycle? Either way, more op-eds.

Schools and universities have opened. The Tour de France is happening. Both have positive cases. Is this a brief surge that will disappear as we return to normal? The beginning of when it all collapses down on us? Will we stagger along between the two extremes? The next generation of public health PHDs will advance convincing arguments in retrospect.

Black Lives Matter continues to protest. Kansas NFL fans boo a moment of silence. Will we have substantive change for better? For worse? Will we settled back into status quo ante? Is there a tide in the affairs of men, or are we bobbing in the middle of the ocean?

Name the issue. Fifty years from now, the conclusion will seem inescapable.

This is my reminder to the future that nothing looks inevitable from here.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Photography

 
Awareness of the outside world. International Helmet Awareness Weekend. [Helmet post archives]
~~~
 

 
Stand during ride? Work in progress. Stand after we have crossed the finish line? As long as ya want. That’s the shadow of the mounting block/finish line off to the left.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Writing

 
Awareness of the outside world. International Helmet Awareness Day. [Helmet post archives]
~~~
 
Life on hold. Unknown.
Drawbridge up. Riding at home.
Circles in the field.
 
“He proposed a haiku exchange between the three cities, because human exchanges came to a screeching halt in 2020. It’s not a contest, he said, just ‘a way share and bolster’ across the globe. He asked people to submit their own haikus based on shared COVID struggles.” AL.com: Alabama man thinks three lines can change the world, Jul 22, 2020.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Celebrating Art

 
Awareness of the outside world. We all know what today is. Here’s something else. Results from “An international mask design competition … 363 entries from 17 countries.” Museum of Craft and Design: Let’s Face it, Gallery.
~~~
 
Aldridge Gardens [Walk Report]

“On the Nature of Building” by Ted Metz

“Along for the Ride” by Frank Fleming

“Waiting for the Ride” by Frank Fleming

“Fairy King” by Tim Tingle

“Come Along” by Frank Fleming

“Frog Pond” by Robert Taylor

Art In Use

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Supports the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
~~~

The Dragon Within DIY 5k
Friday, September 4, 2020
Aldridge Gardens
Time – 1:17
Pace – 24:56
No placing
Tracking App – Map My Walk
Medal from Virtual Strides: The Dragon Within

My 5K for September. Chosen in honor of Dragon*Con, the Largest Multi-genre and Pop Culture Convention, held virtually that weekend.

This was a do-your-own-thing walk. Order medal. Bestow upon self. I’ve decided I prefer my walks to have a connection to the real world, however tenuous that connection may be. Virtual Tevis traces our progress on the route map. Virtual Gaelic Gallop had us all run/walk on the same day and submit results. Some illusion of IRL. YMMV

On to the walk.

Starting off …

… five times around the lake …

… a few side paths …

… and I’m done.

My pace picked up after the first lap. Note to self. Walk first. Photos after.

The Snowflake Hydrangea, a VIP at the gardens. “Eddie Aldridge and his father, Loren, introduced the Snowflake Hydrangea to the world in the 1970s, after they began propagation and patented it.” Deb’s Garden: Little-Known History of the Snowflake Hydrangea. At least, I think it’s the Snowflake Hydrangea.

5K [Archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott