Five Years Later

“Another one to read in five years … I can tell you one thing, it’s not going to look like 2019.” [Mood on Monday, When This Is Over]

I posted this on 20 July 2020, five years ago tomorrow. I was convinced of my thesis. How could we go through a global pandemic not have things change? Such a major cataclysmic event would have repercussions in every area of life. That’s what I said then, “You can’t – as a person, as a nation, as a society – go through a shitstorm of this magnitude and not come out the other side fundamentally changed.” [ibid]

Turns out, you can.

On a micro level, my personal situation is about the same. Same place. Same people. Same jobs. Same horses. No major changes for good or for ill. The ladies came & went. That was the plan when they arrived. Some issues with cats; still enough to form a clowder. [Jasmine & Rose archives]

On a macro level, it feel like we are still fighting the same battles with the same people. We have rearranged the deckchairs but we are still dodging icebergs. The forces of light and reason are besieged on every side. Same shit, different year.

I’ve read the theory (source not noted, apologies) that one reason for the current state of the world is a sociey-wide grieving from the pandemic. Could be.

Perhaps five years is too short for an historical perspective.

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Afterword

Free fiction for you. The Year Without Sunshine, by Naomi Kritzer. Mentioned before. Relevant to this discussion. [On The Mountain]

By the same author, an essay written in 2020 about a story written five years earlier. Story “So Much Cooking”. Essay, Reactor: Didn’t I Write This Story Already? When Your Fictional Pandemic Becomes Reality, Kritzer 2015. CW: essay is fine, story has sad elements.

I wrote multiple full-length posts talking about current events, often titled Mood On Monday, from March 2020 to May 2021. [pandemic archives]

This morphed into the introductory bits at the top of each post. [State of the Blog, Awareness of the Outside World, Taking a Poll on a New Feature] 20 July 2020

Previous retrospective [One Year Later] 13 March 2021

What have the last five years been for you?

Onwards!
Katherine

Lesson and Thoughts Thereon

Awareness of the outside world. In celebration of World Emoji Day, a reminder that communication can misfire. “Appearance historically differs greatly across platforms. Use with caution.” Emojipedia: Face with Rolling Eyes Emoji Meaning. Screenshot taken 15 July 2025.

screenshot as described with image and addition definition

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Photo of the ears and neck of a bay horse looking out of a covered ring

Bubba
Stepping Stone Farm
Saddle Seat Barn
July 2025

For my saddle seat lesson I was offered Optimist or Bubba. Although Bubba is a star, I still prefer my Emotional Support Horse. [Lesson Horse, School Horse, Emotional Support Horse]

Prefer, but don’t need. Optimist has his job taking care of the littles, and I have enough frogs at the moment to move on. [After The Show, In Which I Try To Corral The Frogs]

Even for a lesson with Optimist, I can be anxious on the way to the barn. Definitely had to do some inner believing in myself before my lesson with Bubba.

In contrast, I was not the slightest bit nervous before my hunt seat lesson with Razzy a few days before. No big deal. Gonna get on, stroll around, have a lovely time with an adorable pony. [Evening Lesson]

Razzy lesson is okay because it’s just flat work? What exactly do I think I am doing in a saddle seat lesson?

Side note on Razzy lesson. The last trot was over a tiny vertical. I was praised for being brave. Nope. I knew she was gonna trot over it. No jumping involved. There’s a big step coming when airtime starts. That wasn’t it. But I digress.

Why does saddle seat give me resident butterflies but hunt seat doesn’t? All of the horses are nice. The people are lovely. It really is a difference in the two types of riding.

I have thoughts.

1) Saddle seat is a less secure seat. Its all about stylin’ & looking sharp. Less about being ready for a jump. So that part of me that remembers galloping cross country is dubious about sitting without a deep seat and without my legs wrapped around the horse.

Or,

2) There is less to do. In theory, the rider sits chilly and the horse performs. In reality, you work like a dog. I’m more tired after a short saddle seat than after a long hunt seat. But it’s monitoring and concentrating. I feel like there was more activity required on Razzy. Balance, turn, leg, look. Riding Bubba was more about maintaining my position and keeping the air in the balloon, both horse and rider. More motion is better for my brain.

Or,

3) Comparative saddle time. If I had been doing strictly saddle seat for the last 13 years, I would have made the switch and probably would feel more at ease. Since I’m trying to maintain the two seats, I will always feel more at home with the one I am more familiar with.

This is neither good nor bad. Just is.

Per usual, I was fine once I got on the horse. [The Crux]

Okay, sometimes the ears take me a moment. [SSF Ears]

Once I get going, I’m good. It’s the pre-ride angst I could live without.

The lesson was great. Bubba had gone to Lexington as a practice horse. He thought he was all that for being in the big ring and hanging with the fancy horses. He did not show, but that didn’t seem to matter to him. He thought he was wonderful. I sat there and agreed with him.

Onwards!
Katherine

Milton’s Yearly Drama

Awareness of the outside world. ClickFix. Fake CAPTCHAs are being used to infiltrate computers. These are the ‘Are you a robot?’ questions. Oy. I think (?) it mainly attacks Windows machines. The authentication process includes keystrokes and certification strings. I’m still clicking on traffic lights. Basically, trust nothing. Hat tip to the social media post that I absorbed but forgot to note.

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Milton is off, so no morning walks at the moment. He doesn’t want to go out but he hates to be left alone. He’s the patient, so he gets to choose. Rodney stands around eating hay and telling us that nursing is hard work and that he needs more cookies.

We suspect an abscess that needs to resolve or get attended to. Either that or he needs a leg replacement. Minimal heat. Minimal swelling. Maximum drama.

I shouldn’t laugh. Pressure in a closed spaces hurts! I’ve had enough agony with my teeth that I feel for him.

April 2024 [Milton’s Silver Slipper, Sigh]

July 2023 [It’s Always Something, Milton’s Turn]

And so on.

Onwards!
Katherine

Adventures in Horsekeeping, The Chamber Pot

Awareness of the outside world. Mattel: Barbie® Introduces First-Ever Barbie Doll with Type 1 Diabetes to Expand Representation and Inspire More Children, July 8th, 2025.

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photo of a red muck bucket sitting on the ground

I am not showing you the inside of this bucket on purpose. You are welcome.

What happened?

Milton eats his hay out of purpose-dedicated muck buckets. [New Equipment, Purple Muck Bucket]

Rodney now eats his grain out of these buckets. [Rodney’s New Dinner Bucket]

When Rodney is done, we leave the bucket in aisle for Milton to clean up.

One of the horses used this as a chamber pot. Not poop. We’ve all seen that. This was deliberately lined up to piddle in the pot. With exemplary aim, I might add.

That’s a new one.

Onwards!
Katherine

E is for Electrum with an Ebony Edge, Colorwork Alphabet, Lettering

Art of the outside world. Ceramigami is ceramics + origami. Instagram: morniingstarmud 23 Oct 2024, Artist’s website, Morningstar Mud, Betsy Morningstar.

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computer graphic of the letter E with an interior starburst pattern

“Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals.” Wiki” Electrum. Did not turn up oodles of info due to companies with that name sucking up the search space.

Blackwork engraving is the use of large blocks of black in a design. Blackwork engraving is not related to blackwork embroidery except by name. The V&A: Blackwork prints: Part 1: Early blackwork prints, the development of a new technique and its uses. Bartlett-Rawlings 2013.

Process Notes

Interior pattern easy to see. No need for breakout diagrams.

Project Description [Colorwork Alphabet Introduction]

Previous Posts [Colorwork Alphabet]

Onwards!
Katherine