Sad News

The weekend’s show report will be delayed one day. I have a rainbow bridge announcement. Last Friday, Mathilda had one mechanical failure too many.

At breakfast, she had once again lain down and gotten stuck. When we got her up, it was obvious she had hurt her shoulder. With three wonky legs, she was unable to maintain her balance and collapsed. Even if we could have bodily lifted her to her feet, she would have need bute &/or banamine for muscle aches and to prevent colic. This would have lead to appetite suppression and the loss of weight she could not spare. The minions had run out of miracles. Vet was called.

Unfortunately, the clinic had several crises that morning, necessitating a wait of several hours. At this point she was out in the pasture. We stayed with her, sitting by her head, doing what we could to keep her cool and shaded. When she got uncomfortable, we rolled her over, putting blankets underneath for cushioning. Tears were shed.

We wanted the vet to hurry up and yet dreaded his arrival. When he saw that she had been down since we first called, he ramped up to give us The Speech. We cut him off. We already knew the right thing to do. We hated it, but it was correct.

The vet came and went. The man with the backhoe came and went. Mathilda was buried with her feed bucket, her booties, half a dozen carrots, and a double handful of horse cookies.

Yes, I went to the show that weekend. As soon as our duties were over, Chief Minion headed to work. I packed the car and headed to the show. Getting off the property seemed a good idea to both of us.

Rodney now lives out 24/7. Previously, he had been in his stall either to give Mathilda run of the pasture or to keep her company at night. On Friday, we brought him out to look and sniff. He spooked a little and then grazed by where she lay. He appears to be adjusting to life as a single horse. He certainly misses access to her leftover feed, special hay, & treats. He looks to us for company. But, so far, no running about or hysteria.

Side note: In the beginning stages of waiting for the vet, although unable to rise to her feet, the daft cow would roll partial up, grab a bite of grass and then flop back down. This is why I call … called … her names.

Mathilda, we miss you.

Rhyme & Mathilda
Rhyme & Mathilda

I Beg to Differ, A Guest Post

This thoughtful commentary arrived in my inbox from a reader by the name of Louise Swan. Welcome Louise:

In her post, Old Age Arrives, Katherine bemoans the onset of her “old age”. One reply commented that the senior discounts are “the only time growing old has an advantage.”

[Not ‘bemoans’ as much as ‘amused by’. I’ve never been uptight about my age nor my weight. I have many screaming monkeys in my head. Those are not two of them. End digression. RS]

I beg to differ.

Speaking for myself, and only for myself, the accumulated years of my life have brought me:

A strong sense of who I am. Gone are the days of wondering what I will be when I grow up. Gone are the worries of wondering what life will bring. To paraphrase a favorite hymn: Grace has brought me thus far and Grace will bring me home. If I can survive what I have so far, I’ll probable manage the rest. Not necessarily easily but I’ll manage.

A change of focus. Less concerned about leaving my mark on the world, I am now pondering the mark the world has made on me. What will I keep as I move on and what will I release. Getting rid of clutter, both spiritual/emotional/mental clutter and physical. Stripping down to what I really need so that there is plenty of space for what I want, whatever that turns out to be from day to day.

More time. With the gotta-gottas gone, there is more time to savor the really beautiful details of the now. The colors, the flavors, the sounds. A cardinal pair. Dark chocolate. A hug.

A return to old passions. With time now, I can do the things I’ve always wished I had time to do. Books. Try recipes. Books. New and old knitting patterns. Books. Not new activities but a fresh look at the them and time to try new ways of doing them and or just doing them more.

A deeper sense of friendship. From a song I learned in Girl Scouts, “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.” My greatest wealth is my friends, including these who are my family both by marriage and by birth. Knowing I have a support system empowers me to grow, to learn, to be more me.

A better understanding of my body and how it works. Any why it doesn’t work when I ignore the signals.

Contentment with my accomplishments and forgiveness for my “failures” for both have helped shape me. The “failures” have always been turning points and a redirection of my life. I wouldn’t be where I am now without them.

Thank you for listening. There’s more but that’s enough for now.
_______________________________________________
Gratuitous Antique Cat Photo

L cats May 5 2014 2

The image is an old advertising sign for Corticelli Spool Silk. They are our official office cats.

At The Horse Show

Show today.

Dixie Cup 2013. Casey McBride Photography. Used with permission.
Dixie Cup 2013.
Casey McBride Photography. Used with permission.

Last year, this was my 3rd big show. Still wearing borrowed duds.

Or, perhaps you prefer the informal version:

Photo by Kathie Mautner
Photo by Kathie Mautner

Originally appeared in Been There, Done That: And the Beat Goes On …

For the record, my security guard & his team are at home, so the crazy fringe of the Internet does not need to see my show tweets as an invitation to loot an empty house.

Ze State of Ze Blog

Z

I could have gone with Zenith. Either way, we be done.
End-of-the-month blogging commentary. [Previous]

So, how was the A To Z Challenge?

Writing The Letters
Pluses:
I was planning to write 30 posts anyway, 4 more than required by the challenge. No extra stress there.

The letters gave me a framework instead of having to bash around in my head for inspiration.

I did posts that I never would have done otherwise: A-list, Ivy League, Hashtag. For others, I jimmied the titles to fit posts I had already planned: Georgia, Hashtag, today.

Minuses:
Now that I had the framework, could I come up with a idea for each letter? I’m looking at you, Q and X.

Then I had to wonder if the idea in question was bloggable or did it just match the letter?

I would probably have written more about my activities of daily living this month if I had not been constrained by the letters. Whether that is good or bad, I’m not the one to judge.

Verdict:
Would I do it next year? Probably not for Rodney’s Saga. Maybe for Off Topic, if I’m still blogging [Planning*]. That would mean 30 regular Rodney’s Saga posts with the addition of alphabetical, near-daily Off Topic posts. 56 posts. That would be a challenge.

What I would have done differently:
Used thumbnail versions of the letter badges instead of full-size ones. They really are quite bold. By the time the switch occurred to me, we were at G. I went for consistency over convenience. I badged each post because the sidebar changes over time. Now these posts are forever marked as AtoZ posts.

Visiting Other Blogs
The second goal of the A To Z Challenge is to visit X number of other blogs also doing the challenge. Despite a late rally once I had the last few letters scheduled, I failed at this for any reasonable value of X. I’m a bad blogging community supporter, this month and every month. One side effect of being a freelance writer as well as a daily blogger is that after a little paying work and a lot of blogging work, my psyche needs to look at something other than a computer screen.

I do read some other blogs. Here are two I found this month, neither of which are AtoZ:

Mutton Withers: In which I make a public commitment to help my charming pony achieve and maintain a healthy weight, despite her wishes otherwise. Well-written, educational, and how can you not adore this face:

Photo by Erin Ryder Hsu
Photo by Erin Ryder Hsu

Does It End Ok: A Blog For My Mother. Short to hyper-short reviews of movies that tells whether the movie is an upper or a downer. Us sensitive types appreciate not being surprised. Despite being an Browncoat sympathizer, I refused to see Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods until someone told me what happened.

On the other hand, recommendations are worth the electrons they are printed on. For example, I read both a blogger and a web comic religiously. I like the writing. I have stolen borrowed liberated ideas/administrative tips for my blog. You would think that our tastes would coincide. Not so much. The authors/bloggers or web comics they recommend bore me to the point that now avoid what they extoll. In other words, I like these two blogs. Your mileage may vary.

Blogging from A to Z Challenge April 2014
List of my A to Z posts

*Truly, I have no wish to stop blogging. I just see myself running low on ideas. Unless the universe provides further content. Happy content. The kind that is less interesting to read but more fun to live through. Shiny.

Update May 5:

A-to-Z Reflection [2014]