Sunset On A Sidewalk, Photography

Virtual travels. Free online lectures in 2025. Road Scholar: Into the Icy Deep — Marine Life, Sea Ice & Conservation & Road Scholar: Exploring Easter Island — Moai Mysteries & More. Join me. We can enjoy these “together.”

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Sunset On A City Sidewalk
Five Points, Birmingham AL, USA
October 2024

Technical Details

Phone camera. Cropped.

Onwards!
Katherine

Breakfast for the Ladies, Life With Dogs

Dogs of the outside world. DTDD: I Spoil Movies and I’m Proud of it, Whipple 2023. About page for a database of trigger warnings for movies. Hat tip to F.

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For a while now, Jasmine, Rose & I have had similar breakfasts. The ladies each get an egg and a scoop of cottage cheese. The dogs get kibble. I get fruit.

Recently, even more so.

I was having a bout of internal disregulation.

Chef: Drink this.
Me: What is?
Chef: Dog fiber.
Me: Okay.

It was literally the same stuff we got for Jas. [Dragon Dog]

I’m being treated like a dog. Around here, that’s not a bad thing.

Onwards!
Katherine

Circling Back To Square One

Awareness of the outside world. “After 200 years of living in close proximity, skin color really no longer works as a mechanism, right? … And so what they did was they decided to articulate new aspects of racial identity.” NPR, Shortwave: Fat Phobia And Its Racist Past And Present, radio & transcript, 2020. Also NPR: Fat Phobia And Its Racist Past And Present, same radio, author contact info. I had no idea. Granted, that covers a wealth of material. Hat tip to Flights of Foundry panel.

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Milton is still rattled from the cart incident. It wasn’t that big a deal, but that’s not our decision. No one gets to decide how another being responds. I mean, yes it was a big deal. The cart got damaged, Milton got dinged, and everyone realizes it could have been a much bigger deal. But it wasn’t. Time to move on, Dude. [Delay Of Game]

That never works. So, we have dialed it back to lunge work.

New morning plan. Horse A walks the first lap. Does a few walk & trot circles on the lunge while horse B walks. Horse A rejoins the parade for final lap. While Milton is usually horse A, Rodney will take a turn once or twice a week. Does them both good to loosen up.

Onwards!
Katherine

The Pros & Cons, Guest Post, Morning Walk Stories

Awareness of the outside world. Lowa UK: 6 Environmental Benefits of Walking. A marketing site, but useful info relevant to today’s post. They want to sell shoes, but they’re not wrong.

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This appeared as a comment last week. It had enough good points that I wanted to rerun it in the main part of the blog. Headers bolded; one added. Welcome Joan. [Second Walk Considerations]

👣 👣 👣

I used to think walking was done outdoors only. 5 loops on the (dead end) road was a mile. But the weather doesn’t always allow fresh air strolls.

Reluctant to drive to a separate indoor walking place, I would walk a mile at the Y after a chair yoga class. But that wasn’t daily, not by any stretch.

One day, while talking to a friend recovering from hip surgery, I heard her walker going clump, clump, clump. I was sitting, getting restless. And here she was, walking. Up and down her hallway. So I got up and walked. Amazing.

Pros

I got my walking in but it took no “extra” time.

The weather was irrelevant.

I was able to concentrate on the conversation because I was less fidgety both mentally and physically.

After, I was energized from the endorphins.

Cons

One does need a long hall or a circuit in the house to do this.

Not outdoors so no fresh air.

No casual socializing with neighbors.

Result

As the habit developed, I listened to music or a podcast.

Then I used the time to think out a concern – draft an email, solve a problem, etc.

Now, I use the walk as a meditation, clearing my brain and just walking as if in a labyrinth.

They say walking is the best exercise. Not just for the body but for the brain as well I discovered.

Joan

👣 👣 👣

Common as Muck, Keeping It Simple

Awareness of the outside world. A while back, I mentioned that Milton is on the hurricane ID list. Now that we have gotten to number 13, it’s weird to see the name in the news. Wishing safety to everyone in the path of this weather event. [Storm Season]

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Results from recent feed run.

Can I tell you how happy I am that we are now using a common feed that is in stock at our local feed store? And, if it is not available there, for whatever reason, it is a feed that everyone carries.

Over the years, we have tried many horse feeds, at various levels of accessibility. In addition, this is the first time in 30+ years of horsekeeping that both horses are on the same feed and we only need one bag at a time. Long may it last.

Simple is good.

Onwards!
Katherine

What Is The Story Of Your Name? Personal Narrative Assignment #1, Class #2

Call Me Katherine
by Katherine Walcott

I hate the name I grew up with.

It’s not a dead name or anything that dramatic. It’s a simple nickname. And I hate it.

The name on my birth certificate is Katherine Xxxx Xxxxx. My mother thought that Katherine was pretty as a first name and that it gave my full name a nice rhythm. No family connection whatsoever.

So, my official name is Katherine. Everybody called me Kathy.

Well, no.

That’s the problem.

Not everybody called me Kathy.

My parents each had a personal nickname for me. My mother called me Snooch. My father called me Puss. They only used Kathy when I was being called to the carpet.

I tended – and still do – to small friend groups. No one was trying to get my attention across the floor of a crowded club. We’d be sitting around. If a friend wanted to talk to me, they would turn, look at me, and start speaking.

The last group was teachers. They used my name. As in, “Does anyone other than Kathy have a question.” Or “Kathy, please sit down.”

If I heard “Kathy” I was either in class or in trouble. Or both.

Is it any wonder I didn’t like it?

I have nothing against the name itself. I have friends with the name. They are welcome to it. I just dislike when it is aimed at me.

This would cause backfires with sales reps. You know the type. They are trained to drop Customer Name into every sentence in order to build rapport. Hearty handshake. Direct eye contact. “Come over here, Kathy, and let me tell you about the virtues of this three-handled moss-covered family credenza.” Eeek, no.

I knew it was futile to force a change while I was living where I grew up. Too many folks knew me by that name for too long. Then I got married and moved to a new state. Voila. People who would call me whatever I told them. The new me was born.

My family would slip from time to time. It was only natural. Since I lived out of state, visits were infrequent. The issue didn’t come up often enough to make a case out to of it. A family member would call me Kathy. I’d flinch a bit. I’d smile. I’d go home in a few days.

Most of my communication with my parents was by telephone. One doesn’t need names in a one-on-one phone calls. This was in the pre-Internet era. Just after we stopped banging rocks together to send messages.

I’m less bothered about it than I used to be.

At a recent visit, I noticed that my mother is conscientious when introducing me, “This is my daughter, Katherine.” However, she has a tendency to slip during conversation. “Kathy and I went to lunch.”

Theses days, meh, that’s pretty much the only time it happens. Although I have to admit getting a slight case of the shivers while writing this. I would hear the sentences in my head and think, ‘Yup, still don’t like it.’

I would like to close with props to my husband. He knew me for 8 years as Kathy. We got married. I announced a name change. In 36 years, I don’t think he has slipped once. That’s a love language.

Afterword

Assignment #1 from class. Posted as submitted.

Before Class

Cover letter, my comments to instructor:

I dont know how much author statement is acceptable. Some classes yes, some no.


This kind of writing – expository? descriptive? declamatory? – comes easily to me. The gap between this and telling a story is why I am in this class.


551 words. I tend to write short.

My evaluation, comments to beta reader (waves hi):

I like it. Dont think it is Personal Narrative. Be interesting to see what class says.

Personal, yes. Narrative, not so much. Significant personal transformation, not at all.

Feedback

Beta reader. Tend to. Intended usage: I am inclined to, i.e. I tend to wear casual clothes on most days. Beta reader pointed out, “Tended to as in took care of?” Confusing meanings. Would change.

Class. I not going to give their direct comments, both for privacy & to allow people to speak freely. Instead, my responses to the critiques.

Years ago, folks in a workshop found my writing humorous. I never understood this. If I simply recounted an event, the result was funny. If I made an effort to be funny, nada.

I am comfortable with my writing style. “The head of the department told me that my writing was ‘pedestrian.’ Well, I prefer to think of it as clear and commercially-viable, but thanks for the input.” [Schadenfreude Saturday, My Pain Is Your Amusement]

I have no emotional depth. I know this. I own this. [Thoughts]

“Does anyone other than Kathy have a question.” I became a journalist. People now pay me to ask questions. Perhaps this should not be as much of a surprise as it was. [My Origin Story]

Class posts
[What Is Personal Narrative, Thoughts Before A Class]
[Why I Write, Personal Narrative Class #1]

Onwards!
Katherine