Horses & Other Interests
Awareness of the outside world. Someone needed to do it. I doubt I could have. Your Local Epidemiologist: Why did we lose trust during the pandemic? Jetelina, Mar 14, 2024.
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All treats – horse, dog, people – go in the right-hand pocket – jackets, pants, every article of clothing I own – so that other things – phone, pen, notebook – can go in the left pocket and not get covered with crumbs.
Onwards!
Katherine
Art of the outside world. Novis Textura: Reweaving The Urban Fabric, a public art installation in Calgary.
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Onwards!
Katherine
Watcher On The Beach
Many: You want to take what form?
One: A crab.
Many: You think the best way to spy on humans is a spider of the sea?
One: 10.
Many: What?
One: 10 legs. A spider has 8 legs. A crab has 10 legs.
Many: At least that is getting closer to a decent number of appendages. Still doesn’t answer our question. Why?
One: As a crab, I will be on the beach. Humans will be as close to naked as socially acceptable. I can examine physiology without the interference of clothing.
Many: Hmm.
One: During the day I can track movement dynamics. At night, I can listen to them talk when they look out at the ocean and wax philosophical.
Many: Humans will be on vacation. They will not be performing their social functions. How will you gather that data?
One: The humans being on vacation is part of the plan. They delude themselves into thinking they will get work done. So, they bring along laptops and folders and management directives. Then they dump everything in a corner and never look at it. I’ll be able to crawl all over everything.
Many: What if they see you?
One: No problem. A mouse in your office is cause for alarm. A crab in your beach rental is a cute story.
Many: Don’t people eat crabs?
One: At restaurants. Besides, crabs can scuttle pretty fast.
Many: What name will this form carry?
One: Buster.
Many: The movie star?
One: No, the Muppet.
~~ fin ~~~
100 word bio
For the requited bio, I introduced myself as “a mostly retired journalist who is sidling, crab-wise, into fiction.”
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Afterword
Submitted, not accepted, for issue 1 of Crab Tales Magazine. Requirements were crabs and a element of the fantastic, in 250 words or less. CTM: Submissions. Watcher comes in at 249 words.
While doing research for this, I found The Crab Museum, Europe’s first and only museum dedicated to the world of the decapod & Hermit Crab fiction, “Hermit-crab stories are stories made from found verbal structures such as a shopping list or board game rules or FAQs or even a penalty charge notice.” Medium: Hermit-Crab Fictions: Fresh Stories from Borrowed Forms, Brotzel 2020.
Thought on technique. Outside observers is a handy narrative device. In reality, if one goes by human history, first contact does not go well for one of the parties.
Hat tip to L. We shall dine on the proceeds! No proceeds, but lunch is on me anyway.
Onwards!
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. BBG: Seed Exchange. Local, but there is probably one near you.
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“Alba Vulcanis”
Vulcan On Parade
by Melissa Shultz-Jones
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
March 2024
Technical Details
BBG Vulcan, f/8, 1/100 sec., 35.0 mm, ISO 400. Manual mode & auto-focus. Post production. Resized, border, & watermark.
Border colors, gray for project, yellow for Nikon. [Photo Safari The First], [Quarry, Photography, Things]
I tried in two sessions but could not find an interesting angle. Some subjects speak to you; some don’t. Instead, here he is in his natural habitat.
Links
Previous Vulcan posts [Gallery, Views of Vulcan]
Artist? Right name, right place, art looks right, can’t find reference to statue on the site, Melissa Shultz-Jones.
Onwards!
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. Pi Day. Mental Floss: How to Memorize Pi if You’re a Word Person, Okrent, 2015.
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tl,dr: Stopped by new hunter/jumper barn. Promising. Lessons start in April.
Actually, it’s an old barn under new management. Completely new. New barn owners, new barn manager, new trainer, new horses.
We have been watching the changeover as we drive by, as one does. For sale sign goes up. For sale sign comes down. No horses in the field. Horses in the field. We have been meaning to stop by.
Last week, I drove past a roadside advertisement for the barn. Lessons. Birthday Parties. Same name. Was it new or not? Time to check it out, because …
One. Whoever is there, they are looking for business.
Two. Any horse who can used for birthday parties is probably a horse I can ride right now.
Result. Nice chat. They said all the right things. Responded to all my questions with the answers I wanted to hear. Asked a few questions of their own.
Overall, they are planning to run the barn with a slightly different philosophy than the prevailing paradigm in our area. More relaxed. Sounds good to me. As with any new idea, is it an unexploited niche just waiting to be filled? Or is there a reason no one else does it that way? Time will tell.
Check back in April to schedule a lesson.
As always, more details, or not, once I find out what level of publicity they prefer.
Onwards!
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. Meanwhile, in the real deserts. Earth.Org: 7 Most Endangered Species in the Desert. Lai 2022. Multiple causes, from habitat fragmentation to the pet trade. Earth.Org is a environmental news website. About Us.
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.Horse shows that offer awards from the Thoroughbred Incentive Program in 2024.
Please note that Alabama has NO, NONE, ZERO horse shows that give out T.I.P. awards. This is a commentary on the horse industry in the state. Other places I’ve lived? MD – 130, PA – 198. NC – 51. The other states with zero T.I.P. awards are bunch of western states (Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, Minnesota) and possibly Rhode Island.
Yes, I need to try harder. As one commenter said, to cast a wider net. However, I would like the record to reflect that my environment is not making it easy. [The Next Step, comment by Betsy in WI]
Popped up on my feed from Facebook: The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program. Last year’s version had one show in Alabama according to Eventing Nation: Competing an OTTB This Year? Check Out the 2023 T.I.P Calendar. Can’t locate a link to the original for either year on The Jockey Club T.I.P. site.
Milton has been signed up for the program. [Providing Milton With Incentive]
I’m still salty about the need for a Thoroughbred Incentive Program. [Get Off My Lawn, And Take Your Warmblood With You]
In other news, the program offers awards for western classes. Western folks, do you see many Thoroughbreds at your shows? TJCTIP: Categories and Divisions
Onwards!
Katherine
Awareness of the outside world. USA Today: Behind the scenes at the Oscars: What really happens on Hollywood’s biggest night, Alexander, March 7, 2024, updated March 9, 2024. Speaking of movies, The Hollywood Reporter: “The Industry Is Not Back”: Bad News From Hollywood Crews, Kilkenny, March 6, 2024.
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Hitched Milton for the first time since schooling for the show back in December. All walking. Working on building up stamina. He can walk for a mile in the morning. Now time for him to do the same with cart. [Winter Schedule]
Day 1. Mildly concerned at the start. Relaxed during hitch. Oh, I remember this. I can do this.
Day 2. Old pro.
Good boy!
Rodney remains a legend in his own mind.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 