Work and Play

I don't know if it's true, but I once heard that the Russian word for work and play are the same word.  I find sometimes that I enjoy work more than some of the things people consider play.  We went to Seattle to pick up a friend's kid for spring break and did some work/play on the way there.  It was WAY more fun than the touristy stuff we did on the way back.

If you click on this picture to enlarge you might see the huge herd of elk scattered along the bottom of the hills here.

Not long after we saw the elk, we saw a bunch of female bighorn sheep.

I wish the leaping sheep hadn't ended up so blurry in this one.  So cool!  They're scruffy in spring, shedding their winter coats.

A friend's cabin burned down last fall, and the forest service marked some trees that needed to come down, so my friend cut them down and I helped with cleanup.  Orion helped with comic relief.  This tree fell where the cabin had been.  It's a big pile of junk now, only the chimney is standing.

Orion balanced well on this rolling log, I think maybe he could have his own circus act.

These were big, heavy rounds.  I couldn't lift a lot of them, just had to roll them off the access road.

These will be moved later.

 

I got some video of the big trees falling, hoping it would capture the powerful sound of it, but you can't hear it.  Maybe we hear it through our feet when they hit the ground.  It's pretty intense.

Today we went hiking hear home and followed game trails in an area where there are tons of elk and deer, but we didn't find any antlers.  About usual for me.  I enjoy it anyway.  The dogs had a blast.

I found this super cool silvery gnarled stump.  I wish you could see as well as I could how cool the silver sheen of it was.

When I got home I took Scout and Buster to the round pen.  I was thinking having a more mobile horse in with him, who usually pushes him around, might get Buster moving nicely, but Scout would stop in front of him and Buster wouldn't push Scout and then he'd get stressed when I pushed Scout.  I did get a bit of a trot out of him a couple times, and a nice turn, so then he got to stand tied outside while I worked with Scout.

Scout was really quite responsive even though it was a cold, windy day with lots of gunfire nearby.  He walked and trotted slow and extended, turned nicely, stopped, yielded front and hindquarters, and even led by each front foot better than he has before.  He struggles with that, so once he had it I kept that lesson short.  He was wanting to get distracted by the gunfire.  I got his attention back, got it good, and quit.  Then I wrapped a lariat around his butt and under his tail and worked him in both directions while pulling on it to simulate having a rope caught under his tail while leading another animal.  He didn't mind, but he thought it was a pressure he was supposed to give to, so we had to push through that.

Scout's tail is paralyzed so I don't know how much he feels around his tail head - it broke just above his tail.  I worry a bit that he might have weird nerve sensations but after today I'd say it's not a problem.  I've thought about using a crupper or britchen on him but I've been hesitant.  I think if we do this some more it'll be fine, and I can start working on ponying the donkeys without worrying about them getting the rope caught in weird places.

Afterwards I brought Bella and Juniper in to help mow the grass.  They're having a grand time.  

It's funny how quickly happiness, or even mere comfortableness (if that's a word) comes and goes.  It seems to be closely tied to my energy level and how much physical pain I'm in. I'm tired.  A lot, but today has been especially tiring.  That hike was surprisingly painful too, in my hips, legs, and back.  The nerve damage in my back affects my legs a bit but I'm also terribly out of shape and I wonder how much of it might be due to my clogged arteries and heart issues.  I probably worry too much.  I do know though, that the more I do it the better off I'll be.  I need to get out riding more too.  But I don't trust Scout to go out without a partner, at least a hiker, and now that Buster has hurt me I'm not sure about him either.  I do have a Garmin device to call for help but I don't want to get hurt like I did last year.  Breaking my back was nothing compared to ripping my elbow apart.  I could at least mount up and ride back to camp with my broken transverse processes.  I couldn't even lead my donkey with my elbow dislocated.  I need to get health insurance again.  I'm going to put that on my to-do list for tomorrow.

Right now I'm sitting next to a crackling fire out front.  It's cold and breezy but the birds are singing and it's fairly bright out and I have company.  I don't have anything to complain about.  :)

 

 My new garden has been kind of put on a back burner while my tractor sits idle.  I'm not sure what's wrong with it but I think it has something to do with the dead-man switch under the seat.  It thinks when you ask it to move that nobody is in the seat, so it dies.  It's a safety measure but it's annoying when you actually ARE sitting in the seat.  A friend of mine is working on it.  

It seems most of what I have to share are goofy dog photos.  Yesterday I was trying so hard to get things done, but I ended up sleeping a lot.  I have idiopathic hypersomnia and even my amphetamines weren't really working to keep me working for long.  My house is a terrible mess, and it's spilled out into the yard.  I'm trying to put things where they need to be.  Some in the pumphouse, some in the barn, some in the attic.  Some I'm not sure where to put.  

These guys are my good nap buddies.  Orion is my close snuggler.

Winston usually crowds my legs.  He's got his ears on wrong here.  He has cancer, you can see the huge growth.  It's been removed once already and took forever to heal.  I decided not to put him through that again.  He feels fine so far.  When he doesn't feel fine anymore, we'll make the hard decision.

He's always been such a sweet boy.  I've known him since he was 8 weeks old, and rescued him from his abusive owner at 9 months old when the wife called our clinic telling us her husband was going to dump him far out in the mountains.  You'd never know he'd been beaten.  He loves everyone.

I was really, really sick last week.  I wanted to die.  All alone, not much food in the house, I thought about how sweet John was, always bringing me whatever I needed if he was on his way home.  He was often out of town for days but if he could, he was always willing to stop, no matter how long his day was.  Hell, his nearest commute was an hour and a half.  I don't know many people who wouldn't complain if they had to work as hard and long as that man worked.  And now I know his heart was sick and his arteries clogged and he did SO MUCH.  I don't know how he did it.

On Sunday I didn't feel like doing much and the weather was terrible most of the day, so I did some baking and later when it was a littler nicer out, I pruned my conifers. I think it's been probably 12 years since they were planted and they're getting big.  I decided to cut the lower branches so they can grow taller.  25 ponderosa pines, 4 tamaracks (larch), 2 white pines, and a couple of douglas firs.  There are more douglas firs scattered around but they're still very small.  I'd try to plant more periodically, so there are some smaller ponderosas and tamaracks as well.  My favorites are the white pines.

Then the dogs and I took a walk up the creek and they had crazy play time.  Two of these dogs aren't mine (the lab and the little golden one).  Blue is the Aussie.  He wasn't mentioned above because he doesn't like to sleep on the bed.  Silly boy, I think he gets too hot and he has personal space issues.

I just kind of liked the sky in this one.  But can you believe how the walls of the creek get eaten away?  That's why I can't easily get to the other side of my property.  Every year the creek banks change.

Orion had his own private island for quite a while.  I think he really wanted someone to join him though.

Poor blue had a hard time climbing back up the sheer bank. He chooses the stupidest places to jump in.

Orion, on the other hand, was back and forth over the creek I don't know how many times, and he didn't even get wet.  He likes to play around water but not in it.

I did get some gardening done over the weekend.  I had ordered some bare root trees and they came in, so they had to go into the ground.  This is an ambrosia apple, and I got two new cherry trees.  I think I already had two or three cherry trees, a nectarine, and an apricot in this area.  If these trees ever grow I'll have plenty of fruit.  I also transplanted about 20 tiny little plum trees from way up on our hill into this area.  They're doing well.  I'll have a nice plum thicket with the sweetest golden plums that I won't have to hike up the hill to check to see if they're ripe. :)

I struggle...  but there are good moments too.  Each day is different.  Yesterday I was so fed up with my sleep disorder and depression and trying to get over this sickness.  I felt like I had an elephant on my chest.  Then my son came home and helped me fix the gate in the barn, my nephew came over and visited (outside so I don't make him sick) and I talked to both my nieces.  That made it so much better than most days.  My house is still a mess and I still have a lot to do.  And I still have an elephant on my chest.  But I can take my drugs and chip away at it.  A friend is coming over to help, which is helpful but also makes me feel guilty at how little I've accomplished and how much there still is to do, and pressured to be productive.  But maybe that's what it takes to get it done.

Now that the gate into the barn is fixed I can just walk in the the dry, windless area and be with the horses and the donkeys.  Before, I could go out into the pasture easily but getting into the barn was hard.  I think it might help me spend time with them.  I haven't been.  I'm excited about that.

Alright, friend is here, time to get off my butt. :)

Keeping Moving

I don't hike for exercise.  It's a feast for my senses, a healing for my soul.  I wander, looking at every growing thing, the tiny fungi and flowers, the dead trees, the twisted vines, the poops. 

Tracks here and there, or a rock or fallen branch that seems to be pointing the way.  

I leave the trail to follow a whim.  I stop, backtrack a few steps, tilt my head to hear the pleasing deep notes of a small waterfall.  I might pick a lichen I know I'll use in a tincture.  Or just admire its perfection because I know I won't use it and it took years to grow.

I notice chunks torn loose from a dead tree and I look and find signs that a bear has eaten there.  Teeny tiny ants crawling everywhere.  I wonder how long it takes to make a satisfying meal.  I wonder if a bear wakes up cranky like I do.

I wonder if someone doesn't value the world the way I do, can they value me?  If all they see is one big forest, all the same, while I see so many things - different every day, every hour, every time the light changes - and I'm so enchanted - are we living in the same world?

And I keep moving, finding a new trail with a new corner to look around, and discover it leads me back to the beginning, smiling, sweating despite the cold, with my pockets full of rocks, my happy dogs at my side.  I have to return home to food and warmth and sleep.  But I'm committed to myself again.  I need to stay awake and do the things that keep me awake.  Literally.  I've been sleeping too much.  Lying around, stuck in my own head, with my mean thoughts.

The weather is teasing, slowly getting better.  I've been planning a garden in remembrance of John.  I've bought plants, and planted an oak tree.  Soon I'll get the rest in the ground but the cold wind won't stop now, and I've slept away the good days.  I'm trying.  I tried to get the family together to help but it was like pulling teeth.  I got help with the one tree, and that is all I'll try for.  I think I'm on my own.  Aren't we all?  My kids are mourning, working, I don't know...  My brother in law is sick with cancer.  My nieces and nephew are living their own lives.  It's easier just to cook and visit. My best friends are my best help.  My tractor is acting up and the little tiller doesn't want to break ground.  I can operate a shovel but it hurts my injured elbow.  I like working by hand, it feels right.  But it takes time.  And I'm so tired.  I think too much.

We went camping over the weekend in a place John would have loved.  I had never been there before.  I cried a little, looking at rocks in the creek, thinking how he would have been looking with me.  I thought a bit about his death, and came to terms a little more with it.  I enjoyed the rest of the weekend.  It was beautiful.  

Soon I will have happier things to share.  I have been terribly cranky and I've had a hard time even living with myself lately.  But there have been good things!  I had to buy a new mower so I got a great one!  Zero turn.  It's fun!  I mowed for 2 hours and almost got everything I wanted to mow done.

I put Buster's pack saddle on and we did a tiny bit of ground work.  He wasn't extremely impressed but he's gonna have to get back to work.  We'll hike and do some serious work at home.  My farrier gave me some great ideas.  I like talking about horsemanship with him.  Maybe I'll write about that later and you all can brainstorm with me.

Scout is also going to have to get back to work, although I've never been excited about him.  Maybe with time, with him as my horse, we'll build more of a good working relationship.  I enjoy him, but I don't get out of bed in the morning thinking I want to get him out and do stuff with him.

Today I'm going to lunch with a friend & running some errands, then I have plans with my oldest tomorrow, and hiking with a friend next week.  I'm trying to plan less downtime.  I only work one day a week and I've had the last month off. I can't wait to get back to work.  With all my health issues it's hard to work a long day, but I need the stimulation and I like my job and my co-workers.

Maybe today I'll get my trailer ready to haul (it's pretty messy in the LQ) and take Buster somewhere fun tomorrow.  If so, I'll let you know!