From Snow into Spring

Hard to believe that just a week ago we were dealing with cold, the aftermath of snow, and a whole lot of Mud. All that is mostly gone now. It's early desert spring. Wildflower reports are trickling in from the lower elevations. I have tiny yellow flowers blooming in back of the house, and they've been doing that since the snow melted.

Work Brain has finally come back online after much too long a hiatus. Working without Work Brain, though necessary in many cases, is not recommended. I finished and submitted a story to its anthology; waiting to hear back on acceptance. Revision discussions with book editor continue. Inching toward pages on new novel. So far I have an outline, some blocking of the first scene, and a Word template for the chapters. And a name for the first chapter. That's words. It counts.

Neep is on hiatus. Cannot find the wherewithal to pay for lessons this month. I've rescheduled for early March in hopes of a change on that front. However I see the fine Spanish-Italian-Austrian hoof of the local Ruler of the Universe in this, insofar as we seem to have entered a period of intense one-on-one exploration of all the things we've learned in the past few months. We are not always blessed with wonderful rides, but something useful comes out of every one. We Do Stuff: lateral work of various flavors, trot and canter and transitions and straightening exercises and all those nice chewy bits. No more dinking. Huzzahs.

This is translating to the rest of the herd. Camilla finally got what she's been waiting for all these years: an entire (OK, short, but) ride entirely off her center of balance, with no leg and slightly supporting rein. I've been working on extending that to the others, with varying (but educational) degrees of success.

Ephiny is getting ready for her debut under saddle. She's worn saddle (the Really Wide One that fits Pandora and Camilla) and bridle (almost exactly Capria's size) several times now, and is being reminded about longeing. She has her quirks as they all do--especially a Very restless right hind--but her mind is lovely and she's very interested in learning more about this thing that, you know, feels somehow right. She's quite proud of herself for being on the work roster.

I'm looking forward to riding her. She's a beautiful mare, and just the right size at 15.1--pretty much an ideal Lipizzan in terms of size, shape, movement, and mind. She is not a My Lipizzan and will be looking for her human soon, but meanwhile, it's a genuine pleasure to work with her.

Not to mention what it does for my state of mind to get that essential element of the Skilz back. Yes, I can start and train a horse. No, I do not need to sit down, dear, and let someone else do it. Ah, toxicity, we hardly know ye--and about damned time, too.

Speaking of sweet and lovely not-My-Lipizzans, Oreo is still here. His departure last week was derailed by weather in California. He'll be leaving next weekend, if all goes well. His owner is beside herself with excitement. He's busy growing like the proverbial weed, now has a very nice neck, and is visibly taller. Since he's never been anything but tall, the bets that he'll top out at 16 hands may just be on the money. (I'm putting my nickel on 15.3.) S will be surprised and pleased when she sees her beautiful boy again.

In other news, I not only succumbed to Twitter but got sucked into facebook. Lordy, that's just like GEnie! Pretty much the same crowd has gathered; every day seems to bring in a new face. I like it. I've linked lj posts to the feed there. Should probably link the tweets to lj, too. come to think of it. They are not the most thrilling snippets in the world, but they are signs of life.

But for the longer posts and the reflective bits and the neep, lj is definitely the place to be.