Notes from Maine - 2022/07/10

A few days ago, I was bummed out by something really stupid. I carried some tools back down to the basement, intending to bring some screws back upstairs. Halfway up the stairs I realized that I had forgotten the screws. 

Can you even imagine something so horrible? I had to walk all the way back down and get the screws. 

My sense of gratitude needs adjusting. 

I need to remember that this is one of the good times—everything is going just fine.

I’ll start with an easy one. I haven’t bitten my cheek or tongue in recent memory. There was a period a few years ago where once a week I was biting my tongue. I’m not talking the edge or tip of the tongue. I was biting my tongue right in the middle with my canine teeth. I have no idea the mechanics of it, but I would end up with a deep cut that would bleed and hurt for hours.

I’m thankful that hasn’t happened in recent memory.

Here’s another easy one—I’m happy that my friend Finn is in good heath. Finn (English Mastiff) just turned nine, which is old for an English Mastiff. A couple of years ago, he had horrific ear infections that nearly ended his life. His ear canals had grown thick with swollen cartilage, and couldn’t be kept clean by any means. The only solution was surgery. For the past two years, he has been happy and healthy, aside from occasional strains and pains from playing too hard with his little brother.

I’m very thankful that Finn is still doing great.

The little filly born to my horses was a wonderful gift that I got to witness. She is living up the road now at a huge barn with all kinds of horses. She’s being worked, socialized, and trained. It was difficult to see her move away, but it was the best way to give her a happy and rewarding life. If she stayed here, I would have been constantly shuffling horses around to keep her split up from her father. She never would have gone to shows or been someone’s primary horse. She’s so adorable and I will always smile when I see her—she was a wonderful gift.

I’m very thankful to have raised a little baby horse for the first time.

Albert (German Shepherd) is a handful, but very fun. He can be sweet when he’s not working. Being a German Shepherd, he’s almost always working. Albert will dedicate himself to any job you give him and if you don’t give him a job he will invent one. 

The horse parents (Earl and Maybelle) are doing well. They’re together right now. I think we have a day or two before I have to separate them once more. Then, they’ll be apart for 5-7 days, and then back together. I’m keeping a calendar and trying to learn all the sneaky signals they send to each other. In general, the cycle is 6 days apart followed by 14 days together. That’s manageable. 

That’s a ton to be thankful for. Writing is going well. Ideas are still piling up as fast as I can write them. Generating new ideas has never been a concern for me. I have to focus on prioritizing and fitting them together, but there is always a constant influx of new ideas. The fun part is to take two very different concepts and then pit them against each other, like weather fronts. Then the words just rain down.

Speaking of rain, we need a bunch. That’s a complaint that I can’t do anything about. The pasture is dry. I’m feeding supplemental hay. It would be easy to worry about that problem and forget about all the things that are going well, but I won’t do it.

When I almost had a breakdown because I had to go back down the stairs to fetch the screws, I promised myself that I would focus on the good things.