Chaos

I'm going to bury the lede by dumping a bunch of photos. If your own life is stressful right now, you may want to skip reading about mine. (Then again, sometimes I find it helpful to know that I'm not the only one dealing with 'stuff'. If the shoe fits, read on!)

First, photos shared on IG/FB (plus a few extras), which have gotten more regular again:

"My eastern view from home and on my way to work this morning. I could not capture Mt. Hood's magnificent  presence!" (2 photos)

"Looking forward to a great concert date with my honey!"

Lyle Lovitt and his acoustic group put on a great show

A detail from the lovely Elsinore Theatre

"The sheep are getting ragged around the edges. WHEN will I have time to shear them???"

"The past few days have felt like a spring fling!"

"Last night's clear sky. Orion is my favorite constellation."

"Hmm,  those colors remind me of something. 😍"

"I chased this sunset up the hill a few miles past our lane trying to get a good shot."

"Interesting wisps in the eastern sky this morning."

"Happy Sabbath!"

"Bitsy and Lance, making my day.." (4 photos)

"The ear gnats are out again, so Stella's bonnet is back in use. She knows it helps and accepts it readily."

"Good morning!"

"We're having fungi weather again."

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Rick has almost vacated his old clinic space. The only thing holding us up from giving the new owners the keys they've been hounding us for is getting phone service switched over to the new office. For now we have to keep the landline in the old space and forward the phone to the new secretary's mobile phone during the day and to the answering service for nights and weekends.

The rest of 30 years of accumulation has been moved, some (not enough) to burnpile/trash/recycling, some (shoehorned in) to the new office, and some (WAY too much) to our home. There is stuff stacked in our garage, our daylight basement, the barn aisle, the shed, and on our big trailer. Rick hasn't been able to park on his side of the garage since he brought home a truck AND trailerful of stuff home from Dad's shop last summer; now I can't park in the garage, either. Supposedly most of what he has brought home will be stored in the shop once it is finished; Brian is grumbling that there will be no available space to actually work on vehicles in the 'shop' (which is an indication of other issues).

Through the process of losing both my dads, my desire to declutter and downsize has grown increasingly stronger, and I have taken steps to both get rid of things and minimize further accumulation. But I'm shoveling out with a teaspoon while the men of the family are hauling in with a dump truck, adding despair to the physical/mental/emotional exhaustion I was already struggling with. In my experience, what my guys bring in never leaves, even if it is large and visible (prime examples are a dead pick-up, a dead car, one dead and one dying tractor, two dead riding lawnmowers, and a homemade trailer, now rotting, that we pulled behind the car when we moved to Oregon in 1989). Our little acreage has become an embarrassment and a burden, and I see no way to effect change – not a good emotional state. On top of that, I am aware that FAR worse things are happening to many in our country and on our planet; Lord, help us all.

My daily therapy

Following are the daily photos with captions that I've shared on IG/FB starting November 6 through today, minus the four I shared in my last post and a couple I had already deleted. Some days I've shared more than one, as from the outing Stella and I took on Sunday (big horse blog update coming), and the day I posted the ferns and fungi. From here on, I'll include the photos from my daily IG/FB posts with my ~weekly posts here. As I said in my last post, looking for pretty/peaceful/positive things to post every day helps keep me sane in a crazy world, so this will continue for the foreseeable future!

Look for the light in God's creativity and love.

Still focusing on the light.

Some of the girls.

Still my big red goober, looking fine this fall.

The season that makes my senses sing!

Good morning!

TOTALLY worth the clean-up.😍

Full color or black and white? I enjoy both!

Friday night lights.

Our first time trying the OHC Mountain Trail course. SO fun–and Stella rocked every element!

Blessings of rain.

My beautiful Poppy–definitely a bright light in my world!

And that's a wrap! This morning I blew the leaves and debris out of the arena for the last (6th?) time this year. I love fall, but celebrate when the last of the Bigleaf Maples at the south end are bare. Now the horses can get out and stretch their legs, and I can school Stella, more often.

That's it for now from . . .

Poppy in her prime...

...and then there is everything else. 

 

Last Sunday Poppy and I competed in another agility trial. The timing was perfect; because of the time change (and being scheduled to run at the end of the first, very large class), there was no early morning alarm or leaving in the dark. Instead, "fingers of God" (a much more beautiful term than crepuscular rays) beamed as we left our lane and headed down the hill:

Poppy was a rock star. After the first class in which she took a jump out of order which disqualified us in that particular class (CPE Agility features 'Standard' runs, plus classes that are categorized as 'Handler,' 'Strategy,' and 'Fun'), she was foot-perfect in her next three classes with three first place qualifying runs – and she nailed the weaves in all four classes (weaves are our shakiest skill). At almost five years old, she is beautiful, fit, mature, and responsive. After two years of agility trials and watching a LOT of other dogs and handlers run, I believe she is truly the best dog for me – and I try to be the best person for her.

While she is in her prime, I am not. My left (acute) knee has been getting worse again, so I upped my Aleve to twice a day and took my knee brace along to the trial, wearing it for my last two classes (without as much benefit as I hoped for).

Phooey on this; I will not go quietly to a rocking chair even if I do turn 63 next week! This week has been a flurry of seeking help. I was able to get a next-day appointment with my PCP, Rick ultrasounded both my knees (he thinks my left meniscus is messed up), I got a standing x-ray of both my knees (mild arthritis in my left, moderate in my right), and I contacted a clinic in Portland. Rick told me about the clinic, where he attended a seminar for both physicians and veterinarians, when I bemoaned to him that I needed a human medicine equivalent to him, trained as he is in equine locomotor pathology, advanced imaging techniques and non-surgical treatment options such as shockwave therapy, PRP, and stem cell therapy. Unfortunately such treatments, though offered by that clinic, are not covered by insurance, but we'll cross that bridge if I come to it. Rick sent them my ultrasound images; I'm waiting to hear back from them.

For whatever reason, Rick hasn't had much veterinary work lately. That's worrisome, but does give him time to work on the shop. He got the ridgecap on (just in time for the rainy week ahead) and has been putting metal on the sides.

Is he getting this done just in time for something else? This afternoon Rick learned that he loses his clinic lease in February. Oh joy; a total upheaval of his business on TOP of dealing with physical, family, and other issues....

To keep from drowning in a sea of stress, I make a conscious effort to focus on the beauty of nature and the God who created it. If my photos soothe you, too, all the better. No need to emphasize all the ‘awful’ in this world!

That's it for now from . . .