April showers

Well, the cold and rain are finally starting to lift here in Ashland. We had bouts of warm spring weather and leftover winter weather interspersed. The coming of spring coincides nicely with what is happening in my life, and John's too. It's been up and down for us here. We love the beauty and energy of the place. And my life with horses continues to unfold and mature. But it's been hard to know how we were going to make it here financially. Little of what I thought I'd be doing here has panned out. I went through several long weeks of mourning the life I left in Portland. Mostly the yoga community I had there and the future I thought I'd have teaching within it. I missed and still miss my friends and those that I have come to love. I have also been dealing with many losses on many levels, all of which needed its proper time for grieving. It's been a difficult transition for me in many ways, while a healing and delightful one in others.

But the dark clouds definitely seem to be parting, thankfully! A new book project is forming that I feel extremely excited about. It's clearer and more on purpose than some of the other things I've tried developing this past year. I'm also looking for, and may have already found, a small part-time job to bring in a bit more money. All of the places I've checked with have stopped to talk to me and seem very interested in having me work there. Very nice to have this response. So different in a small town than in a big city!

Dakota continues to develop and grow. She's still very much a youngster, but being almost 2, she starting to develop into the mature horse she'll be in a couple of years! I continue to take her for long walks and do groundwork, and she's at a place that has lovely pasture and three other horses for her to be with. She is much more happy and alive than she was at the stables I had her at before. I can't wait until the fall when I can start her under saddle. I can't do what I really want to do with her until she's a bit older, but it will be exciting to get things really going once I can ride her.

John rides!

John is taking riding lessons with Toni, the same person with whom I'm taking lessons. He had a blast, which is fortunate, since I think it is likely that, if we are going to be spending a lot of time together in the future, it will involve horses!

John is riding Tami, and Toni said he did really great for his first lesson.  He has ridden before, but it's been a while.

Moving Day!

Moved Dakota to her new home. Am too tired to write much, but it is so wonderful and peaceful and beautiful. She's happy and rolling and galloping in her new paddock. Will take pictures and post more tomorrow. Also have a new dog named Timmy, who is adorable and funny and will be a great playmate for Mila. Our family is growing and happy right now. Timmy is the little black dog in the picture below.

Cleaning Day!

Today we cleaned up Dakota's paddock. Actually, I'd been doing it for several days but then John came to help me, great guy that he is! Dakota found it all to be very fun. I left to ride and John stayed to finish up. The two of them mugged it up for the camera...

Moving Dakota

We recently went on a picnic and took Dakota and Mila with us. Dakota found it very fun and wanted to stay close to the 'herd.'

NEWS: Well, some doors close and others open. My good friend, Pat, has offered me a new home for Dakota. She has her own place with her three horses on it, all of whom I ride. I am particular to Spice, her half Arab/half Thoroughbred, mostly because she is sweet and fun, and is very close in personality to many, many horses I've worked with. I love the other two as well, Scrimshaw and Engelita, though I haven't yet ridden Engie.

Anyway, she has a lovely property with several pastures. She has offered me a pasture with a run in--MUCH nicer than what she is in now. Eventually, she may be in with her three girls, if they all get along that is. It's a wonderful opportunity to have Dakota in a safe, clean, healthy environment. There is a large arena as well, which is awesome. A lot of smaller properties like this don't have facilities like arenas. Plus it's an energy exchange!!! So it will save us a ton of money!

I'll be moving Dakota in a bit over a week, after we are sure she is free from parasites. The most wonderful thing to me is that I'll be able to totally control what Dakota eats and how she is cared for. Not sure the walks will be quite so spectacular, and I will miss the hills we walk in. But the offer is too good to pass up.

Thanks Pat!!!!

Returning...

I just got back from a rather exhausting trip to Seattle than Portland. It was all good, just a lot to process and physically has me a bit wiped out. The trip to Seattle was wonderful, being with my dear friend, Aliyah. It was physically demanding but by itself, would have been fine. But I came back and turned around and then drove to Portland to do two days of intense yoga. I could barely walk after the second day! It's been a while with yoga! I had a lovely conversation with my friend and teacher, Matt. It was good to be with him again, and with my yoga friends.

On my return, everything seems changed, alien in a way. I don't feel like I'm really home. My horse is still great, but I found out she has the worst case of parasites any horse of mine has ever had. I find that I am trusting other people's opinions more than my own. I'm not trusting myself to know what I know. I'm changing that. And I'm waiting...waiting to know what is being asked of me. If anything.

I'm tired, but I am on my way out to clean Dakota's paddock. A friend made a lovely offer of her pasture to me, in exchange for my help with some of her needs, like taking care of her three girls when she leaves town. I can't imagine not taking her up on this generous offer. A clean, green pasture for my girl, other horse friends to be made and to spend time with. A lovely and caring woman to keep an eye on her when I'm not there. Not quite as good as having her with me on our own place, but close.

I feel unsettled, uncertain. I miss my yoga practice but have no place that feels good to do it in. No room in our small space. Can't afford to rent a studio. Not sure what to do about much of anything except to get my horse healthy and safe.

Tree in the forest?

If I write a blog, but nobody reads it, are there any words? Or if I write these words, but nobody reads them, do they have meaning? Or...who gives a crap, eh???

A woman with horses...

It's interesting. I'm finding, increasingly, that words don't come. It's getting harder for me to find them, whether I'm writing, speaking, thinking. There's no rage, no windmills to battle, no great truths to write about. Just a growing sense of quiet. I'm not sure this is the same thing as peace. I don't always feel peaceful. There is inner turmoil, a struggle between the world of language, work and community, and my only clear, remaining desire to be alone in a place of quiet, with my horse in the mountains, walking my dog by the lake. Me, my horse, a dog or two. Walking in fields littered with the most beautifully configured dead limbs and trees. Tall grass. And wind. When I'm not there, my mind is there. For sure my heart is there. I've never been at ease in the world, but I always thought I was supposed to 'do' something in it. But it's hard to engage in the world when there is no struggle, nothing to conquer, with no real desire to 'do' anything or say anything. It's hard to construct a story out of nothing. A story requires words, so where are we when there are no words? Nowhere? Everywhere? I don't know. Sometimes I feel nowhere, like nothing, invisible. Sometimes I feel everywhere, totally connected, and everywhere I look I see the eye of god looking back at me. God looking at god. But I do know it's very hard to be in this body without a story, without words, a narrative of your life. I am....this... A woman with a horse who likes to walk in the mountains...

The world is a strange place...

...and I'm still trying to figure out how to live in it. We had this thing develop in the past three weeks that looked to be something awesome. John and I have always dreamed of having a real home with property. It's been a lifelong dream of mine to have my horse with me on my own place. So a friend suggested we talk to her ex-husband about property they used to live on together. 6+ acres, cute house, lovely surroundings. It needs a ton of work, so we'd work on it and renovate in exchange for rent. We met with him, got along well, things were very positive. Emailing took place, negotiations were made. It all looked like a huge YES! We met with him again on Saturday, it was a go. He was going to leave a key so we could start on the place. We went out and spent some time on Sunday looking at the property, dreaming, planning. We came home to an email, an EMAIL, that indicated he was changing his mind.

We were stunned. We had spent a lot of time talking about how perfect it was, how taken care of we were, how we could afford to live on the income we presently have, our dreams of having land and a place like that to call home. We planned repairs, we planned pasture renovations. We went pretty deep into this.

And now, poof, gone. Like piss in the wind. So that's life. It is. That's my experience of how life goes. Did we create this? I guess we did. But we are not stupid people, nor overly naive, and neither of us saw this coming.

So back to plan A. We have a nice apartment, my horse has a nice home. For the next few months we are able to swing it. I will have to make an income asap to make sure we swing it for much longer than a few months. Okay, that was the original plan. Where this came from and why, I have no idea. We were treated shabbily. We probably dodged a huge bullet with this guy. But still, the question lingers. Why? Why have it come up, why have it taken away? The question most asked by human beings when they are faced with something that seems impossible or incomprehensible. Why?

The world is a strange, strange place. I have always found it to be so. I've manifested some wonderful things. A great partnership with a wonderful man. Strong and loving bonds with my assorted dogs, horses, birds. I love the world in its natural state. If I had my own way, I'd live in a log cabin with minimal amenities, have my husband, horse, and dog with me, and nothing more. I'd be happy not having anything or anyone else in my life. I'd grow things, food we could eat, ride my horse, ride into town every so often for supplies, but other than that, not have much to do with anyone else. I just don't think I'm cut out for community. As a friend once said, community is a good idea, but then you have to deal with the people. This is what I want, and all I want:

More Dakota

Seems like that is all I post about these days is my horse! I've been doing a lot of groundwork with her and of course taking her on our mountain walks. My friend, Trish, took some pictures of me playing with my fuzzy baby!

Another day walking in the mountains

This past weekend we had some wonderful time walking in the mountains with Dakota, Mila and our friend, the stable barn dog, Buddy. That's buddy in the picture of me and Dakota. The views around the stable and from the hills around it are quite spectacular! And as you can see, the clouds on that day were pretty dramatic. That's often the way it is in the winter here. It can be cold and wet, but even the wet days have dry spells and the skies are often quite restless and beautiful.

Dakota and the dogs and me.

John appreciating the view...

Blogs combined

A recent photo of me with the family...

I've decided that too many blogs makes for confusion. So I'm combining my personal blogs into one. Just don't have time for so many and I'll probably have a hard time keeping up with this one. I will update my experiences with Dakota here as well as my experiences in my life!