At Ease

     My week off for spring break was to be one of ease from school work.  "At ease" implies freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility) which I needed and was looking forward to.  I did have a list of jobs for around the house and farm, and some school work to accomplish.  But it was to be at a relaxed pace.  

     We left hot, dry, Illinois around 1:30 Friday and headed east to Columbus Ohio.  The trip was uneventful, but I was envious of the Indiana folks who had puddles of rain water in their fields.  We drove through some rain in Ohio and got to our destination, the Hyatt Regency, in the middle of down town.  We checked into the hotel and
                                         then with
the Army and proceeded to go for a walk and have a look around.  The Columbus Convention center attaches to the hotel.  In the photo above, the hotel is the darker building towering over the convention center which looks to be beneath it.  To the left is the view from our room on the 19th floor.  There was a Mary Kay convention and a Pro Gaming Tournament also occurring over the weekend.  Add over 600 of us Army people (soldiers and families) and it was quite a cacophony of persons.



      Saturday was a long day of meetings, with most of the information being quite helpful.  It was to put us at ease (without worry or anxiety) relaxed and comfortable with the return of our soldier.  It was to prepare us for their reintegration into civilian life, to know what to expect, and to be able to help them with this transition.  There were different break-out groups, so we were with only about 70 people.  It was nice to meet families of some of the soldiers Dan has been deployed with for almost a year now.  We are all getting quite excited about their return
                                 and will be relieved when they are home. 
    
     Daniel standing "At Easy" at boot camp the middle of March two years ago.  It is amazing to think how he has grown, what he has experienced and what he has done since then.  I will be so much more "at ease" once he is home.

     All of the army groups ate together, so we met soldiers who were back from their 3rd and 4th deployments from various countries and we heard many interesting stories and experiences.  We were quite well fed (farm breakfast, hot lunch, and big dinner).  After dinner, we went to an internet cafe to touch base with our kids (too cheap to pay for web access in the room).  We E-mailed Dan in Afghanistan, AIM Chatted with Britney in Guatemala, and caught up with Courtney on Facebook in Illinois.  It's such a small world today.

      After a big breakfast Sunday morning, little chapel service and a one hour informational meeting, we checked out and headed west.  This tangle of roads as seen from the window of the elevator lobby on the 19th floor, was not near as difficult to navigate as it may appear.  We did it with ease as Joe handled it well.   

     We drove to Carol's, seeing lots of pretty country side.  The Red Buds in bloom are my favorite.  Her pregnant ewes watched as we came in the drive.



    



      After helping with a barn repair and going for a short walk, we spent a relaxing afternoon sitting outside chatting.  Carol also showed me some exercises for my wrist because I have been unable to progress with it's strength and flexibility.  Back on the road, I almost finished the rest of my grading I had been working on periodically all weekend.  We were home by 5:30, did evening chores early, and tried a new (for us) TV show Joe had taped, called Touch. 




     Roni and Amiga at ease grazing next to each other.  The tender grass Joe recently planted in the water way is sometimes preferred over the alfalfa.



     I had been discouraged to find that we had only gotten 4/100ths of an inch of rain Friday, and zipo Saturday and Sunday.  But when I woke Monday to low 40 degree weather (after low 70's all weekend) I was really disappointed.  I boycotted the outdoors and stayed here at my desk working on my blog, E-mails, and catching up on Facebook.  I finished my grading, including recording them and entering them electronically.
                                                       

     One of our hens has become quite broody.  I have carried her back to the coop every night for over a week, took away the eggs, removed the golf ball, and even put a basket ball in her nest which she moved aside.  Nothing has worked, she continues to brood.

     Tiny had been missing since Saturday night, but had been spotted Sunday morning by Courtney and this morning by me.  I was hoping she too was sitting on a nest somewhere.  I myself have been somewhat broody.  No, not wanting to have a baby (or even grandchildren yet), but in the sense of being melancholy, pensive, and contemplative.  I guess time spent alone on the farm, especially with life bursting anew, causes one to pause
                                                      and reflect on their existence.
 
     I went outside for a little bit in the afternoon to get photos of changes around here.  Brother follows me everywhere I go.














    
     Above, he tried to take a dust bath, which didn't work too well in the dry, hard clay of our water way.  The alfalfa grows faster in the lack of moisture than the grass.  But everything is looking green. 
     Can you see brother below?


          Click on the photo

          Here is a closer look.



     He was hiding to ambush Missy, below, who I think was on to him.







     My walk was nice, but I just couldn't get motivated to ride or do outside work.  The cold, clouds and wind deterred me. I have been spoiled by last weeks hot, sunny weather.  Maybe I was a bit tired from our big weekend in Ohio too.  Even Joe had slept in, stayed home sick with a headache and took a nap.

     Growth Group was canceled again because our leader Dean was out of town getting more opinions on his status and information on treatment options for his cancer.  During evening chores we gave Babe her tetanus booster, and while we had her corralled,
Joe cut off her ear tag.  But before we could open the back fence gate in the calf stall, she jumped over it, getting her back legs caught.  Joe quickly helped lift them up and over, and off she went.  Then he had to do a little gate repair.

     Tuesday I had an early morning dentist appointment for a filling.  To reward myself for good behavior, I bought a new camera.  And then I treated myself to a chocolate milkshake since I couldn't chew for a few hours.  Once home, my tongue, gum, jaw and even ear canal were still numb, so I opted to take a nap and sleep it off.

     The day was much warmer and sunnier... but the 25 mph winds were still a pain to deal with, so I read and messed with my new camera, trying to figure it out.  It is going to take awhile.

     


     Courtney came over later in the afternoon.  I had been riding Roni in the round pen.  Once she was done picking hooves, brushing Zorro, and working him a little bit, she decided to give Roni a try.














   


        He was nervous to begin with, so didn't listen real well... and she was a bit rusty on her riding skills, but made good progress.  Being out of riding shape, she didn't stay on long, but it was a good new beginning.



      Courtney and I chatted quite awhile, and watched the horses.  When we first let them out on the back pasture, they went cantering off.  And later when we brought them in, they ran to the barn.  Zorro and Amiga are both moving with such ease... and much better these days, that we feel their healing continues to progress.  We could barely tell they had lameness issues watching them trot around.


     We had thunder storms pass through in the middle of the night.  I finally got up at
2 am Wednesday morning because the dog was driving us nuts.  I figured I could nap, but Joe needs a good night of sleep.  I gave Kaysha a tranquilizer and she settled right down and fell asleep by my desk in the office.  Once the storms had pretty much passed, I went out and checked on the horses and gave them some hay.  Unfortunately, even though it stormed all around us, we didn't get any rain to speak of (0.13 inches).  The ground was damp in places, but not under the trees.  As for me getting back to sleep, I decided to have a hot cup of tea.  The warm beverage of comfort had me sleepy and back to bed by 4 am.

     I slept in until 6:30.  During chores, I was thinking a nap was going to be needed later in the day.  I was beginning to worry about Tiny because I hadn't seen her in two days.  I wondered if maybe she had become hawk food.  I took Roni on a nice ride mid morning, going down Brian's road to Marj's.

     Amiga watches as I brush and tack Roni.  I think she is a tad jealous.  Roni and I hung out at Marj's for awhile.  I had taken his bridle off to let him graze.  Then I worked him in the indoor arena because I wanted to work on his gaiting.  Recently, when I have tried to get him to gait other than in the round pen, he keeps pushing up into a canter.  He did very well at Marj's though.  Once done, I headed home with him.  We took a longer, round-about way, coming across 150 at Becks.  I gaited Roni a few times along the roads, and there was improvement. 

     Mid afternoon I put the horses and cows out in the back pasture which is full of alfalfa.  Amiga gets to go first, and stops to grab a bite the second she hits the green stuff.  The next three videos then show Frankie going out to join Amiga, followed by Babe who is then chased by Zorro.  And last but not least, Roni who runs to catch up to the herd.

    
      I mowed my riding path through the side pasture while Joe cleaned stalls.  He removed much of the deep layers of wet shavings. 

     When moving the trailer to unload clean shavings, we found Tiny and her nest.  It had been under the tarp, in the shavings.  Needless to say, she was not happy.












Amiga and Zorro watch Joe work.







     I herded the cows and horses in off the back pasture.  Courtney had shown me a great technique using the crop and whip that works well.  She actually showed up again, fed the horses, brushed Zorro and then we saddled Roni up for her to ride.  She improved her arm carriage and he did much better for her.  He was still nervous, but that will come with time.  She didn't ride long because she is not in "riding" shape yet. 

     At dusk, Tiny joined all the girls in the coop for a change.  I had a beer and popcorn for a late dinner while watching Survivor and then went to bed.  But it was another bad night for sleep... I was not at ease.  This time it was my back hurting and pain deep in my lower abdomen. 

     I don't know where the time went Thursday or what I did with most of it... nothing productive or exciting.  Mid morning I made a two hour trip to Farm and Fleet and Wal-Mart getting food and other supplies for the critters and us humans.  It was cold and cloudy, looking like rain all afternoon, and my back was still really hurting, so I remained sessile until chore time.  Sitting
                                                     on the front porch, I worked on figuring
out my Samsung camera.  To the left is my first photo.  Many of the features are similar to my old Sony, but have different icons.  There is this new application, "Magic Frame", that puts this=>

around your photo.  There are no other choices of frames... are you kidding me, who would use this?

     We had a nice gentle rain during chores, but only got 5/100ths of an inch.  At least it washed the dust off leaves and flowers.  The ducks also
                                                     enjoyed it, having puddles along the
buildings in the paddock, which now had a thin layer of mud.  Later I tried picking the mud out of hooves when I brought the horses in for the night, but it was too painful for my back.  Poker Joe


     I took two Ibuprofen before bed, slept through the night, and felt pretty good upon rising Friday morning.  It had done the trick to put my pain at ease.  After some unproductive time here, I loaded up Roni mid-morning and headed down to Marj's.  We loaded Arboleda and Marj's tack and proceeded out to Moraine View.  It was a prefect day for riding, the woodland was so peaceful, and I had a great lesson on Roni.  Marj had some new ideas to work on and we saw quick improvement with Roni.  We taught him to walk calmly at a good distance from her horse and not "tail gait".  Hum... I wonder if riding horses (at any gait) too close to each other (head to tail) is where tailgate came from?  We stayed at a walk the whole time because it was kind of slippery on the 
                                                     muddy trails and we didn't want Roni
to get all revved up.  It was one of the more relaxing rides I have had on him.

     Once home, I ate a late lunch and caught up on Facebook and E-mail.  The mail man dropped off these two large black trunks which I added to Dan's pile of stuff he has had shipped here for his approaching return.  It gets me all the more excited.  Joe got home early so we went out to work together on some projects.  We drained the 100 gal water tank, pouring the mucky contents on all of our little pine trees out back.  The cows wait in the
shade for water.  We scrubbed and
cleaned the tank well, moved it to the west side of the barn, and then worked on the horse water tub. They too were waiting and resting in the shade.


     We got out and hooked up all our garden hoses, hoping we won't see anymore freezing temperatures.   After pork chops on the grill, we took Kaysha for an evening walk.

     I have really been uninspired to work on school work this week.  Looking at different retirement options and the possibility of choosing to retire early, has not helped my motivation at all.  Unfortunately, we are not at ease from financial obligations and worries, thus
the need to weigh this decision carefully.  I so look forward to the time when I do not have to worry about school work... ever again.  I am ready to ease myself from this responsibility, which at times can be like a ball and chain.  This photo => was an attempt at a close up shot while sitting on the front porch testing my new camera.

    Lastly, a big shout out to all US armed forces, especially the 236th ICTC.
                                                     This photo was taken Monday night
(11/14/2011) at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, as a Veterans Day Tribute.  It took 90 workers two weeks to get all of the colored pages mounted under each seat.  Each piece of card board had eye slits in them so the fans could hold up the colored sheet and watch the game through the eye slits.  Like all these individuals, I say thank you to all our military personnel and veterans.