Sabbatical Musings! Pain and Joy

Here's a photo Barbie took as a Christmas present for me. You can see my charming foal cantering happily across a winter pasture. What a good good boy. Okay, so what's been going on over the past few days. The most important news is that two days ago, a severe lightning storm in Florida caused the accidental death of two of Renny's half-brothers. I feel so badly for the grandma of those ponies, she's such a nice lady.

As for me here, Violet and I continue our driving and on some days we are better than others, but mostly good. Hailee looks beautiful and healthy and fat and happy in her own serene way. And Renny is loaded to charm. He is just turning into the most elegant sweet small pony. On the home front, I am moving forward with my plans to get chickens, but am in a slight stall while I regroup and think through how to get/make a coop and run. I think Tim is going to help me. I put up two birdhouses, a bird feeder, a hummingbird feeder, and a suet block yesterday, and also made a butterfly feeder. I ordered foxglove and columbine seeds, so that I can make that back bed I cleared into a butterfly garden. And I bought some home supplies to repair cement in my garage, driveway and front steps, caulk the strip between the patio and garage, and stain the front entranceway. I priced out getting a new screen door for my kitchen into the garden, but am holding off on that job until the price of installation goes on sale. And this evening, I'm going to buy what I should have bought long ago, a tall ladder, so I can clear out my gutters.

What else do I know? For the past 9 years, every day that I would drive to Showgate, I would see a big beautiful Appaloosa -- the kind I like -- grey with a big white blanket and then huge black dots. Just a beautiful old girl, I've posted a picture of her before on my blog. Well, after Christmas, I noticed that she was very shaggy and much more weathered-looking than usual. I noticed that she had Cushing's. And it was a very, very, very hard winter of snow, ice, cold. She doesn't have any run-in shelter, she just must brave the cold. But now her body can't recuperate well from the heat and Barbie and I have noticed that she's very often laying in the creek on the farm property, obviously foundered as well as with Cushing's. Barbie is trying to speak to the owner, so we can get permission to trim that mare's coat and get her some care.

What else do I know? We had a big rolling slow fat thunderstorm this morning which started shortly after 5. So, all there was to do was lay in bed in the dark and listen to a few brave morning birds singing their song, the grumbling thunder and the rain as it shifted between sprinkles, earnest drops, and downpour. It was a wonderful 3 hours of wonderful sound, and I knew that all along, my birdfeeders and birdhouses, my gardens, my dreams were all dancing in the backyard. I felt happy.

So, I got up and did my morning chores and then made snickerdoodle cookies, worked on my Hostess Basket for the Fair, and puttered about. But now I'm getting ready to do research.

Please as always, I pray for the help and strength to fulfill the social contract with my creatures. Much love, namaste.

Sabbatical Musings: Week 5, Day 1

Here I am in my office on the first day of week 5 of my sabbatical and I am entirely enthusiastic about research. Currently, I have an article published in this month's JFI, an article in press to the same journal, another article under review, and I'm editing a piece which will go under review this week! Plus I have a meeting in a few minutes about doing the last details on two other papers which should be fun and exciting to revise and get out. This sabbatical has made me feel like I am a scholar and so I am very grateful for that emotion. I now need to tap into the energy required to figure out how to fan my research scholarship while teaching. Namaste! Here's a photo taken by Barbie Valentine of my gorgeaus elegant Violet.

Sabbatical Musings: Week 4, Day 1!

All right, here I am writing at the top of week 4 of my 25 week sabbatical. We are hosting job candidates this week, so will be very busy. Plus I am trying to work on several papers. Plus read journals. Plus get a grip on a few administrative tasks. So, I don't necessarily feel the "rest" or "break" side of my sabbatical, but at least I am working and feeling like a scientist.

What else? Okay, I am sure that I am going to report this in other places, but yesterday was pretty exciting. I went to the stable and put out all the horses and then walked over to the front pasture to have coffee while watching my six. I counted 5. I look and look and then my mind trys to process that Renny is confidently standing on the opposite side of the fence from his girlfriend, calmly chewing shrubs as he stands on a precipice like a mountain goat. My boy has figured out how to scale that steep incline covered in brush and trees. I walked over to him and tried to shove and scoot him down the hill. He just looked at me like I was nattered. "Poor Grams has lost it." So, I took a stick and tickled him. Nothing. And then finally I poked at him with it and he turned and slowly leisurely casually walked down the precipice without any missteps or slips.

So, later that day, Barbie texts me and tells me that when she arrives at the stable, Renny is completely gone. He escaped up the hill again and was calmly eating grass by the round pen while all 5 girls watched over the fenceline at the naughty boy!

I know he's smugly happy with his naughtiness, but now he'll have to stay indoors or for very short turnout until we're able to build a fence alone the ridgeline. Barbie says that he's very brave -- not shrubs, underbrush or steep inclines scare him. He'll never refuse a jump. He will be a great eventing/hunting pony!! I love that little dickens!

Sabbatical Musings: Day 4, Week 3!

I am in my third week of my sabbatical and moving forward on two papers. I met with a lovely student yesterday and am about to meet with a student about a project today and a faculty and student colleague about a paper tomorrow. Next week, our department begins a job search for a new faculty colleague in demography and family. So, I am busy, but feeling a bit depressed today. Today I am indulging in the useless emotions of feeling like I am not accomplishing anything because I spread myself so thin. But, of course, the truth is that I could do better, but I definitely could be doing worse as well. I am definitely well on track on finishing the revisions of this one paper and preparing the list of last tasks for the second paper. I am going to learn something this evening about emergency horse care management at a Veterinarian clinic workshop. And I am trying to retool by reading more deeply and broadly in the scientific literature. Along with these goals, yesterday, I planned my money and note that though I live a tight financial life, my money does indeed work hard. I pay board on three horses, I pay my very costly professional dues, I care for 8 animals, I save toward my nieces' college educations. My money works hard. So, I am trying not to think of myself as a bad person, but am struggling with that wicked old winter depression that I sometimes get. I think I'll spend a little sunlit time in a snowy pasture with Violet this afternoon and see if that works. Part of the problem is that I think that I have not been careful with my little Renny. His nose has a bump on it and I am certain that I caused it by having a poor-fitting halter. But at least I've ordered a new halter immediately today. I may cause problems, but I try to be vigilant and I try to the best of my ability to stop them once I discover them. Bless my little fella and please hold him close!

Sabbatical Musings, Week 2, Day 5!

I am sitting quietly in my home office on Saturday afternoon of my second week of sabbatical. I went to the stable this morning and then into work. And I'll spend this afternoon, happily editing a paper. I am really enjoying my time. I'm not doing anything radical with my sabbatical, but I am enjoying my early morning winter visits with my herd and my days reading science and conducting my research -- catching up on papers hanging over my head and envisioning my next projects! Plus I had wonderful coffees with Katie and I-Fen over the past two weeks, so enjoyed the time just to converse and think about the shape and contours of my career and the warp and woof of what I might do next! Namaste!

Sabbatical Musings: Day 1, Week 1

Hello, today is Day 1 of my 25 week sabbatical. I went to the stable this morning and rode Violet and worked with Renny and now I am in my office at work, planning out those 25 weeks. I would so much enjoy getting my papers out the door, starting a new project which "grabs" me, and reading, reading, reading. I need to be careful about my time, while at the same time, actually use the sabbatical as a "break" from routine, and a chance to recuperate, heal and develop in new directions, both personally and professionally. So, here is my first sabbatical musings post. The video is from December 16th, the photo is from Barbie Valentine's Christmas present to me. Last week, I signed up for yoga and Tai Chi classes. And now I am going to print out the blue print for this sabbatical! Namaste! Much love.