This title promises great things. It should be that of a novel. Have to keep it in mind. For now, a dispatch on this very subject will have to do. The passage of time (when one is still alive) is marked by past events. The onset of time is marked by future events. This week – events coming up – Tuesday (today) dentist visit; Wednesday, meeting; Thursday, Yoga; Friday, farrier visit. If I am not where I am supposed to be, others will see things as being amiss. This is because the scheduled events center around other people and their expectations. The one exception is yoga, where anything goes. The farrier visit, that will take place here, but I still have

to meet Josh at the center of the driveway.

Consequently, home activities – primarily animal care and writing, revolve around the scheduled plans. I’ve been really lucky lately – I haven’t had other things to tend to. This has provided me with large blocks of time to work on Lessons Learned. I have been making considerable progress. The same can be said on the animal front. It’s been cold in the mornings, but warm in the afternoons, also quite sunny.

Pete and I usually get the horses and dogs out in the afternoons. This morning, because we had impending dentist appointments, we took the animals out right after breakfast. I rode Tinni around the loop, ponied Hrimmi, and Pete walked alongside us. It went quite well. Afterwards, I took Tinni for a trail ride and took Ryder along with. It was a beautiful day for this kind of thing. After we are done at the dentist, we’ll go back home, load Rainbow into the truck, and take her to the veterinarian. She’ll have the pain patches removed and the drains taken out. When we get back home, I’ll take Raudi for a walk.

I am now writing the first draft of this dispatch in the dentist’s office. I, like most people prefer days in which I can stay at home. This, I suspect is true of most people. But change is a constant, and in my case also imminent. I now can see the writing on the wall, even with my glasses off. In going over my dental bill with the kindly receptionist (there was also an unkindly receptionist), it occurred to me that I’m going to need to find a job that pays. Really bad news on the dental front – suffice to say that the exam revealed problems that are going to need to be taken care of immediately. And this is going to cost us.

My feeling about being in debt most likely mirror’s most people’s feelings about being in debt. That is, rich or poor, or someplace in between, life goes on. We owe companies money, but our material circumstances won’t, one way or another, change. As one friend, who has been wheelchair bound for some time recently remarked in talking about her dire financial situation, “you can’t take blood out a turnip!”

I’ll get a real job. Most likely it will involve teaching and require me to commute to Anchorage. And I’ll assist Pete in getting our debt paid down. What else can I now say. This dental office has a huge honking bowl of candy corn in the corner. Talk about a tartar starter. My word. Whose idea was this? The not-so-nice receptionist must have thought this one up. Maybe someone thinks that encouraging tooth rot will up the average patient’s required amount of dental work. The candy corn tycoons must be rolling in the dough. Their teeth are cavity free since they know not to eat this crap.

My teeth are now clean again. Really, I am a bit stuck in terms of what to do next with Lessons Learned. And for once, I’m at a loss as to what to say next.

Next: 289. 10/29/14: The Writing Life: Evading Quality Control