My good friend Fran Bundtzen once said to me, “don’t get your knickers in a knot.” This means don’t get unduly agitated by things of little consequence. Rather, what one needs to do is instead put on their good girl pantie and do what needs doing.

We are now one day from the spring equinox, meaning we’ll now have 12 plus hours of daylight until September 21, when the autumnal equinox begins. That’s six months of 12 hours plus of daylight. This is good, good, good. Just thinking about this lifts my sagging spirits up into the stratosphere. I no longer am feeling claustrophobic. And I no longer am having to deal with night driving vision related problems.

However, my knickers are knotted because I’m feeling overwhelmed. This is because with the onset of spring, the indoor and outdoor-related possibilities are suddenly endless.

I must, as best I can, keep my writing nose to the grindstone. And I need to keep reminding myself that although I don’t see it, that I’m making progress. I’ve made considerable headway in the past few days with my blogging proposal which I will soon submit to VDP Press. Now I next need to put in copy editing changes before handing this document over to Pete. I’m going to ask him to compile a list of books on the subject of blogs and blogging. I will next write a cover letter and include it with my proposal. Underneath the spiral bound notebook next to my computer is a copy of the letter that goes with my If Wishes Were Horses cover letter. I need to revise it. Last night I took a look at it and saw how I might do as Barb in my writing group suggested, and shorten it. So, these are the immediate things on my writing plate. There are more, but I won’t talk further about this. Otherwise, I will feel even more overwhelmed. Giddy up.

At this very minute Ryder has her paw on my chair. She is actually being polite about the fact that she badly wants to go for a run in the woods. All the animals want out because the sun and the warmth is energizing them. There are dogs to walk and horses to ride. Giddy up. Giddy up, giddy up. There are also dogs, and horses, and goats, and chickens to tend to. Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up.

Later today, Dick Stoffel’s going to be coming over with Jokla and Karmen. I need to come up with a plan, a list of things that we might do – stretches for Dick, stretches and body work for the horses, a riding lesson for Dick. Giddy up, Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up.

I know that key to getting all these things done is focus. I will get them done if I allot a specific amount of time to each, and then put all my existent energy into that one thing. Of course, this is going to be easier said than done. The mind wanders far, and sometimes it’s hard to catch it. I get giddy, thinking about the fact that I must giddy up.

I must also find time to stretch. Yesterday, before going to yoga, I went to the thrift store and found two fitness-related books. Then, after yoga, I found on the shelf in the adjacent room, two books with information about breathing. The breath – to my knowledge, no local riding instructors are focusing on this when teaching. And as of yet, no one has written a horseback riding book in which they go into detail on this subject. I say “in detail” because there is general information about breathing out there – that is, the relationship of the core and the breath when riding. This is so very important, for it is what keeps the horse and rider attuned to one another both when riding and when on the ground.

So yeah, I have a great deal to do on this bright and sunny day. My writing this dispatch is the first step, which is a move in the right direction. I feel good about this. I have already begun to giddy up.

Next: 74. 3/21/15: Dick’s Big Day