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November 9, 2018: Late Bloomers

When I think of this term, I think of underwear hanging on the clothesline, at sunset. I also think about Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker article of the same name. He essentially said that there are creative people out there who tend to be all about process – the work that is produced and finally received by a larger audience occurs later in life. He also said that such individuals have patrons, individuals who assist them in their endeavors by being support people.

Well, I hate to say it but this is the case here. I’m the process driven iconoclast, and Pete’s the patron. Say it ain’t so, Joe. And I don’t think the roles are going to be reversed anytime soon. We will just continue to do what we do so well.


High tunnel squash plant


Today is an excellent example of the way we are going about things. This morning, Pete made yogurt, sourdough bread, and vacuum packed our trip food—dehydrated fruit along with chocolate and nuts. He also added almonds that he’d soaked, dehydrated and then dipped in Braggs. I may have this wrong because the details escape me. This just alludes to the fact that I am doing far less kitchen stuff than he is. Wait, I did write the year on the vacuum bags.

I spent the morning working on Forks. I finally had a huge breakthrough, one that seemed above and beyond my writerly problem solving capabilities. The question was what should I do with a section I’d previously written, which was about the Mat-Su Borough Landfill? Well, today I moved a chunk of the final chapter to the first chapter and then revised it, making it more of a first-person account in which I wrote about our going to the dump and my realizing that the fact its filling rapidly was my impetus for taking on the Alaska State Fair recycling job.

I solved the above-mentioned writerly problem – but afterwards I felt drained because I expended so much mental energy in taking on what turned out to be a two hour endeavor. I needed and got a change in venue – I went outside and did my day’s horsey home schooling.

I did body work, carrot stretches, and agility with Hrimmi who enjoyed it all. This time, I had her walk up to strategically placed targets, and this way I got her through the obstacles. After, Pete rode her and I rode Raudi on the trails. Raudi seemed to have a tad bit more energy than previously, and our allowing one or the other to lead motivated Hrimmi to keep going. I’d like to think that doing the body work was also useful.

I did agility with Raudi when I got home. My sense was she felt like I felt after I got off the computer – she worked hard and was focused while out on the trail and this tired her out. Tyra, who was next with agility had no excuse. For whatever reason, she just wasn’t interested in doing the work. So I instead took her out onto the trails, and again we worked on her staying out of my space. I was pleased that I was wise enough to figure out an alternative activity. In my absence, Pete went to a neighbor’s and felled a tree and brought home the wood.

This evening, she came over for dinner. Pete threw together a really nice meal in a short amount of time. I began work on this dispatch.

So, there you have it – my day and Pete’s day. I remain the process driven late bloomer and he is the patron. I cannot speak for him, but I think that he would say that he too took great satisfaction in what he did today around here.

Next: 314. 11/10/18: A Conversation with Tinni

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