A snow day is sort of fun. The snow falls and you do indoor things, and every so often you venture outside and quickly head back inside. The day after a snow day is never fun. This is because, like today, it’s a day of reckoning. You have to deal.

In my case, I had to clean the horse pen. It’s a mud-slush mix, with here and there piles of manure. I pulled the sled out of the shed yesterday morning. It sticks to the ground when I place a few five gallon buckets in it.

All the animals seem disgruntled and I say that I don’t blame them. I let the dog out (again) she stepped out onto the front

porch, looked around, then headed back inside. The goats refused to accompany me to horse enclosure, a rarity. The chickens have remained on their perch. And the horses – they are nipping at one another more than usual. There is no more springtime social grooming going on.

I felt low energy today and had to force myself to work. This required discipline that I do not have. I made progress in my attempt to revise my chapter proposal. And I studied for my Wilderness Responder final which will be next Saturday.

Then I got the horses out. I first took Raudi and Tinni out on the trail. I figured if the snow was too deep and the going too slow, that I’d head back onto the road. It was slushy, but not deep, and so I kept going. I rode Siggi’s Trail and then went around the loop. Raudi did a nice canter coming home. I inadvertently dropped Tiini’s line and she waited for me to give her marching orders, which in this instance were to go back and pick up his lead rope and head home.

I next got Hrimmi out. I did Siggi’s Loop with her. By this point in time it had resumed precipitating – I do not know what to call that which was falling from the sky. The most apt descriptor is rain/snow combo. My feet got wet because my red rubber now boots have holes in them. And because it was cold and damp, I got chilled.

I next had to get Tyra out. I decided that the best way to warm up would be by taking her out on the trail and letting her run free, which is what I did. Alas, I was not at all cognizant of the fact that I’d have a harder time walking than riding. The slush was deep, and this made for slow going. Ryder was displeased about doing a second outing, which was why, when I let her off her leash, she took a shortcut to and met me at the adjacent trailhead. Smart dog I thought, she didn’t run home.

As I walked, I alternated working with Tyra by having her respond to hand signals and thinking about my Wilderness First Responder assignment. In my head I wrote a poem. Such things are never the same when you get them on paper. This is a last ditch effort because my letter to next semester’s students is a bust.

Live and learn. Learn and live.

Next: 107. 4/19/19: Tired