The Bright Lights Book Project continues to go well. Nothing is ever too difficult, and people remain enthused about it, so much so that getting things going is fairly easy.

This past weekend I asked Milena, my travel companion, why so many serendipitous things seemed to occur, like our meeting at our mutual friend Suzy Crosby’s Cottonwood Creek goat farm. Milena said that it is going well because I’m on the path, meaning heading in the right direction.

I of course thought further about this analogy, and have since pictured a trail, one with clearly identifiable direction markers, and soft ground with no bogs, ruts, or tree roots. Yes, I am on this path.

I then thought some about another path that I attempted to follow, which is that of Centered Riding instructor. For some time, I thought I was following the right path; I took classes and studied Body Awareness and went to many, many Centered Riding clinics; one, in fact, was in Europe. I also (with Pete) organized four clinics here in Alaska.

Alys at the Vagabon Blue bookcase

I taught a handful of people last year at a local riding arena. The arena has since been sold, and so I couldn’t teach there even if I wanted to.

Much to my dismay, the path got increasingly more rocky and harder to navigate. My now deceased mentor, Susan Harris, did an excellent job of keeping me on the straight and narrow, by walking ahead of me. When finally, she was gone, I realized that I would not be able to follow this path without some kind of guide. No one materialized. No one is going to materialize.

I, at this point in time, have no horse friends in the immediate area, and the horses are tired of riding the same trails every day.

So, what to do? As far as paths go, I am bowing out of being a Centered Riding instructor and just going along for the ride. I am going to continue to follow the more solitary path that I’ve been following, which is until someone materializes who’s heading in the same direction.

The Centered Riding path turned out to be most difficult, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the senior instructors perceived that I didn’t have enough traditionally based training. This is something they valued highly, and they could not think outside the arena.

I am not going to dwell on this. All I want now is for someone to materialize who has an interest in riding Icelandic horses and an appreciation for the breed.

Always gotta have at least one path to follow, and at least one of these paths should be easy to follow. And so, the Bright Lights Book Project path now fills the bill. Every day, something occurs that’s serendipitous. For instance, a small thing. A fellow named Timothy has left several notes on top of the Vagabond Blues bookcase. In the first he thanked me for setting out the Bach Cantatas. In the second he recommended a book that he read, about totem poles. Now today he left a note saying that he didn’t understand the Bach cantatas book, but passed it on to someone else. Here’s the serendipitous part – I happened to have a copy of Understanding Music with me. I set it on the bookcase, upright, and I stuck the note in it. I mean, what were the odds of me having this book with me?

I guess the cliched phrase “go with the flow” is now most apt.

Next: 261. 9/21/21: On the Anniversary of my Father’s Death