I am not a church goer. I have learned not to say never, because inevitably, never becomes whenever. I do like the Quaker faith focus on peace, and I like the Buddhist faith focus on cognition and meditation. Problem is, with the former you have to believe that Jesus was the son of God, and with the latter you have to believe that Buddha was a divine presence. Then, for those of us who don’t cater to taking to a deity, there is nondenominational faith. As I understand it, you can believe in whoever and

Pete and Tinni with wood for bridge

whatever you want. And you are welcome to become a part of this community if you don’t believe in anyone or anything.

The latter seems the most nonsensical to me. Seems to me that the idea behind organized religion is that all are community members who have similar beliefs.

Me, I’m an individualist, a secular humanist if you will. I have no interest in becoming a member of any church at all.

I was raised a Catholic, and went to church routinely as a child because I was required to do this. I knew that I was living rent free and getting three squares a day, so I maintained the status quo until I was a teenager. I went to a Catholic high school, but I had no Biblical training. I think that this was at a time when Catholic schools had no set theological curriculum.

If I was to acquire a solid belief system, this would have been the time. This didn’t happen.

So upon entering high school, Sundays became a day in which others went to church. Me, I did other things, making sure on most days to get outside.

I’ve remained consistent in my habits. Today was no exception. I spent the early part of my day riding my three mares, who were all glad to get out. They are now out of shape and seem to me to be stiff. I can easily rectify this, by riding them more often, over increasingly longer distances.

Raudi is steady eddy; Hrimmi, treat motivated; and Tyra, well Tyra is always up for an adventure. Today I decided after riding her to take her for a walk around the loop. We passed Jim’s place where men with pick up trucks and trailers were picking up their auction booty. Tyra stopped at the base of Jim’s driveway – I had a hard time getting her to move. She wanted to go up the driveway. This was her way of saying “please, let’s do something different.”

It's been hard, getting used to getting just three instead of four horses out. I thought some today about getting an older gelding, so as to restore herd balance. The problem is twofold. We have a three, not a four-horse trailer, so one would always have to be left behind. And we don’t have enough space for a fourth horse.

Too, I’m just attempting (in my head) to fill a very deep hole. I miss Tinni something awful – and must somehow figure out a way to deal with this.

Next: 285. 10/17/22: Surfing the Big Waves