Summer Fun

Wednesday, July 07, 2021 — (In 16 days, July’s fullest moon [“Thunder”] will rise.)

Today’s temperature will be this week’s coolest. Of course, everything is relative, and today’s forecast of 95 degrees normally isn’t considered cool. But a view can change after days having temperatures averaging 100+ degrees.

I dream of horseback riding in a forest. It’s my goal for this morning. Starting to ride in July is late, but our long stretch of intense heat has discouraged horse hauling, and even riding among trees.

Meanwhile, I’ve regularly exercised the horses “on the long lines”. Don’t ask why it might have seemed better, standing in the heat and working with them, than hauling and riding. I just did that.

The forest has places I yearn to find again. There’s the Greenery, the Blue Elderberry, and the partially hidden old horse trails that seasonal hunters use these days.

Once upon a time, and really not very long ago, this area had many horseback riders who beat numerous trails among the forests’ trees. Over the last ten or fifteen years, another sort of ridership gradually has taken over established trails. Bicycles!, less expensive than horses to keep and haul. Bike riders have altered or ignored old horse trails, and now some trails are unrecognizable, others forgotten.

Last year, my horses and I undertook a mission of old horse trails rediscovery. I hoped to map dim trails we found but didn’t have a source for software easy enough for me to use in creating maps. This year, I’ll try again to achieve that goal. It’s fun but not really important.

What’s important is being out there, and riding!

Dear Friends: Thankfully it’s real, still having horses, despite space shortages and increasing costs. Diana