Thursday, November 25, 2021 (December’s fullest moon [“Cold Moon”] rises on the 18th.)

Happy Thanksgiving again! It’s here at last, surprising me with an emerging idea. I want to find a turkey, not to cook but to have as a pet.

The couple of times I’ve started small chicken flocks, I’ve wanted to include a turkey. I’ve avoided doing so, having been led to understand that turkeys are aggressive toward chickens. I’ve been advised against keeping turkeys and chickens together.

Recently a customer, buying a large bag of chicken feed and checking out at my register, mentioned she’d be feeding a live turkey. That made me uncomfortable but interested, and I asked if her family planned to “have that turkey” for Thanksgiving dinner. She shook her head, “Nope, she’s always been a family pet.”

“Where do you keep her?”

“With the chickens.”

“Is she aggressive toward them?”

Again, she shook her head, “She’s very sweet and gets along well with chickens. She loves people.”

Only this morning have I recognized how that brief exchange impacted me. While thinking about what to write this day and recalling that customer’s words, I’m suddenly wishing to add a baby turkey among my small chicken flock.

My flock of seven chick babies turned out to include two roosters. They’re big, beautiful, and have me in a learning process. The dominate rooster is sweet, hasn’t tried to attack me. The other hasn’t shown aggressiveness toward the dominate bird. Everyone seems getting along well. I do watch closely both roosters, to ensure they’re not fighting, and hope both may continue living in the flock.

I’ve wondered what to do if they begin fighting, causing harm to one another. The common option is re-homing one of the roosters. But I’d seek a way to keep the bird.

Like Old Welsummer hen, living in my garage for the past few months and doing well. She’s in a spacious cage with deep straw bedding, has a perch, heating-light, and eats well.

For a needy rooster, I could set up a similar cage. Could do this, too, after finding a turkey hen. At first, giving her a safe place to grow big enough for adding to the chicken flock. It would serve a second time if her presence among chickens doesn’t work out happily.

I’m among the elderly who’re “into more learning”. Today, I read that a now 89-year-old man recently returned to college and realized his dream of achieving a Ph.D. in physics.

Enjoy his story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/11/25/retired-doctor-earns-physics-doctorate-age-89/

Dear Friends: Thankful for you, wishing you all, Very Happy Thanksgivings! Love, Diana

Wednesday, November 24, 2021 (December’s fullest moon [“Cold Moon”] rises on the 18th.)

Well, we’re approaching, “Happy Thanksgiving”. Yesterday, hundreds of times in my cashiering work, I repeated those words. Nearly all customers leaving my register paused, smiled, returned the greeting.

There were hundreds dashing to stock up on smoker pellets, meat rubs, and more, in moods generally good. I encountered only one who appeared morose, angry, impossible to connect with pleasantly. Early in my shift, she made me feel confused and bummed out. Afterwards I needed several minutes to refocus my perspective, again enjoy my work.

What might make her tight and offish before Thanksgiving. So many folks find this holiday difficult. People are encouraged to anticipate happy gatherings of family and friends and doing what most of us love–fixing, sharing, and eating great food. Relationships are complex and family and friend gatherings often uneasy.

To be honest, I usually don’t accept invitations to family Thanksgivings. The reason, I’m a single woman with a big interest in horses, without husband or children, not fond of traveling, nor a church-goer. It’s difficult to be comfortable through special family events with even the nicest folks. Lacking easy topics in common, briefer encounters improve casual friendships.

On Thanksgiving, people cook, decorate to make the day special, and invite. It took a long time to learn to say no to folks I enjoy. Too many times, while squirming through a family’s disputes and tensions, I’ve wished myself back home with my critters.

Surprisingly, this year I accepted an invitation. The gathering family has a farm, is horsey, and hosting “horsey friends”. I’ll tune into others’ stories and topics, maybe share some of mine.

Otherwise, Thanksgiving makes me consider conflicts surrounding the grand event. Perhaps they’re partially from trying to emulate stories we KNOW are untrue. Those associated to America’s First Happy Thanksgiving with Happy Sharers. By association, contemporary events of thankfulness might feel less real, gentle, inviting.

Dear Friends: As to relationships vs. expectations, all’s uber complex. Diana

Tuesday, November 23, 2021 (December’s fullest moon [“Cold Moon”] rises on the 18th.)

Monthly, I post photos of full moons that my friend Susie and I watched rise and captured. Some of our photographs showing very clear, colorful, and bright moons, make me wonder if the wide sky could offer anything prettier.

An intrepid sky-watcher, Susie brings binoculars to our moon chases and searches for visible planets. She tells me where to look while handing over her binocs. I’ve felt interested, but now am surprised at being very caught up by these NASA photos. Of suddenly more beautiful old friends.

Through Susie’s binoculars, I’ve seen Juniper’s rings. But Hubble’s stunning new image, in today’s NYT, is “a close-up look at the candy-colored ribbons of clouds and storms on the face of the solar system’s largest planet.”

One looking closely sees atop Juniper a dark center. NYT says it reveals that “a mysterious six-sided hurricane has reappeared around the planet’s north pole. The storm, big enough to swallow four Earths, was first spotted by the Voyager spacecraft in the early 1980s. Last year it was hard to see but this year it has reappeared.”

Gorgeous sky-element photos have this almost total neophyte trying to re-imagine sky-space. Long grounded and happily satisfied with sightings of our shifting beautiful Moon, I’m surprised by wanting to see more sky elements and understand better their workings.

The Hubble Space Telescope is 30 years old. Like humans who manage to outlive “one’s best life”, it continues to serve. A new scope will launch in December, the James Webb Space Telescope. Nearly 3x bigger than Hubble, it’s capable of “seeing through” planet clouds and hazes, to find and map heat radiation, and send new information about the workings of Earth’s planets.

A link to today’s NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/science/hubble-telescope-jupiter-saturn-uranus-neptune.html

Dear Friends: Unexpectedly recognizing an interest, and wanting to know more. Diana

Monday, November 22, 2021 (December’s fullest moon [“Cold Moon”] rises on the 18th.)

During our last adventure, I mentioned to Susie some work stalled at home for lack of a helper. Susie volunteered, we discussed and felt that together we could handle the jobs. Also, we decided that day should begin with a horseback ride.

Yesterday, we groomed the horses and Pimmy, before loading the trio and heading toward the town’s east side. The header photo captures desert beauty in this winter. We had a quiet lovely ride.

Susie on Sunni led me on Rosie for most of the way.

Both horses remained easygoing. Following us, Pimmy in a great mood for being out and loose, cantered, kicking and bucking, and periodically faux-spooking. Here, bold Pimmy leads us all.

Adorning Pimmy’s halter are three bells, one a very-loud cowbell. Last year, while following my horses too slowly Pimmy got out of sight. At some point, on realizing that Pimmy wasn’t following and searching without success, I called on our friends, the Gilberts, for help. Together we learned that a Forest Ranger on seeing Pimmy traveling alone had confiscated her as a stray. The Gilberts helped me locate and retrieve Pimmy.

She’s now always has trail bells. Upon occasional “bell-silences”, maybe because Pimmy is pausing at some lush spot to graze, I quickly start looking to avoid another “missing Pimmy”.

Occasionally yesterday, we let the horses stop and nibble. Susie focused on her GPS to understand our route.

It was okay for Susie and her GPS to do the thinking. I share with my Rosie that following allows a reduced alertness. While Sunni and Susie figured out our route, Rosie and I just relaxed.

That began our day. After we arrived home and cared for the equines, Susie took the lead. She tackled the worming of my twin goats, making the process easy. She bucked hay bales for transferring to another storage area. She loaded heavy cumbersome trash into a trailer, tarped and secured the load, for moving to the dump.

I do many things myself, but sometimes need help and quickly. While Pimmy was lost, the Gilberts helped me keep breathing and searching for her. The two squirmy goats needed holding for their wormings. And that trash! I worried weeks about how to load big heavy pieces. Kind Susie, giving a day, rescued me.

Dear Friends: One’s history is as much about friendships as about doing. Diana

Sunday, November 21, 2021 (December’s fullest moon [“Cold Moon”] rises on the 18th.)

Susie and I went chasing November’s fullest moon, “Beaver”, questioning if we’d be able to see anything in the heavily overcast sky. She watched compass bearings showing our best-viewing spot for that rising Moon. Since our usual parking/watching spot offered a poor view, we followed the compass farther east, to an off-road corner. In that remote place we waited to see a first light.

The evening was downright cold. The darkening busy sky had blurring clouds, continually promising poor moon-visibility.

We waited, talking, preparing cameras and watching. Susie is highly alert to happenings in the sky and spotted Moon’s first light.

The dark, cloudy sky gave our cameras trouble. We couldn’t zero in adequately on the Moon before it moved high into the sky. Once it was above the clouds, we could capture its beauty.

We were planning a fairly-short moon-viewing, intending to join Susie’s husband, Dale, in their authentic teepee. There before a roaring fire to counter our chilly adventure, we could enjoy conversation and spirits.

The next morning while early out feeding horses I saw that full moon, now setting and above the South Sister Mountain. My camera has limited capability, finding the moon too high for a really good shot of moon with mountain. This image of that dawning day managed to capture fairly well the trio of moon, mountain, atmosphere.

Dear Friends: Some memorable moments we may create, all these were good. Diana

Saturday, November 20, 2021 (December’s fullest moon [“Cold Moon”] rises on the 18th.)

This header photo is a “best” moonshot from we chasers. It’s from my phone, because my cameras seem to have gone missing. Last night, Susie unloaded them from her car, and I brought them in, but where, oh where are they?

Behind us in the header photo and among busy clouds is the full beautiful moon. It’s rise was visible on and off, always among those compelling clouds. Tomorrow I’ll describe the dark funky place where Susie parked, where we waited for “Beaver” Moon’s rise. I’ll also post photos.

The moon’s early rise left time for us to retreat to Susie’s and Dale’s teepee. There we sat around a roaring fire talking and sipping wine.

Susie and I keep up by texting, and occasionally getting together. Last night’s teepee gathering offered me a chance to catch up with Dale.

He’s a genius engineer behind the “HeliLadder”, an innovative, modular product/tool designed for use in repairing helicopters. About five years ago, Dale and Susie created HeliLadder, it’s now beginning to “go big time” with military branches placing orders for the ladder. Their company’s growth shares with other companies many of today’s economic constraints, for example, having parts made and arriving on time.

In a twist to our conversation, I told of hoping to find a “girlfriend” for my farrier, Russ, a handsome single man. He’s kind and loyal, recently parted ways with his fiancee. Turns out that Dale and Susie have a close, loved friend who’s single. She heads an organization that works with returning veterans. Hmm, a potential candidate?

Here’s Susie, beautiful in firelight.

Between fire and wine, I might have became slightly lit. Back home, I modeled new winter-wear planned for freezing-weather horseback-riding. Susie says it’s overkill, her photo might support.

Dear Friends: An evening, spontaneous with dear friends, unbeatable and lovely. Diana

Friday, November 19, 2021 (November’s fullest moon [“Beaver”] rises TONIGHT.)

It was one of the best rides! Ashley’s big jumping horse strolled slowly, my little pony easily stayed alongside. And, Ashley and I talked, really talked! I loved knowing her more.

She’s a do-er, has a terrific mind, is trustworthy. Besides, we both love our farrier, Russ. Ashley has known him since she was 13 years old. These days, he drives regularly from his home in California’s Mount Bishop, to Bend, to care for Avanto’s hooves. Somehow, I discovered Russ and he also cares for my ponies’ hooves.

For 30 years, Russ has been a farrier, and trims/shoes athletic horses, mules, and donkeys. He fully understands hoof shapes, equine movements, knows what he’s doing. Happily, his politics are similar to mine and we share viewpoints and humor as he’s working on my ponies.

Ashley’s has two adopted horses, both were free because they suffered from debilitating hoof conditions. She first adopted a big mare that fell into uselessness because she had hooves breaking apart and a club foot. Russ rescued the mare’s hooves, and Ashley rides her regularly. The horse walks rapidly, won’t be slowed, and companion riders usually trot to keep up.

For our ride, she brought tall Avanto. I had anticipated having to keep my pony, Sunni, trotting to stay up. But that big guy was easy, strolled slowly, and I could learn more his glorious story.

His jumping career was finished, his hooves broken and crumbling, himself very lame. Veterinarians and farriers considered his hooves beyond repair, his owners were seeking a gentle retirement home. Ashley heard about this.

She landed Avanto, after taking Russ to see and evaluate his hooves. Russ recognized the extent of damage, said he’d try to rehab those hooves. In those days, Russ while working on my horses told me about Avanto’s hooves, about some challenges ahead to make repairs.

Fast forward, to now. Avanto’s hooves still require some re-building using plasters and such, and he wears “bar shoes” created by Russ. One looking at Avanto notices that he moves straightly, beautifully, gracefully.

Last summer, Ashley entered Avanto in a major California jumping competition. She describes the instant Avanto exited her trailer, says he knew where he was. He changed completely, became very alert and poised to do his job. They had entered three classes. In the first, they took 7th place. In the second, 5th place, and in the third, “a biggie” class, took 3rd.

She rejoices that Avanto again jumps against competitors that are valued at $400,000, and might be on his way toward regaining dominance. They’ll return soon to CA for another major competition, where Avanto’s previous owners will see him in action.

Ashley is thrilled. Russ seems calmly proud of his work. I’m in awe.

Avanto’s recovery has pushed Ashley’s already-honed riding skills. She works with a top jumping trainer, to correctly sit on, exercise, and jump this horse.

He’s a gentle, kind beast. Looking at him, strolling alongside, one might consider him pretty without guessing he’s a world-class jumper. Ashley speaks of “finding a free” $400,000 horse, and has un-ending thanks for knowing Russ.

She says Russ has taken photos that document each step to rehabilitate Avanto’s hoofs. Next week Russ again will be in town, I’ll ask his plans for doing more with the story.

As to our trail ride, Avanto and Sunni were a cute pair. We enjoyed how alike they look (aside from size differences). Both are black-dappled, have “diamond & snip” face-markings, and both are “mouthy types”.

Dear Friends: Out riding, talking “horses-and-people”, my head’s a happy place. Diana

Thursday, November 18, 2021 (November’s fullest moon [“Beaver”] rises on the 19th.)

I’ve too little time to write this morning. It took longer than I anticipated to figure out how to order tickets for Bend’s Christmas Parade.

I ordered tickets, to march with Pimmy who’ll carry a rider (Maddie, the Gilberts’ granddaughter). That ticket order website is a disaster. It took some time to figure out where/how to order tickets.

Tomorrow is the last day to enter. Its questionable whether parade space still is available. Here’s hoping.

I should have been on this earlier, but a plan fell into place only yesterday.

Meanwhile, I did ride horseback. My pony traveled alongside Avanto, a tall, rangy and fabulous jumping horse. That big guy moseyed along, my Sunni easily staying with him. His rider and I talking nonstop had lots in common and enjoyed every minute of that outing.

Tomorrow, I’ll write more of the miraculous “Avanto story”.

I must go now and feed horses. I’s my early day at work to open the store.

Today’s header photo was texted by my cousin Mary. It’s of a nearly-full, fabulous Beaver Moon over California. Here in Oregon, the sky was too cloudy to see that moon.

Tomorrow evening Susie and I plan to head east and capture Beaver’s fullest rise over an Oregon horizon. With fingers crossed, for possible rain/snow are predicted.

Dear Friends: Yesterday turned into a setup for lots of fun ahead. Diana

Wednesday, November 17, 2021 (November’s fullest moon [“Beaver”] rises on the 19th.)

For certain today, I’ll ride horseback. It’ll be cold on the trail but forecasts anticipate the sun will shine. I’ll be bundled, my hands in new winter-warm gloves.

For days I’ve planned to ride horseback, and mainly, to be well prepared for today, to be efficient at the trailhead.

My riding buddy, Ashley, is very active with her horse, Avanto. Me lately, less active as a rider. I don’t want us waiting while I fumble with tack.

I managed last week to get out with the horses, rode one and ponied one. I got Sunni saddled, and correctly after a couple of tries. I had to turn her breast collar up, down, and all ways, to re-imagine how it fits on her. That’s an example of “fumbling around”. Maybe that recent time of doing will let me tack-up efficiently.

Ashley’s Avanto is a world class jumper, and I estimate at least 17 hands tall. I’ll ride Sunni, she’s almost 14 hands tall. Ashley says she can keep the big guy at a walk. Although his natural stride is long, maybe she can keep him slow.

Avanto was recognized worldwide, before having serious issues with his hooves, essentially in mid-career becoming very lame, which ended his jumping days. Veterinarians deemed his hooves un-treatable. Somehow Ashley discovered the horse’s story, did whatever was necessary to have him re-homed to her.

Our mutual farrier, Russ, is very experienced and capable. Over the past two or three years Russ has managed to rehabilitate Avanto’s damaged hooves. Each time Russ works with Avanto, he needs a whole day to rebuild hooves and re-shoe.

Ashley has done appropriate exercising to strengthen Avanto. She’s also working with a trainer and learning how to jump the horse. This year, she began entering competitions, and says jumping Avanto is an ecstatic experience. He’s a spectacular natural athlete.

Today, even if Sunni must hurry, to keep up, Worth it!. We’ll be part of the wonderful “Avanto, rescue and rehabilitation” story.

Dear Friends: My little Sunni, herself is a doggone good athlete, she’ll enjoy moving out more. Diana

Tuesday, November 16, 2021 (November’s fullest moon [“Beaver”] rises on the 19th.)

At my place, feeding birds is a biggie. Beside filling feeders for wild ones (currently migrating and numbering in the thousands), I keep domestic types. I’ve a small flock of young chickens, an elderly hen (x-flock) living in my garage, a Cockatoo named Peaches living between big windows in the living room, and rescued racing pigeon, Gilbert, a fixture in the dining room.

Feeding wild birds calls for bulk packaged feeds. My reward is watching various types busy at the feeders, and seeing dropped seeds drawing tiny ground-bound critters. Both birds and critters are quick observers, they appear immediately upon spotting available feed.

The old hen in my garage, Welsumer, watches all my moves, eagerly pressures me for food treats. She loves “gummie bugs”, lettuces, fruit, scrambled eggs, pizza, taquitos. Essentially, she gets lots of whatever Peaches is eating.

Peaches loves people food, particularly crunchies, anything with a crust. Plus, bacon, cheese, and chicken leg bones (he splits them and goes for marrow). He receives some of all those, plus parrot food, fruit, and unshelled nuts.

My little flock outside and living with the goats get to enjoy some of those. Their main food is a top-brand kibble, and they peck around for multi-grain scratch, sweet cob, and fruit. Their favorite treat is bread pieces, but I’ve become stingy because they grab eagerly and too-often find my fingers.

Easiest to feed is Gilbert, a very particular eater, refuses all except the foods he knows. His basic diet combines high-quality layer feed and small parrot kibbles. He gets “extras”, multi-grain scratch and blanched, unsalted, peanuts. Gilbert adores peanuts.

I shop for food with the birds in mind, they’re a big deal. I simply can’t find us lacking varieties of fresh lettuces, fruits, and cheeses, and without frozen little pizzas and taquitos. Thus, I eat the birds’ foods, but wine is mine alone.

Dear Friends: Last week, Old Welsummer laid a formed, very thin-shelled egg, she’s almost twelve! Diana