Anna Blake Last week I raved about my beautiful but desolate riding arena at the front of my little farm. My other favorite place is the pond at the very back of my farm. Waterfront property on the high desert prairie of Colorado was a major selling point when I chose this dilapidated farm. It’s fed by … Read more
Ten days after solstice and it’s already staying light longer. Want to wish me a happy one-year-older? On January first, horses become one year older, regardless of their actual birthdate. Breed organizations do it for ease of record keeping, and I doubt the horses notice. As proud gray mare, that means I am a year … Read more
It’s the limbo week between Christmas and the New Year. The sunset of the year, if there is such a thing. Have you ever thought about how sunrise and sunset look alike? This photo is easy to place because Pikes Peak is on the western horizon here. But I know it’s an old photo because … Read more
Mister is trying out his new self-appointed position of Joy Police. Someone has got to put a stop to this chaos. This girl dog is relentless. It’s all the endless zooming and dawn bitey-face and tug whenever there is a loose end. Just when he thinks he might catch a nap, she climbs in … Read more
I didn’t know whether I should mention this. Is it too private to share? For questions of social etiquette, I defer to Mister. He has better manners than any of us. He ponders the question. Looks at her dragging a dog bed out the back door, and says Yeah, go ahead. Jolene’s an extrovert. She … Read more
The leftovers are gone, the pie plates back in the cupboard, and Parental Peas, Parker and Penny, have headed back to Texas. If you ask Jolene, it’s tragic news. She would’ve been fine if they had stayed forever. They spoke her language. They played her games. We took a hike while the Peas were here. … Read more
Remember that Thanksgiving painting by Norman Rockwell? With a jovial white-bread family leaning into frame with smiling, delighted faces? A woman wearing an apron is placing a turkey on the table while the man standing behind her looks like your favorite grandpa. It was completed in 1943, and FDR was president. The painting is called … Read more
It was a bathroom sort of week here, in that way that the entire universe can fit in a small space sometimes. And Jolene ran the gamut of emotions about it. She is almost nine months old and a very big girl with very big feelings. It used to be that a small plush toy … Read more
Here on the high desert prairie, the grasses are a flat dry tan, and we won’t see green again all winter. But as the ground lies fallow, it’s as if the sky stands up even taller and says watch this! Each sunrise is a pink and yellow watercolor wash that starts as safety-vest orange with … Read more
Saints preserve us. This weekend, Jolene is having her friend, Tachi, sleep over. I’ll believe the sleep part when I get some. They have been running out the dog door, letting it slam-slam behind them. Then barreling back through in a gray cloud of leaves and dirt with another double slam. Like a pair of … Read more