Anna Blake Have you been hibernating? It’s a smart choice, but time to wake up. The geese are back. I’ve been courting Canada geese since moving to this farm. There is a trail of streams and ponds that crosses my Colorado prairie, enabling me to have rare waterfront property. I was thinking I’d be watching sunsets over … Read more
And yes, in Colorado it is perfectly legal. Warning: I’m writing about death because I hope to make peace. If you have had an exhausting week, please stop reading. I would hate to make people cry. But sometimes I need to talk it out to let it go. Some backstory: We live on a dirt … Read more
I like to use farm implements for a couple of years after they first break down because I’m frugal. Think of it as recycling by stubborn over-use. I’ve been spreading horse manure over every inch of my farm for a few years. My small manure spreader rattles and hums in the summer, and pounds and … Read more
She is a woman of a certain age. A retired wildlife biologist who wears Crocs when weather permits, and muck boots the rest of the time. She’s living her dream, a farm filled with rescue horses and dogs. She’s one of us. I think she’s taken every course I teach, and I’ve been to her … Read more
I can’t remember my age when I first saw Dogs Playing Poker, the famous painting by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. It portrays dogs smoking cigars and playing cards. I didn’t see the original, of course, but a copy painted on velvet. It still offended my little girl’s sensibilities. I didn’t think dogs should smoke. Or maybe … Read more
It’s Corgi tufting season. I gather enough hair in my mouth to build a bird’s nest hourly. It’s effortless, but when I groom Mister, he acts like I jerked each hair out by the roots with a rusty tweezer. He’s right. I had longer hair before I was in school and made similar sounds when … Read more
It’s the week between Christmas and New Years. And call it a holiday tradition, but I have no idea what day it is or even what year it is. I’m old enough that it feels like a year lasts about twenty minutes, but this year was the meanest twenty minutes ever. Looking back, it feels … Read more
Do you ever just stop in your tracks, look at your (insert your choice: horse, dog, child) and go blank? It’s like the music stopped halfway through the dance. It’s so quiet you could hear a clock ticking. You’re not sure what you were doing, but you have a feeling it was important. Of course, … Read more
In fifth grade, they pulled us out of class for hearing tests. They clamped skinny black headphones on us and told us to raise our hands when we heard sounds. Then I sat there waiting to hear for a long time. Long enough that I knew I wasn’t hearing. And I wasn’t the kid who … Read more
I feel it in my bones like a rusty joint before a rainstorm. An itch that flopping around in a dirt bath might not cure. Alas, I feel a rant coming on. Sometimes I just need to vent a little so that I’m fit company for horses again. You may notice I’m not apologizing. A friend … Read more