It was indeed a sun day, with abundant sunshine providing a melt, after a very cold night. Ukraine is a constant concern and an undercurrent of stress and sadness, with nothing we can do. The animals, though, live in the moment and provide wonderful distraction, even as we hope for the brave Ukrainians to somehow hold out against the monster, Putin.
Cedar was careful on the ice this morning. I wore my YakTrax to start the day, but soon was able to dispense with them.
Tom Morris was out and about, so only Marmalade trundled to breakfast. Tom Morris keeps his own schedule sometimes.
At first, things were cold enough that I left the horses out on the field, but by the middle of the day, they had to go back into paddock lockup. Marianne was finally able to return to help with barn work. It was good to see her, and her ever present smile.
The birds were a delight. There were TWO flickers today! That gives me hope that there will someday be more of them.
The dogs enjoyed the sunshine.
Marilyn came through in the afternoon. She rode over on the gravel roads. It is much too wet and slippery on the trails.
Harry and I took a walk down to check on the condition of the ring. It is awash in melted ice, too wet for riding today, but maybe tomorrow afternoon…
To paraphrase Churchill – “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a person.” Here are some horses, who do us good just by existing.
There is a poem that I really like, called Sometimes, by Sheenagh Pugh. It seems appropriate for these times, for Ukraine.
Sometimes things don’t go, after all,
From bad to worse. Some years muscadel
Faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don’t fail,
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.
A people sometimes will step back from war;
Elect an honest man; decide they care
Enough, that they can’t leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.
Sometimes our best efforts do not go
Amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
That seemed hard frozen: may it happen for you.
Finally, as the snow and ice has melted, a sign of the promise of Spring…
Be safe, be strong, Ukraine. Peace.
Yak Trax = Crampons ?
I will send a picture tomorrow. The are like springs that stretch over shoes and keep you from slipping on ice. Like crampons but not sharp.
I love that poem, so optimistic. Let’s pray for a Ukraine Spring, and that the media somehow move past all the gloom and doom scrolling, avoiding the new N-word (nuclear war} to highlight creatures large and small, who benefit us just by existing, finding hope & life amid the chaos of the pandemic, war and climate change.
☮️🇺🇦✌️
Amen, brother!