Bored, restless, anticipatory and anxious
If I thought hard, I could probably identify a few more shades of emotion in the mix as well.OK, I’m bored at work today, so bored that I actually cleaned up the drifts of paper on my desk and computer table. Bored mostly because not much is going on (even the bingo people decided not to come in), and also because it is fruitless to make any calls today since most of those I would like to speak with have today off.I’m restless because there isn’t that much to do, and because Ken is at home, cozy by the fire (or not, in case it is too warm for a fire), having a day off to play and veg and digest turkey, and also because if I weren’t at work I could go ride my

My Dream House, or Barbie-Not
When my mind is on idle, sometimes I fantasize about my ideal house. It wouldn’t be a great big one, but it would be my best carapace.The heart of the house would be a spacious room, ideally with glass floor-to-ceiling (or a reasonable approximation) on three sides. The idea would be that there would be a sweeping view of mountains, water, and sky. On the solid wall there would be a fireplace. At this point in life I’d be OK with a propane one. I’d prefer an open wood-burning one, but Ken is allergic to the smoke and as we grow older we probably won’t want to be schlepping wood. I’m not a big fan of wood pellet stoves because they probably aren’t a good thing i

Thinking about moving
I guess we know we want to move when we retire. Our house is pretty well adapted to the way we live, but I keep thinking of the down sides. For one, there is the laundry-in-the-cellar issue. As we age, it will be less and less safe for us to trot up and down stairs with arms full of laundry (and other stuff; wine, heavy items to be stored, screens, furniture, etc.) Other issues: HUGE property taxes (more than $10,000 a year at present and quite likely to get higher fast with the new high school that’s being proposed), the lack of a view (I am craving a sky-scape, and either water or mountains or both), and the New England intemperate weather. In the winter we have days of sub zero (

On Vox: Two seats
As I ride Champagne in my two saddles, I find I need two types of sitting postures.   My dressage saddle calls for quite an upright posture, and I am still learning the fine points.  I understand the concept of being able to draw a straight line from ankle through hips through ear, but that’s harder to achieve that it would seem.  For one thing, I continually have to remind myself to “open my hip angle” which appears to mean move my thighs back more, to hug the saddle with my thighs kind of rolled in, keeping my feet back behind the girth, and remembering to tilt my pelvis just slightl

Mainlining color
It seems to have been pretty well proven that smells have a direct link to the emotional center of the brain. I guess that makes sense. You want to have it so that a whiff of your partner makes you excited, and eau de corpse is revolting and makes you want to get out of there fast. So, yeah, I smell Shalimar, my mother-in-law’s favorite perfume, and suddenly I’m sad.Okay, but for me color seems to go right to that visceral happy spot too. Yesterday I was driving along, and some Norway maples were forming an arch over the road. It was a gray day and most of the trees are bare, but these still had their pure yellow leaves, mixed with a few green ones. Suddenly, my mouth