After close to six weeks of cold weather, including three weeks of having hoses coiled in my hallway to keep them from freezing so I could water the horses without lugging 10 kitty litter buckets full of water every day, worrying about the possibility of frozen pipes or not even being able to leave the homestead due to snow and ice, and dealing with bundling up before I even thought about going outside, the lengthening days are warming the homestead. The snow is almost gone, with bits of ice left over in shady areas, and I suspect after tomorrow’s rain that will be gone too. The horses are spending time snoozing in the pasture. And I can finally begin to think about being outside for extended periods of time.
Our wild narcissus (the featured image is a stock photo) are starting to barely poke through the ground; we’ll see them around mid-late February. It’s always a novelty to see them so soon. We also planted quite a few tulips last fall, and I’m looking forward to seeing them show up too. Mostly though, I’m looking forward to spending time with my horses.
This semester I have afternoon classes and I’m so looking forward to decompressing after class by going out and spending time with the horses. Probably grooming them as shedding season, but I also recently discovered there is an official name for the ground work I do with my horses–horse agility–and I want to do more of that. Problem is, I need a larger paddock area, so I have started a mini crowdfunding campaign to help me with this. For me, my horses are my mental health therapy as well as my physical health therapy, so they are medicinal. I know without them my quality of life would be a lot worse. (Another way to support me is to become a subscribing member to Muse Happens.)
I think we all know things aren’t good right now in the world. Certainly here in Missouri things are becoming rather bleak if you’re trans. So right now I’m taking all the joy I can find, which means I am very happy the warmth is coming back. I enjoy spring with its possibilities and bright colors. Soon it will be mud and shedding horse hair around here, and honestly, I’m really looking forward to it.
