Look Who's Six!!!!

I am breaking my blog silence to wish my dear Berhwood happy birthday! He's come a long way... Here's a brief scan through his life since he met me. Hopefully he's pleased with how it worked out.

Here he is today:

Here's the photo from Dreamhorse that sent me looking for him. My horse friend thought I was nuts. I'm not sure if she's ever forgiven me for getting him...

When I arrived at the stable in Oregon, this is what I saw. A sad looking long-yearling with terrible feet. But I was smitten.

This is supposed to be his mom. I can see him in her, but boy, she has a nice shoulder. My afore mentioned friend said, "Get that mare!" when she saw the pictures.

So he arrived, with the name of "Will." He and Red were instant buddies- Red had lived alone for many years. Call Will my gift to my old horse.

He quickly filled out. About as quickly as his name changed from Will to Wilbur to Berhwood. Sorry for the name, buddy...

I actually thought he started to look a bit, dare I say, elegant? Nah. Cute, though.

We went to the beach, and checked out the foam. Notice that belly. Doesn't ever seem to go away, does it?

Quite a different looking horse than the scrawny long-yearling. Here he is at 3.

At 4. I really love this horse.

Somewhere between 3 and 4, learning about saddles and such.

Looking like a draft horse. I still wonder who his supposed "warmblood" dad was. I'm thinking one of those American Warmbloods. The half draft ones? So he'd be 1/4 draft horse.

One of the handsomest 5-year-old noses on the planet, in my unbiased opinion!

He is a real goober sometimes. He's now 5.

Settling in, Idaho.

A Measure of Ten Years

This week, temperatures soared into the 90's. It's the end of April. This Redwoods and fog girl is wilting! A couple days ago, I dug out my Clark sandals. Put 'em on, and set out for my day in the blistering heat. Walking across the parking lot towards the post office, I stumbled. This wasn't a geeky Emily stumble, this was a shoe falling apart stumble. Half of the bottom of my left sandal fell off. Stopping, I pulled off my sandal and looked at the bottom. Disintegrating would be the best word for its condition, and the right was in a similar stage of deterioration.

After taking care of my business at the post office (letter 3 to DMV, trying to get a replacement title before my registration needs to be renewed the end of May!Been working on this since January 10th, no less.), I headed to Famous Footwear to get replacements. Which got me to thinking about the history of those sandals. In 1999, I was working at Burnt Ranch School, out in the hot river valley, and I purchased two pairs of sandals for the sunny days out there. Ten years ago. These sandals are the measure of ten years. With them, I walked through a second BA in Psychology, a Master's degree in Education, a tutoring business, envisioning and creating my school (Blue Heron Middle School), thinking about going somewhere to earn my doctorate, visits to Moscow, Idaho; Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona, and Boise, ID to look at schools, a trip to Mexico, a trip to Virginia on Amtrak to take a class on differentiated instruction, numerous trips back and forth to Boise... Lot of miles in these sandals.

It seems fitting that these sandals, which were there with me at the beginning of my quest to better understand schools, learning, and kids, should fall apart now, while I begin my studies at BSU. There are metaphors, analogies, and soliloquies in there, I just know it. But they will have to wait until I'm finished with the three papers due in two weeks! If you have any, please feel free to post them here. :)

The trees are visibly greener each day, and the grass is clearly longer, as well. Amazing how quickly everything changes. I have been getting up early in the morning to work with my horses, before the heat hits. Trying to work with them in the late afternoon/early evening wasn't working; they seemed tired from the heat, and I was, too. I am having a great time with them. Will post pictures soon. Perhaps when Stuart comes up again the end of May, we can get some videos again. The dogs are beginning to adjust to the heat, after adjusting to the freezing cold. I think the heat is harder on them than the cold. I'm working on setting up an umbrella and mister system on the back deck so we have a cool place to hang out during the days, though the house stays surprisingly cool. I make a gallon of "sun tea" every other day, and I am having no difficulty meeting my "8 glasses a day" of liquids, now. My biggest worry recently was tracking down my shorts and other hot weather clothes. Was coming to the conclusion that I had tossed them, or left them in storage back home. Well, lo and behold, I found them in a trunk, where I had put them when I unpacked my clothes in the middle of the snow storm. I thought, "I won't need these until summer, so I'll put them here." So glad I remembered!

A Test of One's Mettle

The trees are beginning to wake up. They look, from a distance, like their bare branches have been dipped in green paint. Or yellow paint, for the weeping willows. Clouds of bare, green or yellow twigs. I'll try to get pictures, but can't promise any.

So you don't worry or wonder, this will probably my last blog post until the semester ends in May. The title of this post refers to the work I need to do between now and then. I feel like this is a test of my true belief in what I am doing. Why am I here? What did I want to get out of this experience? Am I really cut out for doctoral level work? Am I willing to direct every ounce of effort in my being towards this endeavor? I guess we will know in five weeks. :) Right now I have two massive papers, 25 McNair scholars echoing in my head from transcriptions, several books to read, and two projects to complete. I think the day after my last class, I am going to just sleep all day. Or pack a great lunch and go hike in the mountains. Just disappear and not think. Ah, something to look forward to...

A dog's life....sleeping the day away.

Until then, I leave you with Georgia. She has a knack for causing me to stop in my tracks and take a momentary pause. I am thankful of my dependents, for that reason. Otherwise, I'd probably work until I dropped. They bring a little sanity to my day. Except this morning when they escaped from the house and ran across to the neighbor's yard! As my friend said, having deaf dogs is like having toddlers. With Arcy and Georgia, I can't call them because they can't hear me, and if they see me they don't come, they just wag their tails and go about their business. It's like they learned how to say, "No."

"Mother Theresa" costume.

Oh, and here's the corrected link to the other horse and dog videos on Stuart's web page:
Video Link

Something about tan under-ears is so...adorable.

Spring Break- Humboldt Side

Close-up of Trinidad Head

Looking North down Hwy 101. Misty Layers.

North towards Trinidad Head and Clam Beach

Clam Beach

I spend three lovely days back home. Well, okay, it really did rain for most of the time I was there. I had forgotten the squishy feel of wet socks in wet shoes! That's one thing I definitely didn't miss. However, my skin and hair are still happy with the moisture fest.

I slept outside, on the porch of my childhood home in Trinidad. Don't worry, it is enclosed in Plexiglas. Frogs chorused as I went to sleep, and birds sang as I woke up. What more could one ask for?

One highlight of my trip was seeing a couple of my students at their current school. I walked in the door, and there they were. We sat and talked and shared for over half an hour. Just made my teacher self so happy to see them, to know they were happy to see me, and to see how well they are doing in both school and life. Lot of See's in that sentence. lol.

Another highlight was seeing my Whitmire home. It looks great; the renters are taking excellent care of it. Phew. What a relief. The hard part was taking a tour of the yard, and seeing all the bulbs starting to come up, and the fruit trees budding... To know I won't see them bloom and fruit and grow was a little sad for me. I was able to find my new fry pan and some books and things I needed from storage, and picked up my house plants (Christmas Cactus, all). Funny thing--the girls are not there to mow the asparagus, yet the asparagus is not growing... Perhaps it has just been too cold, and it will come up later. Wondering if we blamed the girls wrongly for being asparagus muchers?

I spent a good chunk of time visiting with friends, and it was great to catch up with my horse-people friends--shopping at Great Western for halters and lead ropes and lunge whips was a hoot. I stopped by to see my younger brother, visited with professors at HSU, and checked in on a "grandma" I care about. Spent time with my animal friends, at the pasture and at RA. Seeing Bobby run across the pasture when he heard my car was a real treat, and I was overwhelmed by how beautiful Cami was. Had forgotten how striking she is in real life. Top is handsomer than when I last saw him, having added some needed pounds as well as a lot of muscle. He only has eyes for Vandy, though...

The best part of the trip was getting to just DO stuff, without having to think too much. After all my studies and reading and writing, I didn't want to do anything that required cognitive overload. So I helped my friend with a bunch of chores at her house- put in a new dining room lamp, put together book shelves, installed a new faucet/drain. To me, that was perfect. A sense of accomplishment and purpose, without a grade attached to it! lol. We drove up to Crescent City to shop at Home Depot, which was probably my favorite part of my vacation. I love that road, and it was good time to catch up. Also got a kick out of watching girls oogle at her son wherever we went. Yeeeesss, he's a girl magnet! Often oblivious to it, as many are. lol. Even in Denny's, they are there, watching, waiting, hoping.

A Barn that is slowly melting into the earth, just south of LakeView.

I left Tuesday morning, at 5 am, with a full heart, several good meals under my belt, and a trunk stuffed with horse blankets to repair. The drive home was as clear and pleasant as the trip down. When I arrived home, Stuart caught me up on the goings on at Boise home, and we were able to hang out for a couple days before he left. Coolest thing: I now have a desk and a nice office chair. No more sitting on the floor to do my school work! Stuart installed an automatic water-er, which Ber thinks is pretty cool, and he also hung my clothes line. Dried a load of towels in an hour yesterday. Yes!

View of Mount Shasta from the South-East

Mt. Shasta in line with Cinder Cone

When I started to lay out my school work and get going with the reading again yesterday, I felt like taking a break may not have been such a swift idea. Was incredibly hard to get started. But today, I'm beginning to hit my stride again, and feeling like I can do this. Maybe the break WAS a good idea. Six weeks to go... And the trees are beginning to show signs of spring. Yeah, I can do this.

Here is a link to Stuart's videos of horses rampaging around, Georgia dreaming, and other assorted animal antics. http://www.sgibson.com/emily/

Spring Break- Boise Pictures

Giovanna- Posing as a Farside Horse

Stuart and the Girls- They are worrying, he's leaving...

How tall is Giovanna? How high IS her hind end?

Georgia and Stuart headed out Corn Road

Georgia and Stuart coming back on Corn Road. Yes, brutal wind!

Georgia, fresh out of her first bath in over three months. Check out the stool...New fabric!

Giovanna watching Berhwood start his workout.

Greening pasture, under big sky...

More Big Sky

Horses loving new water trough location.

Stuart and Girls hanging at the house while Emily's gone.

Berhwood and Emily. Giovanna's lost interest.

Sleeping Arcy.

Ah, the sweet bliss of good people and good times....

My spring break started with my first visitor to my house since the whirlwind move in January: my brother, Stuart. He put up with the work I still had to do- classes, interviews, reading, writing- until I was finally finished. Then he took a crash course in taking care of all the animals before I left at 5 am on Friday to drive back home. Yeah, I've been living here for three months, but Humboldt County is still "home."

The drive down was beautiful. Clear roads, clear skies, and a clear head. Listened to thirteen episodes of "This American Life." Each episode is an hour long. So, it took me 13 hours. None of this two-day trip because of the snow and ice stuff. Yay! The drive was a blast. I'll share pictures of home, and my brief adventures, in the next post.

Meanwhile, here is a link to a montage of videos Stuart took. You'll see Giovanna lunging, (we were having a tough day), and Berhwood being ridden, and the dogs. Great opening section of Georgia running with the Flying Nun ears! Priceless. Boise Movie Montage

Spring Break.... Thought It'd Never Get Here!

Near and Far: Giovanna and Berhwood enjoying the slight hint of green on the ground...

Just finished with my last assignments before spring break. Turned in a draft of a huge paper last night, have completed 12 interviews for the McNair study, and am otherwise pretty well spent. Not a free neuron to speak of! I can't tell you how good it feels to not have a pile of reading and transcribing hanging over my head. It will be there next Wednesday, but right now, I can just breathe a little.

My brother, Stuart is here, and the girls are thrilled to have some other, more entertaining, company. I tend to be pretty boring, outside of our daily walks, because I always have my eyes on a book, or my hands on a computer keyboard. He's the doting uncle, so they get pretty spoiled. As in "Hey, do they have any treats, so when they get depressed after you leave, I can give them treats?" So I went to Pet Smart and got bags of treats and a new "meaty" log for their pills.

Yes, I am leaving on a quick break. Soak up the green of home, let my hair drink in the moisture in the air, see the ocean, spend time with people I care about. I have many things to do, including finding my new saute pan, grabbing my house plants, and retrieving some hoses and other garden tools I need. Stuart kindly offered to house and pet sit for me. I think he just wants to spend time with his horse, Giovanna... Needless to say, I appreciate his gift of time. Tremendously.

When I get back to Idaho, there will be pictures, and I'm hoping to put up videos of Giovanna and Berhwood, if I can. I won't have much access to the Internet while I'm gone, so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me.

Adios!

Spring is On its Way!

In the rare moments I get outside, I have noticed a change...There is actually green on the ground, little shoots coming up.



Giovanna's Sheep have all had lambs. There's about 30 lambs over in that field, now, and to see them all gamboling up and down their hill is a hoot.


The bulbs on my deck are poking up their tips, and I need to water them. Despite being covered in snow, the pots are quite dry.




Berhwood's bumps are much better. I am not going to say he is out of the woods, yet, as far as his allergic reaction goes. But I think I may have found what he was reacting to. Still some experimenting to do, but I'm kind of reluctant to introduce it back in, as you can imagine.


Numerous flocks of quail live in and around the property. The other day, while I was working, I could see a group outside my window. I say, they are the fattest, plumpest, roundest quail I have ever seen! Obviously a serious lack of predators in this area. I can't wait to see the flocks of baby quails, fluffing along like little pom-poms on the ground, scattering like a handful of marbles on tile when startled.

Yes, it was snowing the day I saw the quail. I have BasicISP internet service, and they have a weather report on their home page. Usually it says the normal weather information, like snow, or rain, or partly sunny. Well, that day, the report read, "Wintery Stuff." Now, I'd like to know who wrote that! Just cracked me up. Wintery stuff, indeed.


As for school, I'm up to my eyeballs in work, which is why I haven't had much time to update the blog. The work is exciting and extremely stimulating. I sent a quote to my adviser from one of the texts I am reading, and told him that I thought it might be a possible topic for my research and dissertation. The quote was talking about the need for more research on children's experiences by having them write about their lives, especially children from poverty and urban areas. There was a lot more to it than that. Suffice it to say, it combined several things I feel strongly about, and I wrote at the top of the page, "Dissertation?"

Told my adviser that the quote and idea made my heart pound, it resonated so deeply with me. My adviser wrote back: "You will have lots of things that get your heart pounding - that is how you are wired and that is what makes it so fun to work with you. We will have to monitor all of these passion flashes and in about two semsters figure out which one is the right topic for you."

Yeah, that's me. Enthusaism kind of drives my engine, I think. So, I've been nailed. And now I have a list on my wall of all the things that get my heart hopping, research wise, and I know that I don't have to pick something NOW. Now is my time to delved and explore and experience. Read and write and talk and listen. I'd say I'm as happy as a clam, as far as my PhD program goes. :)