Monday, August 25, 2025

Full Spectrum

 At least I can still appreciate the glimpse of my little farmhouse in the early morning sun - it is certainly fetching! (& from a distance you don’t notice the faded paint, the chipped siding, or the rotted handrail on the porch - more things on Val’s To Do list, or more accurately, “To Manage” since I certainly won’t be up there slinging paint or doing carpentry!)

I have stayed in my DVM single-mom’s group mostly out of inertia, although I’d like to think I can still offer commiseration & useful advice here & there. Not to mention the “rubbernecker effect”:  “There but by the grace of God go I” - I do appreciate the fact that I was divorced almost 26 years ago, before social media was such a thing. All I got busted for was writing things in my blog decades ago…

My former SIL tells me that my ex was diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma after he had a “wart” taken off the back of his neck. My mind immediately goes to my frenemy who lost her husband a few months ago from the same damn thing: he didn’t follow up on his melanoma which took about 3 yrs before it metastasized to his liver & took him down. (I almost reached out to K last month to see if she wanted to join us on our little unofficial campout in Fort Stanton, but in the end I left it alone)

https://endurovetssparkjourney.blogspot.com/2025/04/i-keep-dawdling-around-distracting.html

Anyway, in my FB group & elsewhere, it seems like everybody is “on the spectrum” to some degree or another, which from my POV seems to be a way to justify a hell of a lot of bad behavior - obviously I’m just getting to be a cranky old woman! Maybe I’m obtuse myself & I’m reading too much into another friend who seems to be avoiding me when I couldn’t get to her farm call on her schedule (her horses were due at the end of July - I explained vaccines don’t sour like milk; when I called her last week to see about coming out, she had already made other arrangements) I extended what to me seemed like another olive branch, inviting her to ride with me yesterday, but she was preoccupied elsewhere. I am reminded of the old Ann Landers quote: “What other people think of me is none of my business”

The upside is, I took Twoie out on his first solo ride with me yesterday - he did very well, if a little low energy… that’s OK, it’s still the dog days of summer after all! 

                                     Starting from the parking lot, going out to trailhead


                                                     They recently restriped!

2 comments:

  1. "There's nowt so queer as folk" (quote from Downton Abby's Anna, shrugging her shoulders over someone's behavior, when she didn't want to express an opinion, or judge).

    Love the photo from the saddle on Twoie. I'm glad you have the gumption to go on ahead and live your life, to-manage list and all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I started to comment on how I love the "from the saddle" photos, but I got distracted and don't know if I actually pushed the "publish" button.

    Life can be so... I don't know... complicated? Just 'cause other folks have problems don't mean your own aren't real. Breathe, I tell myself, and remember that you are only responsible for how you present yourself, not for how you are perceived or received, 'cause you can't predict how everyone will respond.

    Hugs, and best wishes for a good mid-week!

    ReplyDelete