A Bad day of Fishin'...

Is better than a good day at work?

Well that is how the saying goes.

It was late afternoon and there was some other things we could be doing around the farm.  I looked at him and said.

'Fishin'?'

He looked at me for a moment.

Then nodded.

'Fishin'!'

We tried Jersey Valley which had just re-opened and found it crowded with teenagers and 'cruisers' with hotrods and music.  We grinned at each other, recalling what it was like when we were teens and the things we did on a beautiful summer night...the last day of school.

We left there and went to Runge Hollow. 

What a beautiful area.  

We fished by the dam and were joined later by some other folks, including some Amish.  We stood on the shore ... I think I was just feeding my nightcrawlers to the fish.  Those little blue gills would bite and nibble, and clean off my hook.

The company was pleasant, my hubby knew the other couple that came down the bank and the two guys chatted while the ladies concentrated on fishing.

The other couple caught a lot of fish.  I caught, well...

nothing.

But it didn't really matter.

It was a pleasant way to spend the evening.  

They do say that a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work.

I do agree.

"I love you Badger"

It isn't often that a relationship with a large equine comes along that is 'once in a lifetime'.  I think I was very lucky to have Badger find me so many years ago.  He was a big lanky ugly and gangly barely 3 year old mule that was too tall for me...and an unlikely match for me.

Somewhere in that first 3 months that we were together, he became an equine like no other I'd ever experienced.

The two of us became inseperable.  After riding and working with him for a year, it seemed that he could understand my very thoughts and intentions.

And Badger as always, is very gentle.

He loves children.  He is fine with adults as long as they don't ride him.  [I wonder if he thought I was a child all these years because I'm so small???]

I've had Badger since 1997.  In 2009 he became sick with Equine COPD.  I've been doing periodic updates on him since then.  

This weekend the grand kids visited and since they have grown up with Badger as their buddy, we got Badger out and dressed him up.  My grand daughter thought he would look pretty with ribbons and a necklace of beads.  We took photos [thank you Stephanie for doing so] knowing that this would be the last time that the kids saw Badger alive.

Badger has had life fade from his eyes.  He struggles daily just to stand and breathe.  He has let me know that it is time to move on across the Rainbow Bridge to the Merry Meadow.  One thing I do know about that, I am sad, but know that he will meet up with his once favorite dog, Xena and Cheyanne who eagerly await him on the other side.

Badger has given delight for more people than you can shake a stick at.

I leave this post with the simple words that Ariel uttered as she gave him a hug.

"I love you Badger"

Oh yes we do.

Today's Fabulous Fractal

I went riding today with Siera for all of my mule friends.  We did some training and both of us learned a lot under the careful eye of my hubby and his awesome Fred Mule.

Whilst I was busy in the woods, I rendered this fractal that I call The Sine Wave.

Parameters by DsyneGrafix at deviantArt.

Its all about Fractals!

Fractal art is stunning in my opinion.  It is not everyone's piece of cake, but it intrigues me because the possibilities are endless.

You take a 'Fractal Program' and literally design your own abstract artwork.

You can take images you make in a fractal program and combine them in any image editing program and come up with some stunning and unusual.

I have found some unusual and extremely beautiful fractals done with the Mandelbulb 3D program, the following artist is extremely talented in multiple programs.

His name is Jorge and his blog is called 'fraktalblog'.  You should stop and browse his artwork and check out his links to other blogs and websites.

I stumbled upon his artwork and am glad I have.  He has pointed me into some new and exciting directions with Mandelbulb 3D.

I have just downloaded the latest version of  Mandelbulb3d v1.7.9.3which can be found here:

fractalforums.com.

There are many tutorials that go with this program that can also be found at the following link.

fractalforums.com tutorials 

I just enjoyed experimenting with one of the new parameters included in this latest version.

Dodeca Torus.  I call this my Dodeca Torus Star.  I did fool with the formula a bit with this.

Opal the People Challenged Mule

I've talked about Opal before.  The people challenged mule.  
Seriously.  She dislikes humans.
Well.  Most humans.

Tonight she gave me the giggles.  I went to see Badger and thought I'd brush him a bit and check on his breathing.  He'd been listless all day and he managed to perk up when I haltered him and led him into the 'catch' pen for some grooming time.

I however did not chain the gate behind me.  Next thing I know, Opal has stuffed her muzzle in between the gates and is pushing it open.
I reach over and pulled it shut.

As I am pulling, she tucks her muzzle into the metal frame and gives it a hearty push as if to say...'Oh NO you don't!'

Well, if she wanted to be groomed that badly, then who was I to say any different?
I relented and let her in with Badger.

I curried her until she shone.  She may have even liked it.
Badger stood quietly and watched me curry his now 'favorite' molly mule.  I keep them together so Badger isn't 'lonely'.
We put Fred in with them and he is the outcast.  He loves to pick on Opal, who loves to hide behind Badger.


The people challenged mule let me rub her ears tonight and run my hands over her poll and face.  What a great old coot she is.  I think had I gotten my hands on her at a much younger age we could have had something really special together.


Hmm.
I think we have something special going on right now!
Just gotta love mules!

 

Badger & His Equine COPD [update]

Badger.

Equine COPD.

Let's say I am not fond of this subject.  It rather is a sore spot for me.

Each time Badger breathes in dust or pollens, he has a reaction that lasts for days.  This can be while he is on grass pasture too. 

Think of having asthma in a human, or COPD, or Emphysema.

It is a progressive disease which worsens over time. Early in the disease, shortness of breath may occur with exercise and activity but symptoms gradually worsen and may occur at rest.

Badger not only is at the stage where breathing at rest is difficult for him, but he won't eat much either because he is spending most of his time trying to breath.

His overall appearance and general body condition has dramatically worsened.  I look at photos of him from two years ago when he was first diagnosed ...

to the photo I have of him this past fall.

Note the change in overall condition.

This spring he had a few good days where I was able to hand walk him to the ridge and then ride him on the flat.  He however would stop and catch his breath.

With the onset of summer heat and humidity Badger is again suffering daily.  Even on grass pasture he spends most of his day just standing.  Meds no longer help him much.  

It seems each spring I go through this at the beginning of hot and humid weather.  

But today as I drove home, I called my hubby and mentioned something about hay and feeding.

He confirmed what my fears had been.

He too has noticed the poor condition of this once fine and strong mule.  He questioned our reasoning to keep him in such a way.

Badger.

I struggled with putting Cheyanne down last April.  It was time though and she was in misery.  It is hard to think about this right now.  I keep hoping for a miracle but know there is no 'miracle faerie' handing out cures.

Beauty in the Sky

Grandma was one of those folks who tended to take this little girl and point things out to her.

One day I claimed I was bored out of my skull.  It was the mid 1960's and we had no running water, no TV, no phone, and aside from beating the crap out of my sister at Crazy Eights [card game], there wasn't much to do in the afternoon.

Chores and garden weeding had been done.  Nothing an 8 yr old could do anyway.  

I hadn't gotten 'old' enough to take my brother's bike and ride the country roads,...yet we could explore the woods if we were brave enough.
Sigh. It was a magnificent day for the clouds.  Grandma pointed that out to me.

'Watch the clouds,' she said. 'Find formations, find animals, use your imagination!'  Harrumph.  Well this 8 yr old did.  And found she was hooked on clouds for the rest of her life.

I found that the clouds and the sky were something incredible, yet taken for granted.  We should never ever take the heavens above us for granted.
If one watches close 
enough,

the sky...it always changes.  There is always something interesting going on above.  Even at night.

So I took up cloud watching with enthusiasm.  Now I need to learn the names and 'kinds' of clouds.

I know Grandma said these were 'horsefeathers' and predicted rain within 24 hrs. [Grainy but you get the idea...]

The sky and the clouds are a beautiful thing.  You should take time out of your busy life [yes, Follow My Own Advice!] and take time to watch the beauty of the clouds and sky.