By Patty Wilber
Well! I went to Clovis and had a nice time working cows with Clay (Hight Performance Horses) (from a safe social distance). Lucy tore it up in our boxing on Day One (Clay was pretty excited for us!!) and then… we struggled with our driving on Day Two. But, I have a plan using the flag and being more consistent with my leg cues: Inside leg to pass and stop the cow; outside leg to get in position and drive. Lucy is smart. She will figure this out, quick.
Mariah’s young mare, Fancy, came with us. She has about 18 rides with me and can open and shut a gate and go over the bridge. She is walk-trot-loping in the round pen and on the trail, and starting to get that in the unfenced arena, which is somehow harder for her. I am going to get video of her this weekend (because she might be for sale!). She is super cute, just saying!
Fuzzy because my camera does not do well in low light. Also this pic is at my house, not in Clovis, but it does show how cute Ms. Fancy is!
H had month of lighter work with Clay but he is still dialled in when a cow shows up. His intensity on cows reminds me of LT, which is very exciting. On the other hand, when he is done working, he comes back down and can stand still, which is like Lucy. That is a relief. I am super duper duper super excited to have him home. He and I get along pretty darn well!
Just look at that face! The boy is home!
I brought my camper to Clovis to avoid staying in any of the cheap (= rather low end) hotels and it was cold out (43F Saturday afternoon) with a sort of freezing mist later, so I was seriously bummed when I thought I had run out of propane and would be spending the night under all the blankets and sleeping bags eating a cold dinner! And no morning coffee. I mean, I was feeling low.
Fortunately, it was just a minor heater glitch and I had ended up having lovely heat and a functional stove. Luxury, I tell you, luxury.
I made it home, and while H and Lucy were best buds before he left, old H lost some social skills while he was away living in a pen by himself. He was a little too aggressive with Lucy (he didn’t mess with LT). To help him regain his manners, he is going to have to live with Penny for a bit. “NO. u cannot stand there. u must stand over in that corner. changed my mind. go stand on the other side. DON’T look at me unless i give permission. NO. this is MY hay.” etc. He was looking pretty chagrined when I let him in another pen to feed him some grain Thursday evening! So sad. Not.
Since being home home, I have spend most days from about 7am to about 3pm and 8 to bedtime (10? 11? 12?) glued to my computer continuing to convert my three in-person college classes to online classes due to the new COVID-19 Stay-at-Home policy we have in NM (went to Clovis just in time!), as well as keeping up with the other three classes that were already on line. Fun, but time consuming!!
I have had learned how to give an online lecture, using my little laptop, to a whole class, via a program called Collaborate Ultra. I learned how to break said class into smaller work groups! I have got my Microbio lab students started on their unknown microbe identification project in a virtual environment!
The first set of “incubated” plates have come out of the computer!
They “inoculated” three of these four “plates”!
And after “incubation” stuff “grew”!! Now they get to “do” further tests to identify what grew!!
It is very exciting!!
I have had some help, as well.
Rena says: “right here is where that bacteria is making the ATP! it is totally obvious. i do not know why they didn’t get that!”
And here is another fuzzy picture, of Thursday’s sunset.
I am thankful to live in this big state with a relatively small population, and to live out of town. Be safe everyone, stock up on Tylenol or Motrin and wash your hands!
