Shut UP [you silly biped] Sheesh!

On my way to work there is a crossing guard in the school zone. Now she may be a nice, caring lady - after all, she spends her mornings looking out for the safety of our kids come sun, rain, freezing temps, etc. - but she always looks as though she has eaten an entire basket of lemons before coming to work each day. She stops traffic waaay before the buses arrive to cross the intersection. Why does that bug me so much? Because there is a railroad crossing about ten feet before the intersection. This means that the vehicles she stops have to not only sit and watch the line of buses lumber slowly up the road, but also wait as each individual bus stops at the tracks to open and close the doors. When you factor in 5 or 6 buses in a row, this takes a long, long time (which becomes forever if you happen to be running a bit late). Toss in my [somewhat reformed but apparently not enough] Type-A personality, and it makes for a stressfully unhappy start to the day. I can remember snarling at a coworker one morning as I frantically rushed through the doors, "That woman has just GOT to be on some sort of power trip. It makes me CRAZY to just sit there. Why-oh-why-oh-why can't she just wait until the buses stop at the tracks before she holds us all hostage? ARGH!!" 

I don't remember the why, but one morning I was in such an exceptionally good mood that when she stopped me I gave her a friendly wave. She frowned, then looked at me like I was some sort of weirdo, before looking away. Hmph. Well now, that's not very nice. Maybe she's just not used to anyone giving her a G-rated hand signal. (Ha ;o) I honestly don't know what possessed me (though I'm pretty sure I know Who ;o) but I decided I could at least do my part to be nicer. After all, talking the talk isn't worth a flip if you're not gonna walk the walk, right? I smiled and waved at her again the next morning. She drew her head back sideways as though somehow offended and offered me a scowl in response. After that? Well. Never let it be said I would back down from a challenge. IT. WAS. ON. From that day forward, I made it my personal mission to give that woman a big old smile and cheerful wave every single morning (whether she stopped me or not, no matter if I was running early or late, it didn't matter). I am nothing if not tenacious. *laugh*

It took more than half the school year (about six months), but one morning she tentatively waved back. I almost drove off the road, I was so shocked. Funny thing is, it made my day. I yelled at my Mom (who I call every morning on my way to work) through the bluetooth, "Oh my goodness, she did it! SHE DID IT! SHE WAVED BACK!!" I walked around smiling for the rest of the day. Even more shocking? A few short weeks ago, she waved me through ahead of the buses before she stopped the rest of the traffic. Holy cow and wonders never cease! It's funny isn't it, how much easier it is for us to match someone's attitude scowl for scowl? I'm trying to make kindness my new thoughtless habit, particularly when it comes to people who are not at all nice (even when I don't feel like it). How about you? Is there a cranky person in your life? I absolutely encourage you to step out of your "Right back at'cha bud" mode (if you're in one) and become a bright spot in their day. Who knows? One day they may just wave back at you, too ;o)

Did you know that could change your "default" facial expression? My default mode used to be set to serious, for the simple reason that I am often deep in thought. An unfortunate side-effect of this type of expression, however, is that it always generates the same conversation with friends and/or family members (well, except with my dad who has the same look on his face):
Friend/Family: "What's wrong?"
Me [in confusion]: "Nothing. Why?"
Friend/Family: "You look mad."
Somewhere in the middle of my medical misadventures I decided to see if it was actually possible for me to change my default expression (having had a bit of a Divine attitude adjustment ;o) While it wasn't easy, I am happy to report that it is completely doable, and has brought the annoying aforementioned conversations to an end.
Simple heredity made the following conversation occur recently:
Me: "What's wrong?"
DD: "Nothing. Why?"
Me: "You look mad."

I think she and I need to talk, don't you? *grin*

Rina: Our Blood Bay Barometer

You know, I'm not always the brightest bulb on the porch (a fact I freely admit), but this morning when that bulb came on, it was so darn interesting that I just had to post it.

Rina has always been the most difficult of The Girls to groom, she is the leader of her little herd and it's a role she takes quite seriously. She's not so much uncooperative as she is somewhat ADHD (or so I thought).

I have a superquick grooming routine with The Girls just about every day. We have an agreement that anything that is done "for me" is rewarded with a treat, and anything I do for them is not; it is all done at liberty and good manners are mandatory. Brushing manes and spraying with conditioner is done every morning to keep the tangles out (but since they could care less about tangles, these would fall under the "for me" category :o) The "pink brush" is a body brush, and everyone (with the exception of Bella) just loves it, making it a reward in and of itself.

Now most of the time, Rina stands nice and still for me as I brush and spray her mane (which I expect her to do). I usually keep a lighthearted running coversation going during grooming, which the horses seem to enjoy - sort of like your basic hairdresser, I suppose. The girls will often "talk" back with little nickers and noises; Bella puncuates hers with kisses and long drawn out mmmmmmmmmmm's that always make me laugh :o)

This morning, however, was one of those mornings with Rina. She did not wish to stand still, moving from one side of her stall to the other, and was just being a total pill. It wasn't until she turned all the way around and bumped me off balance with her hip (which she never does) that the bulb finally came on, making me feel like a nitwit for not having figured it out more quickly.

Deciding to test my theory, I walked over to Rina who was now standing on the opposite side of her stall and started brushing her mane again, this time without speaking. She stood perfectly still the entire time; seems she was trying to tell me to be quiet as best she knew how so she could listen for or to something. In retrospect, I think the hip bump was merely Rina's way of showing her exasperation with my cluelessness.

Horses are amazingly self-aware when it comes to their bodies, and the only reasons a horse will bump you are: 1. to see if he can (a.k.a. a sign of disrespect); 2. they were focused intently on something else and did not see you; or 3. are in a state of panic. Since none of the aforementioned apply here, I guess I'll go with my enlightened thought. Anyway, I guess that's my story and I'm sticking to it... (and thank you for reading it :o)

Have You "Herd" the Road Trip Rule?

Those two verses are one of the most foolproof weather gauges of all time, it's never wrong. I've used it for years and it has always held true; of course that was before we got our little four legged weather woman. While I am well aware that all horses tend to "take it up a notch" when there is a shift in the weather pattern, Rina seems to take it to a whole new level. She is, in essence, a panic attack looking for a place to happen on days it's going to storm.

The photo on the right shows her standing at full equine alert on one such day (she's 3 in this picture and still in her "gangly" phase :o) While she doesn't run around like a raving lunatic, she is definitely edgy and easily agitated. The full alert in the photo was her response to my saying her name softly; I only wanted her to look at the camera (Xanax anyone??)

You can see that the skies are clear in the background, although we did indeed have thunderstorms that day...she doesn't often miss.

To be honest, it took me awhile to catch on to the meaning behind the behavior. I spent lots of time wondering, what on earth is wrong with you today, Rina? As well as some personal eyeball rolling and thoughts like, you are such a total goose girl, sheesh!

The strangest day turned out to be the one in which Rina completely transcended edgy by plopping herself down on the ground in front of the water trough right at breakfast time; what on earth?!?

That was the day a tornado passed over our house, and talk about scary. God was very good to us; aside from a neighbor's metal arbor being squashed flat, there was absolutely no damage done here and yours truly developed a much deeper respect for Rina's forecasting capabilities.

This morning's breakfast report was pink skies and a pingy Rina. Hmmm...guess we're in for some stormy weather today, huh? :o)



If you are interested in exploring equine body language (I'm totally fascinated by it), please see my lens on Squidoo (it took me forever, but I think it turned out pretty well :o) http://www.squidoo.com/EpicFarmsBodyLanguagequidoo.com/EpicFarmsBodyLanguage Thanks so much for stopping by!

When I was in 7th grade, I took a 12 week drawing class at a local art school (Saturdays). While I desperately wanted to take the class, it was also intimidating as I would probably not know anyone else there and I was terribly shy. When I walked into the classroom that first day, I saw a girl I knew from school (one of the "popular" girls, who never EVER spoke to me at school). I remember wishing it could have been someone (ANYone) that I could at least halfway get along with for the next 12 weeks...
Imagine my surprise when Polly Popularity completely disregarded "the rules", came over and sat down next to me chattering away. She sat with me every Saturday for the entire 12 week session. Interestingly enough, she STILL never spoke to me at school. It was a good lesson for life with horses: "Better the devil you know".

We opted to add a special adventure this year by taking Champ and Lady to FFA's (Future Farmers of America) "Farm Day" at the elementary
school. Because Lady and Champ are in separate herds and pastures, they would not normally get along if we put them together at home. In a new environment, however, this rule can change completely for horses just as it does for people (like it did for my Saturday art classes :o) Isn't that something?

The horses were a huge hit with the kids and extremely tolerant of all the little hands reaching up to pet them. Many of the children had never seen a horse up close and oohed and ahhed at how soft their muzzles (noses) were. I was touched by the many expressions of wonder and amazement (not to mention the huge smiles) I saw on so many little faces throughout the day; it was a fabulous experience for all of us.


Champ was very interested in all of the other animals that were there, so we introduced him to a few of our favorites...



First he met the little chick, he thought it was pretty neat (he sniffed her most carefully :o)
















Next up was the bunny rabbit (Champ liked him too :o)




Last was the piglet. He was really interesting right up until he squealed loudly in Champ's face (this resulted in Champ hiding behind Lady for protection and brought an abrupt end to his interest in "meeting" anymore of those scary little critters that yelled :o)

All in all it was an exhausting, but absolutely wonderful day and I am so glad that we were asked to participate. It is truly a blessing to be able to watch the delighted expressions of hundreds of children seeing and touching these magnificent animals and knowing how happy it made them.

MORE INFORMATION ON FFA:
The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.
Organizational Name: National FFA Organization;

Changed in 1988 from Future Farmers of America to reflect the expanding career field of Agricultural Education.

Founded: 1928

Current Membership: 507,763

Number of Chapters: 7,439 in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands