Penny the horse seems to be doing fine. Today was warm and sunny, and the horses were out on pasture, not in the little muddy paddock by the barn. I thought for sure Penny would try to lie down and worried that if she did, would she be able to get up again? Still, she'll need to lie down soon, and she didn't today, much to my surprise. I wonder if she remembers her troubles and is now afraid to lie down. Horses need to sleep soundly lying down, so it worries me a little. But at least we haven't had another emergency. I guess I should be grateful.
It's funny. Jasmine, who wants to put her nose into everything and thinks my sole purpose in life is to bring carrots to horses, is very interested in what I stick into Penny's mouth twice a day. It's bute, which doesn't taste good, and Penny would rather not have it stuffed into her mouth, though she's been good about it. She gets a carrot after, so she has nice memories of me. So Jasmine wants bute, too. When I went to the barn this morning, the horses were already out in the pasture, and I went there to give Penny the bute and remove her blanket. I had some bute paste stuck on my fingers after giving it to Penny, and I let Jasmine sniff it and then give it a lick. Maybe that quelled her interest. I think she was surprised that it wasn't something good to eat. I told her it wasn't something she'd want, but she had to see for herself.
I tutored today, and the little girl read something about another child writing to the mayor of her city. Then she asked me about Ithaca's mayor. I didn't know much about him except that he had an unusual name that I didn't quite remember. So her reading Wednesday will be about him, and it turns out he's a remarkable guy. If you want to read his inspiring rags-to-riches story, see Svante Myrick: How a child of modest means became Ithaca's youngest mayor-elect | syracuse.com This was written right after he was elected, but it's interesting, nonetheless.
It's funny. Jasmine, who wants to put her nose into everything and thinks my sole purpose in life is to bring carrots to horses, is very interested in what I stick into Penny's mouth twice a day. It's bute, which doesn't taste good, and Penny would rather not have it stuffed into her mouth, though she's been good about it. She gets a carrot after, so she has nice memories of me. So Jasmine wants bute, too. When I went to the barn this morning, the horses were already out in the pasture, and I went there to give Penny the bute and remove her blanket. I had some bute paste stuck on my fingers after giving it to Penny, and I let Jasmine sniff it and then give it a lick. Maybe that quelled her interest. I think she was surprised that it wasn't something good to eat. I told her it wasn't something she'd want, but she had to see for herself.
I tutored today, and the little girl read something about another child writing to the mayor of her city. Then she asked me about Ithaca's mayor. I didn't know much about him except that he had an unusual name that I didn't quite remember. So her reading Wednesday will be about him, and it turns out he's a remarkable guy. If you want to read his inspiring rags-to-riches story, see Svante Myrick: How a child of modest means became Ithaca's youngest mayor-elect | syracuse.com This was written right after he was elected, but it's interesting, nonetheless.
Not only that, but the X-ray machine was on the fritz, so he couldn't see what was going on in my back. I'm sure that I've crunched it up rather badly hauling and lifting my artwork all over the country when I was on tour. But, I think that my back being this bad stems back to when I fell down on the trail and landed on a rock that hit just to the right of my spine in the lower back. That was in November of 2013. Nooo ... I'm not stubborn about resisting medical treatment at all! 
So, I had a mega TENS treatment and he massaged and investigated the area that is so terribly inflamed right now. I'm supposed to go back when the X-ray is back in operation. 
