Be Joyful

Be joy-full.  Even when things go wrong, you can have joy.  I can't explain it, but the closer I am to God, in prayer and His word, the greater my peace, hope, and joy.  I'm  sure you’ve heard it many times before; happiness is a choice.  “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” said Abraham Lincoln.  Michal Spiegelman penned in Beacons of Change - Happiness has its own up and down cycle and it is a conditioned state. You can feel happy when you get good news, when you receive a gift, when you eat something delicious or when you love a new purchase. 
Happiness is when your life fulfills your needs. “Feeling good” hormones, such as dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin are being released when you are triggered by external circumstances, situations or people. Happiness is an emotion and it can pass through. One minute you’re happy and the next minute you’re not. While happiness can come and go, joy is permanent. Joy is a deep, spiritual-based attitude. Joy is a fundamental part of your true being. Joy can live together with anger, sadness, grief and fear."
 
(Philippians 4:4-7) "Always be joyful in the Lord! I’ll say it again: Be joyful! Let everyone know how considerate you are. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus."

Saturday 8/22 -  We had had many cool, gloomy days with plenty of rain, and this was predicted to be another such day.  We got a light rain before Maggie and I went to Patty's at 9am.  We started out with a long walk around part of Lake St. George.

I then sat out on Patty's deck reading for nearly two hours.


This is the new Wayfair shirt Dan gave me.




I came home for lunch and then went to work at the pool.  Thankfully the day turned out to be a lot nicer than predicted, and I had a decent crowd at the pool so my shift was not too boring.

I enjoyed popcorn and licorice while Joe and I finished the last two episodes of the first season of Virgin River.  And this is how so many of my nights go with food.

Sunday 8/23 - I got up at 2am, but napped from 5-6:30. I was then groggy all morning.  Patty arrived home from Iowa late the night before, so I no longer needed to go to her house.  Eventually I went to the barn.









I took Amiga across the little creek and up through the winter field to get to the long trail.  We rode the ridge and then went down to Daddy's Creek.  I rode down and back along the creek an extra time because it was so pretty and peaceful (video).  It gave me great joy.

Coming back to the barn along the long trail, we stopped to rest ¾'s the way up the hill by the waterfall (video).

Back at the barn I took extra time to care for Amiga.  In this photo, she was starting to act a little impatient.   








In this photo, the cats were jockeying for position while I brushed my teeth before bed.

Earlier when I had gotten home from the barn, I had a big snack, so then I lost all ambition and desire to cook a meal, as I had planned.

A late nap preceded a salad for dinner.  But then I had my habitual popcorn and licorice here at my computer.  No matter my intentions for good food and exercise, I digress to junk food and lazying around.

Monday 8/24 - It was my usual wake at 2am and take my thyroid medication, but like the night before, I couldn't get back to sleep, so got up and read.  I then napped from 5-7am to get my 'full night' of sleep.

Maggie and I went for a long walk mid-morning.  The new amphitheater now has the concrete floor poured and a wall added in back to create a little sound booth/dressing room.




I am waiting to see how large the concrete dance floor in front is going to be.

In this second photo, you can see the little rain cloud that ended up sprinkling on us for a few minutes.  These pop up showers have occurred all summer and seem to be the new norm.



Our walk continued up and over to Peavine where construction is still underway.  It looks like the road is going to be higher here at the west end of the Catholic church parking lot.














I couldn't tell if this area was getting filled in, or the shoulder was being graded lower. 




This last photo is looking west down Peavine with the east end of the Catholic church parking lot.  The truck is parked in the drive.

We had our group chat with family and it went as usual, with either everyone talking at once and not hearing each other, or no one talking and we just all kind of look at each other.  We work through these little snags and it is always good to see and hear everybody.

I read out in the sun just a bit, came inside to nap because I got too hot, and then went to the barn.  This is big John, one of the draft horses.  Henry, his pulling partner was not acting normal.

I rode Amiga long enough (5 minutes) to do the parade route just once.  Again she did it fairly well, so I quit on a positive note.  The barn was going to be power washed so I put her out in the pasture with the mares for the night.  




I hadn't planned to go to Mirror Lake Blast, but Joe said Soul Fish was playing, and he was going.  So I decided to go.  It felt so good to dance to live music, which always fills me with joy.  And I did much better at keeping my distance from everybody.

I took a sleep aid to help get me back into the routine of sleeping through the night.

Tuesday 8/25 - The sleep aid worked and I fell right back to sleep at 2am and 4am, not waking and getting up until 7am.  However, I was then kind of groggy, but my usual two cups of tea helped with that.

One of Babe's favorite places, on the arm of the porch glider.  She makes me envision a cougar reclining on a tree limb.  Stevie was catching some rays and had been watching life beyond the screen until she heard me.




I ate a big, early lunch before going to Bible study.  This is my version of an open face reuben sandwich. 

I arrived at the barn for Bible study and went in to check things out.  It had been power washed from 4pm to midnight, and all of the horse were kept out overnight.  Things were still quite wet.  This is Amiga's stall with lime down to help absorb moisture and control odor.

The decision to move Bible study to Dorchester club house was made because of a very prominent threat of rain.  It was quite noisy because of a group of men enjoying beer and talking way louder than necessary.  But we made it work.


After our study, I went right back to the barn to take Amiga on a short 90 minute ride.









 







I rode between the rows in the bean field, the ridge of the long trail, and then the perimeter of three of the four bean fields. 



Back at the barn, many were getting ready to practice for the Parade of Breeds. 










Emily and a volunteer were helping Jason get Henry and John hitched to the wagon.


I let Amiga have the rest of her evening grain and then put her bridle back on, adding two parts to her costume.










Then we went out into the front yard where many others were working with their horses.



Karen on Levi.








Sharon with Merlin.







Jan on Cash, carrying the flag.

Jason drove his team and wagon around while others also rode around or hand walked their horses (video).

We all had a lot of fun.  Amiga was revved up when we first went out, but after standing and watching the activities for awhile, she then did quite well.  I didn't get a photo of Patty on Zorro, but he was looking good and did great.

I was home by 6:30, and watched a movie with Joe while enjoying popcorn, my dinner.





Wednesday 8/26 - Three of the four cats enjoying the porch.  Mama Styx on the swing.














Stevie asleep in the corner, like a wild cat lounging up in a tree.  Monita was on the little table.

Not realizing how hot the day had gotten (mid 80s) and probably not having drank enough water after my morning tea, I overheated while mowing down back.


I went to the pool early for my 1:45 - 6:45 shift, and got in right away to cool off.  I actually took a quick dunk two more times while working.  I just kept feeling too hot.

The third swim section was full to capacity, partly because of the beautiful weather and because of a group of regulars who had planned to meet for a cocktail party.  They are such a fun group whom I consider friends.  And they kindly shared their hors d'oeuvres with me.

Joe was too tired from 18 holes of golf to watch a movie and went to bed early, so I watched two episodes of Outlander on my own. 

Thursday 8/27 - I was up in the middle of the night from 1:30-4:00, so got more reading done.  I didn't wake then until 7am.  This is Babe again in one of her favorite spots.  I love how she lounges with her legs stretched out on each side of the porch swing arm for balance.

I was back at work at 9:15.  We had more people than I would have expected due to the clouds, but most came knowing Friday would not be a good pool day with Hurricane Laura expected.

I went straight from the pool to the barn, with plans to continue working Amiga who needs to drop several pounds.

I was very disappointed with her on the Holly Trail because she refused to continue down the hill to the creek.  I finally had to get off and lead her down.  She really has gotten fearful of the steep hill right after the creek crossing, and like trailer loading, is refusing to move forward towards her fear.  Once we got to the creek, we didn't cross, but turned around and went back to the barn.  This photo shows the back pasture with the livery horses as seen from the Holly Trail head.

Next I tied a sheet around my waist (to simulate my costume) and rode Amiga on the parade route.  Jan read my write-up as I took Amiga through my planned 'routine.'  Amiga did great.  Jan also took some photos of us.

I got off Amiga in the yard while talking with Jan, and draped the sheet on the back of Amiga to walk her to the barn.  A breeze blew the sheet and she had a big spook, nearly running Jan over.  One can NEVER be too careful around these huge animals that have their own thoughts, reactions, and will.







I had corn on the cob for dinner and then watched two more hours of Outlander, deciding I am no longer interested in it.  The increase in sex and profanity has made me uncomfortable.  I'd rather watch something that gives me joy.

Friday 8/28 - Strong winds woke me at 4:30 and I was tempted to roll over and go back to sleep, but when I looked at the weather, decided I should get up and walk Maggie before the rain hit.  She was already hiding in our closet.  With the remnants of Hurricane Laura moving east, we were expecting heavy rain with the possibility of tornadoes.  By 7am I got a message from Nancy that the pool would be closed for the day.


After my usual computer tasks, I then played games for quite awhile.  I just can't get motivated these days.  I am turning into a cat who lays around 18 hours a day.  Sweet Monita doesn't cause trouble during 'down' time.












It ended up raining off and on all day.

I ran errands picking up my thyroid prescription, getting gas and groceries, and going to the hardware store for a stump removal chemical (it speeds up rotting).  Joe had drilled several holes in this stump but I needed to make them deeper. 








It started thundering while I was working but the rain didn't start until just as I was finishing putting the white powder into each hole.  The instructions said to add water after filling the holes, but the rain did that for me.



I went back to enjoying a lazy day.  This time out on the porch, eating lunch and listening to it rain.  Monita climbed in behind me on the chair.  Then it was onto the porch swing to read and eventually take a little nap.  Mama Styx climbed into my lap this time.








An evening tornado watch and then warning had things stirred up for awhile.  And then there was some chatter among boarders when horses were turned out into the storm, where they would be safer if the barn got hit by a tornado.  Eventually I decided Amiga would be fine either way (in or out) and I would not worry about her.

Do things to help you feel better (to be joyful) when negative thoughts start entering your brain. 
This (Podcast) of episode 193 of the Dr. Taz show with Janet McKee has great advice.