So one thing I have learned about having your own place.....the one day you decide (because it is a balmy 85 degrees out and the sun beckons) to take the day off and hang out in shorts and a t-shirt, that is the day at least one stranger will stop in for information about boarding or training! So the lesson here is to either never take a day off so you won't have an 'off day' in appearance, or to always do it because then people actually stop in and you get new clients! Either way, things here are really going well.
Another thing I have learned about barn ownership versus working at a facility is that there is a lot more to land conservation and land management than I every thought about. I never worried when the grass started to look thin, or the weeds started to spread, or the back pastures got too long. Now I have to think about the daily care and long term health of every tree on the place. Do I plant an apple tree? If so where is the best spot? What is the best kind to plant? Even beyond the health of the land, I know have to deal with the wildlife on my land. This is a poses a dilemma for a part Indigenous girl like me. I do believe the animals are our brothers and sisters but well what to do with the endless spiders? By that I mean the product of spiders of course, the webs. I swear I sweep them every day and they magically appear the next morning. Charlotte had nothing on my spiders in the capacity to weave giant creations of sticky threads. I don't want to hurt them, not just because they keep down the bugs, but because I don't believe in hurting any living creature. How do I keep down the spiderwebs without killing the spiders? Does anyone know a magic, keep away formula for them? One that does not involve any poisonous chemicals or anything that may seep into the water supply?
Finally, a third lesson for land ownership is a question of usage? I mean where do I put things and what is the most efficient and best use of the 43 acres. Do I put up more barns and arenas? Do I build bunk houses for working students and visitors like at Jo's place in Germany? Do I put in decking with a fire pit by the viewing room for sitting outside on cool nights? But the fun thing is that I get to decide and I realized if I want to change later I can. So life is full of choices and they have consequences but that feeling that every choices is a matter of life or death is gone. I have realized something that my Uncle James learned years ago at about my age. He was worried about traveling in Europe alone to go skiing. He had to commute from the Frankfurt airport by train to Austria. He practiced 'pretend' loading and unloading his bags. When he got to Europe he got on the right train but the back four cars were going to split off later. He realized he would have gotten on the wrong train section. Then he realized if he had all he would have to do is get off at the next stop and get on the right train. That gave him the the surety to take many adventures in life. I learned that lesson here, at this place.
Those were the lessons of the last few weeks! Talk again soon.
