Up and down

So despite all my best hopes for the arrival of some season other than deep winter, I can't report a whole lot of progress. We did get one lovely little "up" at the beginning of last week when the temperature shot up to about plus four last Tuesday. Sadly, this was bracketed on both sides by serious cold (minus 20s to 30s) and wind, which made it a rather bittersweet experience.

To my credit, I had the sense to grab the camera and boogie out to the Clydesdale place, as I really wanted to experience photographing these horses while able to feel something other than pain in my fingers and exposed bits of flesh. I'm happy to report that I was actually overdressed for that shoot and got quite hot in the process of slogging through the deep snow from one herd to the other. Yes!

I got a bit of action out of a couple of them, and was happy to see that two very photo-friendly new mares had been introduced to the herd since I was last out. They are both interestingly marked roans, with "reverse" coloring to each other so that when they hang out together, which they do seem to do, they are complementary in a visual sense. I didn't get anything of note in the way of shots of them at the Tuesday shoot, but I look forward to working with them in the future. Added value for me is that they are both in foal, and it will be interesting to see what they produce. 

The Clyde place is several kilometers east of Ebon where I keep Alpac, so my plan was to stop by and tend to him on the way home. (Still not riding due to the saddle being elsewhere, but reputedly now on the way back). Since it was so darn nice out I decided that would be the perfect opportunity to take his blanket off and put him outside "naked" for the first time since last fall, to let him have a roll in the snow. One of the other riders had the same idea for her young horse, so since they are normally turned out together anyway, we put them both in the big pen and let them entertain themselves and each other. It worked very well as Alpac needs someone to boss (he's head of the herd in his turnout and is happiest with someone to lead) and young Indy is a little uncertain about things and is more than happy to follow. They were eventually joined by a young mare who is new at the barn and all had a very happy time loafing in the sun. Good thing we took that opportunity as by the next day we were back into the low teens below zero, and have been stuck in the minus twenties with nasty winds and wind chills ever since. Word has it that maybe by this Wednesday things will improve, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen. I actually hope we get a longish and slow warming since if it warms too quickly we are going to be underwater at the barn and in parts of the city with the melt. If that *does* happen, though, you can rest assured I'll be posting pictures!! 

OK--I'm confused again about how to get these photos in the order I want them to appear (and Chloe, I can't get your tip to work for me) so I'll just take them as they come. Good for me to be flexible and to be reminded that I can't control *everything* --as if that was a lesson I needed to have reinforced! Hard to* micro *manage when you mostly can't even *manage*. 

First image today is one that I have been working on for the last couple of days. This is just one of several versions as I tend to work on several variations in parallel when I get going on these. This is aimed at an interesting professional opportunity that has come up. I'll post details if my work is actually selected for the venue in question. 

Shots two and three are from the "nice day" photos, and are of my horse Alpac, and one of the young Clyde geldings, respectively. 

Shots four and five are certainly not "art" shots but are of interest for their subject matter. I try to predict when a colorful sunset is likely and try to go to where I can get shots if possible. I headed out to a riverbank park in the southeast of the city a week ago yesterday, having somehow divined that we would have a sunset worthy of recording. By the time I got to my vantage point on the riverbank, a couple of things became evident. One was that the sun is still setting way too far south for anything decent in the way of photos from any of my usual vantage points, and the second was that this was really a poor effort on the part of the sun anyway. While I was marching up and down the river bank hoping for things somehow to improve miraculously (sometimes it happens--usually a burst of glorious color that I see in my rear-view mirror after I have given up and started for home), I noticed a teenage heaving himself up over the edge of a steep bank leading to the river. He was a snow-boarder, and he and his friend were having a great time hurtling almost straight down a steep incline, with not that much that I could see to stop them from going right onto the river ice and/or open water. The lighting by this time was utterly appalling, but that never stops me from giving it a try, and once again I have been amazed at how my camera can pick up light where there doesn't seem to be any.

Shot five (I'd hoped these would post in reverse order to how they have) shows him jumping a couch that they have built into the slope. Shot four shows him going over a picnic table that is a bit further down the slope. You can see the river with its ice down below. I'd actually like to go back in the daytime some weekend for some more shots of snow-boarders in decent light. It's actually quite interesting and an endeavor that I know pretty well nothing about.  

So I'll end in my broken-record way by hoping that by *next* week I'll have my saddle back and be riding again, and that winter will finally and ultimately (for now) be in retreat. 

Wednesday AM--had to add this, just because. Temperature when I woke up, minus 35, windchill minus 45. But at least my saddle is back!!