A cool start to a beautiful day

So appropriate for me and Eagle.  Could also be said of life in general.  It's very easy for self-doubt to creep in, it's always lingering on the edges of our well-being, threatening to take hold and steal our joy.    Don't let it!  In many cases, easier said than done.  But just keep pushing onward.  

Occasionally we need to remind ourselves of our humble beginnings, look back and remember all those times when we were afraid, or just felt those all-too familiar butterflies in our tummies and despite the fear, the questioning of doubt, stepped up and did it anyway.  Remember that feeling of satisfaction,  of being an overcomer and the simple, unadulterated joy of success.  Aahhh, sweet success!

Remain humble, but savor those moments when we, seemingly despite the odds of our own self-doubt, did it.  We worked through our fears and accomplished something we've worked so hard for. That will give us courage for the next time when fear rears its' ugly head.  One step at a time, the longest journey begins...

We're heading to the inside arena this evening after work for another little ride.  It's getting so dark, so early now, that's about the only way we get to ride.  I'm easily bored in an arena, but even if I just do a little walk-trot in big and little circles, it's better than nothing.  My plan is to try and be focused on feeling my horse, and going with him with a sense of purpose and direction.  Always beautiful and smooth in my mind, not always the case in reality.  But with work, slowly and surely, we will progress.  Ray always said that "perfect practice makes perfect".  In our case, it's not perfection that we seek, but the joy in the doing.



Look at this amazing sunset last evening.  My hubby took this beautiful shot with my phone while we were driving to Lowe's for some supplies for our patio project.  That's the Coast Range and I could just envision what a magnificent sunset it was over the ocean last night.  Pretty spectacular evening! I am loving the crispness in the morning and evening air - feels like Fall has already arrived!



Here's another shot from last night, a bit earlier in the evening and looking north from our yard.  The colors aren't as pretty as in real life, but that feathery, grey-blue surrounded by those puffy thunderheads looked so beautiful.  That's pretty close to the blue in our bedroom.  There's a definite moistness in the air that only a week or so ago, wasn't there.  Makes me think a fire in the wood stove would feel especially nice, especially in the mornings.  It's cold in our house when I get out of bed now!  That's not something I enjoy.  Speaking of wood - we got all the wood nicely stacked outside our wood shed.  Troy called them slab ends because they're from trees he chopped and had fence boards made out of them.  These lengths are the leftovers, and range in length from 8 to 16 feet long. We ended up with two pick-up loads without using our racks, which is roughly a cord or slightly more.  We would still like to get a couple more cords to add to our winter supply.  This wood isn't seasoned, so won't be used this year.

We haven't figured out when we're taking our last few vacation days, but we're hoping to go horse camping in Central Oregon.  Plans could change, but that's what we're thinking.  All the horse camps around there will be closed already for the winter season, so we won't have access to corrals or bathrooms.  So, we're thinking of Jack Creek - it's not an actual campground, but it's right beside the creek.  We can take our own potty, and our own corrals, and use the creek to water the horses.  We'll plan on cold overnight temperatures, but the daytime should be just about perfect for riding.  Might be the first time a camp fire will feel really good too.  I'm really starting to look forward to going, and need to make all the arrangements so we can go before too long.  Our horses are really starting to wooly up already, and I'm starting to think maybe we're in for an early, or a colder than usual winter. We haven't had one in quite a long time.

Summer, only two more days and then fall, glorious fall!

Do you do anything special, or have any traditions for this time of year?