The view from a different office...

Once in a while I have to entertain the idea that I can be of help in the barn. Even with my asthma and allergies, I clean stalls to give our hired man a day off during the week when the crew is returning from a show. They are so beat down tired that they need to sleep a large portion of the next day which would put the hired man working without a day off and that simply isn't acceptable!

So... The Queen of Everything dons her barn attire and works from a different office, giving Trudy True Blue something to smile sweetly about.

Tools of the trade

The job's objective (ick)

Office mates to keep me company (Jewel is still with us!)

Duke, Rabbit Killer (Still holding a huge grudge...)

My client... And my new obsession with clouds.

Cleaning stalls gives me time to think... Maybe that's the reason I resist it so much. My over-analytical mind goes places it probably shouldn't. But truly, it stretches me. I do the physical part of the job almost without thinking (except for the blisters on my hands that are too used to indoor endeavors), but the mental issues that come with it are different.

I used to think that stall cleaning was a mindless, monotonous job. And I suppose, in some ways, it is. But if you have a mind like mine that likes to wander down rabbit trails, you can get a lot of that junk extra mental baggage out and onto the stall floor where it is swept up and into the bin for disposal. I get much of my aggression out and dealt with then... I also get that small still voice bull-horn voice of God telling me things I need to clean out of my wagon. Clarity. And not always in a good way.

All in all, I enjoyed my day yesterday... I left the barn tired, sore, blistered and covered in little red welts from feeding hay, but it was a good day. I think sometimes boiling life down to the simplest measure clears out the junk and allows us to breathe.

I am breathing today.