Monday Musings

As you can see from the above photo, our first big snow dump of the winter arrived and California boy is not impressed.  With howling winds today, more snow in the forecast, and temperatures in the single digits next week, winter is really here.  Shockingly though, I am in good spirits with a couple non-horse projects to work on and a bevy of online equestrian opportunities.

This is an equestrian blog, so you probably don’t care about my genealogy research addiction fueled by familysearch.org, but it is super fun for a history nerd like me.  It is a perfect fit for cold winter days and falling down the rabbit hole of connections and original source documents.  I read a lot as well, and have recently started the habit of always having a non-fiction book going.  Mostly politics, history, or racial justice but also some just oddball books that I have loved.  I keep a huge wishlist on my library’s online book app, Overdrive, and just pick whatever tickles my fancy at the moment.  With a heavy dose of fluffy novels mixed in of course.  I also just joined Twitter and am really enjoying finding interesting people to follow and hearing directly from the horse’s mouth so to speak.

On the equestrian side I am sticking to my two subscription online learning platforms, Dressage Naturally and the TRT Method.  New videos drop for DN on the first of each month, which is always exciting, and a new podcast(free) drops once a week.  I am also working my way through TRT’s starting the young horse program with Cruiser which is perfect for inside colder weather training sessions.  I’m also finding huge benefits in using the Happy Athletes Progress Journal prompts for my online riding diary.  I’ve have several small aha moments inspired by looking over my diary entries and I’m feeling like I have a better picture of my big view goals but also the small steps to build our way there.  I also follow several equestrian Facebook groups and personalities and find a lot of interesting learning opportunities in various posts.

Of course, all of this is assisted by a roaring fire at all times, some good home cooking, and sticking to my exercise and yoga goals.  Don’t get me wrong, spring and the end of the pandemic restrictions will be most welcome, but I’m trying to make the most of things as they are and be grateful for my blessings.  Especially looking at the news, many people’s lives are so difficult right now that I have no reason to complain.

How about you?  What are you doing to get through the dark winter days of the pandemic restrictions?  Tips and tales?