Each day still has 24 hours in it. Next week I turn 55 and I have a lot of things left to accomplish. I have a lot of significant writing to do--programs to develop, scripts to write, planting schedules to develop, and magazine articles to write.
Might even write another book.
These are things that require time to write but also time to think and time to research. This year I must focus on living more efficiently and getting much more work out of a given day. That means I have to cut down on less significant activities. We reach many people through this blog and face book and I will not be abandoning either, but I will radically reduce my attention to them over the next six months.
I am not given to naturally looking forward to the future. Being hopeful and optimistic has never been something that I have been comfortable pretending to be. Experience simply has not born out the validity of such feelings.
But right now I am more looking forward to our future than I have ever been. Ashely will be working with me this semester on everything what I need done--horse training, hill work, planting, environmental enhancements, training program development for professionals who deal with children who have been abused, writing, and more important than most could ever understand--helping me think. Talking to Ashley is like putting leaven to my thoughts. She immediately sharpens my pre-ideas and helps turn them into action. She will be working directly for me and will not be an employee of our non profit--The Gwaltney Frontier Farm. Our non-profit will benefit from everything she does without having to put out a penny. I am not a business man, but that seems like a good deal for us.
I like concepts that move quickly into action and Ashley helps make that happen. This morning was quite an odd sensation. My norm is to wake around 1:30 to 2:30 clear my mind and think about things that I need to be doing at the horse lot and trying to figure out when i can get those things done. Prioritizing a list of things that are all top priorities.
This morning I woke up at 3:30 and found myself smiling thinking about how good 2015 will be at the horse lot.
I am still smiling.
'14 is going to go down as being an awfully good year..Many of the seeds planted this year will not reach fruition for a bit yet. Some grow faster than others though.
ReplyDeleteChloe and Midnight (Nee Max) have blown through a whole bunch of gates in just a couple of weeks..those two are going places. soon they will go places fast. Elmo's colt has sprung up and has all the earmarks of being an incredible young horse..hard to go wrong with a great Corrolla stud and a wise old Tennesse Walker..Those two are going places..Knowing Elmo it will be a full throttle ride. (I got rid of cable TV because it is much more fun to watch Elmo go...)
We have seen a whole lot of riders and trainers grow and mature significantly this year..Some by leaps and bounds and some by what may seem small steps, but for whom those steps are huge. All of them are extremely rewarding.
We have seen the arrival of quite a number of new horses, some of them among the rarest specimens in the world, all of them unique in their heritage. These young people will be the ones to get them on the trail and teach them. There is no better way to learn than to teach.
'15 is going to see many new things..we will add some complexity to the training program which was not necessarily there before, but will be beneficial far beyond the added complexity..here is an instance where the payoff is immediate..and a whole lot of fun for both horse and rider.
Mill Swamp has quietly garnered alot of attention over the past year..I see a whole lot of people who are not necessarily involved, but who are part of the mainstream horse world, many of them see what we do, and that what we do works..it is catching fire, and the inevitable effect will be better lives for horses and young people. Those who are watching and are disparaging of what we do, well, not everyone can be enlightened at the same time, but it is impossible to carry an argument in the face of overwhelming success. That is ok, we are not going anywhere..nor will we change without awfully good reason.
This close knit little family of people, horses, hogs, goats and dogs, is only getting stronger...
'14 has amazed me..'15 is going to be awesome to behold. -Lloyd