I spent a beautiful day on the river yesterday doing a 10-mile kayak trip. My sister surprised my family with a last minute visit home before starting her new job in Chicago next week. She was looking to do something fun during her visit and I had wanted to revisit the Delaware Water Gap for a full-day of kayaking. My sister was totally game so we packed a cooler with cold water and snacks and hit the road early.
The barn is semi-ish on the way to the Delaware Water Gap so I made the detour to visit Quest first. She was standing under the barn shelter with two other mare friends. She got kisses, a nice thorough grooming, and breakfast. I think she only really cared about the last part…
I doctored any bug bites, pasture scrapes and with one final affectionate forehead rub, sent her back into pasture where she happily rejoined her friends.
My sister and I continued on west towards PA and soon hit the water. We took our time and paced ourselves accordingly and docked on shore only once for a lunch break before pushing off and continuing the rest of our journey.
It was really the perfect day to be out. The river was mercifully quiet and at times we were alone as far as the eye could see. The weather was balmy and the scenery was breathtaking as always. There were points along the river where the water was as smooth as glass and a complete mirror of the clouds and sky above. The scenery invited the quiet and stillness to mediate on the past few months.
Last Saturday the vet came out to do a follow-up ultrasound on Quest’s leg. It’s been about 90 days since initial injury and while things are healing, she hasn’t improved as much as the vet would have liked to see, especially after three full shockwave sessions. I do not for a moment regret spending the money on shockwave- it was worth every penny to give Quest the best chance at complete and faster healing- but I am disappointed that it wasn’t as helpful as had hoped.
So what’s next for us? Long story short…rest, rest, and more rest. We are going to back off the daily hand walking and allow her to rest in pasture for 30 days to let time to do its thing.
While Quest has her full month off, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to rest and recharge as well with a break from blogging and the blogosphere. This will be my first hiatus since starting the blog almost two years ago. I have really been needing this for a while and my reflections on the river yesterday have made me realize that if I don’t make my own rest a priority, I will never strike that fine balance if I don’t champion for it myself.
If you’re curious to see what mareface and I are up to during this time, check us out on instagram.
Everything has a time and place, and this year is time for us to recharge, rest, and reset. See you in a month or so.
