THE EQUINE NOMAD: Moonlight

Tonight is the night of a Full Strawberry Moon

Today and tonight, June 15th, there will be a "Full Strawberry Moon", according to the Farmer's Almanac. It's a fitting day for a naming ceremony, and I hereby announce that the overwhelming choice for our newest herd member is "Moonlight". Thanks to Paul Foerster for choosing the name. It goes well with the rest of the herd, and fits his mystical, magical, quiet and cool personality.

Moonlight is ready to go!

So, it's Maggie, Midnight, Moonlight, and Magic from here out. Thanks to everyone who contributed name options! They were all good. Moonlight seems to be the very best fit, and what better name for a white horse on a Full Strawberry Moon night?

My dear friends Paul and Donna

Donna and Paul are at this moment packing up the van with all sorts of things to take with them to Arizona to the Kundalini Conference they will be attending. Singing bowls, gemstone spheres, malas, brochures, flyers, display cases, etc. Lots of stuff to support Donna's amazing business in creating customized, prescriptive malas. Gina and I will be holding down the fort, caring for the birds, the dog, the cat, and the plants.

Gina and I will be housesitting together.

One of our small charges. Doesn't he resemble Groucho Marx?

Testing out the new Mala Booth. Donna designed and made the curtains.
Spectacular!

Sewing the curtains for the mala booth.

Support Crew - Gina pins the curtains for sewing.

Donna also dried many pounds of Fruit and put together bags of delicious snacks for her customers.
Figs, Mango, Strawberry, Plum, Apricot, Guava, Apple, Coconut, Almonds, and Cashews.
Yum! All hand cut and dried by Donna. Man, that gal is a worker!

Once they get down the road, I will be focusing on getting myself ready for travel when they return. My list includes a visit to the mechanic for Bessie, my 2002 Chevy Silverado, a windshield replacement, and several days of sorting through my possessions, culling anything that doesn't need to travel with me. Eventually I will have everything organized to use the truck and trailer again as a support vehicle for my adventures on horseback. I love my truck! It's got around 150,000 miles now, and still purrs like a kitten down the highway with almost 6,000 pounds of horses and gear in the trailer behind me. In the next couple of weeks, I also want to get into the Apple store, and maybe take a photography class at the local camera shop in Pasadena. Of course there will also be many rides in Eaton Canyon...

Bessie, the truck love of my life. She gets me where I want to go!

I'm planning to be on the PCT again, but will skip the Mojave section, starting in Lone Pine, a classic old town from the West, known as the set for many a Hollywood Movie. I will find someplace to leave my horses and pack gear there while I shuttle the truck north to the "take out" point near Mammoth Lakes.

Here is a link to the PCT if you want to see a map of the entire trail:

http://www.fs.fed.us/pct/index.html

Tonight, Gina, Erica, and I plan to visit the town of Eagle Rock. There is a food truck festival there every Wednesday night, and we're going to go check it out.