In Omnia Paratus
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A biologist by trade with an insatiable love of adventure and the outdoors. Can often be found horseback riding, rock climbing, skiing, and mountain biking throughout West Virginia and beyond
In Omnia Paratus
2y ago
I expect this will be the last blog update for some time, and I'm going to make it count!
Starlight Lane Farm has doubled in size.
This spring, Dave and I made a last-minute decision to purchase an additional three lots. Real estate in our area has been absolutely INSANE since the pandemic. This area has never seen a boom quite like this. It's alarming and exciting and I will be interested to see how things pan out in the coming years. We certainly do not have the infrastructure to support a population boom, but I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get better internet at a minimum be ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
2y ago
Despite my hopes and best efforts, keeping the blog up to date with current happenings has proven very difficult this summer. I have omitted several sections from this post because they just seem silly in light of so much that has been going on; additionally, I simply don't have the time, bandwidth, or interest to sort through my copious photos to choose ones to include for this month.
I have one more huge update about the farm to share in a future post, but beyond that, I will likely be absent from this space in the future. I am not committing to "ending" the blog at this point, but wi ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
3y ago
I had this post mostly composed and ready to go for the end of May, but then life got very life-y and I needed to sit and process for awhile. I hope to update more about all of the nonsense in my June highlights reel. For now, before more time passes, here are [most of] the high points from May.
Camping
To kick off May, I joined my coworkers for what would be the first of many social gatherings sans masks this month. What an utter delight it has been to be around people again! Despite West Virginia's many backwoods ways, our vaccination campaign was well done. As of this month, everyone ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
3y ago
Spring Snows & Spring Ephemerals
Spring is my favorite time in Appalachia. But she never arrives lightly. Her weather is turbulent and unpredictable. Snow is to be expected. In fact, there is some old Appalachian adage about counting foggy mornings in the fall (between certain dates) to predict number of spring snows (occurring after a certain date). Whereby "spring snow" dictates enough snow to track a chicken in.
This "Fools Snow" on April 1 was the most significant of our spring snows
It built up in a hurry on our road
And caused near-white out conditions f ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
3y ago
The Great Thaw
Winter this year in Canaan Valley and the surrounding highlands was one of the best we've had in a decade (maybe more). The weather was cold, remained cold, and the snow that we received slowly built up and up and up. It was amazing to have such a solid base in the woods in areas that hadn't been skied in so long.
But then, it was as if someone flipped that proverbial season switch we all joke and wish we had. On February 28 the rain began, the temperatures warmed, and through the next three weeks, all of the snow melted. In fact, much of March was classic spring weather f ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
3y ago
A Very Snowy Month
With the exception of yesterday evening when the 36 hour heavy rain event starting making a dent in the snow, I didn't see any grass or natural groundcover for the month of February. It was just snow, snow, snow, ice, snow, ice, snow, snow, ice, snow, rain.
And frankly, I'm not mad about it. I am a firm believer in finding a way to enjoy snow because you cannot control it. Especially if you're someone who lives in an area that regularly sees snowy winter weather. (TX folks, your recent situation does not apply. Complain away.) But for northerners, snow i ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
3y ago
Writing and sharing in a lengthy-formal(ish) format just hasn't been something I'm motivated to do for some time now. Instagram is much more up my alley these days. I'm afraid I've turned into quite the quiet little blog lurker and not so much of an actual blogger of late. That stated, I still do enjoy this space, and I still want to try to document life here. Just with less frequency. Which, honestly, feels appropriate because I have three mature horses who are not making new and exciting break throughs every time I work with them as they were when I started this blog over a decade ago.
I am ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
3y ago
Saw this on Raincoast Rider's blog and loved it. Thanks to Alberta Equest for putting the original together!
What's the best thing that happened to you in 2020?
Personal: Slowing the F down. I have wanted to reduce my chaos and just coast along without over-committing myself for several years now. Call it aging or whatever, but the pace I maintained in my daily life during my 20s is not something I really care to keep maintaining. I've had friends jokingly call me Hermione for years because I do so many things it's akin to Hermione and her timeturner in Prisoner of Azkaban. It was fun - and e ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
3y ago
What is there to say about 2020? It certainly wasn't what a single one of us expected! Despite the total and complete shitshow that much of the year was, I think most of us made the best of it. For me, making the best of it was luxuriating in my suddenly open, blank schedule. I direly needed to slow TF down from my normal go-go-go mentality/life. And with a clear schedule and minimal obligations, I slowed way down.
Slowing down allowed me to step back and find a ton of gratitude for my life. An empty schedule coupled with time to slow down and reflect lessened my typical ..read more
In Omnia Paratus
3y ago
It's crazy to think that Starlight Lane Farm has been a part of my life for over a year now. I can say with absolutely zero hesitation that having the horses at home has been the greatest thing ever. Especially considering the current state of the world and the pandemic. (I'll never stop counting my lucky stars that I completed the project last year.)
I knew when I announced the project's "completion" last year on the blog that I would still spend the better part of a year deciding on final organization for the space. And I have. And I will likely continue to improve and modify things as time ..read more