Balance. Now there’s a simple word if ever there was one. And yet when I’m trying to put my socks on in the morning I find it not so simple. I also find it not so simple when I’m horseback to achieve balance, or equilibrium, as my Latin friends call it, in my horse riding. But to polish it off, sometimes finding balance in my life is the ultimate challenge. Like, how does one balance a job, a hobby (read: passion), a family and a bank account; all at once? Every day comes with a new challenge. You thought you were going to work with (? play with) four horses, but the float valve on the middle water tank chose today to start leaking and the neighbors cows broke into your bale yard!

At times like these it seems somehow not foremost in my mind to search for harmony and equanimity. These days (and in some weeks there are eight of them) require action–and cussing!

So often the best I can do is to come up with what my wife calls “creative swearing,” as I jam my pick up into four-wheel-drive and slowly sink deeper into the pasture.

“Son of a pea-pick’n mangy female canine biscuit-eater,” or in Spanish “Hijo de tú madre!”

Then a month or so later, sitting on the front porch with a cold Corona, it’ll make a good story. Or if you’re willing to treat the truth a little recklessly–a great story!