Mercury in Retrograde: Part 1

 

Just being the Prettiest Princess

This year has been Monsoon CRAZY! We ended up with the third wettest monsoon season since recording began, with something like 13 inches. I could get the exact total, but I'm too lazy. This was my first year getting to experience a real monsoon season, and it was pretty great. It's hard to explain just how fast, and how instense, a little bit of rain gets out here. Mega big time runoff. It boogles my mind how an inch or less of rain can transform into the raging washes, but it sure does!

15 minutes of rain and this usually dry mini-wash is roaring

The downside of a good season is it's humid AF. Not as hot as usual, low 100s, but humid. By the end of August, everyone, especially the horses were tired of the weather. It had been too hot, too humid, too buggy (SO buggy!!) and we were tired of it. 

So when Truby seemed a bit grumpy I assumed it was just being done with the weather and needing a break. And a good massage. During her massage, she started licking...and chewing...and...foaming?! 

Kinda weird

I thought maybe she got some fly spray in her mouth, and gave her a good rinse. Then a few days later, I got caught at the barn by a intense storm. Heavy, hard rain. Hail. Strong winds. Flooding. It was crazy! Horses did not mind, not even a little. I watched them dozing through the thunder. And once it finally started to pass, they woke up and went back to their hay. 

Hail!

Playing with her carrot ball to wait out the rain

Turnout area was flooded

I popped a couple of carrots in Truby's carrot ball toy, and noticed she started getting foamy again. What the heck?! Was there pesticides on the carrots? I rinsed her mouth again. And, since I was completely head to feet soaked through, decided to go home. 

Went the long around to avoid this dude

A couple days after that, I was giving Truby her hay pellet soup, and noticed she wasn't right. The angle of her head, the way she was slurping...it just was slightly off. So I did what I should have done a week and change ago, and pried open her mouth and took a look. 

Awwwww :(

She had a couple little sores, in places she couldn't get them from biting herself. No idea where she could have gotten them from. But I had a horse get into some foxtail and it was BAD. I set up a vet appointment so we could see what was going on. Of course, by the day before, the little sores I could see had almost completely healed. But scared by the Foxtail Incident, I keep the appointment.

Time to get HhhhiiiiIiiiigh

Truby got a ton of cookies while we chatted about what was going on (Truby's adorable and loves snacks, so she always gets cookied.) Then Dr H had to rinse her mouth a few times, because someone had a ton of cookie crumbs. She got a light sedation, just enough that we could get a good look without anyone losing a finger by accident. 

OUCH

Poor Truby had a mouth full of sores, cuts, and assorted ouchies. Luckily everything was already in the process of healing. But still, poor Pretty Princess! No wonder she had been acting lackluster. Best we could figure is that she got a random patch of prickly weeds in her hay. Our hay is usually fabulous, but sometimes weeds happen. And in Arizona, of course it's gonna be prickly. 

In addition to checking her hay for weeds, Truby would get a rinse of chlorohexidine every day. We got to talking about her ulcers, and I mentioned what a magic bullet sucralfate was for her. Dr H lit up and we added in a dose of sucralfate being split into an oral rinse and ingest the rest. This helped her comfortable level so quickly it was incredible. Love that stuff! 

Dr H was mentioned the vets would be doing some continuing education, and looking for horse volunteers. They got a new scope and would be learning how to do gastroscopes. When thinking up who might be a good candidate for scope practice, Truby's name came right up (lol, sob). Would I like to bring her in and get a free scope? HELL YES I WOULD! Let's do it!!!!

So by the time Truby finished waking up, we had a plan for her regular fall shots/exam that Saturday, and then in two weeks to be the Continuing Ed volunteer. 

Rolly, rolly, rolly

The next day, Truby was already feeling so much better. Sometimes I wonder if I make up what a special personality she has. Maybe she's not the super cute, friendly, magical unicorn I think she is. 

Nope! She totally is. She was just feeling bad. A few rinses, a little sucralfate, and a break in the weather brought back my super cute unicorn.

is perfect unicorn

While I felt kinda shitty for letting almost 2 weeks go by before thinking "maybe something is actually wrong", I'm glad I finally figured it out, and had the vet come out and check her. Horses always seem to find the most random things to hurt themselves with! 

A few days later, my vet had a mini vaccine clinic at the ranch. Truby and I walked around, enjoying the cool breeze and gentle sun until it was our turn. We met up with Dr I, and Truby got her shots and cookies. Other than recommending a little more weight across her topline (we've been working on this All Year), Truby was in great health. Dr I was especially tickled by her sparkly hoof boots. We've been rocking our sparkle boots due to some rain induced thin soles. 

Trust me, they're sparkly!

I tucked Truby away, happy knowing she was happy, healthy, and healing. Her mouth looked great. Her vets love her, and Truby always enjoys hanging out with people. The weather was beautiful. All was well with my little world. 

She loves her hay bag for both snacks and naps

It's Been Awhile...

And the days went by like paper in the wind

everything changed, then changed again

It's hard to find a friend

It's hard to find a friend

(To Find a Friend, Tom Petty)

So a lot has happened since my last post. Truby got winter ulcers for the first time since moving to Arizona. It took me longer to catch on than it should have, but she only had ulcer problems the few years we lived in Pennsylvania (fair play, Tr00bs, PA gave me ulcers too) and she's not a huge fan of Bermuda hay. Not eating forage is her Big Tell her stomach hurts, but I missed it because she'll eat her Bermuda, but it's also normal for her to be picky sometimes. 

She lost a ton of weight (approx 125 lbs) by simply NOT EATING ANYTHING OMFG PLEASE EAT I DON'T CARE WHAT JUST EAT SOMETHING.

New Year's Eve she came down suddenly and dramatically with a high fever. Because everyone loves holiday emergencies, right? Luckily our vets are awesome and Dr H came out right away and helped Truby feel better. 

Truby's "Everything hurts and I'm dying" Pose

The best pony for tubing

And as suddenly as she fell sick, she got better. None of the other horses had any problems. We did send off some test samples, but nothing showed up. HORSES.

So with all this going on, it was easy to ignore the falling standard of care by the barn owner and her staff. But it was there. And as much as I tried to ignore it and make up for it, I finally decided it was time to move on. This was a far harder decision to make than it should have been, but finally, finally I decided we had to go. 

Since Husband and I had the amazing luck to be moving ourselves, I set up Truby to move a few months down the line. After all, moving is stressful, so let's move one thing at a time, right?

Nope. I stopped by the barn one afternoon and found that instead of feeding Truby "one or two handful" of hay pellets our friend said she was feeding her in the afternoons, she was being given pounds of barely moistened pellets and a bunch of flaxseed. Um. When I asked (nicely)WTF was going on, I got verbally attacked. By someone that had been a friend. Deceit and lies for weeks, then spewing vitriol at me. At least I knew why Truby had been suddenly colicking all the time. 

Tummy hurts, would like to die pls

I moved her the next day.

I'm still, more than 6 months later, having a hard time with what happened. I won't go into details here, but it was bad, and it hurts. 

New barn owner was surprisingly calm when I called her and asked if I could move Truby ASAP. Sure, a stall was open, move whenever you want. She was totally not concerned by the fact that I was basically hysterical, and was willing to let the crazy person with the skinny horse move in. 

Nothing is quite as embarrassing as showing up unexpectedly with a noticeably underweight horse at a new barn. And having to admit that no, I didn't just pick her up at the kill pen... But I was met with kindness, and Truby settled in right away. In fact, as soon as I hung her haynet, she put her head in and start munching away. New barn owner said she's never had a horse settle in as quickly and easy as Truby. 

Custom made dino sugar treats

I really like our new place. First of all, it's called Cloudbase, and the boarders are called "Cloudies". How is that not the best thing ever?! I love it. It's a very, very nice place and the care is absolutely top notch. The other boarders are all friendly and nice, but I haven't been trying to make any close friends, in a once bitten, twice shy way. Although we do have a couple of good barn buddies already. The horse caretaker is amazing, I swear he has a spreadsheet of each horse in his head. He knows all their habits and makes notes of anything even slightly different. 

Very happy to have her treat ball in her new stall

The first super hot day of summer, Truby had a minor colic, and it was caught immediately and I was called immediately. You may have noticed, but Tru's super dramatic about any illness, but recovers quickly, and this was just the same. Not having to worry and wonder how long she'd been sick is such a relief. 

IT SNOWED!

So while change is often hard, Truby and I made some changes. Life hasn't been perfect, but I don't have to worry about the quality of care, or if someone is even around to notice a problem. As another change, Husband and I moved out of the apartment complex and into a house. The friend we rode with a couple times, L and Dixie (who also boarded at Cloudbase) moved out of state, but didn't want to sell or rent to strangers. I told her she'd easily get more renting it out to someone else, but if she could stay in our budget, we'd rent. And she could, and we did! We're in a slightly different part of town, and Truby is a little further away, but it's a nice, quiet neighborhood, a comfy house (it has a fireplace!) and it has a POOL! This is the best thing to survive a Tucson summer. Nothing beats coming home, hot and sweaty and jumping right into your own pool. We are so, so lucky to have the opportunity to live here and it works our for everyone. 

We have amazing sunsets to the west

Looking east, we get a great view of incoming storms

The Horse I Already Have

 

She's perfect, actually

Sometimes I look at an Arizona horses for sale facebook page and daydream about buying another horse (like you do). It's always the solid citizen QHs that catch my eye...a roan or a bright chestnut...bombproof, trail rides anywhere, load up and horse show, grandma safe, etc etc etc. And it's definitely fun to look and daydream, but of course there's no way I can afford another horse! I started telling myself, if you really want a good, solid trail horse...WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT WITH THE HORSE YOU ALREADY HAVE?!

I've been working on that for several years. Truby's usually good as gold at home, but step over the property line...and nope. Instant anxiety, brain falls out, panic panic panic. So we've been chipping away at it. Lots of small steps, lots of hand walking, lots of carrots, lots and lots of good experiences and tons of carrots. 

It's paying off

As it turns out, Truby is becoming that easy breezy trail horse! The other week M and I finally had a day off at the same time and planned to trailer out for a ride. The weather was perfect. Warm, sunny, a little breeze. The horses were relaxed and lazy. M and I were happy and ready for an adventure. 

We went to a new to me place, still in Saguaro National Park East, but a different area, much busier, but very nice. Truby stepped off the trailer totally chill, and then stuck her face in her haynet and just...hung out. Usually we have to walk off her nervousness, but that day she was content to just stand by the trailer and eat. M is partial to giving Cinco lots of time just hanging out at the trailer and eating, so she was fine to wait and let the ponies relax and munch. 

I don't trust her to be tied, but she didn't move an inch

We hand walked down the road a bit, and then headed into the park. There's a couple large boulders that make perfect mounting blocks, and I hopped on. Truby was calm, but ready to go, so I really should have waited for M to get on first. She was still faffing about, and Truby needed to move, so we walked a large circle...and while Tru couldn't stand, and was Very Interested in everything, she wasn't wild or uncontrollable. A minute later M was on and we hit the trail. 

The first part of the trail wound gently through typical Tucson desert. It was lovely. So peaceful. Birds singing, the warmth of the sun, the fuzzy ponies...it was hard to realize that the outskirts and suburbs of the city aren't that far away! Truby was relaxed and enjoying herself, despite some grumpy looking ears (I don't know why, mares!) I was absolutely enchanted by the scenery. If you like deserts...this is a good place to go!

Took a video for my dad

After a mile or so down the desert path, we cut across to a dirt road. For awhile it was totally clear, and I asked if we could trot a bit. Truby happily picked up a trot, but as we neared a parked car with sun reflecting off the windshield at us, Truby's head got higher, she steps shorter, and her knees higher. Laughing, I brought her back to a walk and we passed the highly sus van. 

Before long we would have several cars pass us on the road, every one driving slowly. At first Truby was concerned, but quickly decided it was no big deal. We also passed some people walking their (leashed) dogs, and that was interesting, but not alarming. At one point we had cars passing in both directions while we waited off in the brush. Truby had a long minute where she was trying to decide if she should freak out, but came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it, sighed, and that was it. She didn't bat an eye at anything else the rest of the ride. 

Heading toward the wash

We left the road, and headed down toward the wash. The footing is deeper and pretty abrasive (also, filled with hikers!) so we crossed over, and followed the trail that would loop back around to where we started. This part of the trail is interesting, with little hills and steps cut into the trial. By this time Truby was pretty tired, and didn't get to enjoy it as much as she would have. She wasn't exhausted, but it was definitely a bit too long a ride for her. She was tired, but game to keep going.

I had gotten a Christmas saddle pad and matching helmet cover, which were a big hit with the hikers we passed! I got lots of compliments, and also overheard lots of squealing at the cute white horse with her festive saddle pad. I may have ordered MORE Christmas gear...which is backordered, but finally arriving tomorrow. I plan to give M our saddle pad cover and an elf hat of her own. Truby will get a quarter sheet and rein covers. I can't wait! It's super adorable.

We gave the horses a good rest at the trailer, again Truby was happy to hang out and eat hay. She was tired, but quite pleased with herself! It was obvious she enjoyed the ride as much as I did. Basically the entire time I was chattering about how amazing she was, how I couldn't believe how perfect she was, how omg I'm riding my own horse in the desert!!!!!!!!!!! M was almost as thrilled as I was...maybe more, it's hard to say who was the most excited. She's certainly helped us a lot, and put in quite a few hours with us, helping Truby get to this point. Where she loaded up, went to a brand new location, and had a wonderful ride, encountering lots of new and potentially scary things...without fear or dangerous behavior. We had a fun, safe ride together. I haven't really let myself dream that we could have a day like that, because I didn't want to be disappointed. But...it looks like we can have days like this!

I have my trail horse,

and she is perfect <3

We Got Spooky

Intrigued by the permission to be spooky,

would like to hear more

The last few weeks have been exciting in Truby Land. We had a sudden, and huge temperature drop. The day it started we had a short, but heavy downpour (!!!!) which was amazing, as it's barely rained at all this year. It was windy and wild the rest of the day. I took Truby out for a handwalk on the Loop, to let her stretch out and hopefully keep her from getting too sore. Tucson can see big swings in temperatures day to night, and that makes a Truby rather painful, especially her legs/joints.

Despite the temperature drop and the wind, Truby was pretty well behaved, and only a little spooky. She was definitely grumpy and short strided at the start! It took almost a full third of the Loop before she warmed up enough to step out and enjoy herself. To be honest, it took me about that long as well!

She thinks it's overkill, but in the morning she doesn't 

want to get undressed :)

I was amused to see she dragged her hay outside

I guess she wanted to eat under the stars

After a couple days, it warmed right back up and we were in the 90s again, which made for a rather warm Halloween. We had a small outdoor party, which was a ton of fun. I took Truby for a little ride between setting up and putting out all the snacks. 

Parties are held by Truby's run so she can hang out

Since Truby is generally friendly and easy going, I bought some clown make up sticks and we had fun drawing on her. I did all of the work below (except the Cinco Loves Truby, that was M). She had more added throughout the evening, but I forgot to get pics. 

 

Boo!

SpoOOooky Spiders

Haunted House

M and I went for a post election ride, which was absolutely amazing. So relaxed and peaceful. We really needed something to take the edge off.

I'm always telling people that the coyotes around the barn are super chill. They're well fed, not mangy, and used to horses and people. We have "our" pack at the barn, but there's also a group at the Loop. 

They like to hang out by the turnout pens, and sometimes it can be hard to wake them up from their naps and convince them to get off the trail. They're literally like the old, fat farm dogs that are dopey and affable, and their worst trait is sleeping in the barn aisle. 

Her friend was a few feet away in the creosote bushes, just after I stopped filming. Kudos to Truby for being super calm and brave! Of course, she knows these guys, so again...just kinda like pushing barn dogs around. 

I've been self isolating the last few days, since one of my coworkers has been super sick. My covid test has come back negative, but it still meant a few days home while I waited. Luckily it was already my weekend, so not too bad as far as life disruption. Today I get to go to the barn again! We also have another weather change coming through, so hopefully some RAIN!!!!!

Those things, combined with the excellent news about Biden/Harris claiming the election (and AZ defeating McSally!!!) have me feeling calm and happy. Really looking forward to getting to hug Truby this afternoon <3 

Likes hugs, parties, but not pumpkin spice muffins

Surprise Trail Ride!

 So we're on our eight billionth day of over 100 degree temps. Which might be a slight exaggeration, but this year has been stupidly and unbearably hot and dry. Technically, we've had quite a few days in the (upper) 90s, but it's the middle of October, and everything in my body and brain is screaming that it's too hot! It's supposed to be chilly! What is this????

Livin' for the melon

For example, I have a pumpkin, because Halloween is awesome. But I can't put the pumpkin on my porch yet, because we get afternoon sun and the pumpkin would bake and/or explode. So it's in the living room, like you do. 

Anyway. Enough of that. Last Sunday I was texting M while at work, and she invited us to go trail riding. Which would have been great! but, work. As luck would have it, less than 20 minutes later, I was done, all the doggie had been picked up, and the salon was clean (the benefit of working alone!) and I was rather surprised. I texted M back, told her I finished early and was headed over to the barn, see her soon?

At least the weather has been good for dust baths

I was hoping she hadn't left yet, and she hadn't! So I tossed my tack in the trailer, packed a pocket of cookies and we loaded up the horses. We were optimistic enough to drive over together, but still wore masks and kept the windows down. 

I was pleased that Truby loaded calmly and easily enough, but thrilled at how quietly she stepped off the trailer. She seemed pleased to be at Saguaro East and soon we were tacked up and ready to ride! 

She's not trustworthy to tie yet, but this is a good step in the right direction

As soon as I got on, Truby pricked her ears and started marching down the trail. Lately, she's been using Cinco as a security blanket and wanting to follow him, so I was a bit surprised but very happy that she happily led the way. 

Okay, let's go!

The first part of the trail is hard packed, but after going up and down a couple of rock staircases, the trail drops down into the wash, which is pretty deep, loose sand. There's a narrow trail that's more solid, and we stuck to that. Cinco opted for the deeper sand, and walked either beside us or lead the way. Truby and I were content to let him play leader. M and I love that we can swap positions, and make sure take turns. 

The wash was nice and shady, but it was still a toasty afternoon, and Truby has been growing in a winter coat (why????) so we didn't go as far as usual. I could tell Truby was tired as we headed back. At one point a big mule deer went leaping across the trail, but Tru was looking in another direction and didn't even notice! We waited a few minutes in case it doubled back, or more followed, but no. Just a single deer with places to go. 

We made it back to the trailer and untacked uneventfully (my favorite way!) and were letting the horses relax and munch some hay when a young couple carefully approached, and asked if they could pet the horses? They were super polite, and masked, so of course we readily agreed. I walked Truby over and she begged them to rub her tired, itchy forehead. After loving on Truby and giggling with delight, they went over to meet Cinco, who was also happy to meet strangers and get pets. Getting to meet the horses made their day, and getting to share our beloved ponies made ours!

the best Truby being the best Truby

It took a few minutes to convince Truby to get back on the trailer, but when we got home, she regally stepped off like a pro. I turned her out in case she wanted to roll, but she just strolled around, checking out the hay tubs, water bucket, and looking for coyotes. After we had the trailer unpacked, cleaned, and everything put away, I brought her in for dinner and a good liniment rubdown. She was definitely tired, but seemed happy. I think she enjoyed our adventure!  

M put this cute lil unicorn sticker on her trailer

Adverting Disaster

 A couple weeks ago we said a sad farewell to the barn owner's horse, Primo. Primo was just a great horse. One of those golden horses that are always amazing at whatever they do. His passing was sudden, but not unexpected - he had been riding the laminitis roller coaster for several years, and it's a relief his suffering is over. 

I spent most of his last day with him

so he wouldn't be alone 

The next day was understandably somber. His buddy Turbo was looking lost and rather sad. Truby was subdued, as befitting the situation. Cinco was a little confused, as the 'baby' of the group. Barn owner J was staying with her sister for a few days, and I had volunteered to feed and water that evening. 

Sleepy Truby

It was hot, as expected in Tucson in early September. I was absolutely drained from the emotional support given the day before, and physically tired from a long day of work. It was nice though. Quiet. The smell of mesquite smoke in the air. Which was kinda weird. It was WAY too hot to be using fireplaces at night (it was 105 in the day and low 90s at night) and far too dry to be burning outdoors. But whatever, people are weird. I turned the horses out, cleaned the stalls, set up dinner...I took Truby and Turbo, one at a time, to visit Primo's grave. Truby was uninterested, but Turbo gave the area a thorough inspection before spinning around and adamantly leaving. 

I was puttering around, too worn out to really do much, but not really ready to leave. I was debating whether or not to dump the Gator. It wasn't full...it wasn't my job...but there were quite a few flies buzzing around...and the Gator is super fun to drive...so why not?

I'm really glad I did, because when I drove out I discovered the source of the "wood smoke". The Backyard Trail I ride Truby on all the time was smoldering. There was a huge black patch in the center of the trail that was literally smoking. I figured that was bad. But Tucson is weird, so...???

Looked bigger in person

I knew J wasn't home, but I was pretty sure her husband was. I dragged myself toward the house, passing M, who was just driving up. I told her my finding, and she agreed that it was probably a bad thing, and we should do something about it. She had actually smelled the smoke that morning, but didn't investigate. I wasn't able to get a hold of BOHusband. I really didn't want to bother J, but property on fire is probably an acceptable reason to intrude on her grief. 

I wasn't able to get ahold of her either. So M and I decided the best plan of action was to load up the Gator with water and go soak the ground. Halfway through filling up the tubs, I got a message from J...they knew about the smoldering ground and would deal with it later, we didn't have to do anything unless we really wanted to. Uhhhh....

ilu, Gator

M and I decided that neither of us could just walk away from a potential wildfire, and you know, the fact that our horses LIVE there, so we kept on with our plan. (M wanted to call the firefighters in hopes of scoring some eye candy, but decided we weren't dressed nearly nice enough, lol.) By this point we were a little giddy, and pretty excited to be temporary firefighters.

But first, a selfie!

...was I driving the Gator at the time? Maybe.

Of course, we had no idea what we were doing. We were pretty sure that fire=bad, water=good, but we were worried about screwing it up and spreading the fire. Or not doing enough. The ground was scorched, but the fire was starting several inches below the surface. Spreading out manure/shavings/ hay/tree debris/etc into a path is pretty common out here. Our Loop Trail is regularly supplemented with old bedding and manure spread from the host stable. It appears our Backyard Trail got packed down too much, a little rain a few weeks ago probably jumpstarted some decomposition, and then the following super hot weeks allowed some combustion to spontaneously start. Or something like that. I'm a pet groomer, not a fire expert. 

So anyway, we were doing our best to soak the ground, prevent the burnt top layer to spread further, and generally not fuck things up. We both love dealing with random disasters like this, so we were bright eyed, bushy tailed, and mildly hysterical. After dumping our first load of water, we stood around trying to decide what to do next. And then I realized that some of the fire ants swarming around the area where climbing up my leg. 

So there was a lot of slapping myself and screaming and more slapping. Since I had come directly from work I was wearing wide legged yoga pants and paddock boots, giving the ants easy access to my bare skin. It was great!

To be safe, we drove the rest of the trail, looking for any more burn spots. I knew there were some huge piles of leaves and mesquite beans, etc. I was feeling kinda wild and started just plowing through them inside of trying to squeeze around. Now, I'm a super wuss, but I was pumped up and since I was driving (therefor in control) was having a blast. Had I been the passenger, I would was been freaking out, holding on my with fingers and toes, hands, legs, my hair...or jumping out of the Gator. M just sat, perfectly relaxed, unconcerned that I might flip the thing at any moment. She's badass, you guys. 

I was so sure we were going to explode this somehow...

and this video would end up titled "Tucson Housewives Set State on Fire by Being Dumb"

We decided to dump one more load of water and call it a day. It was less exciting this time, but we were finally getting the ground soaked down below the burn layer, and got the perimeter of the area soaked pretty well. We figured we had done about as much as we could do (M thought about getting the tractor and dragging the ground, but we weren't sure if that would set off an inferno or something. I mean, it's 2020, let's be careful!) and...I was picking up even more fire ants.

Which was great! Because I didn't really notice them until they started biting (ouch). And they didn't start biting me until they got all the way up to my upper thighs. Which is great. Knowing that ants were perfectly ok with my legs, but reaching my crouch and going OMG WTF NO DIE DIE DIE!!!! And let me tell you, there is nothing dignified about getting ants in your pants. I was slapping myself, grinding my palms against my body, stamping around, desperately trying to kill the ants. M was laughing her ass off at me, which is better than her being horrified by me sticking my hands down my pants trying to find ants!

Thank god I can laugh at myself in these situations, because otherwise it would have been insanely embarrassing! 

I sent pics to J, just to show her what we had done, and decided to go home, make my husband pick up the best pizza AZ has to offer (it's pretty good, but Tucson has terrible pizza. Like, pizza here is just bad.) and take some Benedryl. 

I spent the next few days taking antihistamines for the ant bites, but since the barn didn't catch on fire, I think it was worth it. It turns out, J and her husband had gone out earlier that day, looking for the source of the smoke. They had found some tiny little burn spots and snuffed them out. J had no idea it had continued and gotten as big as it had. That made me feel a little less concerned about the "yeah, we know" comment! That evening her husband went out and dug up the trail, so everything has a chance to breathe and is no longer compressed.

It's been two weeks smoldering earth free. But I think any time we smell smoke, we're going to go out and check, just in case.

Celebratory roll