Slightly Off the Mark

Horses, Hats, and Road Apples

I'm not going to be posting this weekend, due to circumstances ... well, not beyond my control. Suffice it to say I'll be busy with the real world, and will give you a full report later.

So, since this is my mid-week photo blog, I decided to go with:

That's right, the 250th anniversary of patriotic horses. No, actually horses in general, and the ones who work up at the Pokagon State Park Saddle Barn in particular. That's where Emily works, in addition to all the time she spends keeping me under control.

I went through all my photos of horses, and narrowed it down to about sixty for a blog that usually has no more than 6-7 pictures. So, I think you can count on seeing more horses in the future.

This photo is over ten years old now, but it's one of my favorite ones of her leading a trail ride. I try not to be obtrusive, and she'll say something to the other riders along the lines of, "He's not creepy, he's my husband". Which doesn't guarantee I'm not creepy, of course.

I just realized, she's not wearing her hat. She almost always has one on, for sun and spider web protection.

The horses get washed ... then they roll again. Emily hates the day right after a rain storm, because even the whitest of horses is guaranteed to be ground colored.

I have to admit, I don't remember most of their names even though whenever I stop by I try to spend a few minutes with each of them. This makes more sense when you realize I also don't remember most human names. I'm also not very good at faces--of either kind.

"I'm ... BatHorse."

Actually it's a screen to keep bugs out of their faces, although I don't have a working knowledge on when they're used, and on whom. I have, however, noticed this horse being shadowed by a robin.

And yes, visitors have been known to ask if the horse is blind. He is not. Or she is not. One of those.

Here's what the actual saddle barn looks like, as the last horse goes in to end the day. They're closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays (except for the occasional special event). The rest of the days the first trail goes out at 10 a.m., and the last one at 5 p.m., barring bad weather or excessive heat.

So, do I ever ride the horses? From time to time, but Emily is usually too busy to take a photo of me. In this case it was kind of a test run for the horse she rode, so she and I were the only ones on the trail.

Ah--there's Emily's hat! Along with some nice, fresh, road apples. Yum.

If various places get too sore for riding, you can always look up our books:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/search?attributes.contributorId=13727646

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: You can’t get saddled by too many books.

Another Pessimistic Author Theory

I tested a theory this month, and sadly came to the conclusion that I was right. I've learned that my predictions and theories are usually only right if they're bad. Is that pessimism? Come to think of it, I should write a science fiction story about the subject. I could call it The Eeyore Presumption.

"But you probably won't."

Anyway, I'm sure you all know that my novel Coming Attractions has been in the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale for a few years now. My hope was that a whole lot of people would download it for free, and some might leave a review and/or buy some of our other books. I mean, it's free, right?

But Coming Attractions first came out seven years ago, and I've been promoting it the whole time. My rather pessimistic theory is that if anyone who knows or follows me wants to get the book for free, they already have. Social media isn't the promotion platform it once was, and while I see new faces from time to time, all the old faces have had several chances to pick it up.

As I write this, the July promotion is mostly over, and I've moved ... four copies.

Some of you might remember that old expression, "You can't give them away". It's not a complimentary expression.

Maybe what I should do is write a sequel, and use the original as a loss leader (as promotion people put it). I had a side character in mind to be the lead in a second novel, anyway, and I like writing series. I even established in a Christmas short story that the world of Coming Attractions is set in the same world as the Storm Chaser series. Crossover potential?

Well, then ... back to writing. I should be encouraged to hurry by this photo I stumbled across online:

A little spooky, ain't it?

There's still a little time to pick up free and reduced price books over at Smashwords. Here's mine:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

But we’ll still be selling the soap, in all those old familiar faces:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/search?attributes.contributorId=13727646

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: Free books have value, too.

Smoky Deer is Today's Video

Another video, for my midweek photo blog. Because I'm a rebel.

Most of you are aware Canada is burning, either because you follow the news, or you breath. Forest fires are common in the wilderness areas of Canada, and if they're not near any homes or infrastructure, firefighters usually can't fight them--it being the circle of nature, and all that. They're mostly inaccessible, and the resources to battle that many fires at once just aren't there.

YouTube version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-aHVUO5a70

If the weather is right, the smoke drifts south and you get what we got across the Midwest last week: smoke. It's not even a fun campfire-like scent, because the nature of smoke exposed to sunlight cause changes that give it a nasty, almost factory-like smell.

I'm something of a smoke expert, if I do say so myself (not really, but let's just say I've experienced a lot of smoke). I've been in way worse than this, but it's still not a lot of fun--and it's very unhealthy, of course.

I took this photo during a training fire. Notice everyone has breathing protection.

Emily and I drove to Huntertown Gardens in the smoke, because the doctor told me to eat fresh fruits and veggies or die. It's a tough choice, especially since we had to work our way around three construction areas to get there. But I now have low potassium for some reason, and we were hoping bananas, kale, and potatoes would share their potassium with me.

On the way home, as you'll see in the video, it felt like one of those foggy mornings even though it was early afternoon. That might be why the deer were active: Maybe they thought it was near dusk. We saw two fawn, then a grown up deer ran in front of us on a county road.

The deer responsible for accidents often isn't the first one; it's the second one. So I slowed way down and sure enough, the second ran across the road right in front of us. Have some corn, fellas.

And that's why you get another video on picture day. Between that and the moron in the pickup truck that I posted over the weekend, one has to wonder why Emily and I go out at all. Easy: Otherwise we'd starve. But maybe that whole DoorDash thing isn't such a bad idea, after all.

You can find safer adventures in our books:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/search?attributes.contributorId=13727646

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter