The Good:
Umi (Our horse) came into our lives after an extraordinary set of circumstances. No matter where we end up, he is going to stay with us no matter what.

I got to go back to Ireland and revisit my cousins for a while.

I went back to my classical guitar studies and joined the ensemble. Never saw that one coming.

The Bad:
Lots of horses died this year. We lost Ganador, Domino and Newton. Newton was my closest friend and riding companion for many years. He died when I was in Ireland. I never got to say goodbye.

I no longer enjoy my job as a host for public radio. The station has lost its sense of reality and all the humanity it had has been sucked out of it. I might as well be working for a heartless corporation again. Just going through the motions at this point.

I've given up on America and the American experiment. We're hoping by spring or summer we can make our way over to Ireland. We don't care how much it costs to bring Umi and Leopold (Our cat) with us. They are family and we cannot leave them behind.

Overall:
2024 has shown us that it's time for a change. I wish at this point to study up on equine science in Ireland and dedicate my life to working with horses. Anything is possible, I suppose and there is always a chance that things will not go as planned....but we have to at least try. There's no point in carrying on with something if it makes you unhappy, and I have not been very happy for a long time with a lot of things. Luckily, I'm still very happy in my marriage and the family we have. It's nice to know that the things that matter most are not entirely broken.