1061st Friday Blog Roundup

This hotel we stay at has horses on the property. We parked facing the corral, and when we went to our car after we checked out, a horse was standing in front of our car, patiently waiting for us on the other side of the low fence. It motioned with its head to one of the treat boxes.

“We have to give it treats,” I told Josh.

There are about six of these treat boxes attached to the corral fence, and you can purchase a handful of treats from what looks like a gumball machine for a quarter. The first machine was broken, but the horse slowly followed us around the corral until we found a working machine. We placed the treats in the nearest box, and it happily started eating.

But the sounds of the treats hitting the wooden box brought over other horses. No worries. Our horse patiently motioned with its head to the next box over. We bought more treats, dropped them into the new box, and it happily went back to eating. Except that the other horses soon joined our horse. No worries again. Our horse patiently sighed and motioned to the next box with its head. We followed it three times.

Horses are so smart.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

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But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Road Less Travelled talks about attending a six-year-old’s birthday party. She writes: “If you had told me, 27 years ago this month (and still reeling from heartbreak of pregnancy loss), that 27 years later I would find myself in a party room at a retro video game arcade, surrounded by some 20 excited kids aged 6 and under, plus their young parents — and even having some fun while doing it — I never would have believed you.” Life takes funny twists and turns, and we never completely know what we’ll feel until we’re feeling it. A great reminder. (And sending a lot of good thoughts that the Purell took care of everything else.)

Lastly, on the topic of not knowing how something will go until you’re going through it, All & Sundry writes about how divorce (and this year, in general) is different from what she expected. I love this: “And this is life, it unfolds the way it does against our wishes sometimes. I can’t change what is so I have to work with it. There are a lot of wonderful things going on and I have to lean into gratitude while still feeling the grief.” Sending a big hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: Smart horses. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between November 14 – 21) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.