A week exploring western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming ended with a visit to the Dignity statue in central South Dakota.  She is impressive from Interstate 90 as well as from this view at the rest stop where she resides.

The back of her blanket is beautiful as well.

It was a peaceful  and fitting finish to vacation to visit Dignity on the hill outside Chamberlain, SD as a storm approached. I’m returning to work for a few more months, coinciding with the beginning of a new school year.  I expect a lot of work-storms during that time period.

I’m planning a new venture for the months ahead after retiring from my current position.  Vacation helped me clarify plans for the future.  Putting a future option in place eases my discomfort with ending a long career just to face empty days as winter sets in.  I’ll write more about my plans in future blog entries.  Today’s entry appropriately ends with a photo of the Dignity’s dedication in 2016.

It’s been a while since I posted to this blog, so I’m writing a retirement plan update.  One of about a zillion possible ways to think about retirement is to reinvent oneself and start a small business.  I’m considering opening a private counseling practice.  As I explore this possibility, I learn about a long list of requirements.  I’d rather think about the fun side of an adventure first, so following that line of thought, I am considering many names  and logos for a potential business.

I had a blue roan horse years ago.  Blue was older when he came home from the sale barn, than the seller claimed, but lived a good long life here.  Because of his age, Blue was a dependable mount for me, and for novice riders and children that visited and wanted to go riding.  I bought a painting of a blue horse this spring from a gallery in North Carolina.  I’ve been thinking about adding a  blue horse description to my place.  I’m taken with the idea of  renaming it LLZ Blue Horse Ranch.

I named my first poetry chapbook Hard Times after the title of one of the poems in the chapbook.  Some time later, I googled the title and discovered at least a dozen books with the same name.  It seems prudent, given that experience, to check out titles first before proceeding with legal steps to establish a business.  My first choice is to use the same title for my business as this blog.

When I googled “blue horse”, I found a dozen or more Blue Horse Ranch locations around the country, and a couple of Blue Horse Counseling Services.   I’m back to square one looking for a unique name.

It turns out that selecting a name first is also a practical consideration.  One needs a name and a location to complete all legal documents.