Taking A Break

 

The mountains are calling me, I must go.

~ John Muir

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I need to take a break from blogging so that I can try to fix whatever it is that's gone awry with the formatting of my blog.

In years past, this would probably have been a fairly easy thing for me to do, but these days I'm not at all sure I can even figure out what's wrong. Much less fix it. 

I'm not complaining, I just need to take a break. 

Taking A Break

These dark clouds may lead you to believe that things are not going well here, but that's not true. I saw them on a day when Jeanne was driving me home from a doctor's appointment in Bakersfield and snapped some pictures. 

There's no doubt, I really love clouds. 

My recovery is going well, I walk most mornings with Faith and try to increase the distance or steps each day. 

But my brain is still a bit foggy and while I think I can still write, coming up with a blog post, something to write about and being creative is a bit more difficult. 

So I will take a break for a while. I may post some photos every now and then, but I think I need a break to rest and heal. 

Take care, have a lovely Thanksgiving, and thanks again for your support. 

 

Taking A Break

 

I feel a need for a break.

It's spring and there are outdoor things that need to be done, but I have help with that. 

It's mainly the indoor stuff that's fallen behind. I really need to focus on those projects.

I also want to come back to blogging with some new inspiration, feeling fresh and ready to make my blog the best it can be

Photo by Jane B.

Enjoy the Merry Month of May!

Taking A Break

I want my blog to be a happy place about life in the country, cows visiting, wild critters coming by, young ones coming out into the world from coyote pups to twenty some California quail babies crossing my road. Happy walks with happy dogs and, in general, for me -- being at peace with the world.

Then this thing happens again, a black man murdered in plain sight by police, in Minneapolis this time. Then something else happens in Central Park. And here on our California beaches -- I see a teenager on TV telling me, and the rest of the vulnerable population, to stay home if we have a problem with him not wearing a mask. 

Then the riots, just as bad, burning down innocent people's businesses. I witnessed this first-hand in Los Angeles, it leads to no good whatsoever. But people are angry and people feel powerless.

So I will see you in a couple of weeks. After all, I have the most fun dog ever to write about for the month of June. And I have a big birthday to celebrate. 

 "A change is gonna come," sang Sam Cooke so many years ago.


And almost 60 years later, still waiting.......

An Old Friend Visiting, A Samson Update, Coyotes, And A Blogger Break

Some of you may know that I lived in Princeton, N. J. for nine years before I came to California (via Wyoming). For a while in Princeton, I shared a house with another Swedish woman, Christina, and we became lifelong friends. I stay with her and her sister, Inga, when I visit Stockholm. And now she's coming to visit me. 

She's arriving in Los Angeles tomorrow, and I will pick her up on Thursday, in Lancaster, after she makes her way there via a shuttle service. So far, we have plans to visit the Getty museum, shown above.

And also William S. Hart Park, where Rachael is responsible for all the animals, over 70, I believe, large: including a couple of boars, and  a herd of bison.

And small: many different kinds of birds and some relatively new arrivals, Alpacas.

Christina has friends in Las Vegas and they suggested we meet for lunch here! And where's that?

Oh, just a place I have always wanted to visit. Hoped that Errol and I would, one day, but that didn't happen. Now it looks like it will for me and I'm thrilled. Since Christina can drive here on her Swedish license, we can share the driving, a good thing because I can't drive that far any more. 

It has to be a day trip because I can't board Samson anywhere, except at the vet. With his compromised immune system, I don't want him around other sick dogs, unless absolutely necessary, so we plan to go for a day only. Samson has an eye infection now, and I blame that on the medicine that was nowhere to be found. And yes, from now on I will have an extra bottle. They now have that medicine again, and in addition, he's on antibiotics, both oral and eye drops. So he gets three different kinds of eyedrops twice a day, one kind in the middle of the day, and a pill once a day, plus his Prednisone, every other day. I said to the vet, "no other dog, I have ever lived with, would be this good, and put up with all this, being so good about it all." The vet agreed with me. He and Samson know each other well by now. 

Other than that, Samson is frisky, as you can see in the picture above, where he's just having a case of coyote madness.

Coyotes come by every day, not just one or two, as has been the case in the 13 years I have lived here. Now they come in large packs, one had about eight puppies, maybe four months old or so. Smaller than Faith. The grownups took them down a hill out of sight of the barking dogs, but the puppies went around, and came back by themselves. Bad puppies!

I think they were curious about the dogs, because they ran right up to them. Which made Faith have a fit of misplaced agression, flipping Samson over on his back. This caused a big puppy fight, with all eight of them rolling around in a big ball. Then two of the adults showed up at the bottom of my property and you should have seen the puppies! Just like bad kids, they knew they were in trouble and they all rushed off in single file, perfectly straight, like you see on the trails they leave. For me, this was a fabulous wildlife adventure. I took some pictures with my phone, but they didn't turn out well. 

The bad part about all this is that, for now, I just play ball with Faith outside and walk her on a leash. Or drive around my property to chase away the rabbits. Without a rabbit to chase, she pretty much stays with Samson and me. When it's just she and I out there, she stays with me, but I think she feels I will be safe when I'm with Samson, so she will take off if she spots a rabbit.  

So I will be on a blogger break until the middle of March. Christina leaves on the 7th, and after that, I should have plenty of pictures and ideas for blog posts. 

Take care and I will see you then.