Yesterday and Past Fourths

I hope that all of my other American friends and relatives had a wonderful Independence Day celebration yesterday!  I spent it quietly, running from home to home to home, and tending to a variety of cats, dogs, fish, bees, and chickens - not to mention gardens.  In the middle of the afternoon, I stopped at the supermarket, because I realized that I didn't have any potato chips and I wanted a few with my supper.  I was amazed - there were so many people shopping at 3 in the afternoon; singles and whole families.
  There were two oddly-acting male college students (drunk? high?) almost jogging in the area of the meat and seafood displays.  They were almost, but not quite, yelling about looking for hot dogs - and they used quite a few descriptive terms regarding said hot dogs, that I didn't think small children and older adults wanted to, or should, hear.  So I yelled - "Hey, guys!  Follow me to the luncheon meat aisle, and I'll show you the hot dogs and the brats..."  They were so effusive with their thanks that it was embarrassing - maybe because they had been so obnoxious to begin with?
  Then I really paused when I saw five full, different families standing in line in front of a RedBox DVD kiosk.  Three in the afternoon, on a holiday that's a Friday, and the best these folks can do is rent a movie to watch?  Why not a picnic?  Why not a hike?  Why not a swim?  Why not the Arts festival that had free admission? No one in any of the families looked ill, hurt, injured, or disabled.  (I am very well aware that 50% of disabilities are not visible ones - but this was ridiculous!)  If you didn't do things outside on the Fourth of July when I was growing up, the only excuse was the weather - a lightning storm - or being so ill that you were at home, in your bed, under the covers.
  Our family, and family friends and/or neighbors, that we invited over, wandered in and out of the house, the porch, and the car port - Dad ran the grill, and the charcoal was first fired up at 9 a.m. (this was before fancy propane gas grills) - we had all kinds of cold foods to go with the meat from the grill, as well as plenty of beverages.  Everyone participated in playing games and doing activities - we usually had a game of tag football, played badminton, built teepees for us kids to play in, and we played games - word games, card games, and memory games.  We told wild and crazy stories - sometimes one person started the tale, and then each person sitting there, listening, joined in with their part of the story. The stories could be very funny, or adventurous, or full of family love…  We didn't sit around a TV and watch it as if our lives depended upon it….
   Today, I have taken care of three homes and all the resident critters, plus I took my friend Beatrice in to her job.   I played with and loved on my kits, and I went in search of freeze-dried bison and turkey to feed to Boo - she ate a little of both kinds I provided…  Plus I ordered a pound of freeze-dried turkey hearts to be delivered to Boo's home.  I hope she continues to want to eat them!

Starquest Princess Suki's Peek-A-Boo

I moved to Colorado in mid-November of 2004.  Boo, my brother-in-law's Samoyed, was 3 years old and had just been invited to the Eukanuba Invitational Championship at Tampa, Florida.  We were all excited, but the handler/breeder decided that Boo was just too hyperactive to take on a road trip that would last at least 3 days, one way.  For a year, though, we all called Boo "Eukanu-Boo."  Four years ago, Boo started limping on her left hind; it was diagnosed as bone cancer.  Jim and Kathy took Boo up to the Colorado State University Veterinary School, in Fort Collins, and found there was a program of radiation and chemical therapy combined that had proven effective in fighting Boo's type of cancer.
   In mid-May, Boo started to seem as if she didn't care whether she ate, or not.  She was still interested in what were, normally, treats - but she wasn't up and wanting breakfast at the crack of dawn, nor was she eating as if there was no tomorrow.  Soon, she was skipping eating breakfast.  Then Jim went to spend a week with his brother in South Dakota, who underwent brain surgery recently.  Boo wouldn't eat much at all for mys sister, Kathy. When Kathy joined Jim in South Dakota, I pulled Boo over to Rosie's house and kept them together.  Seeing Rosie eat on the other side of the glass door, Boo ate her meals - but not with gusto.
   When Kathy and Jim returned, and Boo went home, Boo stopped eating again.  She'd take a bite of this or that, but had real no appetite. Jim took Boo in for a check-up last week; on Friday, her blood tests came back.  Tuesday, she had an abdominal ultrasound performed.  Her abdominal cavity was full of fluid (the vet removed 1.5 liters) and she had a tumor the size of a baseball on her liver.  Boo is now on anti-nausea medications, and an acid reflux medicine, as well.  The fluid and the tumor press on her stomach, and make her believe that she is full of food and contented.  In reality, her pounds are melting off.  All we can do is make her comfortable, and give her lots of love  - and recognize when she is truly suffering, so we can say goodbye.  
   I met Jim in December 1979, when he and Kathy first started dating.  He has always had at least one Samoyed as a companion...  I'm not sure what he and Kathy will do when Boo crosses the Rainbow Bridge.

A Weekend With Boo

I'm leaving here shortly to spend the weekend with Boo, so I'm not certain whether I'll blog the next two days or not.  I'll run home both mornings early, and spend time with the kits, but I;m not sure I'll have time to blog...  It's absolutely gorgeous outside outside.  I have walked Cooper and Lola, and then Rosie and Boo, before coming home today.  I also stopped at the library and picked up two books that I had held for me. Since I left  yesterday afternoon to spend the night with the ABCs, the cats welcomed me frantically when I returned.  Both Nedi and Lovey ate some canned food, and went outside - but Nedi has up-chucked several times since then.  I can't find anything visibly wrong with him, and he's curled up under the red afghan at the moment.  I'll be worried about him until tomorrow.
  Did you read, or hear about, Walter "Snowball" Williams?  He was pronounced dead from congestive heart failure at a hospice in Mississippi on 27 February.  The body of the 78 year old farmer was taken to the local mortuary.  The workers there were quite surprised to hear scratchings and see movement in the body bag prior to the embalming.  They opened the bag, and found Mr. Williams, who was upset at being there.  An ambulance was immediately called, and the man was returned to his hospice.  He died there, a second time, on the morning of 13 March.  Family members are certain that "Snowball" was given another two weeks of life for some higher purpose.  It has been confirmed that the gentleman actually is deceased this time around.
  And, I laughed at this newspaper headline - "Odd Combinations of Jelly Bellys Taste Great!"  Since when is the taste of odd combinations of Jelly Bellys a newspaper headline?  In any event, the top ten combinations listed were:  (1) Tabasco and Buttered Popcorn; (2) Pomegranate and Sizzling Cinnamon; (3) Dr. Pepper and Sour Cherry; (4) French Vanilla and Kiwi; (5) Strawberry Cheesecake and Cappuccino; (6) Chocolate Pudding and Chili Mango; (7) Toasted Marshmallow and Wild Blackberry; (8) A & W Rootbeer and Raspberry; (9) Birthday Cake Remix and Cotton Candy; and (10) Caramel Corn and Strawberry Jam.... The company is looking for feedback - how do you like these combinations?  Do you have a specific "odd" combination that you like?

How Did I End Up...?

I had an enjoyable morning yesterday - loved my kits, walked Rosie, and then had a tour of the production facility where my nephew, Mike, works.  On the way home from there, I developed a splitting headache, which turned into a nasty migraine.   I managed to get over to Redwood and feed and medicate Sasquatch and Tugger, and then I collapsed in my sister's spare bedroom, with Boo for a bedmate.  I guess I was tossing and turning too much, after I let Boo out for her last potty break, because she soon left the bed.  I had very vivid dreams, and finally crawled out of bed at 6:30 to feed Boo her breakfast and let her out.
  First, I let Boo out into the back yard, then I took a quick shower and dressed.  Once I let Boo back inside, I grabbed her dish, as she sat in the middle of the kitchen and gave her, "Ah-oooooo-ooooo-oooo" yodel, and headed for the garage.  There is a door from the kitchen to the garage, followed by 4 steps down, and the garage floor.  Boo's food is kept on the garage floor.  My brother-in-law also likes to keep anything he believes might be useful inside the garage - there's no room for the car, and just enough room for winding trails through all of his stockpiled items.  I have been up and down those four steps thousands of times, but this morning, for whatever reason, I missed the second step - the heel of my left foot caught the edge of the third step, and I flew down.  I remember seeing my arms flail wildly, like windmills, as I tried to keep my balance.  I don't know when I let go of the dog bowl - but there was a tremendous metallic clatter at some point in time.  I kept thinking that I had just got my new glasses, and I really didn't want to fall face first... Somehow I ended up on my left buttock, with my left arm and hand still moving frantically.  This was followed by a large piece of metal falling forward, to slam the back of my head and bounce back; followed by about 5 loops of metal-enclosed hose line that fell around my head like a necklace.  I sat there for a minute and thought.
  My first thought was that I was one clumsy person.  My second thought was that if I'd broken any bones, I'd be mad; followed by the thought that if I had broken anything, I had to get back upstairs and across the kitchen to reach a phone to call for any help.  So I flexed my hands and arms, and then my feet and legs, and then I removed the metal hose length from my neck.  I had trouble getting the metal plate I'd fallen against to lean back into it's original position, but, after pushing at it for a minute or so, was able to get on my knees. Then I spotted Boo's food bowl, off to the left.  I grabbed it, and got to my feet with a groan.  I filled the measuring cup with dog kibble, put it in the bowl, and climbed back up the (entire four) steps.  Boo met me with a howl of delight.  I had her sit, gave her her food, released her, and then went to check on my injuries.
  I've found only bruises and scrapes, and the knuckles on my left hand look like hamburger - but, otherwise I seem to be OK.  I'm starting to get stiff and sore, but that's only natural.  I'll be taking naproxin for the few days, just to ease the aches and pains.  My last thought about this stupid fall?  I was very lucky!!

My Usual Canine Companions

Rosie and her favorite blue bone

 

Remy in his "Help 'Em Up" harness

 

Boo

 

Mona, the Catahoula Leopard dog - She's wearing the cone because she was just spayed...