Poor Rosie and Remy!

With my disfiguring and nauseating spider bites yesterday, I didn't walk the red kids.  (It looked like a had a navel orange under the skin of my neck, plus half an orange on my right cheek...)  I heard late last night from the kids' real family that Remy started bleeding from his rectum  yesterday - his anal glands were infected, and then he had an allergic reaction to the prescribed antibiotics.  As they were taking Remy back to the vet, Rosie appeared on three legs.  She wouldn't/couldn't place any weigh on her left front foot.  No bones are broken, according to the X-rays, but she apparently got her foot slammed in the doggie door on her way through it.  So I won't be walking the red kids until Tuesday.  I really feel for them!  It's not fun having a sore butt and a sore foot.

Gee, there was a 6.8 earthquake in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska this morning - I think Mother Earth is still having considerable indigestion. And our local news just interrupted programming to say that a 6.4 earthquake has just rocked northern Argentina.  ....  Hurricane Irene apparently got a  6-to-8 foot dolphin confused, as it has been seen for the past 3 days swimming around in Diascund Creek, a fresh water tributary of the Chickahominy River in Virginia.  ....  During the live coverage of Irene, a Fox-TV reporter from Washington, DC, was reporting from Ocean City, Maryland.  He was being covered with wind-driven spume - foam from the frothy, wind-beaten sea water -  and he reported that it tasted like the sea.  A commentator in the studio stated that it was made up of "organic material."  A New York Fox station picked this up, and reported that the Ocean City sea foam was contaminated with sewage.  The Fox affiliates passed this story back and forth, all along the eastern seaboard.  There was no sewage in the sea water or the ocean foam there at the beach at Ocean City.  Fox News needs to apologize!  ....  The following is a photo of the worst of the storm damage that occurred on Chincoteague during Hurricane Irene's visit:

I was surprised to see a banner-type entertainment story today that yelled that an NCIS star was under arrest for felony battery.  I simply couldn't see any of the main actors or actresses on my favorite show battering someone.  So, of course, I clicked on the story and was (again) surprised to find that David Dayan Fisher, who has had a recurring role of ex-CIA/CIA agent Trent Kort, was a "star" of  NCIS.  Kort is a character that I clinch my teeth over, but I wouldn't designate him as a star of the series....

The kits have been delighted to have me at home for the past couple of days.  Lovey isn't quite as clingy, and Nedi isn't as jumpy as he has been.  Mocha laid beside me throughout the football game last night - and got lots of love and brushing and treats.  The Broncos played last night, and all the first-string players got the night off.  We were playing the Arizona Cardinals, and they started their first-string group.  Brady Quinn, who seemed to be Head Coach John Fox's choice as the number-two quarterback, played the first half.  Brady played extremely well in both the first and second pre-season games, but sat on the bench last week.  Brady threw one interception, lost a fumble, was unable to make any first downs, and completed 4 of 12 passes for 26 yards.  At halftime, the Cardinals were ahead 20 to 0, and the Broncos had a positive 48 yards of offense.  Tebow was brought in for the second half.  He made a couple of sloppy plays, but was able to move the Broncos down the field and to throw for a TD.  Tebow completed 7 of 11 throws for 116 yards - and got us on the scoreboard.  With less than 2 minutes left in the game, Adam Weber, the fourth-string QB was brought in.  He moved the ball, in three plays, from the 6 yard line to 6 inches away from the goal.  He threw one 89 yard pass, and scrambled 16 yards for the goal line with 2 seconds on the clock.  He was stopped 6 inches away from the goal. - His three plays were the best of the Broncos' offense in the entire game!  The final score was 26 to 7, in favor of the Cardinals.

Irene and Critters

I finally feel as if I can heave a sigh of relief regarding Assateague and Chincoteague and Hurricane Irene.  I have not yet been able to find photos from either place showing damage or flooding, but I'm sure that some will appear soon.  The only photo from the area that I can find is of a large tree that fell across Pungoteague Road between Keller and Pungoteague:

It has been amazing to watch the video that shows historic covered bridges in Vermont being washed away by wildly flooding rivers.  I do know the power that water can generate, and I've always held it in awe. Irene, you have certainly proved to others that rain and wind are immensely powerful opponents.

On Saturday, Uncle Mo lost the King's Bishop Stakes by a nose to Caleb's Posse.  Stay Thirsty won the Travers Stakes over Rattlesnake Bridge, while Shackleton finished a disappointing eighth out of ten.  On the west coast, Acclimation won the Pacific Classic and The Factor won the Pat O'Brien Stakes.  The Breeders Cup Races are only 9 weeks away.

Nedi surprised me by avidly slurping up a mango-pineapple smoothie this morning.  I thought it would be too acidic for him...  I was wrong.   Lovey is crunching up some Party Mix Beachside treats on the end of my desk, while Mocha is watching an old western on TV.  I have already walked the red kids and the Shih Tzus and have taken care of Alexy's kits.  It'll soon be time for me to head back in their direction.  I need to finish tidying up the kitchen before Alexy gets back from London, and move my overnight gear over to the Munsinger house.  Tomorrow I'll walk the little guys, walk the red kids, walk to my shrink appointment, visit my kits, and then drive Kathy and Jim to the airport, as they leave for Alaska tomorrow evening.  It's taking them a while (longer than expected) to wean Boo off her pain and nausea medication after her radiation therapy, so I'll be there every afternoon while Kathy and Jim are gone, to give Boo her reduced 2 p.m. dose of meds.  Mike will be giving her the morning and evening doses while his folks are gone.   -  With Colorado setting record high temperatures  every day this past week, it seems hard to believe that it's almost September!

Eastern Shore Islands OK

I thought I'd end up being worried for nothing... Chincoteague and Assateague Islands survived Hurricane Irene with "minimal wind and flooding damage," according to the EMS team that stayed on Chincoteague.  According to the NWS station at Wallops Island, they received 6.15 inches of rain, and the highest wind gust was 58 mph.  The eye of Irene passed by Assateague about 50 miles to the east, out in the Atlantic Ocean.  Just before dark last night, it was reported that Main Street and Maddox Boulevard on Chincoteague, and all the paved roads on Assateague, were under tidal flood waters, that multiple trees were down, and that power outages were happening.  By 8 a.m. this morning, the mandatory evacuation orders were lifted, the causeway was open, and residents and visitors were once again welcome to the islands.  According to a friend, the flood waters didn't even get high enough to go into Grandpa's house at all.  The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel from Norfolk to Cape Charles is open, as is the Chespeake Bay Bridge in Maryland.  Reports state that there are piles of beach sand up to two feet tall that have washed onto the Ocean City boardwalk.  Ocean City officials say they will have public transportation up and running by noon today.

Alexy is due back from England tomorrow night, and the Munsingers are due back from Boston on Tuesday evening.  - I get to sleep in my own bed for two nights!! -  Then Thursday evening, I move back into the Silvermans' to be with Rosie and Remy, as well as caring for Maggie May Barrera through Labor Day.  Yesterday afternoon and evening Aiko decided to go on a "potty fast" - He'd come outside onto the patio and deck, but he wouldn't go into the grass to relieve himself.  Last night, and again this morning, I finally picked him up and placed him in the grass.  The beautific expression on his face was hysterical, as he started relieving himself the minute I let go of him....  He's a silly little Shih Tzu.  Shady slept with me last night, after we watched the Broncos defeat the Seahawks (and Tim Tebow got to play quite a bit!); Cloudy came in and wanted me to let her go outside just about every hour.  I was able to spend some time with Chiton, the orange and white cat, yesterday.  He's lost almost half his weight, and looks down-right skinny at the moment.  Other than weight loss, he looked fine, and let me play with and pet him for quite a while.  He also enjoyed his kitty food.  Lovey is currently laying on the end of my desk, while Nedi is peering through the curtains and out the door.  I found out this morning that Nedi loves Wild Berry Smoothies.  (He also loves strawberry jell-o, so why not a wild berry smoothie?)

And I'll leave you with one last mondegreen....  From 9th grade through my senior year at my high school, music was played continuously in the cafeteria.  The song that was played for 4 years, on a continuous loop, was the long version of Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - which was turned into:  "In a glob of Velveeta, honey..."

Evacuations of East Coast

At 6 o'clock this evening, I grinned to myself when I saw that Ocean City, Maryland had declared a mandatory evacuation beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.  (That's an hour ago, my time...) I also went to the Accomack County website to see what had been decided about Chincoteague Island residents - that's why I was grinning.  The Emergency Management Service had announced a voluntary evacuation of those people living in mobile homes. I know that a lot of old-timers and true 'Teaguers won't want to leave the island.  I just checked the EMS website again, and found that the evacuation orders are now mandatory for everyone who lives in areas deemed low-lying, beginning at 8 a.m. Friday.  If you look at the map on the Accomack County website, you will see that other than about a half-mile stretch on either side of US 13, every place must be evacuated.  I'm sure the same is true of Northampton County as well.  I do know that the Sandbridge section of Virginia Beach, which is built on a sandbar in the Chesapeake Bay, is also being evacuated.  I feel deeply for all the folks who are being discommoded by Irene! From the northern coast of South Carolina all the way up to Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont, governors have already declared states of emergency.  And President Obama has already declared North Carolina a disaster area, so that FEMA and other agencies will be ready to provide aid as soon as they can.  Irene is certainly stirring folks up!

So Much to Write About....

Boo is doing much better and we've been able to decrease her pain medication.  I still feel bad for her.  All the other dogs and cats in my care are super, and tonight I start caring for Aiko and Yoshi, the two Shih Tzus who live next door to Rosie and Remy.  Lovey, Nedi, and Mocha are great - Nedi just finished nursing on my arm.  He and Lovey are outside, while Mocha is "stealing" food from their bowl (they steal food from hers, as well). And, I do hope that Coffeepot finds a place of his own sometime soon!  ... This Saturday, NBC will broadcast both the King's Bishop Stakes and the Travers Stakes, from 5 to 6 EDT.  Uncle Mo, the Derby favorite who did not run, is facing 7 opponents in the 7/8ths mile King's Bishop; this is his first race since March.  In the "Mid-Summer Derby," the Travers Stakes, 10 colts will vie for a $1 million purse, running 1 and 1/4 miles. Horses who ran in the Triple Crown races and are in the Travers are: Shackleford, Ruler On Ice, and Stay Thirsty.

Hopefully Hurricane Irene won't cause the closing of Saratoga for Saturday's races.  It is causing a mass exodus from North Carolina's Outer Banks, and those along the Delmarva Peninsula are also preparing for the worst.  Boats are being placed in dry dock as fast as possible; folks are loading up on gasoline, water, and food stuffs.  Some places, like in my story yesterday, are packing things to the up-stairs living areas in hopes of not losing them to rising waters.  People with livestock who live in low-lying areas are trailering their stock to other places, further inland and on higher ground.  (You know, I kind of miss hurricane season here in the mountains...)  And, even though it's crazy, I'd love to be on the island of Chincoteague during the storm...  I guess my 360 years of waterman's genes make a strong pull for the coast.   .... One of the Chincoteague ponies that live in Maryland near Ocean City has been removed from Assateague for being a nuisance and becoming dangerous.  A bay stallion, 18-years-old and named Fabio (he has a long face and mane), has been gelded and sent to Doris Day's Horse Rehab Center in Texas.  On the Maryland end of Assateague, one may camp on the island - and the ponies there tend to eat whatever the tourists and campers give them, and end up becoming beggars.  Fabio, after begging for several years, started threatening campers, both biting them and occasionally charging at them, with teeth bared.  The folks at the Horse Rehab Center say that Fabio is making excellent progress; as a matter of fact, he's doing much better than they expected.  He will probably be turned out with the rest of the horses, once he's been rehabbed, but he also might be adopted out.  They'll have to see how he does with training.

And, finally, a 19-year-old female from London, England is currently in the Boulder jail.  The legal drinking age here is 21.  The young lady went to a party and later admitted to police that she had consumed several drinks.  She then got in a Volvo sedan and started to drive.  She ran into at least three parked cars, leaving bits and pieces of the bumper, lights, fenders, and a front tire at the scene.  She continued to drive on three tires and the wheel mount.  Several people managed to stop her at a red light, and took her keys from her.  The police arrived soon after, following reports of the accidents and of a car moving down the road while producing sparks and fire in the wheel well.  The young lady smelled of alcohol, and could not answer questions well enough to even take a field sobriety test.  The car was towed away and she was booked for various offenses, including DUI, under-age alcohol consumption, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident (times 3).