Two heartbreaks in four days is almost too much to take. I hope the next several days are good days.
The two heartbreaks involve two of my interests/passions -- auto racing and wildlife.
On Sunday we watched the last Indy Car race of the season, but 12 miles into the race, there was a horrific crash, the worst crash I've seen in the 25 years I've been watching racing. If you watched the network news on Monday, all three networks led with the story. There were fifteen cars involved in the crash, several of them on fire, a few flying through the air, and many mangled beyond recognition. I'm so used to seeing these car crashes when the end result is the driver or drivers getting out of the car and walking away. But this one was different; I knew right away that serious injuries were involved. But I held out hope that no one had been killed. Two hours later, my hopes were dashed when they announced that one of the drivers, Dan Wheldon, had died of "unsurvivable injuries." He won the Indy 500 in May, but he wasn't just a great driver. He was a great guy, one of the "nice guys" in auto racing. Some of those guys are arrogant jerks and some are nice guys; he was the latter. He was only 33 and was married with two little boys who are much too young to ever remember him (the older one is only two years old). Sunday was a sad day.
Then today I heard about the tragedy in Ohio, the nutcase who let his wild animals loose before he committed suicide. Authorities say they tried to tranquilize one of the tigers, but the 300-pound tiger "freaked out" so they decided the only choice was to kill the animals because they were so dangerous. They killed 18 tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, two grizzly bears, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon. They were able to save and transport to the Columbus Zoo one grizzly bear, two monkeys, and three leopards. It's heartbreaking, just heartbreaking to think of all the animals that died. I understand that authorities did what they had to do to protect all the humans nearby. It was getting dark and the animals were aggressive and were panicky at being out of their familiar cages. It wasn't a good situation at all. I'm not mad at authorities. I'm mad that Ohio doesn't have laws restricting the ownership of exotic animals to people/facilities who know how to care for them. I'm mad at the nutcase who acquired all these animals, didn't take care of them when he was alive, and set them free right before he killed himself.
But mostly I'm sad.
Hug the people you love. Hug the animals you love.
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Rural Life
Living in the country, I've seen all kinds of animals. In the heat of the summer, the animals are more active in the cool morning hours. Driving home from work at 7:00 in the morning, I'm used to seeing coyotes crossing the road (yes, to get to the other side, where the river is so they can get a desperately needed drink of water). One morning I was startled to see two horses running side by side on the road coming towards me. I had to take evasive action to avoid being hit by them, but they looked like they were having fun, running free (having escaped a nearby horse farm).
But this morning I saw something totally unexpected as I drove home. Turkeys. Yes, turkeys. There was one adult and five or six half grown turkeys walking along the side of the road. They were tall and thin, the way turkeys are meant to be, not the plumped-up, hormonally-injected commercial turkeys. These were either wild turkeys or more escapees from a nearby house or farm. They weren't in any hurry; they just padded peacefully along the side of the road.
In fire news, there's another fire to report. Ron and I went to the grocery store this afternoon and driving back, we noticed big smoke clouds billowing up, but they weren't where the smoke clouds from the Santa Fe fire had been yesterday. So we realized there was another fire (Sigh). Sure enough, I checked the website of our favorite Albuquerque TV station, and they said there's a fire 12 miles south of Los Alamos. At 3:15 pm the fire was 100 acres and of course was 0 percent contained. Click here for the story. It's hot and dry today, and very windy again. The weatherman on that station said it's officially the windiest spring and summer ever as well as the driest.
Update (5:15 p.m.): The fire is now 400 acres in size and the smoke from the fire is showing up on KOAT's weather radar!
The new security guard at work is already wishing for winter. His view is that when you're cold, you can get warmer by putting more clothes on, but when you're hot, you can't do much to get cooler (except turn on ceiling fans and the swamp cooler (which is more efficient the drier the air is, so of course it's working great these days)).
But this morning I saw something totally unexpected as I drove home. Turkeys. Yes, turkeys. There was one adult and five or six half grown turkeys walking along the side of the road. They were tall and thin, the way turkeys are meant to be, not the plumped-up, hormonally-injected commercial turkeys. These were either wild turkeys or more escapees from a nearby house or farm. They weren't in any hurry; they just padded peacefully along the side of the road.
In fire news, there's another fire to report. Ron and I went to the grocery store this afternoon and driving back, we noticed big smoke clouds billowing up, but they weren't where the smoke clouds from the Santa Fe fire had been yesterday. So we realized there was another fire (Sigh). Sure enough, I checked the website of our favorite Albuquerque TV station, and they said there's a fire 12 miles south of Los Alamos. At 3:15 pm the fire was 100 acres and of course was 0 percent contained. Click here for the story. It's hot and dry today, and very windy again. The weatherman on that station said it's officially the windiest spring and summer ever as well as the driest.
Update (5:15 p.m.): The fire is now 400 acres in size and the smoke from the fire is showing up on KOAT's weather radar!
The new security guard at work is already wishing for winter. His view is that when you're cold, you can get warmer by putting more clothes on, but when you're hot, you can't do much to get cooler (except turn on ceiling fans and the swamp cooler (which is more efficient the drier the air is, so of course it's working great these days)).
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Cat Tales
Natasha's beloved, beautiful cat died a few days ago after a long (but still too short) and happy life. Here is a picture of him in all his furry glory that she sent to me a few years ago.
I started thinking about the cats we have now and the cats that came before them. A new cat never replaces the previous cat, but it fills up part of the hole left when a cat dies.
I've noticed some interesting thing. Winston filled up part of the hole that Panther left in our lives and hearts when she died. Of course the two never met, but we always say that Winston has Pantherisms. He loves to sit or sleep on the back of any of the motorcycles in the garage, just as Panther did. He's very vocal, especially in the morning, when he wants his breakfast, just as Panther was. There is one huge difference; Winston loves the dogs and loves curling up with them. Panther hated the dogs and loved to torment them even when they hadn't done anything to her.
Then there's Princess, who filled up part of the hold that Shadow left when she died. She has Shadowisms. When Ron is reading in bed, Princess loves to get up on the bed and plop down on the magazine or book he's reading, just as Shadow did. None of the other cats have ever done that. Then there's the fried chicken; Shadow loved fried chicken, to the point where she would try to take the piece out of our hands while we were eating it! Princess loves fried chicken, too, although she isn't quite that rude. She just tries to take the piece off of the plate when we put it down. She's more "chirpy" than "yowly" in her meows.
Cats are so great! I'm so glad they share their lives with us; it would be so empty without them.
I started thinking about the cats we have now and the cats that came before them. A new cat never replaces the previous cat, but it fills up part of the hole left when a cat dies.
I've noticed some interesting thing. Winston filled up part of the hole that Panther left in our lives and hearts when she died. Of course the two never met, but we always say that Winston has Pantherisms. He loves to sit or sleep on the back of any of the motorcycles in the garage, just as Panther did. He's very vocal, especially in the morning, when he wants his breakfast, just as Panther was. There is one huge difference; Winston loves the dogs and loves curling up with them. Panther hated the dogs and loved to torment them even when they hadn't done anything to her.
Then there's Princess, who filled up part of the hold that Shadow left when she died. She has Shadowisms. When Ron is reading in bed, Princess loves to get up on the bed and plop down on the magazine or book he's reading, just as Shadow did. None of the other cats have ever done that. Then there's the fried chicken; Shadow loved fried chicken, to the point where she would try to take the piece out of our hands while we were eating it! Princess loves fried chicken, too, although she isn't quite that rude. She just tries to take the piece off of the plate when we put it down. She's more "chirpy" than "yowly" in her meows.
Cats are so great! I'm so glad they share their lives with us; it would be so empty without them.
Friday, May 23, 2008
New Job vs. Old Job
I'm really enjoying my new job. The atmosphere is so much calmer and quieter than the vet clinic; it's the complete opposite. There are only two phone lines and they only ring three or four times an hour instead of four phone lines ringing constantly (although there were usually two of us to answer them).
The phone calls are calm, too. No one calling frantically becaue their cat has been vomiting and having bloody diarrhea for five days, what should they do? (Duh, bring it in right away -- "Oh, I don't have time. Can I just stop by and pick up a prescription?") Or the people who think the slightest little thing is an emergency (it isn't) and want to come in RIGHT NOW.
Of course most of the clients were great (but not as much fun to write (or read) about. I met some interesting people, such as a certain artist who is famous locally and nationally. He was so down to earth and funny and friendly. And the people involved in animal rescue, particularly the ones helping the feral cats with the Trap, Neuter, Release program, are true angels.
So things are much calmer at the new job (although there was that four-foot-long snake that tried to get into my car Wednesday, but more on that later). There are only five of us in the office -- Chuck L, Chuck M, Loretta, Tillie, and myself -- and one woman who works back in the warehouse/garage servicing the vehicles and doing whatever else she does. There are four superintendents who come in and out regularly and numerous construction workers who only come in once a week to pick up their paycheck.
It can get a little crazy, when we're putting together multiple copies of bid proposal packets the evening before they're due, but the craziness is occasional rather than constant. It was funny on the first few days when Loretta, the Office Manager, was apologizing to me for how crazy it was, and I said, "This isn't crazy at all," while thinking to myself, "You don't know what crasy is." She's very nice to work with, as are all the others. Tillie works here part time in the office; she's Loretta's sister. Chuck L is the President; he was the VP until last November when his father, the President and owner, died. Chuck M is the Project Manager for northern New Mexico. He's very funny and rides motorcycles. It gets a little confusing having two Chucks, especially when someone calls and asks for Chuck. I have to ask which one (using their last names) and usually they know which one they want, but not always. The "regulars" who call a lot know to ask by the full name.
Oh yes, the snake. Wednesday afternoon, after I got back from lunch, Tillie left to pick up some lunch for herself and Loretta. Right after she left, the phone rang. It was Tillie. "Beth, get Loretta and come outside, quick!!" We went outside and she pointed to the ground. It was a four-foot-long snake! It looked like a rattlesnake. Both Chucks were gone, so Loretta went back to get one of the construction guys. As she left, the snake began heading right for my car. By the time she and O. came back a couple of minutes later, the snake had crawled through one of the holes in my hubcap and into the wheel of my car! A few minutes later, it started to come back out again and O., wearing gloves of course, grabbed it and tried to pull it out. The snake held on, but stronger muscles prevailed and eventually O. was able to pull it out and tossed it away. He said it wasn't a rattlesnake, it was a bullsnake. Bullsnakes are good to have around; they aren't venomous and they eat rodents (many of the rodents around here carry hantavirus and/or bubonic plague). I don't mind having bullsnakes around; I just don't want one in my car!
The phone calls are calm, too. No one calling frantically becaue their cat has been vomiting and having bloody diarrhea for five days, what should they do? (Duh, bring it in right away -- "Oh, I don't have time. Can I just stop by and pick up a prescription?") Or the people who think the slightest little thing is an emergency (it isn't) and want to come in RIGHT NOW.
Of course most of the clients were great (but not as much fun to write (or read) about. I met some interesting people, such as a certain artist who is famous locally and nationally. He was so down to earth and funny and friendly. And the people involved in animal rescue, particularly the ones helping the feral cats with the Trap, Neuter, Release program, are true angels.
So things are much calmer at the new job (although there was that four-foot-long snake that tried to get into my car Wednesday, but more on that later). There are only five of us in the office -- Chuck L, Chuck M, Loretta, Tillie, and myself -- and one woman who works back in the warehouse/garage servicing the vehicles and doing whatever else she does. There are four superintendents who come in and out regularly and numerous construction workers who only come in once a week to pick up their paycheck.
It can get a little crazy, when we're putting together multiple copies of bid proposal packets the evening before they're due, but the craziness is occasional rather than constant. It was funny on the first few days when Loretta, the Office Manager, was apologizing to me for how crazy it was, and I said, "This isn't crazy at all," while thinking to myself, "You don't know what crasy is." She's very nice to work with, as are all the others. Tillie works here part time in the office; she's Loretta's sister. Chuck L is the President; he was the VP until last November when his father, the President and owner, died. Chuck M is the Project Manager for northern New Mexico. He's very funny and rides motorcycles. It gets a little confusing having two Chucks, especially when someone calls and asks for Chuck. I have to ask which one (using their last names) and usually they know which one they want, but not always. The "regulars" who call a lot know to ask by the full name.
Oh yes, the snake. Wednesday afternoon, after I got back from lunch, Tillie left to pick up some lunch for herself and Loretta. Right after she left, the phone rang. It was Tillie. "Beth, get Loretta and come outside, quick!!" We went outside and she pointed to the ground. It was a four-foot-long snake! It looked like a rattlesnake. Both Chucks were gone, so Loretta went back to get one of the construction guys. As she left, the snake began heading right for my car. By the time she and O. came back a couple of minutes later, the snake had crawled through one of the holes in my hubcap and into the wheel of my car! A few minutes later, it started to come back out again and O., wearing gloves of course, grabbed it and tried to pull it out. The snake held on, but stronger muscles prevailed and eventually O. was able to pull it out and tossed it away. He said it wasn't a rattlesnake, it was a bullsnake. Bullsnakes are good to have around; they aren't venomous and they eat rodents (many of the rodents around here carry hantavirus and/or bubonic plague). I don't mind having bullsnakes around; I just don't want one in my car!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
So Far So Good
I made it through my first two days of work at the vet. It never got crazy-busy, but it did get busy, yesterday more than today. Today was only a half day; I was there from 7:45 to 1:00. Yesterday was a full day, fuller than I'd anticipated. I was there from 7:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. (with an hour off for lunch)!! The clinic closes at 6:00, but then there's all the "closing" stuff to do -- cleaning, balancing the books, etc. The books were out of balance (not my fault), so it took awhile to figure it out. They tell me that most days we won't be there that late. Tomorrow is another full day, so we'll see.
There are two other women who are just starting to work there (I worked with one yesterday and one today), so the experienced people are training us at the same time. It helps to not be the only newbie.
The clients are mostly patient with us; everyone has been new at their job at some point in their life.
I've seen some very cute dogs and cats, but none as cute as ours. Of course there was the cutest little black cat, only five months old . . . . It was from the shelter, there for a spaying, and I had a feeling of really missing black cats, but with four dogs and two cats, we have a full house, NO MORE ANIMALS!!! This way, working at the vet, I can ooh and aah over the black cats and other animals without having the responsibility of owning them (or being owned by them, depending on your point of view).
So I'll keep working there while looking for freelance work or a better paying full time job.
There are two other women who are just starting to work there (I worked with one yesterday and one today), so the experienced people are training us at the same time. It helps to not be the only newbie.
The clients are mostly patient with us; everyone has been new at their job at some point in their life.
I've seen some very cute dogs and cats, but none as cute as ours. Of course there was the cutest little black cat, only five months old . . . . It was from the shelter, there for a spaying, and I had a feeling of really missing black cats, but with four dogs and two cats, we have a full house, NO MORE ANIMALS!!! This way, working at the vet, I can ooh and aah over the black cats and other animals without having the responsibility of owning them (or being owned by them, depending on your point of view).
So I'll keep working there while looking for freelance work or a better paying full time job.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Updates to the Updates
Good news and bad news.
The bad news is I didn't get the job with the Police Department. The interview went well, but I was one of five people they interviewed (out of lots of applications). Knowing Taos, they probably hired someone who is related to someone in the department. There's another possibility, though. When Valerie (the Assistant to the Chief of Police) called yesterday to say they'd chosen someone else, she told me that they're going to post another opening in a couple of days and she encouraged me to apply. The position is in the Records Department, but I forget the exact title of the job. Records Technician or something like that. Ron thinks maybe they hired the Records person as the Evidence Technician and that job would be a good way to get my foot in the door.
As long as they didn't hire me and confidentiality isn't such an issue, I can share with you what the Chief of Police (a very nice, approachable man, by the way) said to describe the police force: teenagers with guns. The other people from the department who were in the interview agreed with him.
The good news is that I think I have the job at the vet's, but I'm not completely certain yet. At the interview last Wednesday, we decided I would go in Monday morning for a couple of hours for what Dr. Kim called a Work Interview. It gave me a chance to sit at the front desk and see what the job would really be like. She said some people who've done that realize they can't handle the job. But I stayed for three hours and really enjoyed it. It was busy, but not crazy-busy. I've been there on occasions when it was crazy-busy and I think I could handle it. After just an hour, I was checking in people (and their animals) without any help. The computer system was easy to learn. I think I did very well. When I got home, I found out that while I was there, Dr. Kim had been checking my references. The woman I worked for in the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau said she gave me a glowing recommendation, that I'm detail-oriented and personable and easy to work with. I'll know by the end of the week if I got it.
The "Global Warming" continues. A front is coming through today that will bring bitterly cold temperatures. The lows for the next several nights will be well below zero. The constant freezing and thawing is wreaking havoc on the roads around here. Driving from home to town is like playing a video game of Dodge the Potholes. As the potholes increase in numbers and size, the game becomes more challenging.
I'll post when I have news about the vet job.
The bad news is I didn't get the job with the Police Department. The interview went well, but I was one of five people they interviewed (out of lots of applications). Knowing Taos, they probably hired someone who is related to someone in the department. There's another possibility, though. When Valerie (the Assistant to the Chief of Police) called yesterday to say they'd chosen someone else, she told me that they're going to post another opening in a couple of days and she encouraged me to apply. The position is in the Records Department, but I forget the exact title of the job. Records Technician or something like that. Ron thinks maybe they hired the Records person as the Evidence Technician and that job would be a good way to get my foot in the door.
As long as they didn't hire me and confidentiality isn't such an issue, I can share with you what the Chief of Police (a very nice, approachable man, by the way) said to describe the police force: teenagers with guns. The other people from the department who were in the interview agreed with him.
The good news is that I think I have the job at the vet's, but I'm not completely certain yet. At the interview last Wednesday, we decided I would go in Monday morning for a couple of hours for what Dr. Kim called a Work Interview. It gave me a chance to sit at the front desk and see what the job would really be like. She said some people who've done that realize they can't handle the job. But I stayed for three hours and really enjoyed it. It was busy, but not crazy-busy. I've been there on occasions when it was crazy-busy and I think I could handle it. After just an hour, I was checking in people (and their animals) without any help. The computer system was easy to learn. I think I did very well. When I got home, I found out that while I was there, Dr. Kim had been checking my references. The woman I worked for in the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau said she gave me a glowing recommendation, that I'm detail-oriented and personable and easy to work with. I'll know by the end of the week if I got it.
The "Global Warming" continues. A front is coming through today that will bring bitterly cold temperatures. The lows for the next several nights will be well below zero. The constant freezing and thawing is wreaking havoc on the roads around here. Driving from home to town is like playing a video game of Dodge the Potholes. As the potholes increase in numbers and size, the game becomes more challenging.
I'll post when I have news about the vet job.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Brutus
The next dog to join the family was Brutus. He was our first Shelter Dog.
In May, 2003, Big was having more trouble with his rear legs and we were certain he had less than a year to live. We thought it would be a good idea to get a "replacement" that Big could train to be a guard dog while he was still able to.
So we went to the animal shelter "just to look around." Anyone who goes to an animal shelter just to look around and leaves empty-handed has very strong will power.
When we pulled up in front of the shelter, some of the dogs were in the outside pens. The first dog we noticed was Brutus. First, because he looked like a miniature Big (but with tiger stripes!) and second, because he looked so happy and friendly. We looked at the other dogs, but kept coming back to Brutus. Then we went inside and talked to the shelter people. Brutus (as they had named him) hadn't been there very long. He had been turned in by people who raised sheep; they told the shelter, "He's been hanging around the sheep corral trying to bite the sheep." He was probably just hungry. He wasn't aggressive or vicious at all. We took him for a "test drive" around the parking lot on a leash and he was just happy and friendly.
He was such a happy dog, everyone at the shelter loved him. One of the volunteers (who is also a vet tech at our vet's office) had been considering adopting him. She was off that day and they called her at home to see if was OK with her if we adopted him. She gave her consent and we filled out the paperwork and took him home.
Big and Wolfie didn't exactly welcome him with open paws. There was definitely a period of adjustment all around. Eventually the three of them became friends and everything has been smooth since then.
He's a boxer mixed with pit bull, but all his records at the shelter and now at are vet just say, "Boxer Mix" because of rampant pit bull prejudice.
Brutus weighs about 60 pounds. For most people, that's a normal-sized dog, but for us, it's small, so one of his nicknames is Little One (also Puppy Face). But he has a very deep bark that sounds like it's coming from a much bigger dog. Big has done a great job training Brutus how to be a guard dog.
And all these years later, Big is still hanging in there, but we don't know how much time he has left.
Meanwhile, Brutus knows how to enjoy life.
We've since replaced that 20-year-old couch with a new leather one and none of the animals are allowed on it, so he spends a lot of time on the bed.
Rough life for a shelter dog, isn't it?
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wolfie
The next dog to join our family was Wolfie. He was a complete surprise to me, but Ron had been secretly planning and researching for quite awhile.
It was April, 2002. Around lunchtime, Ron called to say he was coming home for lunch and bringing a surprise. I was very surprised when he got home and I saw what was in the back of his work truck.
"Oh my God, you bought a coyote!"
"No, it's not a coyote; he's a wolf."
Actually he's half wolf and half German Shepherd, but he looks like he's all wolf, and wolf puppies look like coyotes. He was only 12 weeks old.
I didn't know it until then, but Ron had been researching wolfdogs for quite awhile. At the time, there was a man in Taos selling those wolfdogs out of the back of his truck in various parking lots. Although he took excellent care of his dogs and really loved them, The Powers That Be eventually ran him out of town (and even out of the state).
I'd like to say that Wolfie was no trouble at all from the very beginning, but I can't. He didn't know us and he missed his pack. The first two nights, Ron put him out in the front courtyard (he wasn't housebroken). He was safe there, but he was unhappy and he made sure everyone for miles around knew it. He howled all night long the first night and most of the second night.
For the third night, Ron tried something different. He cleared a space in the living room and put down the old futon mattress. Then he and Big and Wolfie snuggled up for the night and all three slept together. That did the trick. The three of them bonded and Wolfie knew he was part of the pack. They did the same thing the following night, just to reinforce things. After that, Ron was able to go back to sleeping in the bedroom and Wolfie and Big did just fine together.
As Wolfie grew older, he became (and stayed) very sweet and affectionate.
The only problem that remained was containment and that took a long time to solve. Containment is one of the main issues with wolfdogs and one of the leading reasons some wolfdogs don't work out for some people.
The walls of the rear courtyard were about five feet high at their lowest point. That quickly became much too low as Wolfie grew. And so began the process of building the wall higher. And higher. And higher. Every time we thought we had it high enough, he would leap over it. I became very frustrated, convinced we would never get it high enough to contain him. Finally we got it up to nine feet high and we dug a "trench" about a foot deep in front of the wall. That took away his momentum when he tried to jump. We finally had him contained!
At the same time we were building up the walls, he was finding other means of escape, mainly through the gate. We have a gate in the rear courtyard with one of those lift-and-slide latches. After watching us open the latch, he learned how to open it with his teeth! His nickname then changed from "Houdini" to "Too D*mn Smart." We couldn't figure out how he was getting out until I saw him actually opening it with his teeth. We quickly installed a second latch; it's higher up and must be opened at the same time as the first one. He's not that smart.
He has since been given a kinder, gentler nickname by my mother. When she visited us a couple of years ago, she was a little nervous of Wolfie at first. But he completely charmed her by being sweet and gentle, even putting his head in her lap. So now when I talk to her on the phone, she always asks about him in the same way, "How's my Dear Sweet Wolfie?"
Wolfie's fine -- healthy and happy and in the prime of his life. And now he's no trouble at all. And I'm so glad he's part of our family.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Great Visit and New Client
I had a brief but wonderful visit from my sister Marian last week. She arrived Wednesday evening in time for dinner and stayed until Friday afternoon, about lunchtime.
We had a nice relaxing time, mostly sitting around talking, drinking tea, enjoying the views, etc. We both "telecommute" and did some work Thursday for our respective jobs before going for a walk.
The weather was perfect and Marian was very tolerant of our sometimes overly-affectionate animals. All in all, it was a great visit, but too short.
In other news, I have a new client for my proofreading services -- the Horse Fly, the alternative newspaper in Taos. It's published once a month on the 15th, so we did the proofreading over the weekend, three hours each on Saturday and Sunday morning. There's another proofreader, Jane; on Saturday I proofed the first 16 pages and she proofed the other 16 pages. On Sunday we switched.
The Publisher and Editor is Bill Whaley, an interesting character. He always wears a fedora. He's much warmer in person than in print. In his newspaper, he takes a critical look at local politics and the local politicians, which is a good thing (although the politicians don't always agree). The paper is an interesting mix of that and the local cultural scene, especially art. There's plenty of that in Taos, but the Horse Fly puts more emphasis on it than the mainstream paper, The Taos News, a weekly paper.
It feels good to get out in the community -- meet more people and work with people face to face instead of just via email. I think it will inspire me to go to more community events and art galleries, too.
We had a nice relaxing time, mostly sitting around talking, drinking tea, enjoying the views, etc. We both "telecommute" and did some work Thursday for our respective jobs before going for a walk.
The weather was perfect and Marian was very tolerant of our sometimes overly-affectionate animals. All in all, it was a great visit, but too short.
In other news, I have a new client for my proofreading services -- the Horse Fly, the alternative newspaper in Taos. It's published once a month on the 15th, so we did the proofreading over the weekend, three hours each on Saturday and Sunday morning. There's another proofreader, Jane; on Saturday I proofed the first 16 pages and she proofed the other 16 pages. On Sunday we switched.
The Publisher and Editor is Bill Whaley, an interesting character. He always wears a fedora. He's much warmer in person than in print. In his newspaper, he takes a critical look at local politics and the local politicians, which is a good thing (although the politicians don't always agree). The paper is an interesting mix of that and the local cultural scene, especially art. There's plenty of that in Taos, but the Horse Fly puts more emphasis on it than the mainstream paper, The Taos News, a weekly paper.
It feels good to get out in the community -- meet more people and work with people face to face instead of just via email. I think it will inspire me to go to more community events and art galleries, too.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Big
In earlier posts, I shared the stories of our two cats, Winston and Princess. Now it's time for the dogs, in order of seniority (can you tell this is a Union household?).
So I start with Big. He's very special to me for two reasons. First, because he's my very first dog and second, because of the magical, mystical way he came to us.
It was February 2001. The house down the road had been broken into a couple of times. Ron was getting ready for a business trip to Chicago. He would be gone for a week and didn't like the idea of leaving me home alone. "It sure would be nice to have a big guard dog," he said. The very next day (it's true!) we saw a big dog running though our back courtyard, playing with our next door neighbors' dogs. "Where did that big dog come from?" we asked each other. Then we asked the next door neighbors, but they didn't know either. When I saw him chase their cat, I chased him off, even squirting him with water, but he kept coming back. He knew he belonged here, even if we didn't know it yet. He seemed to be saying, "I'm here about the guard dog position. I understand you have an opening."
We made one final effort and put an ad in the "Found" section of the newspaper. We got one response from someone who said the dog wasn't his, but if no one claimed him, he'd be interested in taking the do off our hands. Nope, by that time, we had decided to keep him.
First we named him Big Dog, but that was quickly shortened to Big. He's 120 pounds of solid muscle. He has a deep, ferocious bark that would scare off any burglar. He's been the perfect guard dog; no one has ever broken in, or even come close. As we added more dogs, Big trained them to be guard dogs, too.
Of course it hasn't been all sunshine and roses. He was only about a year old when he came to us. He was still in that "destructive puppy" stage, chewing anything and everything he could get his paws on, especially electric extension cords (still plugged in!) and a car seat belt. He finally outgrew that and now he's no trouble at all.
He is getting on in years (large dogs don't have as long a lifespan as smaller dogs do) and has degenerative joint disease in his rear legs. He's hanging in there with the help of a medicine called Rimadyl. We're just emjoying the time we have left with him and letting him enjoy the time he has left with us.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Hummingbirds, Part 3
The hummingbirds are so intent on guzzling at the feeders, they don't mind my presence as much, so I was able to get some pictures of the swarm. They're drinking as much as the can, in preparation for their trip south. They'll be leaving soon, heading to Mexico. I keep reminding myself of that every time I buy another bag (or two) of sugar and every time I refill one of the feeders. Even with three feeders up, the smallest one needs to be refilled twice a day.
The weather lately reflects the reality about living in the desert: temperature extremes. On the same day the high temperature is 93, the low temperature is 44! Yesterday, the previous record high was 87, but we hit 90. This has definitely been a long, hot summer and I'm ready for it to end.
Monday, August 6, 2007
More Hummingbirds
I'm still trying to get a good picture of all these hummingbirds, but it seems to be impossible. Or at least it takes a lot more patience than I have to stand out there and let them get used to me so they'll come back to the feeders. There are three or four times as many as in the picture. Even with three feeders up, the small one will still be emptied in twelve hours or less. This morning, after filling the small one and the big one, I was completely out of sugar, so I went to the store and bought 2 four-pound bags. They'll both be gone in a couple of days, I'm sure.
This is the time of year we start referring to it as "an infestation of hummingbirds." The cats really enjoy watching them (through the windows, of course).
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Hummingbirds
It's hard to get a good picture of the hummingbirds. They're very skittish and fly away when I go out into the yard. When they come back to the feeders, they fly around so fast, only stopping briefly to drink. At the height of the feeding frenzy, there's a hummingbird on each of the 16 perches with more birds hovering around impatiently, sometimes chasing the other birds away from the feeders.
We had to put up the third feeder, "the big one," on Sunday. Before that, even with two feeders, the small one would be emptied in 12 hours or less. We're going through a lot of sugar! We don't buy the commercial hummingbird nectar; we make our own. Fill the feeder one-third full with sugar, then fill with hot tap water, shake until the sugar is dissolved, then hang. The birds seem to really love it when it's fresh and hot. Kind of like Krispy Kreme doughnuts; they're best when they're freshly made and hot.
We get a swarm of hummingbirds like this every summer. It starts out in late April with one or two birds, then four or five, and by mid to late July, there are too many to count. It will be like this for two or three weeks, and then gradually, one by one, they'll head south. By the end of August or beginning of September, when the nights are chilly and almost down to freezing, there are one or two hangers-on, and eventually they'll leave, too. Then we take the feeders down, clean them out, and put them away until next April.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Princess
Princess is the latest addition to our family. She joined us in October, right after Shadow died. I wanted to wait awhile after she died before we got another cat, but Winston had other ideas.
Poor Winston. He was miserable without Shadow. To make matters worse, the day after Shadow died, Ron and I went away for a long weekend with some friends. It had been scheduled for months. That left Winston all by himself (we put the dogs in a kennel). Poor Winston, I say again. He must have thought we'd taken Shadow with us. He was happy to see us return, but he obviously was looking for Shadow. He kept calling for her (step, step, meow, step, step, meow). He was pitiful.
The next day I went to our vet clinic to talk to one of the vet techs. She does cat rescue and cat fostering and I hoped she would know of a cat who needed a good home. She did! Princess had been brought to the vet clinic, rescued from an abusive home by a neighbor. The woman brought her in, but never came back and ignored repeated phone calls. Poor Princess. She had numerous injuries, including a broken pelvis. Most of her tail had to be amputated, too, leaving her with a little three-inch stump.
When I talked to M, Princess had fully recovered and was living at M's, but M was glad to see Princess go to a good home. A few days later, I brought her home. She's a beautiful cat with long reddish-gold fur, big reddish-gold eyes, and the longest whiskers I've ever seen on a cat. She's so sweet, too, very affectionate. The best part is that she and Winston are so happy together! They're both young and playful. They wrestle in a playful (not fighting) way. Their favorite game is chasing each other all through the house at top speed. There's nothing like the sound of galloping kitties! It's such a happy sound. It lessens the pain of missing Shadow and Panther.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Winston the Wise
I love this picture of our cat Winston. He has such a wise expression on his face.
Of all our animals, Winston is my favorite (except when he's whining because his food bowl is empty). We have a bond that I don't have with the other animals. I can talk to him about things and he looks at me with an expresson on his face that seems to say he understands.
He's a lap cat, with me at least, and has been from the very beginning.
He was rescued from the streets of Santa Fe. His owners were moving to Florida and couldn't take him along, so they just put him out on the streets to fend for himself. He wasn't very good at it and got in fights with other cats. A mutual friend took him in, but she couldn't keep him and was about to take him to the shelter. That would have been certain death for him, since people go to the shelter wanting cute little kittens, not an adult cat, even a one-year-old with huge green eyes.
So Ron brought him home, surprising me. We needed a second cat. Our beloved Panther had died a few months earlier and we wanted Shadow to have another cat to play with.
Ron came home from Santa Fe one evening and without any warning, plopped Winston into my lap. Completely delighted, I petted him and loved on him and welcomed him to the family. He settled down and made himself comfortable in my lap, curling up and going to sleep. He stayed like that for about two hours and would have stayed for longer, but finally I had to get up. That was a little more than three years ago and I'm still completely delighted to have him in our family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)