FROM THANKSGIVING TO CHRISTMAS

 POST # 673

It sure doesn't take long.  In the USA, once their Thanksgiving is finished, it's already time for Christmas, or so it seems anyway.

Dora-dog is even participating by wearing her festive coat. The photo above is taken from this year's calendar, and the photo below is the one that will be on the 2026 edition.  I guess that she is happy to participate, but you might not know it from the look upon her face.  In any event, soon her festive coat will once again be removed for another year, and she can go about her business in an unrestricted manner.  Now, that's something that will put a smile back upon her face.

And something else that will put a smile upon her face is the new homemade dog biscuits that Mary found a recipe for the other day.  As of this writing, they have been taste tested by Dora-dog, and she gives them a definite paws up.

There has been plenty of rain, and some strong winds this past week, but somehow, I manage to get in a couple of walks each day with Dora-dog, and that's something else that puts a smile upon her face.  Then, the other day, we had a lovely sunset to watch, and one can always be thankful for that little treat, courtesy of Mother Nature.

We still have a couple more weeks of the days getting shorter, and with any luck, we will have a few more sunsets like this one to enjoy.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

SETTLED IN AT SHELTER BAY ONCE AGAIN

 POST # 672

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, there would be plenty of photos of Dora-dog on the way, so here is the first one.  She's always happy to oblige.

More than a week has gone by since I settled in here at Shelter Bay, Washington, and for the most part the weather has been grey and rainy.  But this morning, we were surprised and delighted to once again see the sun.  I'm not sure how long this will last, but we'll enjoy it as much as we can.

I happen to be here for the American version of Thanksgiving which was yesterday.  Mary cooked up a magnificent feast for us, which was very much appreciated by this visiting Canuck.  I am very grateful that she went to the effort of preparing all of this yummy food.

On a totally different subject, while out for my daily walk with Dora-dog, we came across this wonderful collection of mushrooms growing out of an old stump.  I thought that it was a good idea to take a photo of them.

In addition to these mushrooms, when we were out walking yesterday, there were more squirrels than I have ever seen before at any one time.  Dora-dog was beside herself trying to keep track of all of them, and I enjoyed watching her slowly walk towards them, hoping that she would be able to finally catch one.  Of course, that wouldn't be possible because I had a firm grip on her leash, but even if that wasn't the case, she wouldn't stand a chance with these agile critters.  In an instant, they can be up a tree or on a fence, before Dora-dog can blink an eye.  Still it's fun to watch her interaction with them each and every time.

So that wraps things up for today, and for the month of November.  There will be two more posts from here, before I journey back to Canada, and no doubt, there will be more photos of Dora-dog along the way.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS.  I always think of my dad on today's date, as this was his birthday.

SO LONG DOUG

 POST # 671

Doug is giving me that look.  He knows something is up, but when I took this photo, he wasn't quite sure what it was.  However, once my luggage was sitting at the front door, he knew for sure that it was time for me to say so long to him, and the next photo shows another sad looking face.

Then moments later, I was out the door, and on my way to Nanaimo, to pick up Doug's owner, Pam, and then head to the ferry terminal.  The journey was an interesting one, because the clutch in Pam's truck is failing, and it was a challenge to shift gears.  Be that as it may, I did manage to arrive on time, have a quick visit with Pam, and then watch as she drove away.  It was now her turn to deal with the faulty clutch.

After an overnight in Vancouver, it was time to head to the train station in preparation for my journey south, once again.  In all of the times that I have done this trip, I have never seen the terminal so empty as it was on Wednesday.   Boarding begins at 3:30 pm and usually by the time shown on the clock, there is already a long line up of people waiting to board the train.

In fact, it was so empty, that I had the opportunity to be very first in line.

Clearing customs was a breeze, and I settled in for the journey southward.  In my train car, I counted only thirteen passengers, in a car that holds eighty.  We even left fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, which is a first.

It was an uneventful trip south, and as always, Mary and Dora-dog were there at the station to greet me. I'll be here for a month, so I imagine that there will be plenty of photos of Dora-dog during this upcoming period.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

ANOTHER WEEK WITH DOUG THE DOG

 POST # 670

If there is one thing that Doug is very good at, it's his ability to give me the look.  The look means, "isn't it time to go for a walk, Paul?"  He has certainly perfected this look, and you can see it displayed proudly as he stares at me while lying down on one of his favourite beds.

So there is only one thing to solve this problem, and that is to take him for his daily walk around the neighbourhood.  There are always plenty of things for Doug to sniff as we stroll along, and it is a pleasant and relaxing exercise for the both of us, at least most of the time.  But occasionally we encounter another four-legged critter along the way, and Doug makes sure to let it know, that he is the boss.  His bark is usually enough to let the other critter know that it would be best to allow some space as we continue to walk on by.  So far, we've never had a bad encounter, but I am always careful to keep a tight hold upon his leash, just to be on the safe side.

Our walk continues, and each day is unique as we stroll along the road together.  We sometimes come across another human who knows Doug, and then there is plenty of tail wagging taking place as we approach them.  Doug gets a few pats on the head, and I have the opportunity to have a quick chat, prior to us continuing along on our journey back home.

Before too long, we arrive back, after yet another enjoyable stroll together.  After Doug gets his expected post walk treat, it is time for him to settle down and relax, and while doing so, perhaps he's thinking about tomorrow's walk, and who or what he will meet along the way.

I've got a few more days to hang out with Doug, and I'll try and make the best of them.  He is certainly one of the most laid  back boneheads that I have had the pleasure to know over all of these years.

And finally, I thought that I would mention last night.  The final thing that I do is let Doug outside for his final pee and poop, and when I opened the front door, I noticed something on the front lawn.  I decided to go out and see what I was looking at, and it was the sad sight of a dead rabbit, which by looking at its injuries, it had obviously been attacked by something.  I made sure to get it off of the ground before Doug could have a closer look. How it ended up in the front yard will remain a mystery.  

I leave next Tuesday, so I will try and make the best of my final few days with good old Doug the dog.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

HANGIN' OUT AGAIN, WITH DOUG THE DOG

 POST # 669

On October 30th, I enjoyed a sunny ride  across to Vancouver Island, en route to my current location, here in Nanoose Bay. Pam picked me up at the ferry terminal and we headed back to her place.  I was last here, almost exactly one year ago to take care of Doug the dog.  You can't really tell from the photo, but he was truly happy to see me.  His mind appears to be elsewhere.  Perhaps he was thinking about the fact that Pam would be leaving the next day, and he wasn't too happy about that.

The next day was Halloween, so I asked Doug if he would be kind enough to show me his scary Halloween look, and he was happy to oblige.

I guess that his look worked, because we never even had one visitor the entire evening.  I think that it wasn't his look that caused the lack of visitors, but the fact that it was a very rainy night,  which didn't make it very inviting to go out trick or treating on the local streets.  We enjoyed a quiet evening at home, as the rain poured down.

There are two times each day, when I have Doug's full attention, and those two times are breakfast and dinner.  As soon as I grab his food bowl, he's right there next to me, waiting and drooling for his meal.  Moments after I put his bowl down, the food has disappeared.  

It must be time for our afternoon walk, so I'll get Doug ready, and off we'll go.  Thankfully the weather today has cooperated, so I won't have to take an umbrella along with me.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

RHUBARB RAMBLINGS AND THE TWO AUSSIE DAVIDS

 POST # 668

A very long time ago, when I was still a child, we had a great rhubarb patch in our garden at home.  My sisters and I would take advantage of this fact, and occasionally pick a stalk to eat.  Back then, it was normal to get a cup, put some sugar in it, and then dip the rhubarb into the sugar prior to eating it.  The idea was that because the rhubarb was sour, the sugar would help make it more palatable.  In fact, it seemed to exaggerate the sour taste, at least for me it did.  I'm not sure what effect it had on my sisters.

My dad on the other hand, used to sprinkle a bit of salt upon his rhubarb prior to eating it.  At the time it seemed like a strange idea to me, but somewhere along life's journey, I decided to try some rhubarb with salt.  And I've never looked back.  

Why so much talk about rhubarb today?  Well, I just finished the last three stalks here at Mary's place.   The plant is now done for the season, so I'll have to wait a long time until I can once again enjoy the taste of rhubarb with a sprinkle of salt.  And every time I do, it makes me think of my dad.  I'm glad that he showed me the best way to eat it, all those years ago.

Today's date also takes me back to the year 2002.  I've written about this before, but I'll state it again.  I was living in Dawson City at that time, and I phoned my friend David Jones in Melbourne to wish him a happy birthday (the 29th in Australia).  After wishing him a happy birthday, I asked, "what's new?"  That simple question was the beginning of a very big adventure.  David had just purchased a sailboat in Durban, South Africa, and right then and there he invited me along to help sail it back to Australia, an adventure that took place from March 6th to April 17th, 2003.  It most certainly was a memorable journey on many fronts, and was without doubt the biggest adventure I had been on up to that point.  So today is once again his birthday (in Australia), so I'll make sure to send him a note to wish him a happy birthday.

And speaking of Davids.  I sent an email yesterday to another David friend of mine in Australia, whom I hadn't heard from in ages, and lo and behold there was an email in my inbox today from him.  As it turned out, I managed to send the email to him on his birthday as well, so that was good timing.  It was great to be back in touch after all of these years.  Having had my yahoo email account hacked many years ago has caused some problems, and my lost contact with him was no doubt a result of that misfortune.

Soon I will be heading back to Canada to begin my next house sit back on Vancouver Island once again.  In the meantime, I will enjoy Mary and Dora-dog's company for a couple of more days.  And of course, I can't help myself, so here is the latest photo of Dora-dog just after we had returned from our daily walk.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer
 

SHE'S BAAAACK!!!

 POST #667

She's baaaack!!!  And Dora-dog is one happy bonehead indeed.  Mary arrived back from her vacation to Hawaii last Saturday morning, so I took Dora-dog for a ride to the Shell station to meet Mary after she exited from the airport shuttle bus.

Now I know that Dora-dog enjoys my company as well, but Mary is still number one in her books.  And that is as it should be.  After all, it was Mary who rescued this frightened young puppy from the animal shelter way back in February 2018.  Who knows where she may have ended up if Mary hadn't adopted her back at that time.  

She's had a good run since then, but a very large part of her happiness is the fact that she gets to spend time each and every day with Mary.  

Here is a link to a post that I wrote one year after Mary adopted Dora-dog.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/search?q=dora

They've come a long way since that time, and I'm pretty sure that they would both agree that it has been a wonderful journey for each of them.

And one more photo of Dora-dog, as you can see.  Her number one human is back on the scene, and  she is very, very happy about that.

Okay.  Just one more photo to re-confirm that Dora-dog is happy.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer