THOUGHTS OF THE PAST, AND PLENTY OF PHOTOS

 POST # 594

Last Tuesday, when I looked outside, the weather seemed conducive to finally attempt to re-climb my "favourite" hill that I had tumbled down back in 2012.  Bella appeared to be excited about this new adventure, so around 10 a.m., we started out on our journey.  Last Tuesday was April 9th, which happened to be the fortieth anniversary of my dad's death, so I probably could have chosen a more auspicious date, but be that as it may, with Bella leading the way, I started to climb, and before too long, we were both at the top, looking down.  The above photo is taken from the spot ( or close enough to it) that I had gone crashing down, all those years ago.  It looks a bit different from before, as the trees have grown up, so the path to the bottom isn't as clear cut as it was in 2012, but you get the idea.  We remained up there for about half an hour, and then began our journey back home.

Once we had returned to the bottom, I took the next series of photos.  The first photo, shows the place where I ended my tumble, right next to the orange coloured support wire of the power pole.  In fact, I do recall hanging my legs over that small dug out part of the hill, and that was when I realised that I had done some serious injury to my right leg.  Aside from the immense pain, when I moved my leg back and forth, my right foot just seemed to flop around on its own.  Not good.  So now what?  You can see the little shack in the photo, and that was where I decided to head, in order to see if there was anything at all that I might be able to use as "crutches" to help me back to the house.  It took quite a long time to make that short journey, considering I had to do it sitting down.  Eventually I got there, and found a long handled spade shovel, and a two by two piece of wood.  Ever so slowly, I managed to stand up on my left leg, and begin heading to the house.  Every few steps, Sadie my boneheaded friend of 2012, would pick up her tennis ball and drop it in front of me, hoping for me to play.  She was sadly disappointed with my lack of response.

But before I show the route to the house, here is one more photo below, that shows where I fell down the hill.  If one lines up the bottom of the orange coloured wire, and draws a line straight up to the tree at the top of the hill, that's about the best view of the area that I tumbled down.

Okay, so back to the route home. The following series of four photos, shows the route, which at the time was covered in about a foot of snow.  The sun was shining, and aside from everything else, I was overheating, but somehow, step by step, I made it to the end of this trail, followed by climbing up two hills, and finally to the steps at the house, which I had to go up on my rear end, and eventually into the house, where I managed to phone the neighbour for assistance.

Just to add insult to injury, when I arrived at the foot of the staircase, I fell over onto my injured leg.  That certainly didn't help matters.

So I guess that covers it.  I was going to try and make the journey again this week, just using my left leg and the same things as crutches, in order to find out just how long it took me back then to walk that distance, however I decided against it, which was probably a wise decision on my part.  

The remainder of today's blog is a variety of photos, to make up for the lack of them from last week, so here we go.

                          Arriving in Grand Forks for the start of this current house sit.

                         Bella sizing up her new human friend.

One of the many chipmunks taking advantage of the spilled sunflower seeds.

                          Bella enjoys a dip into the Granby river nearby.

A red breasted Nuthatch (Sitta Canadensis) on the deck railing.

Bella enjoys the view from the front deck.

I returned for a visit to the hospital.

Morning fog bank over the Granby river.

Happy horse by the river.

My current home.

A new structure since my previous visit in 2012.

A shrine to my former four-legged friends of 2012.

And finally, three photos of a Violet-green Swallow (tachycineta thalassina).  I love watching Swallows in flight, and I was out on the deck just yesterday afternoon, when all of a sudden I heard a clunk, and one dropped down beside me on the deck, after colliding with the window. It was still alive, so after a few moments, I picked it up, and placed it upon the deck railing, where it sat for about 10 minutes. At that point, I walked over to  it, gave it a few strokes along its back, and voila, it flew off like nothing was wrong.  I was happy to see that event.

Come this Tuesday, I will once again be on my way.  I have very much enjoyed my journey back here, to re-live some old memories, and enjoy spending time with Bella.  Perhaps I will have another chance to spend time here in the future, but if not, I am thankful for having had this opportunity.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

OLD MOUNTAIN, NEW BONEHEAD

 POST # 593

The last time that I posted from my current house sit location, was just over twelve years ago.  Back then, I didn't have the ability to post photos, and for some strange reason, I can't post any today.  

I arrived here three days ago.  I am back at the place where I fell down the mountain back on March 4, 2012, and since my arrival, I have lost count of how many times I've replayed the events of that day in my mind.

The weather hasn't been the greatest so far, so I have yet to attempt to re-climb the mountain, but it is certainly on my "to do" list before I depart from here.  One thing that I have done though, is to walk to the place at the foot of the mountain, where I ended up after my fall, and from there, walk back to the house.  I am amazed even now, how I managed to cover that distance with only one leg to support me.  

Luckily for me on that fateful day, I had a phone to use once I returned to the house, and I could call the neighbour for help.  If I hadn't had the use of the phone, or if the neighbour hadn't been home at the time, I may have ended my days right here where I currently sit typing out these words. Thankfully, that was not to be, and twelve years later, I am still blogging away.

What's new this time around is that it's no longer Sadie to keep me company, but Bella instead.  She's very easy to care for so I am grateful for that.  She's just happy to hang out with this new human, and enjoy the days as they pass by.

So that's exactly what we are going to do, just hang out with each other, go for some walks, and with any luck, climb back up that mountain one more time.  If I manage to sort out my photo upload problem, I'll post a few photos later, and if not, then I guess it wasn't meant to be.

And for those readers who may want to read my post from 2012, you can find it here.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2012/03/sadie-and-pauls-big-adventure.html

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

 

A DAILY WALK

 POST # 592

You just never know exactly what you may come across while out for a daily walk with Dora-dog.  We came across this sign the other day, and it made me chuckle, so I thought that I would include it in today's post.  The squirrels were nowhere to be seen, but if they had been around,  Dora-dog would most certainly have let me know about it.  She loves to chase the squirrels, but so far has never managed to catch one.  

Unless it's raining hard, a daily walk is part of the routine while I am here.  Sometimes it's just me and Dora, and at other times, the three of us head out on our journey to various places around the local neighbourhood, or to a dog park so that Dora-dog can hang out with some of her four-legged friends.

The other day, a neighbour called, to tell us that she was taking her dog Sully for a walk, and so we met up and the three humans and Sully and Dora-dog began our journey to the marina and back.  The two dogs know one another, so they were happy to have the chance to hang out together for a while.  I had the pleasure of taking Sully and Benson for a stroll almost three years ago, and so I wrote about that at the time.  Here is a link to that post.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2021/04/sully-and-benson-day.html

Sadly, Benson is no longer with us, but the other two seemed to enjoy their walk in spite of their buddy not being with the two of them.

Every now and again, it was time to take a short break, and let them relax for a few moments and take in the surroundings.  

Eventually, Sully headed home with his owner, and we continued on our way back home as well.  Dora-dog appears to be happy that she is back home, but she's probably thinking about the wonderful time that she has just spent with her buddy, Sully, and perhaps she's looking forward to another journey with her four-legged friend, sometime in the future.

A daily walk is a good thing for all of us to partake in, but it is certainly more enjoyable, if the walk can be shared with four-legged friends such as Sully and Dora-dog.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

SPRING HAS ARRIVED

 POST # 591

View from Mt. Erie on Fidalgo Island (1273 'ASL)

Spring has finally arrived, and along with it, there have been some wonderfully sunny days lately, which is a welcome relief after the extended period of grey days.  As I write these words, the grey skies have returned, so it was good that we took advantage of the nice weather and headed up to the viewpoint(above), on Fidalgo Island.  This is the view looking south with Campbell Lake in the foreground and Skagit Sound to the south of it.   It was a beautiful spring day, with a magnificent view.

Another sign that spring is here, is the fact that the daffodils are now in bloom, soon to be followed by tulips.  Even Dora-dog is enjoying them.

It's always a good idea to get out for a walk, especially when the weather is cooperating, and so we wandered down to the local park to spend some precious time overlooking the water and the bridge.

Dora-dog was having a good day indeed, as you can tell from the expression upon her face.

It seems like that's about all I have to say for today, so I'll wrap this up, and with any luck, the clouds may clear off soon, and we can get back out there and enjoy the day.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

SELINA

 POST # 590

One day, I was riding my bike back to where my mom and dad used to live, and when I arrived, my sister and brother in law had just arrived in their car.  They were on the way to the hospital, because my sister Judy was very pregnant, and was about to give birth to my niece, Selina.  While Don went into the house to drop off some things, Judy sat in the car, looking very uncomfortable indeed.  I was amazed to see what she was going through, but needless to say, she wasn't interested in having a conversation at the time.  She had other things on her mind.  Soon, they left and not long after they left, Selina was born.  The year was 1976.

Fast forward to this year.  Last week, our family found out that Selina had died on March 4th.  She was just 47 years old.  This was sad and very unexpected news for all of the family.  Since hearing the news, I have been thinking about Selina every single day, and that's why I chose to write about this today, instead of what I normally write about on my blog.  Isn't it strange.  I hadn't seen Selina for many years, and would rarely think about her, and yet since last week, I think about her every day.

I don't have much else to add to today's short post, but I felt the need to record this just the same.  Perhaps this is just another reminder to me, and to anyone who happens to read this, that life is precious, and we should try to appreciate each and every day as it comes along.  

My apologies to any of my readers who may have been hoping to see more dog or cat photos on my blog for today, but Selina was on my mind, so I felt the need to write these few words, in memory of my niece.

Here is a short video of Selina from 2016. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZdmj6Bk8kU

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer 

LILY'S LOVELY VIEW

 POST # 589

Say hello to Lily.  As you can tell by the photo, she's a very relaxed bonehead.  Here she is, on one of her favourite chairs, getting ready to have yet another nap.  She deserves it, because after 12 years on the planet earth, she's earned some rest time.

Having recently spent time with the high energy of Caper at my previous house sit, Lily is a relaxing companion by comparison.

When she's not napping, she has a very lovely view to enjoy, and so does The Thoughtful Wanderer.  We are perched on a hill overlooking the Strait of Georgia, and it's hard not to want to spend the entire day just gazing out the windows.

One of the trees out front appears to be the home base for a couple of magnificent looking eagles.  They come and go throughout the day, but not a day has gone by, since my arrival, that I don't see them at least once.  

Most of the days that I have been here, the ocean has been roughed up by the wind, however late yesterday, for the first time, things calmed down, and the strait looked like a large, calm lake.

This has been a rather short house sit, and the owners arrive back home later today.  In spite of the shortness of the visit, I have enjoyed the location very much, and Lily is a real pleasure to spend time with.  

After our final walk of the day, she'll find another location in the house (she has plenty of them), to stretch out and have another nap.  After all, she has to save up some energy, in order to get ready for her evening meal.  What a life.

Thank you Lily, for spending some time with me, and sharing your lovely view.  

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE LONELY LOACH

 POST # 588

What a life.  In my post from last week, I forgot to include the other pet that lives here. If you look closely you can make out the orange coloured tail fins of a fish called a loach, or as my friends describe it, "the ugly blue botia loach."

This critter spends its entire life on its own in this tank, and it's always in this position under the rock-like structure.  There had been other fish in the tank in years gone by, but this loach is the only remaining one.  I've never seen it swimming around, even once, but I know that it is alive, as every now and again, those orange tail fins flap up and down.

Each night, I feed it two of the little pellets that can be seen in the photo below.  I put a dime next to them to show just how small they really are. By the next morning the pellets are nowhere to be seen, but the loach is still in the same position as it was the day before.  That's its life.  

Perhaps the loach is trying to teach me a lesson, in letting me know just how blessed I am to have a multitude of activities to keep me occupied each and every day.  It, on the other hand, is stuck in that tank, with the only thing to look forward to are the two pellets that come floating down each evening.  If I ever find that I am feeling sorry for myself, from now on, all I have to do is think of the lonely loach, and that should set me right.

Soon I will be moving on to my next house sit, but the  lonely loach will continue on its existence, settled under a rock, at the bottom of a tank.  What a life.  What a lonely loach.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer