WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT TODAY?

POST # 35

It's a grey overcast morning here in Vancouver as I sit at the computer and contemplate what I could write about today.
J & P aka Jackson and Peach are looking at JP aka me from their perches on the two chairs in the living room with a look of...???? Sometimes it's difficult to know what thoughts lurk behind those cute little faces. I don't think they are currently thinking about food, because breakfast is out of the way by now. But speaking of breakfast, it's always entertaining to watch them as I get the food ready. It's the same thing every day, twice a day, but you would think by their reaction that it was the very best cuisine that any dog could hope for. I wonder how long a human would put up with the same food everyday? In fact I know from personal experience. Many years ago I was onboard a freighter heading from the Indonesian island of Ambon to Java, and the food on the ship was plain boiled rice and dried salted fish, three times a day. Already by day two, my travelling companion and I were well over the excitement of the menu. So you have to give these dogs credit for their consistent contentment with such a simple fare. My guess is that they would have handled the freighter cuisine just fine for as long as the trip lasted.

Another thing that they might have been thinking about is our walk last night. Just as we were returning to the house via the alley way I spied no less than three cats all hanging around the back gate. The cats saw us, and I saw the cats, but for whatever reason, Jackson and Peach were sniffing away at other things and were totally oblivious to the three felines. Finally, just a few steps from the gate, two of the cats moved on, but the last one stayed sitting in front of one of the garage doors. A couple of barks from J and P convinced the last cat to move on, albeit reluctantly. What amazed me was how close we got before the dogs were aware of the cats. Here in the living room, the two of them can be sleeping in their little dog beds, and then all of a sudden they are up at the front window barking. And at what, I think? Then in a moment or two a person will walk past the house with a dog. They have the ability to sense a dog approaching from their living room beds, but were totally unaware of three cats within metres of them last night. Weird!!!!

The daily dog walks have been good exercise for my leg and I am grateful to have that opportunity. Without the dogs, it would be easy to say to myself that I'll go for a walk later, but with them both staring up at me with that "let's go for a walk" look in their eyes, it's hard to resist.

Cycling has also become a daily routine again which I am so very happy about. There are enough side streets and bike paths around here that I can enjoy my rides without having to worry about taking any evasive action along the way which makes for an almost stress free ride. On Thursday I rode over to Kits beach and made my first effort at walking in the sand which I was advised would be good therapy for my leg. Maybe so, but I found it a bit difficult at least this first time around, but I will have to give it another try soon. I would have liked to walk in the water, however Thursday was rather windy, which caused the water to be quite churned up and murky. The last thing I needed would have been to step on something sharp in the water and lose my balance. That will have to wait for another day. After Kits, I headed over to Granville island for a while and I was amazed at just how quiet it was, considering it's summer holiday time and the weather was so nice. A sign of the times for sure.

Yesterday, July 20th aside from being the anniversary of landing on the moon in 1969, also marked the 1st anniversary of being a member of housecarers.com which has provided me with many new housesit opportunities as a result. And for that I am grateful. I immediately renewed my membership for another year as I look forward to continuing on in this role as house/pet sitter for the foreseeable future.

Well, back here at the house, the morning is rapidly disappearing and the clouds outside are beginning to break up, with the occasional ray of sunshine poking through. Jackson and Peach are giving me the "walk" look and this is as good a time as any to get my legs moving, so I'll now stop exercising my fingers, and go and exercise my toes for a while.

Bye for now,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer