ANOTHER DECADE SPENT

POST # 47




I awoke early today, with the thought that I should get up and start writing this post but I was trapped. Most mornings when I awake I am lying on my side with my legs slightly bent at the knees. I don't know why, but it just is the case. Sometimes at this particular housesit, I find myself as the filling in a "cat sandwich." At some point during the evening the cats, Oscar and Felix slink into the bedroom, hop up on the bed to find the warm human and settle in and get comfortable. REAL COMFORTABLE. It's always the same. Felix takes up station just behind my knees nestled into the curve of my legs, and Oscar is on the opposite side curled up near my belly button. (checking for belly button lint???) So when I awoke, this was the situation I found myself in. As you might imagine it is a very warm and cozy arrangement, and the furballs looked so content, that I didn't have the heart to just get up and spoil the whole thing. So ever so gently I managed to turn myself over to my other side, and drift back into a peaceful slumber surrounded by two of my favourite cats. So now here I find myself after 9am only beginning to write my thoughts for the day. O and F have been fed, and they are now curled up sleeping yet again. What a life!!

I came across an article this week which was talking about a particular Greek island not that far from where my friends have settled in Crete, and it is known for the longevity of the people living there. Some of the things that come to mind now as I recall the article is that the people wake up naturally, as opposed to having an alarm wake them, they drink coffee, wine, have afternoon naps, and grow plenty of their own food, amongst other things and they have a solid sense of community. Sounds like a pretty good recipe for a pleasant life. It's probably difficult to distinguish between a cats' life and a humans' on this island. Both of them relaxed and happy day after day. Perhaps my friends in Crete have known about this Greek island lifestyle for a while now, and that is why they have relocated there from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Now, moving right along, to the reason for the title of this blog. I get reminded time and again how I am good at remembering dates, and today, October 28th is no exception. In fact I remember exactly what house I was living at that day, in Dawson City, taking care of two dogs at a friends' place, one of my many Dawson housesits. The year was 2002, an entire decade ago. Now, people might wonder just how the heck could I be so clear on a memory from ten years ago but for me the answer is a very simple one. The reason I remember October 28th is because of October 29th. How does that make any sense? Well the 28th here means that it is the 29th in Australia. If that is so, then it means that my friend David in Melbourne is having another birthday. And the reason I remember his birthday so vividly from a decade ago was because when I called him that evening to wish him a happy birthday, I also asked him, "What's new?" A very simple and normal question to ask a friend that you haven't spoken to for a while. But it was his answer that caught me my surprise as it was at this point in our conversation that he told me he had just purchased a new sail boat which at the time was being manufactured in Durban South Africa, and he then went on to ask if I would like to join him for the voyage from there to Australia, early in 2003. After almost dropping the phone, I accepted the offer, and of course that forty three day voyage is now history, and has been written about elsewhere, so I won't go on about it here. But it's because of the content of that phone call, that I so vividly remember when and where I was all those years ago.

So as I sit writing these words, another entire decade of my life has passed by since that day, and it makes me pause to reflect on the time gone by and the events that have brought me to this point in my life. It also makes me appreciate yet again, how fast time flies by and I hope that with that realization I am even more appreciative of each moment that I have to spend. And we usually use the term "spend" when we talk about time and I think that is a rather appropriate way to look at it. Thoreau, when deciding on any course of action in his life, always wanted to work out how much the decision of whatever action he was going to take, was going to cost him. Cost in his terms, was how much time was going to be spent as a result of taking the action.
I think he had it right, all those years ago. It's a maxim that I try to follow as much as possible. And right along with that then comes the question, of how much value is gained from the time spent? Another good question to ask oneself every now and again.

OK, this entry is getting a bit on the lengthy side, so I'd best start to wind things up for now. As happens more often than not since I began writing this blog, I awake on the day wondering what on earth am I going to write about and then the words just fly onto the page. Whether or not they are words worth reading, depends on the point of view of the reader, however from my point of view, the time spent writing them is time well spent, and for me at least it has value.

This will be my last entry from Orcas island at least for this go around and the next scheduled post is for November 7th, which for me is a travel day back to Vancouver to start the next housesit. I seem to end up having travel days on blog days. It's not by design, but there you go. Hopefully I will get the writing done on schedule.

Now, time to go for a bike ride to exercise those legs of mine.

Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY PAUL

POST # 46


Jill and Jackson and Peach and Myrtle and Skidder and Breaker and Roxy and Dusty and Trouble and Otto and Oscar and Felix and Parker and Sadie and Bob and Blueberry and Mr.Bumples and Maggie and Tai and Jackson and Peach (again) and Marley and Pillow and The Girls and Tika and Oscar and Felix (again) AND THAT sums up all of the wonderfully loveable creatures I have had the pleasure of taking care of for the past year since I started this blog on October 21st, 2011. The Girls is my description of the six chickens I spent time with in Nanoose Bay and along with Mr. Bumples the toad, were the only non feline or canine critters who had to put up with me as their caregiver. As of this date I have had no nasty comments from any of these animals, in the comment section of the blog, so I can only assume that they were happy with the care I provided to them, and that's the good news, because it means that sometime in the future I may have the opportunity to help out again with any/all of the above list.

So the final tally is:
Cats-11
Dogs-10
Chickens- 6
Toads- 1

Plenty of fun and companionship was provided by all of these wonderful animals throughout the year and I would be hard pressed to single out any one of them for a special mention, because they all are unique and they all were a treat to care for. After looking through the list I see that four of my other favourite animals are not there, those being Jacob and Oliver my cat buddies in Vancouver and Einstein and the late Snoop, my dog buddies from East Vancouver, and it would be wrong not to include them here. However it just so happens, that I didn't have the opportunity during this time to be their housesitter, as housesitting at both of those venues took place prior to the start of The Thoughtful Wanderer.

Back on July 20th, 2011 I joined housecarers.com which is a website which matches housesitters with people looking for housesitters. Although at the time I had no idea how successful this would be, in fact it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made and has resulted in me getting to know a whole new group of people and their pets, and for that I am most grateful.

One of the primary reasons for joining housecarers was because it was based in Australia and even though it provided housesit listings from all over the world, a large portion of those were located in Australia and to a lesser extent in New Zealand.

By the early part of 2012 it would have been three years since I had last had a visit to my friends downunder, and I thought that joining housecarers would be an opportunity to do something that I love, that is, taking care of pets, and combine this with a visit south of the equator to visit friends. At least that was the plan as of July, 2011. And it seemed to me like a reasonable plan at that, and the odds were better than even that I could accomplish it. However late in the year I received an email from my friends in the Yukon, asking me if I would consider a return visit to their place in Bear Creek, just outside of Dawson City, in December to care for their three border collies and two cats. Well, for more reasons than I could list here, it was an offer I couldn't refuse, and at the time I thought, well no problem, it's only for December and I will still be able to make arrangements for early in 2012 to head south. How wrong that turned out to be.

One thing led to another and before long the housesit requests on this side of the Pacific were beginning to stack up, and as a result, I remained and still remain here on the North American continent in 2012. The geographic area has been small, for this world traveller, and has encompassed one Canadian Territory, The Yukon, two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Alberta, and two US states, Washington and Oregon. Due to the limited area travelled, transport has been rather easy, with only the trip to the Yukon provided by air travel. The remainder has been mostly by bus or train with only the very occasional and very short automobile trips.

I had hoped when I began this writing journey, to post a different entry four times each month, however that didn't quite work out the way I planned as I did not have access to a computer terminal a few times during this period, due to my unscheduled visits to hospital. However even though it wasn't a perfect record of four per month I am happy with the result.

My "homeless" housesitter status actually began on October 1st 2011 a few weeks before I started this blog. At the time I had no idea how successful this would be, and having sold my sailboat I had intentionally put myself into a position where there might be some times when I wasn't quite sure that I would have a place to hang my hat. I did have a Plan B at least for Vancouver, that being simply to camp out at the airport, if I needed a roof over my head. After all, the airport was easy to get to and my needs are so few, one of which is to have a roof of some sort over my head every night, and the airport seemed to be a perfect solution for those in between housesit times. It worked brilliantly for a few occasions until not that long ago, when I was finally tapped on the shoulder one night, and told, politely I might add, that I could no longer use this venue as a place of rest. But hey, it was good while it lasted, and was all part of the adventure.

This year of housesitting has also allowed me to live the simple life that I find so attractive and stress free. If I have said this once I have said it a thousand times,
"as long as I have a roof over my head and a full belly, I really don't have anything to complain about." I still feel that way, maybe even more so in light of the events of the past year. Now, I am simply happy to just have another day to spend, and so it is extremely easy for me to wake up every day with a smile, knowing that I am alive and that I have another opportunity with the day ahead to just breath the air and enjoy my life for as long as it will last. Early on when I began this blog, I wrote down the letters, SAWAFAATRIAB which stands for, "Some air, water and food, and all the rest is a bonus." I'm sticking with that. It fits nicely with my view of a simple life.

The year has had many highlights which are too numerous to mention, but suffice to say that I have come away with a greater appreciation for each and every moment of life itself, and I have been provided with some unexpected happiness which I could have never anticipated when this blog began.

What's in store for the next twelve months is anyone's guess at this point. I, like many people, try to imagine my life in the future, and attempt to make plans that I hope to accomplish sometime and somewhere "out there." I guess that is just a part of being human and having a brain that can imagine a future moment in time, and I have to admit that I do like to take part in that exercise. But I also know deep down, that this precise moment in time, this second, is my life, and it's all I really have, and as a result of the events of the past year, I know that I appreciate the moment, more than I ever did before. So that's a very good thing as far as I am concerned.

My quest to head back to Australia still remains strong at this point, but in the meantime I am happy, no very happy to be right here, right now, and the mystery which is the future will unfold as it will, and I along with it. Life is truly an adventure and I hope it continues on for a little while longer.

The journey continues...

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

C-A-R AND ?????

POST # 45


Well, maybe I should have begun the title of this blog post with the "??????" because when I awoke this morning, which was quite late by the way, after having a very restful sleep, I soon realized that it was blog day again, and I really didn't have any idea where this story would begin, or end for that matter. Kind of like life, really. It seems like this time has come around again too soon, as a result of writing my last entry on the ninth instead of the seventh as normally scheduled.

I was originally awake around 4:30am and it briefly crossed my mind then that I should get up and start writing at that point. But Oscar was curled up in the crook of my legs and he looked so content so I used him as my weak excuse to drift back into dreamsville and lately there have been plenty of good dreams.

But by the time Felix arrived in the bedroom I knew that it must be time to get up. The boys were attempting to tell me through their actions that it was breakfast time and that I'd better get my lazy body up and out of bed in order to take care of their needs. I enticed Felix up on the bed to join Oscar and me for a little early morning group cuddle which is always nice, but as soon as I began to pull the covers back, they were down on the floor, and had started up one of their regular cat boxing matches, which is a hoot to watch. It begins with the "stare" during which time they begin to size up their opponent. This is followed by the very slow "dance" as they move around each other in a tight circular pattern, never taking their eyes off of one another. Finally one or the other of them begins to raise up a paw in the first signs of "attack" mode, and once that has happened it's only a matter of time before the other one raises his paw, and then the boxing has begun. I never see any claws come out and they just seem to be having fun getting some exercise. As fast as it began, it is soon over, and soon they are licking each others faces, as if to say, "don't worry brother, I still love you." It's great entertainment for the housesitter, and the boys appear to be having fun doing it, so it's all good.

With round one of the boxing match complete, and with the housesitter up and dressed, we head to the kitchen, or should I say that they lead me to the kitchen, and specifically to the cupboards beneath the sink, because that is where the cat food is located. "Meow,Paul we're hungry, and you got up very late today, so would you please drop everything else that you're doing and serve us up our breakfast?" I just hear the meow part, and that's enough for me. I need to get this task completed first, otherwise I will have two furballs hanging around on the floor beside me when I am doing my morning exercises. However, once the food is out, then I don't exist for a while in their minds, and I can go about my morning routine uninterrupted. Soon, Oscar and Felix will be outside taking care of business as it were, and for a while the house seems rather lonely without their presence. This new place that Cathy lives in since I was last on Orcas, is fully equipped with cat doors, which makes my life so much easier. At her previous house, I was upstairs in a loft, so each time the boys wanted to go out, I would have to walk down the stairs to facilitate this. Then every now and again I would have to take a look downstairs to see if one or both were ready to come back in. It was usually just one, which meant having to repeat the
exercise until both were back inside. Of course usually by that time the other one was thinking about going out again, which started the whole process all over. I think they were doing it that way just to get a kick out of having the housesitter go up and down, up and down the stairs. Now, it's all too easy. The other day I was outside walking past the cat door, and I had to chuckle as Cathy has written up on the wall above the door, "Oscar and Felix only." Orcas cats are known to be extremely intelligent, so once a stranger reads the sign, he/she moves on. So far I haven't had any other cats in the house, so I guess the sign is working. In a little while they will both be back inside, and curled up in one of the many cat friendly places there are here, and settling into their morning nap routine. Ah, the life of the cat. Eat, sleep for 14 hours a day, eat, sleep, repeat. Not too tough of a life, at least for these two boys.

Moving on, this week I have had a couple of "hunting" trips not too far from the house. October is apple time here on Orcas and after only a few rides around on the bike I came across a variety of trees just overloaded with apples ready for the picking and yet no one was doing that. I checked with a few locals to make sure that I wasn't going to be doing something I shouldn't be, that is, picking apples, and the word was go for it. So the apple hunt began. I managed to find a garden tool and a bucket that I could duck tape to it, and with this device I was able to increase my reach and capture more apples than I could have otherwise. I also found a little two step ladder to use. Cathy has a taller ladder, but with my leg the way it is, I didn't feel comfortable being that far from the ground. Anyhow the system I devised worked fine and I have a couple of varieties of apples now in the fridge. Last count was around sixty or more, and each day I manage to eat through three or four. Today I plan to go on another apple plucking adventure, and with the wind that has happened overnight and is still blowing strongly this morning, I might not even need to pick any, as the wind probably has done that for me. We'll see later today. An apple a day... I shouldn't be seeing any doctors for quite a long time.

I guess that brings me to the weather. Geez, Paul, your brain must be really short on ideas if you have resorted to talking about the weather. But it is worthy to note that as of yesterday we had a good soaking rain, and it's the first rain I can remember in many, many weeks. In that period of time I've been here, Vancouver and Everett, and the grass was dry and brown, so I am sure this will be a welcome relief. I am guessing that a certain dog in Everett is happy with the cooler weather for sure. But I can already picture the conversations in Vancouver. After a few days, the locals will be complaining about the rain. Maybe, maybe not, but as far as I am concerned it's a nice change. At this point I could go into a long essay about climate change, but if I've learned anything over the past seven years since I have been making a serious study of the subject, most people, at least most people that I have come across either don't want to talk about it, or even hear about it. Or maybe they're just too busy. I have come to the conclusion, probably too late, that it has been my emotional delivery of the topic that has had a negative impact on the listening audience. So now, even though I keep up to date with the latest facts and figures, I tend to keep quiet on the subject for the most part or if I do come across a willing listener, I try to deliver the message and keep my emotions out of it. But for me, that is still a challenge. After all the rhetoric, it really simply comes down to math and physics. Exponential curves and positive feedback loops that are rapidly changing the world in which we live, our only home. There is more than enough information out there for those who have an interest, and the subject can be explained much more eloquently than I could ever try to do. In the meantime I will continue to live my simplified lifestyle, which is the one thing that I can do, even though it's not enough. But it helps me sleep better at night.

Well, that last paragraph was a bit of a rant on a topic that probably doesn't belong in a blog about housesitting, but there it is. Perhaps I'll start another blog and dedicate it to climate change.

Back here at the ranch, the furballs are now back inside and are finishing up their self cleaning, prior to the morning snooze. I'm almost at the end of this post, and it's just about time to go out for a bike ride.

One final note about the title. The C was for Cats, the A for Apples, and the R was for rain. As far as the ???'s go, when I began this, that's how my brain felt, not knowing what to write about. Well now it's done, and I can get on to other tasks for the day ahead, including another apple hunt.

Peaceful times on Orcas Island

Happy Wandering,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

And one small PS. After finishing this blog, I walked out on the front deck only to be totally enthralled by the activities of a hummingbird collecting nectar from a plant on the front porch. Magic!

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

POST # 44


Without going into any boring old technical details, my electronic link to the outside world has now been restored, and as a result I can continue on with my blog, which is a couple of days overdue.

Since my last posting, I have resettled my bones, both the good ones and the ones on the mend, back here on lovely Orcas island. This is now my third visit to this peaceful island oasis, and I am happy to be back with my furball friends Oscar and Felix. Oscar appears to have caught up to Felix in the size department since my last visit in February, which gives him a more even match with his brother, when they get started with their daily "boxing" matches with each other. Felix is probably wondering why he hasn't quite got the edge over Oscar that he had in the past.

Also, since my last visit, Cathy,the owner, has relocated to a new home, not far from where she was renting, but now she has her own house which has about twice as much space as before, and a yard as well. The furballs have a whole new world to explore, and in the short time I have been back on the scene, they seem to have adapted to it very well and appear to be quite content with the new location. It is a couple of blocks further from the beach, so my nightly walk there with the cats is now off of their agenda which is unfortunate, however the boys and I can walk up the road from the new house if we chose to and that will have to do.

Cathy's former residence was a loft above a house near the beach, which was a very cozy location. It was rather tiny, but compared to living on a sailboat, it was more than enough space for me. I am one of those people who feels cozy rather than claustrophobic in a small space. I guess you are either one or the other. I'll take SNUG over a McMansion any day of the week, and I am not sure why. However I have a book which I purchased many years ago, titled "The Hand Sculpted House." The book is a detailed account of how to build a cob house, and one of the authors, Linda Smiley, talks about this business of feeling cozy in a small space in the introduction of the book. She is one of those type of people and she attributes this partly at least to the fact that as a newborn baby she was in an incubator for a while, and as a result of that experience, she felt safe in a small space. Having weighed in at only 4 pounds, 9 ounces when I was born, I too have some incubator time under my belt. Whether or not this early experience affects how we feel about the space that surrounds us is probably up for debate. All I know is, as far as I am concerned, small is better, and that would partly explain why to this day my little shack in the bush called SNUG is still at the top of my list as my favourite home. It was only about 80 square feet in total, which wouldn't even be the size of the bathroom in some houses, yet the longer I lived there, the more I thought that I had too much space. Anyhow, all of this rambling on is just another way of saying that my current location is very roomy indeed, and it will take a while to adjust to it after the previous Orcas location. But adapt to it I will, and I am sure that Oscar, Felix and myself will be content in our new location together.

In other news, my leg continues to slowly improve, and even though the changes are small ones, the direction is positive and for that I am grateful. It's been just over 7 months now since my fall, and I seem to recall being told way back when I was still in the hospital that it could take the better part of a year before I would be back to any kind of normal walking, so we'll see how that all goes. The bike riding has been a great blessing indeed, and I try to make that a part of my daily routine. Riding is important and the added bonus, is that I love to ride, so my rehab ends up just being fun in the end. I don't imagine that too many people ever think that way about rehab. I am thinking about making my second journey up to the top of Mt. Constitution, the highest point here on Orcas at some time during my stay. It's been great bike riding weather of late, and it would seem a shame not to take advantage of it while it lasts. Whether I go to the top of the mountain or not, I will most certainly continue my daily rides exploring the backroads of the island.

I think I'll wrap this up now, because it will be a shorter time between blogs, and I want to have something to write about on the next one.

Now, it's time for some cat bonding with the furballs.

Until next time.
Stay happy,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

Possible post delay

To one and all,
I may or may not be able to access a computer terminal on Nov 7th, so that blog entry could be delayed by a day or two. BUT IT WILL GET WRITTEN.
CHEERS,
Paul
TTW