POST # 142
An early 6am flight from Redmond Oregon, plopped me into SeaTac airport in Seattle for a couple of hours, prior to my second flight to Vancouver. With some time to spare I managed to get to the library and finally the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay for my journey to Nanaimo.
There I was met by Don, and we drove to Nanoose Bay to start my next house sit. So I'm back on the island with a new furball to care for. His name is Chumlee. He is a Siamese cross, so he certainly won't be as cuddly as Piper in Nanaimo, but then again, he's never spent time with the cat whisperer, so it will be a learning curve for both of us.
I'm just down the road from where I housesat almost three years ago, and it feels both strange and comfortable to be back here. Nanoose Bay is quite small and more rural than urban which I prefer these days. It's quiet.
Plus, the locals voted to not have street lights, so on a clear night, the sky is magnificent to gaze at.
So it's time to settle in, get to know Chumlee, and enjoy the area. The owners have supplied me with a bike, and I plan to take advantage of it while I'm here.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
PS. For those interested in a short video by my friend Pauline Schneider in which she spent a year following Guy McPherson on his travels, it can be found at this link.
http://guymcpherson.com/2014/10/pauline-schneiders-film/
It requires a password which is Going Dark. Make sure to use a capital G and a capital D and put a single space between the two words. Enjoy.
THOUGHTFUL: showing consideration for others; occupied with or given to thought; contemplative; meditative. WANDERER: moving from place to place without a fixed plan; or having no permanent residence; nomadic.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
NEPAL BLIZZARD and GENOA FLOODS
POST # 141
I came across a story the other day about trekkers in Nepal who had been killed in an avalanche. October is meant to be the prime trekking season there, so things like this shouldn't be expected. The effects of a tropical cyclone that hit the Indian coast, brought unusually heavy snowfall to the Nepal region. The story caught my eye for two reasons. The first, is that the storm took place in a trekking area called the Annapurna circuit. That part stood out, as I had hiked that exact trek many years ago, climbing over a mountain pass called Thorong La, which is almost 18,000 feet above sea level. The second thing that caught my attention was the unseasonal nature of the blizzard. Here again is another example of the impact of climate change. A warmer planet means a warmer atmosphere, and a warmer atmosphere has the ability to hold more moisture, and whether the moisture comes to the earth either as rain, or in this example, snow, it can have un-foreseen consequences.
TREKKING AREA IN NEPAL WHERE THE BLIZZARD TOOK PLACE WITH MOUNT MACHAPUCHARE IN THE DISTANCE
In a different part of the world the precipitation came in the form of rain, and the location was Genoa Italy. These types of scenes are becoming the norm these days. The warmer atmosphere in addition to the wavy, and slow moving jet stream, causes any precipitation in a specific area to not only be heavier than normal, it also gets stuck in a specific geographic location for an extended period of time.
As can be seen by looking at the above images, infrastructure that has been in place for a very long time, just can't cope with the new weather systems.
-----------------------------------------
The house sitter has a week off at the moment, but I'll be back on duty again soon, with a new fur ball to care for, and I'm looking forward to that. In the meantime, I'm holed up in Bend, Oregon with a dear friend.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
I came across a story the other day about trekkers in Nepal who had been killed in an avalanche. October is meant to be the prime trekking season there, so things like this shouldn't be expected. The effects of a tropical cyclone that hit the Indian coast, brought unusually heavy snowfall to the Nepal region. The story caught my eye for two reasons. The first, is that the storm took place in a trekking area called the Annapurna circuit. That part stood out, as I had hiked that exact trek many years ago, climbing over a mountain pass called Thorong La, which is almost 18,000 feet above sea level. The second thing that caught my attention was the unseasonal nature of the blizzard. Here again is another example of the impact of climate change. A warmer planet means a warmer atmosphere, and a warmer atmosphere has the ability to hold more moisture, and whether the moisture comes to the earth either as rain, or in this example, snow, it can have un-foreseen consequences.
In a different part of the world the precipitation came in the form of rain, and the location was Genoa Italy. These types of scenes are becoming the norm these days. The warmer atmosphere in addition to the wavy, and slow moving jet stream, causes any precipitation in a specific area to not only be heavier than normal, it also gets stuck in a specific geographic location for an extended period of time.
As can be seen by looking at the above images, infrastructure that has been in place for a very long time, just can't cope with the new weather systems.
-----------------------------------------
The house sitter has a week off at the moment, but I'll be back on duty again soon, with a new fur ball to care for, and I'm looking forward to that. In the meantime, I'm holed up in Bend, Oregon with a dear friend.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
PIPER THE DOG CAT and THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING NON-HUMAN
POST # 140
In the past couple of weeks, my feline friend, Piper has displayed some very dog-like tendencies. Almost all of the "normal" cats that I have had the pleasure of knowing going as far back as I can recall to about 1958, have been very independent. The human/s who attend to the cat's needs are like slaves attending to a King or a Queen. You may want to pick up, pet, cuddle, play with, or simply just move the furball, however if it doesn't want to co-operate (99% of the time), then the human is likely to end up with at minimum a few scratches, or worse.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, my friend Piper fit the above profile almost to a tee. And then something changed. Even though I have had plenty of experience with cats, I would have to admit that I have absolutely no idea what goes on in their brain. Perhaps, because I spend so much time with Piper, he now acts more like a dog than a cat. He spends the entire night on my bed. He's right there in the morning when I go to the bathroom, to the living room to open the blinds, and when I head to the kitchen, he's there meowing away, as he awaits his breakfast. Once breakfast is done, he searches me out, and settles in for a nap in what ever room I happen to be in at the time. With the exception of him going outside to do his business, he has become my shadow. Even when I go for my bike ride, he is there to watch me leave, and is waiting in the driveway when I return. I like that.
At the beginning of the housesit, there would be long stretches of time when he would be on his own. You see, Piper has a second residence, I call his cat "condo", which is located in the garage. This is what it looks like.
THE STAIRWAY TO THE CAT "CONDO"
THE CAT "CONDO" (upper right hand corner in the rafters)
But he seems to have lost interest in his home away from home, and now spends most of his time indoors with his housesitting buddy. Lucky me.
As far as the advantages of being a non human, I think that there are basically two. I strongly suspect that like most animals, with the exception of humans, cats live in the present, appreciating each moment as it happens. In addition to that, they have no idea about what crazy, stupid, dangerous, or self centred plans and schemes that humans are up to on a regular basis. Lucky for them. If they did know, we might see them marching in protest around the White House, or the Parliament buildings in Ottawa in an effort to tell their two legged companions to clean up their act, and do it now. But instead of that, we see this:
Piper, blissfully unaware of what humans are up to.
However, I could be totally wrong as might be demonstrated by the photo below. Perhaps Piper knows what's really going on, but like his human friends, he chooses to turn a blind eye.
I just don't want to know.
Whatever the case may be, I am very grateful that I have had the time to spend with Piper, and I will miss him when I leave, but the life of a Thoughtful Wanderer has me getting ready to be on the move yet again. I'll be curious to hear from the owner, after I leave, whether or not her furball, continues his dog like behaviour.
Time to say goodnight my furry friend, and soon it will be goodbye. (At least for now)
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
The autumn garden
In the past couple of weeks, my feline friend, Piper has displayed some very dog-like tendencies. Almost all of the "normal" cats that I have had the pleasure of knowing going as far back as I can recall to about 1958, have been very independent. The human/s who attend to the cat's needs are like slaves attending to a King or a Queen. You may want to pick up, pet, cuddle, play with, or simply just move the furball, however if it doesn't want to co-operate (99% of the time), then the human is likely to end up with at minimum a few scratches, or worse.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, my friend Piper fit the above profile almost to a tee. And then something changed. Even though I have had plenty of experience with cats, I would have to admit that I have absolutely no idea what goes on in their brain. Perhaps, because I spend so much time with Piper, he now acts more like a dog than a cat. He spends the entire night on my bed. He's right there in the morning when I go to the bathroom, to the living room to open the blinds, and when I head to the kitchen, he's there meowing away, as he awaits his breakfast. Once breakfast is done, he searches me out, and settles in for a nap in what ever room I happen to be in at the time. With the exception of him going outside to do his business, he has become my shadow. Even when I go for my bike ride, he is there to watch me leave, and is waiting in the driveway when I return. I like that.
At the beginning of the housesit, there would be long stretches of time when he would be on his own. You see, Piper has a second residence, I call his cat "condo", which is located in the garage. This is what it looks like.
But he seems to have lost interest in his home away from home, and now spends most of his time indoors with his housesitting buddy. Lucky me.
As far as the advantages of being a non human, I think that there are basically two. I strongly suspect that like most animals, with the exception of humans, cats live in the present, appreciating each moment as it happens. In addition to that, they have no idea about what crazy, stupid, dangerous, or self centred plans and schemes that humans are up to on a regular basis. Lucky for them. If they did know, we might see them marching in protest around the White House, or the Parliament buildings in Ottawa in an effort to tell their two legged companions to clean up their act, and do it now. But instead of that, we see this:
However, I could be totally wrong as might be demonstrated by the photo below. Perhaps Piper knows what's really going on, but like his human friends, he chooses to turn a blind eye.
Whatever the case may be, I am very grateful that I have had the time to spend with Piper, and I will miss him when I leave, but the life of a Thoughtful Wanderer has me getting ready to be on the move yet again. I'll be curious to hear from the owner, after I leave, whether or not her furball, continues his dog like behaviour.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
A CAT'S EYE VIEW
POST # 139
This is PIper's view of the world.
The point? It may be wise to see another species point of view; something that the human species has done very little of.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
This is PIper's view of the world.
The point? It may be wise to see another species point of view; something that the human species has done very little of.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
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