2014- COMES TO A CLOSE

POST # 150  (Please note- I may not have access to a computer for my Jan 7th blog)

When I began writing this blog back in October 2011, I had no idea at all how long I would keep up with it.  But here it is, almost the end of 2014 and I'm still at it.

It's certainly been an adventure, perhaps even more of an adventure than I would have liked, considering my March 4th, 2012 escapade of tumbling down a mountain and breaking my leg.  That might have been the end of the blog right then and there, after barely five months.  Thankfully, my *brain and fingers weren't injured, so the key pecking continues. (*With what I write sometimes, some will think that I did injure my brain.)

My travels in the last three years have taken me to a variety of locations in Canada and the USA, and now I find myself back in Australia after an absence of almost six years.  When I joined the housesitting website, HOUSECARERS.COM, back in 2011, one of the main reasons for doing so was to be able to apply for housesits in Australia.  As the company is based here, a vast percentage of their housesits, are located in Australia.  However,  somehow I got into a groove back in North America, and kept getting asked back to places I'd housesat previously.  Finally, it took an email from an old friend here, offering me the opportunity to care for his place, to finally convince me to make the jump across the pond.  That email, and my view that long distance flying will be something that is coming to and end in the future, was enough to convince me that now was the time to visit.

So far, I'm glad to be here, and it's a nice break from the winter weather that is now engulfing the northern hemisphere.  The Christmas crazy season is over, and life here has settled into a typically lazy Aussie summer.  I'll soak it up while I can.

On this date back in 2011, I was hunkered down in the Yukon for the winter, taking care of three Border Collies, by the names of Skidder, Breaker, and Roxie, and two cats, Dusty and Trouble. There have been plenty of miles travelled since then,  and many wonderful animals and a few humans to keep me company all along the way.

This housesit has no pets, however, if I need a dog fix, there are a couple of old dogs next door to keep me company, plenty of bird life around, and just out back a few kilometres I can always find a couple of kangaroos to verify that I am in Australia.
I'll try and upload some photos/videos later today.



Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer


HOPPERS                                                                             BIRDSONG AT MY PLACE

CHOCKO AND CHLOE

VICTOR HARBOR AND SPRINGMOUNT RETREAT

POST # 149

The journey continues here in South Australia. The view I have everyday from my deck overlooks a golf course of all things.  It wouldn't be my first choice of a place to live, but hey, I'm just here for a short while.

The beach is close by and  is a regular place for me to visit on my daily bike ride.

Strange sights can be seen while at the beach.

Hey, wait a minute now, what country am I actually in at the moment???

Moving right along, another place that I am required to visit is Springmount Retreat.  My friend Dave has me taking care of  it while he is away.  It's about a half hour outside of Victor Harbor.

And last but not least, what would a visit to Australia be without a few of these bounding around the place.

I'm about half way through this current house sit and life has settled into a nice relaxed rhythm.

Happy trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

A CHANGE OF SEASONS

POST # 148

So where is Paul now?  Boris the cat had an opportunity to visit with the Thoughtful Wanderer in the past two weeks, and it appears that he appreciated the visit.
But that was back in late November and since then I have settled in at my latest house sit which is pet free for a change.  I prefer having the animals around,  but it's nice not to have the responsibility every now and again.
An email from a friend a few months ago requesting my assistance to housesit, sent me on my latest journey.  This is the same friend who inadvertently put my life on its present trajectory to study everything I could regarding climate change and all the other related topics that go along with that, including near term human extinction. (for details please go to guymcpherson.com)
Dave, suggested I come to his place while he and his partner spent a month in Germany.  After weighing up my options, I decided to take him up on his offer, and began to put the wheels in motion to achieve this goal.
My first stop en route to Dave's place was at Los Angeles International Airport where I came across this sign over a water fountain.

This isn't a very good sign to read, especially when you're thirsty. What can't be seen, and immediately to the left of the water fountain is a water cooler selling bottled water.  Either LA has a serious problem with their water supply, or someone from the company selling the water maybe paid the airport to install this sign.  Either way, it was a surprising sight to see.
My journey continued and soon I found myself in need of a nap on an airport bench.  It's one of those things which I do best.

Henry David would have appreciated that I wasn't spending any extra funds on a place to sleep, however I doubt he could have even imagined a future with such a thing as an airport.

As my journey continued I passed by this house with a great view.  It would be a magnificent place to housesit but alas, this was not my friend's house.

Eventually I arrived at my destination, Victor Harbor South Australia, which is where Dave currently resides.  It was time for a change of seasons.
I'll be here for about a month prior to wandering off to my next house sit.

Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

PEARL HARBOR ANNIVERSARY

POST # 147

My plan for today was to write about my recent journey to my latest housesit.  However, yesterday a news article came to my notice, and I thought I would share the link for those who may be interested in a bit of history that is rarely discussed.  The article is written by James Perloff and it goes into detail of what really happened in the lead up to the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.  Seeing as it's the anniversary date today, I thought it would be an appropriate blog entry.

http://jamesperloff.com/2014/11/06/pearl-harbor-roosevelts-911/

Now I realize that information like this won't change anything regarding the course we

 are on as 

we continue down the one way street to near term human extinction, however the article

 is instructive 

in showing how society in general can be lead down certain paths all because of lies

 coming from high

places.  In this case, the lie was what took the US into WW2.   It seems like nothing

 has changed in the 

intervening years, except that maybe the lies have just become bigger.

Similar lies have been used for the past twenty plus years to play down, if not

 discount completely 

human caused climate chaos.  So here we find ourselves now in 2014 with the 

climate spinning out of 

control, and even though some of the main stream media has an article now and

 again, it still remains

a taboo topic for most people.

And if one dares to mention, near term human extinction, then you really get looked

at in a very strange manner.  I've come to know that look very well indeed.

Of course, I will continue to talk about it here, and who knows, maybe I will even

 change a few minds.

It gives me something to do in between petting cats and walking dogs, and just

 enjoying each precious moment of life as it happens. 

Next week, it will be time to fill in the readers on my latest housesit.

Happy trails

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: Apologies for the broken up lines, however the computer seemed to want to do this

because of the link that I added.