SOME FINAL PORT TOWNSEND THOUGHTS

POST # 232

 My recent housesit in Port Townsend is now history, however there are a few memories that need to be recorded here, starting with, Bogachiel the Malamute.

I had the good fortune to meet Bogachiel out front of one of the shops at the marina in Port Townsend. With a face like this, it would have been virtually impossible for me to not stop and say hello.  After spending almost an entire week with three furballs, it was a pleasant change to have some bonehead company for a while.  Bogachiel was happy as well, because there was plenty of cat odour on me for him to sniff.  He has an unusual name, so I asked the owners about it.  There is a state park on the Olympic peninsula with this name, and according to them, Bogachiel means, "muddy when wet."  No doubt, he lives up to his namesake during the rainy season, but he was looking pretty clean cut when I took this photo.

This last housesit had a nice view looking east, and I managed to capture this sunrise one morning.  

Prior to running into Bogachiel, I peddled past the tall ship that I had seen last week, and decided to take another photo.  The workers had removed the tarp and so I managed to get the whole ship in view.  It's name is the "Lady Washington".

I had some visitors pass through town while I was there.  Cathy and Jeanne are from Orcas Island, and they were doing a bike tour for a few days, so they stopped in at Port Townsend to say hello.  We had a wonderful visit, with plenty of thoughtful conversation, which is hard to come by these days, and  very much appreciated.  I first met Cathy almost 5 years ago to the day (October 1st 2011) when I arrived on Orcas Island for the very first time in order to housesit her three furballs.  This was my very first housesit after becoming intentionally homeless, as a result of selling my sailboat in Vancouver.  My last night on the boat was September 30th of that year, and I headed out bright and early the next morning, bound for Orcas.  I met Jeanne as a result of knowing Cathy.

Jeanne (L) and Cathy (R) at the Blue Moose Cafe which is located in the marina at Port Townsend.  The cafe was right next door to the shop where I had met Bogachiel a few days earlier, but unfortunately he wasn't there on this day.  

I also ran in to my friend Bill again, down on the waterfront, while he was out for his morning walk.  Since last visiting with him, I had sent him a printed copy of the blog I wrote which featured Bill, and he was very appreciative of the fact that I had done that.  We talked about that, and many other topics.  He's a great guy to visit with.  I decided to take a photo of the two of us and also do a video as well.

All in all, the past week in Port Townsend was time well spent as far as I am concerned.  I spent time with three lovely furballs, and also had a chance to catch up with friends.  

Now it's time to settle in at my new housesit in Bellingham.  

I've got fresh rhubarb growing outside which is a nice treat to have every now and again.

living a life of profound acceptance,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PORT TOWNSEND REBOUND WITH ADDED FURBALLS

 POST # 231

If one were to pick a location on the west coast that you might find a tall ship being refitted, it would quite possibly be in Port Townsend, Washington.  And Port Townsend is where I find myself again,  furball sitting.  It's just a whistle stop this time around compared to my recent  three month housesit.
 I'm here for only a week, but that is enough time to make three new furball friends. Make that four.

So here they are.

SQUINT

KIT

GREY JAY

They are typical furballs, each with their own very unique personalities.  In the short time that I have been here, Grey Jay seems to have decided to be my best buddy.  Perhaps this is due to the fact that on my first day here, he disappeared.  Eventually he was discovered hiding in the wood box near the fireplace, after having been in there all day long.  Now he wants to be as close as possible, which is ok by me.

Kit just likes to eat a lot and sleep in the sunbeams, and Squint is somewhat more independent than the other two.  

As if I didn't have enough furballs to keep me company, I met this one outside this morning.  He sure wanted to come in the front door, but that would likely have caused chaos, so we just sat out on the front step and had a visit.  He's extremely friendly, even though you might not detect that from the look in his eyes.

Even though this property isn't quite as rural as my last place, and even though it is in town, I'm surrounded by greenery, and it's pretty quiet so that makes me happy.  Here's a view out of the kitchen window at an abandoned shack which is next door.

If only the walls could talk.  The place probably has an interesting history.

One of the advantages of being at this location is that I have been able to continue my daily bike ride, and much of the route is similar to the last time I was in Port Townsend.  It's always a great way to start the day, and with the new route, there are new things to see, like this pretty flower,

and this old mansion on the hill overlooking the town.

You never know what you might see on a ride, and the following photo is just one example.  It was actually taken last week in Sudden Valley, but I thought that I would include it here.

This sign reminds me of the woman a few years back who had phoned into a radio station in Fargo, North Dakota, complaining about the fact that "deer crossing" signs were placed on major roads.  She thought that it would be safer for the deer, if the signs were on roads that weren't so busy.  She actually believed that the deer would follow the instructions on the sign.

Here is the link to her phone call, and subsequent call, after she realized her stupidity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/donna-radio-caller-deer-crossing-sign-complaint_n_1987405.html

Perhaps deer don't know where to cross roads, however this deer certainly knows how to jump a fence.  I captured this moment, yesterday morning in my back yard.

I'll be here for the remainder of the week, and I should have enough time to pick a bunch more apples as there are apple trees everywhere, groaning under the weight of all the fruit.  

Time now to finish off this tale, and what better way to do that then to have a photo of a tail.  This particular tail belongs to Grey Jay, from earlier this morning, after she hopped up on the bed.

living a life of profound acceptance,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

FRANKIE'S NOW GONE

POST # 230

Boo hoo!!! Frankie's gone!!!  She was here for almost six days and we had the pleasure of pet-sitting her for about half of that time.  With a bonehead (dog) like Frankie, it didn't take long to fall in love with her.  Of course the downside to that is the fact that the house felt kind of empty once her owner, Dawn returned on Monday to pick her up.  By that point, Frankie had definitely settled in with her new caregivers, and so when Dawn arrived, Frankie was beside herself with excitement, not knowing just which lap to jump up into.

One of the highlights of our time spent with Frankie, was when we took her to the local off leash dog park.  I'm not sure if this is something that she has had the opportunity to experience in the past, but she seemed to enjoy it, as can be seen by the photo below, with her resting happily on a bench in the park.  This photo was taken after she had walked, ran, pooped, sniffed at,  and been sniffed by her fellow canine friends.  And to top it all off, she's got a treat to munch on, which is nestled between her front paws.  What more could a bonehead ask for?

Contrast this look to the two images below.  After her owner had spent a couple of hours visiting, it was time for Frankie to head south.  Here she is with a WTF look on her face just after being loaded into the car.

And here is Frankie a few moments later when she has come to the realization that the time with her new human friends is coming to a close.

This second look is more of a "how could you do this to me, after all of the love that I have shared with you in the past few days?" kind of look.

The house sure seemed empty later on.  No dog to curl up with on the couch or chair.  No more walks around the neighbourhood, and worst of all, NO MORE DOG PARK.

However, my friend Mary and I told Dawn that we would be more than happy to host Frankie again in the future, so something tells me that this was just a temporary goodbye.

And how could a blog about a dog be complete without a post poop video.

With Frankie now gone, we drove to Mary's car repair place this morning to get an oil change.  It's a great place to go if you're a furball lover because there are two of them in the reception area.  The business specializes in Japanese autos, and the cats names are Lexus the mom, and her daughter, Sky.  Here is a photo of Lexus from earlier this morning.

Having spent plenty of time with a variety of furballs over the years, I would have to say that Lexus wins the fat cat award, hands down.  Or is it paws down?

Finally, I have included a pdf file of the latest edition of the Klondike Sun newspaper.  They were happy to put a slightly edited version of my story from August 7th, about my friend, Breaker the bonehead. The article is on Page 5.  There is plenty more to read in the paper as well.  Enjoy.

Klondike Sun September 7, 2016 E-file .pdf

living a life of profound acceptance,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THOUGHTS OF PORT TOWNSEND AND FRANKIE THE BONEHEAD

POST #229

Introducing Frankie.  More on her in a moment.

My Port Townsend housesit is now over, and it was a wonderful experience in many ways. I am grateful for having had the opportunity.
I did one final trip down to the waterfront, and took a photo of my favourite reading spot, that I would go to every day.  Time to read, and then have an afternoon nap in the sunshine to work on my tan.  On this final day in town, the sun was nowhere to be seen, but it doesn't seem to matter to the three otters that were my daily companions at the seaside.

My friend Dahr was happy with all of the garden work that I completed during my three month stay.  Here we are standing in front of one of his apple trees, prior to my departure to the mainland.  The reason we are standing so far apart is because we were trying to show off the apples in the background, however it looks like we're trying to avoid each others smell. :-)

His girlfriend Laurie, took this photo, and I'll be returning to Port Townsend later in the month to housesit her place for just over a week, where I will be surrounded by three lovely furballs.

I'm back on the mainland now, hanging out for a while in Sudden Valley which is near Bellingham.  My friend Mary and I went on a walk the other day through the woods near here.  There were plenty of wonderful mossy trees to enjoy along the way.

Mary's friend, Dawn arrived yesterday for a short visit from Edmonds, WA, and she brought along her bonehead named Frankie.  Having been starved of dog company for three months, Frankie and I hit it off right from the start.  She's a real sweetheart.   Here are some recent photos of her.

As you can see by the above photos, she's pretty adorable.  I would be happy to housesit her anytime.

I'm enjoying my time here, and even though it isn't as quiet as the last place I was at, it's certainly a pleasant place to be for the time being.  Each day is precious.

living a life of profound acceptance,

Paul,

The Thoughtful Wanderer