ANOTHER THOUGHTFUL WANDERER MILESTONE COMES TO PASS

POST # 400

Today, The Thoughtful Wanderer blog has now reached another milestone.  Post number 400.  Not bad for a project that began way back on October 21st, 2011 when I was house sitting in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2011/10/thoughtful-wanderer-begins.html

Back then, I really had no clue about how long this little online journal would last, but I suppose that as long as I am still breathing, I will continue to write something, four times each month.

Post number 100 came into existence on December 21st, 2013 when I was hunkered down in the snow at what became one of my regular gigs in Vancouver.  Jackson and Peach aka the baby boneheads kept me company during my stay there.  I even attached a very short video of the two of them running out into the snow in the backyard.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-thoughtful-wanderer-scores-century.html

The above link also makes note of the approximate distance I had travelled since the beginning of the blog, and includes a list of countries and critters that had been a part of my journey up to and including that date.

Moving right along, the blog reached the 200 mark on January 28th, 2016.  I was back in my favourite "home" of Dawson City in the Yukon.  To be more accurate, I was at the little village of Bear Creek, about 12 kilometers down the highway from Dawson, where I had the great pleasure of caring for a pack of Border Collie boneheads and one lovable furball.  Time in the Yukon is always well spent in my opinion, and I enjoyed my visit.  It's the last time that I have been there.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2016/01/done-in-dawson-at-least-for-now.html


On to number 300, as the months and years continued to fly on by, and as is always the case, faster than expected.  The date was February 28th, 2018.  The location was not too far from Sidney on Vancouver Island.  "Her majesty" aka the furball named Tina was my companion for that house sit, and she was certainly a good one.  I also met my very first Leonberger bonehead.  I had never come across that particular breed of dog, and he was a gentle giant.  The owner told me that Maynard was only 16 months old at the time, and that he already weighed 125 pounds.  I remember asking the owner how much he spent each month on dog food, and even though he didn't state a dollar figure, he told me that it cost him a truck payment per month.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2018/02/abbey-road-her-majesty.html


And so here we are now at number 400.  When I began this project all those years ago, I really did not think that I would still be doing it at this stage, and I certainly wouldn't have thought that I would ever reach the 400 mark.  I'm glad that I have persisted over the years, as it's fun for me to look back just to see where I have been, what critters I've had the pleasure of caring for, and to re-read what I have already written.  Every now and again, I think that I have had something worthwhile to say.  Well, at least I think so, but I don't know if any of my readership would agree.

The next milestone would be the magic number 500.  And just like all the other milestones, I really can't imagine that I will get there.  After all, with an average of 48 posts per year, that would put the date somewhere around April, 2022.  With the state of things in the world as they are at the moment, I would be surprised if I get the opportunity to pen blogpost number 500, but I would be very happy indeed if that milestone comes to pass.

In the meantime, I will continue to try and appreciate the time that I do have, and try and make the best of it, for as long as possible.


grateful for every breath,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

HOLED UP AND DRIED UP

POST # 399

WHERE IS EVERYONE?

On March 16th, 2020 this Canuck crossed over the line into the USA via the Amtrak train.  The conductor informed us that this would be the last train from Vancouver BC, heading south for the foreseeable future.  As you can tell from the first photo, the train station was almost empty.  I've never seen it like this, in all the years that I have been travelling to the USA.  A coronavirus sign of the times.

Thankfully for me, my dear friend Mary greeted me at the station upon my arrival, and along with Dora-dog, we headed to her home.  This is where I am holed up at the present time.  I am most fortunate indeed,  to have a roof over my head.  As the days have gone by this past week,  the previously booked future house sit gigs that were in my calendar have all but dried up at this point in time, and to be honest,  I really hadn't considered that a house sitter could be so impacted by what is going on right now.  I guess that none of us are immune.  I'm not sure what the future holds in store, and I will continue to take things a day at a time.

In the meanwhile, Mary as always, takes good care of this wandering soul, and as an added bonus, there is always the wonderful Dora-dog to keep us both amused.  

HAPPY AT THE DOG PARK

DORA-DOG FOCUSED ON HER NEW FOUND FRIEND

LIVE ACTION REPLAY

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

GOODBYE TO KWAME

POST # 398

Tomorrow, I have to say goodbye to Kwame.  He has been a wonderful companion over the past couple of months, but it's time for the The Thoughtful Wanderer to go wandering to the next location.

I plan to be heading back to the USA on Monday, and I am curious to see how that goes.  With Covid 19 on everyone's mind these days, I suspect that it may have an impact on my travel.  In the past week, two upcoming house sits have had to cancel due to this pandemic, and only time will tell how things shake out in the end.  All I can do is continue on my journey, and deal with situations as they present themselves.  Maybe I should pack a roll of toilet paper.  It appears that it has become the indispensable product these past couple of weeks.   But seeing as I like to travel as light as possible, I'll give the toilet paper a pass.

Below are a selection of photos that I took during my time here,  and one video of a recent hail storm.

I'm rather lost for words today, so I think I'll end this short post right here, and do something more important, like go and hang out with Kwame, as our time together is now very short indeed.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: Happy birthday, Bill.

ACHES, PAINS & RESTLESS SLEEPS

POST # 397

It hasn't come to this yet.  Now that I am well and truly 65, I haven't had to resort to using a cone like Brian is using in the birthday card that I received this past week.  So at least I don't have that to complain about.  In general, I don't like to think of myself as a complainer for the most part, but we are all susceptible to this behavior from time to time.  So let this post be my opportunity to complain for a moment.

Here goes.  For the past few weeks I have had more aches and pains than I can ever remember having before.  In addition to that, I seem to have lost the ability to have a restful sleep throughout the night.  The aches and pains are probably just the result of my continued aging, and I imagine that if I went around the local neighbourhood which seems to have a high proportion of similarly aged humans, and did an "aches and pains" survey, I would likely discover that my ailments are minor in comparison.  But it's the restless nights that have me the most confused, because up until recently, this hasn't been an issue in my life.  Most nights, the pattern seems to be about the same.  I go to bed around 11 pm, and within an hour or two, I am wide awake.  Waking up is always preceded by some very weird dream.  The dreams are all different, but they all have the same effect. My sleep is interrupted.  So nowadays, my normal six to eight hours of sleep has turned into a sleep broken up into two or three parts.  I don't like it, but like Kurt Vonnegut would say, "so it goes."

OK, that's enough of that.  I'll put it all down to the ongoing aging process, and with any luck, this will be the last time I will complain about these issues.  As my life has proven over many decades, things could always be a lot worse.  My blessings far outweigh my trials and tribulations.

On a final note for this week, if it ever comes to the point where I am forced to wear a cone like Brian, then I'll make sure to take a photo, and post it on this blog.  If that ever happens, whatever readership I have up to that point, will probably take their eyeballs elsewhere.  And I wouldn't blame them for a minute.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer