TWELVE YEARS AND COUNTING

 POST # 440

 Twelve years and counting.  Twelve years and one day to be precise.  Back on January, 27th, 2009 I walked away from my job as a ferry boat skipper at Aquabus in Vancouver, Canada.  It seems much longer ago than that date.  No job, has meant no pay cheque since that time.  As each year passes, my dwindling bank balance continues to shrink, but I am OK with that situation.

The journey since that time has been one filled with plenty of four-legged friends, as well as new human friends. The ongoing generosity of all of these people to open up their homes for me to take care of, along with their precious pets, has allowed me to continue on this journey. I don't imagine that I could have continued for this long of a period, if I would have had to pay rent all along the way.  It's been a great trade-off for all concerned.  The Thoughtful Wanderer gets to have a free roof over his head, and the owners get a free house-pet sitter.  It has appealed to my naturally frugal lifestyle.

Everything has changed since 2020, and the house-sit calendar is a big wide open space right now.  I suspect this will be the case going forward.  I happened to check the house-sitters website that I have used all these years, and whereas before 2020, on any given day, there would be literally hundreds of positions available for people such as myself, yesterday the total was only a meagre 25.  That's for the entire world.  Who needs house-sitters when no one is travelling?

As January 2021 comes to a close, I find myself being taken care of by my dear friend Mary, here in Washington State.  I am so very grateful for having made her acquaintence way back in September 2012, when I answered an ad from her, requesting a house-sitter.

So we continue to enjoy our time together, along with that dog that has been mentioned occasionally on this blog. Of course, I will need to make my journey back to Canada at some point in the not too distant future, but for the time being, the three of us are happy to enjoy each day that we are presented with.  We take little journeys every now and again, and come across lovely places such as this, on Camano Island. A magnificent looking Arbutus tree in the late afternoon sun.

As far as future house-sit bookings go, the only one that I have on the calendar at the moment doesn't start until December 30th of this year.  It is back at the same place that I was at in early 2020, which is also the last time I had a house-sit.  With a bit of luck, I'll be able to be there when January 28th, 2022 comes around.  At that time, I can then ponder what thirteen years and counting will feel like.

                                                         THAT DOG

 

                                THAT DOG CHASING A SQUIRREL

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

A MEMORABLE DAY

 POST # 439

 

For most Americans, yesterday will probably be remembered for what happened in Washington DC.    There is a new President now in charge.  Of course there are some of us that believe that the evidence of just who is in charge was displayed in a rather brutal way a very long time ago, on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.  So there is a new "boss" in town, but I for one find it impossible to believe that he is actually running the show.*** See quote at the bottom of the page.

 Even former President Jimmy Carter would agree.

https://theintercept.com/2015/07/30/jimmy-carter-u-s-oligarchy-unlimited-political-bribery/

And this as well. "Yes, we're corrupt." A list of politicians that admit that money controls politics.

https://theintercept.com/2015/07/30/politicians-admitting-obvious-fact-money-affects-vote/ 

For the Thoughtful Wanderer, yesterday however will be remembered for an entirely different reason.  Let me tell the story.

Every day, Mary and I like to take Dora-dog for a walk, and yesterday was no different. We decided to walk around "the loop" which takes us along the main road in the direction of the golf course and the marina.  It was a cool day, so I decided to put on a warm hat prior to our departure.  The outbound journey was routine, with Dora-dog stopping every now and again to sniff something on the ground and occasionally to be entertained by one squirrel or another.  All was well as we rounded the corner to head down the hill to the marina, and then start our return journey home.

At this point I was beginning to overheat, so I decided to remove my hat.  Being right-handed, I removed my hat with that hand.  I had Dora-dog's  leash wrapped around my left wrist at the time.   I wanted to put my hat in my empty left pocket, and in order to facilitate this, I needed to briefly remove the leash from my left hand and transfer it to my right hand.  At the precise moment that I was doing so, a cat ran across the street ahead of us.  And that was all it took.  Dora-dog was off, running down the hill after her intended target.  They both headed  down a side road and we lost sight of them.  Mary went one way, and I went another trying to find her, but without success.  Now what?  Eventually, I decided to walk along the road that I had last seen Dora-dog head down.  I found myself in a parking lot and I walked past a parked car heading back towards Shelter Bay Drive where Mary was standing.  Still no dog.  I turned around to head back towards the parked car, and much to my surprise and relief, there she was.  Dora-dog was standing next to the parked car, with her leash firmly anchored under its rear left tire.  It wasn't too hard to put the picture together once I saw that.  The cat must have run under the car, with Dora-dog in hot pursuit.  Thankfully, that is where her journey came to an abrupt end.

It took me the better part of ten minutes to pull the leash free from under the tire. With that task finally completed, Dora-dog and I headed back home.  Mary had gone home on the other road in the hope of finding Dora-dog.  We all arrived home at the same time.  Mary was pretty upset about the whole affair, and so was I.  The bottom line is that we all made it home safely.  It was just a simple case of bad timing and a stray cat.

So as I mentioned at the start, yesterday was memorable for most Americans because it was inauguration day, but for The Thoughtful Wanderer, it was memorable for the Dora-dog affair.  Thankfully I was taught a new lesson by my favourite bonehead, about making sure that I have a firm grip on her leash at all times.

                               RESTING AFTER  HER BIG ADVENTURE
 

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

***If you identify as a conservative and continue to believe that your prime enemies are ordinary leftists, or you identify as a leftist and believe your prime enemies are Republican citizens, you will fall perfectly into the trap set for you. Namely, you will ignore your real enemies, the ones who actually wield power at your expense: ruling class elites, who really do not care about “right v. left” and most definitely do not care about “Republican v. Democrat” — as evidenced by the fact that they fund both parties.                                                          

  Glenn Greenwald

   Pulitzer Prize Journalist

PS: And finally, my January 21st post wouldn't be complete without mentioning Madonna, aka my dear mom.  If she were alive today, she would have just celebrated her 105th birthday.

                                                                                                      

NOT THE DORA-DOG BLOG

 POST # 438

 

It has been brought to my attention that I probably post too many photos of my favourite bonehead on the planet, and I plead guilty as charged.  But with a face as cute as this,  it's difficult not to want to add yet another photo.

Also, in this crazy internet-focused world, where the collective insanity seems to be on the increase, it's great to have her around to play with.  Our daily wrestle with her squeak-toy is a very pleasant way to spend some time.

 

By this time next week, who knows what will be happening in the USA. I suspect that I may want to spend even more time playing with Dora-dog, as the chaos continues to unfold.  For Dora-dog, next week will be the same as this one.  She will be focused on each moment, and her squeak-toy as well.

 

grateful for every breath,

 Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

DAMAGED GOODS

 POST # 437

                      AT THIS MOMENT, ALL IS WELL, BUT NOT FOR LONG

Damaged goods.  That might be a good description for the state of things in 2021 in the United States of America, but that isn't what I am referring to in the title of today's post, the first for 2021.

But before I get to the damaged goods part, let's go back to December 29th, when this latest journey began.  After spending almost two months hunkered down at the Hotel Patricia in Vancouver, it was time to put on my wandering shoes one more time, and take a trip south of the border, in spite of all the drama involved with travelling these days.

To cross the border, your only choice is to fly because the land border is closed to non-essential travellers, like this wandering Canadian for instance.  So once again I found myself out at YVR airport.  My flight was early the next morning which meant that I would have to spend the night on a bench at the airport. For anyone that has been reading this blog for a while knows, spending a night at the airport involves my regular run-in with security.  However, this time I had the upper hand, because once I arrived, the first thing I did was to print off my boarding pass.  With that task completed, I purchased some food, settled myself down in front of my computer, and happily munched away. 

 

 Moments later, Mr. Security showed up, right on schedule, or perhaps ahead of schedule, as they would usually wake me up after I had found a comfortable bench.  "Excuse me sir, are you flying out in the morning?"  "Well as a matter of fact, yes I am."  With my boarding pass presented, he thanked me and went on his way.  I would have no worries about being able to have a nap later on, without the concern of being disturbed.

Morning arrived, and soon I was through security, and US customs.  I wasn't sure what going through customs would be like this time around, however, when the officer asked me why I was travelling to the US, I just told him the truth.  I said that "I wanted to visit a dear friend, and that neither one of us is getting any younger, and with the way things are going these days, I wasn't sure whether or not I would have another opportunity."  All he said was, "have a nice trip."  That certainly was an unexpected, but pleasant response from him. Soon afterwards, I was  on my way, flying south through the grey December sky, arriving just after 8am in Seattle.  From there, a shuttle bus to a bus stop just down the road from where my dear friend Mary lives, and she and Dora-dog were there awaiting my arrival.  It would be an early night for me, as I was bagged after the recent journey.

It's been wonderful to have the opportunity yet again, to spend some precious time with Mary and Dora-dog.   The other day, because the sun was out for a change, we decided to drive to a park that is one of our favourite places to take Dora-dog for a long walk.  And here is where we come to the title of today's post.  The photo at the top of the page was taken just a few moments before we parked the car.  Up to that point, all was well.  Once Dora-dog was out of the car I went to hook up her leash, and when I bent over to accomplish this task, I experienced a pain in my back, like none before, and I have had my share of back pain over the years.  But this was truly different, and much, much worse.  That happened on January 3rd, and I have been "damaged goods" ever since that time.  Thankfully, as of today I am beginning to feel like I am slowly improving, so things are moving in the right direction, although there still is pain in a variety of locations. And at my age, one never really knows what else might be lurking inside. Once again, I have been shown how easy it is to take things for granted, like flexibility, movement, and no pain. 

So my apologies to anyone who hasn't received a rapid response from any emails sent my way.  I have spent most of my time the past few days, lying down and trying to relax.  So far, it seems to be working.  And of course, Mary has gone out of her way to care for her ailing Canadian.  And Dora-dog is always there to put a smile on my face.  All things considered, I really don't have anything to complain about, so perhaps this is as good a place as any to end this post.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer