SKIDDER-THE GENTLE GIANT

POST # 448

                           BREAKER              SKIDDER                  ROXIE
 

I received an email this past week which made me sad.  Skidder, the sole survivor of the trio featured in the above photo died on March 20th.  He was almost blind, needed help to even stand up, and he had numerous tumours, so as my friend stated, it was time.  John the vet helped with Skidder's exit from the planetary stage.  About twenty years ago, I assisted John when he had to euthanize a dog named Ringo.  That wasn't an enjoyable experience, and I hardly even knew Ringo.  I can only imagine what my friends had to go through.

So now, all they are left with is memories of Skidder, Breaker and Roxie.  At least no one can take those away.  Happy memories can provide at least some comfort to an aching heart.

 

I have my own collection of  memories of Skidder and his siblings, as I had the good fortune to house sit for my friends on more than one occasion.  They all had different personalities to be sure.  Skidder was the gentle giant as far as I was concerned.  I think my favourite memory is the one of taking all three out back of the house onto the tailings piles, which in mid-winter are covered in snow, and upon finding a good location to sit down, we would. In the stillness of a Yukon winter night, we would gaze at the sky, and just enjoy each moment.  Pure quiet.  Pure bliss.

That was many years ago now, and on my visit late last year, I had the opportunity to see old Skidder for one last time.  He certainly appeared to be struggling, and in spite of his deteriorating condition, he still remained the  gentle giant.  Always there to receive affection from any human near enough to him to offer it.  No doubt he would have been in much pain, even then, and yet he still managed to provide comfort for his human companions.  Gentle giant indeed.

                                                     OLD SKIDDER

I decided to include a couple of videos as well.  More pleasant memories of Skidder and the rest of the gang (including his mother, Becka), getting ready to go for a walk, and having fun out in the snow.  Pleasant memories to be tucked away into a little corner of one's brain, to be re-lived whenever the mood strikes.  Thanks Skidder.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

 POST # 447

 

                                                          PRIMROSE

Spring has sprung.  The Vernal Equinox.  To be precise, it happened yesterday, and so our journey around the sun continues as it has done for a very, very long time.  It will continue to do so, long after this current crop of humans has exited the planetary stage.  

The seasonal change probably means more to humans than it does to the boneheads on the planet.  This fact can be confirmed by the look on each of the following faces.

                                                          FRANKIE (What???)

                                                           MURPHY (huh???)

                                                         DORA-DOG (zzzzz)

Equinox, smeequinox, as far as they are concerned.  It's just another day. And for these three, each day is as good as the last.  They are all loved and cared for, and who could ask for more than that?

As far as this human is concerned, the beginning of Spring ushered in some chores in the yard.  It was a small start.  Everything is beginning to grow again, including the weeds, and if there is one thing that I have had plenty of experience with, it's pulling out weeds.  

At some point in the near future, I will have to consider my return across the border, however in the meantime, I'm happy and content to be here, and help out in any way that I can.  

That's all for today.  

 

grateful for every breath,

 

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

IT'S BEEN QUITE A YEAR

 POST # 446

March 16th, 2020.  It seems like such a long, long time ago.  That date marks the very last time that I crossed the land border between Canada and the United States.  The journey was taken aboard the Amtrak Cascades train, which up to and including that date, operated a daily service between Vancouver and a variety of points south.  I still remember talking to the conductor as we approached my stop in Mount Vernon.  He told me that this was the last train for the foreseeable future.  And here we are almost exactly a year later, and his words still ring true.  There hasn't been another train since that time.  In fact, there has been no public transport crossing the land border. 

Fast forward to today, and the situation hasn't improved on that front.  It is amazing what we take for granted until it has gone.  Crossing the border has been one of those examples for me.  Back then, all I had to do was decide between the train or the bus.  Freedom of movement is becoming a thing of the past, and I suspect that it isn't going to get better any time soon, as the talk of vaccination passports is now being mentioned in the media.

Now I suppose I could sit here and whine and complain about how my life has been impacted by this past year, but I am only a single soul out of 7.8 billion, and I am very sure that there are many others who have had way more things to deal with since March of last year, than I have.  Perhaps this is just another opportunity to count ones blessings, which is something that I like to do on a daily basis.  I always have many more blessings than complaints.  

Perhaps it would help to think like a dog, say, Dora-dog for instance.  She has spent another year on planet Earth, and as far as I can tell, from her point of view, this year is the same as all the ones in the past, at least since Mary adopted her back in 2018.  She has human company on a daily basis.  She has her own yard to go play and run around in as she chases the resident squirrel.  She gets to go for a couple of walks every day, and aside from her regular meals there are plenty of treats to munch on, and at the end of her day, she gets to settle down into a warm and comfortable bed for the night.  If we all could take a few moments each day to appreciate how dogs look at life, then maybe we would be more thankful for what we have, in spite of the current restrictions that are in place.                                                  

After a good walk, a swim in the channel, and a role in the sand, life couldn't get any better as far as Dora-dog is concerned.  Covid?  What Covid?

Yes, it has been quite a year indeed.  

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

ONE MORE TRIP IN THE TIME MACHINE

 POST # 445

                           YUMMY CHOCOLATE CAKE THAT MARY MADE

During this past week, I celebrated another birthday.  This time it was number 66.  Considering the adventurous life that I have had the opportunity to participate in, I do find it truly amazing that I am still here.  

Last month, I received plenty of positive feedback from my post on February 7th, in which I posted an entry from a journal that I wrote back in 1980.  Seeing as one of the entries in that journal was written on my birthday for that year, I decided that today I would share it with my readers.  So sit back, relax and enjoy the read.  

KATHMANDU                                 MON.                       M.P.*

MARCH 3RD, 1980                                                           25 YEARS

The sun breaks through the window on this crisp winter morning, a good day to be alive.  Well old man, that's what you are today- an old man.  One quarter of a century- and I feel great.  This is my first birthday away from home where the weather is similar to the weather back home at this time.  Time to get up though, and enjoy this day to the fullest- because it's my day.  It felt good to do the exercises this morning.  And this morning for the first time since Qld., over 5 months ago- I had my first hot shower and was that ever a treat.  We went back to the Tea Room on pig alley for breakfast, but prior to that we saw another display of Nepalese butchery with guts and hide strewn all over the road.  Robin and Robert were in this morning for breakfast- and beside them were sitting these 2 Aussies.  This one guy had the habit of making sure everyone in the entire restaurant knew he was present.  "Ya, no worries, cobber."  He's not my kind of people.  Time 11am.  Today, even though it was my birthday, was meant to be a business day, so after we left the Tea Room,  we did some errands like checking at the tourist bureau about Chitwan Nat. Park, buying shampoo, pen, and some vitamin pills.  I feel it's wise now to supplement my diet with multivitamins, because I want to stay as healthy as possible for the trekking that we will encounter in about 10 days.  Another trip to the P.O. was in order to check for any more mail, and it paid off, for I received a postcard from Harry and Alison and a birthday card-letter from mom and Laura.  Not much in the way of new news though.  It's such a beautiful day today, a crisp, clear morning with excellent clear views of the Himalayas tucked in behind the foothills around the city.  On our way back we ran into two Canadian guys, whom we met yesterday at the bank, and spent a good half hour just shooting the bull with them-talking about India, and also about money transfer.  They suggest the best arrangement is to telegraph home, and have them send the money to the bank here.  Sounds OK to me but I will make a few inquires at the bank before I go ahead.  But I am definitely going to have to get some more money before leaving this place.  Return to lodge, and then I went down to freak street and found a shoe man to repair my bag for 5 Rupees.  They do a damn good job, these guys.  I took a photo, and told him that I would send him a copy.  At 5, we wandered across town to meet Rene, and then to Butova's for a tea, and when Rob and Robin arrived the group all congregated at Jamaly's.  Well, it was a superb birthday meal of roast chicken, and for dessert, Dick had arranged a cake.  So I did the honours of candle blowing and cutting- and we all pigged out.  Later, Liz and Jenny arrived.  It's great to have friends around on your birthday.  We continued the celebrating later at the Kathmandu Guest House.  The English guy that we met at Birganj bought me a beer and so did Vladimir.  My first beer in ages.  The Guest House is a great place for a gathering of this sort- a lively place with a real cross section of travellers.  Good music.  I was really happy.  The party broke up around 9:30, but Vladimir and I went to another place, and bought even more beer, and talked for a few hours more.  You meet some interesting people, as we did here- a guy from New York who collects old coins, and who was stoned out of his mind.  I like Vladimir and I hope to see him in the future, at home.  At 1am we decided to leave, and instead of walking all the way back in the rain, pissed, I crashed out on the floor at Vladimir's place about 1:30am, the beginning of a peaceful, dreamy sleep, the perfect ending to my day, without  a doubt the best birthday party I've had on the road, and the second best one ever.  I'm a lucky person to have experienced such a wonderful day. 

196.91Rupees  $16.55 **

 

*Note:  MP stands for Malaria pill which I had to take once each week.

** Total money spent for the day in Rupees and $US equivalent.

So there you go.  I hope you enjoyed the read.  It was a good trip down memory lane for me.  I have to laugh at the fact that at the age of 25, I considered myself an old man.  Even though I state near the end that this was the second best birthday party I've ever had, I can't remember for the life of me, what the best birthday was.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer