EARNING MY KEEP

 POST # 512

With my trusty assistant giving me moral support, it was time to once again cut the grass. Yesterday I completed the front yard, but today the back yard needed my attention.  This is without a doubt the most grass that I have ever had to cut, and with today's temperature hovering in the low 30's it was a somewhat arduous task.

When this photo was taken, I was roughly half way through, however the remainder took longer as the grass was much thicker, and still damp from the morning dew.  By this point, my faithful assistant had gone AWOL, and was hanging out under the shade of a tree.  Completing the back yard took over two hours, and by the time I had finished, the heat was almost unbearable.

If you look closely, you can see the next drip of sweat about to fall from my nose, on to my sweat soaked T-shirt.  I was glad to have completed the task.  The yard is now looking presentable for the owner when she gets back here on Saturday.

Even though Trixie didn't work up as much of a sweat as The Thoughtful Wanderer, she was happy to take a drink from the hose, and cool off.

Now that the work is complete, it's time to relax and enjoy the remainder of my time here.   And that enjoyment includes adding a few more photos to round out today's post.

                                                     A spider waiting for some lunch

                                                        Playing with Trixie

                                                        A critter at the beach

                                                              My horse neighbours

                                                             A treat for Trixie

And finally,

                                            A view of Hornby Island on a calm day

That about rounds things up for my time here in Qualicum Beach.  On Sunday I head off to Port Alberni for my next gig.  It will be interesting spending time there, as I used to live in Port Alberni back in the '70's.  Where have the decades gone?

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

                

 

A WALK IN THE WOODS

 POST # 511

“Woods are not like other spaces... They make you feel small.. like a small child lost in a crowd of strange legs. Stand in a desert or prairie and you know you are in a big space. Stand in a woods and you only sense it. They are a vast featureless nowhere. And they are alive.” Bill Bryson- A Walk in the Woods

 There are plenty of places around here that I can take Trixie for a walk, but none is more special than our walk in the woods.  A short drive from here, there is a section of forest that is really quite wonderful to behold.  As you can see from the description of this Douglas-Fir, it is a humbling experience, to stand in front of another living thing that is approximately twelve times older than I am.  Here is what it looks like.

Around the year 1200 AD when this behemoth was just a young sapling, the world's population was estimated to be less than 400 million.  Since that time we've increased the world's population by approximately twenty times, and most certainly decreased the few remaining trees such as this one.  It's really quite astonishing that any of them exist at all now.  All the more reason to take some time and go for that walk in the woods while you are still able to do so.

Further down the trail, there is another photo.

I believe that this was taken in the early 1900's.  From the vantage point of 2022, it's easy to criticise what these two gentlemen are doing, but during their time, it was probably normal activity.  Thankfully, not all of these beauties were felled, and some of us still have the opportunity to appreciate their magnificence.  

Our time spent in the woods is highly dependent on the "sniffs per metre" ratio which of course is dictated by Trixie.  As I am in no hurry, I'm more than happy to go at her pace.  She seems to enjoy what she's doing, and it gives me more time to survey the trees we are surrounded by.  For most of the walk, we are the only ones present, which I do find rather surprising, as this piece of forest is right in town, next to the local golf course.  There are plenty of people walking around there, and that's just fine with us.  

Eventually we arrived back at the car, and for a few minutes we can sit on the tailgate and relax, prior to heading for our next adventure which is usually to the beach.

After a splash in the surf, we head home.  The weather has been sunny day after day, and with the large fenced in back yard, Trixie and I tend to hang out there.  She can play with her various balls and sticks, chase the occasional fly, bee, or bunny rabbit while I amuse myself watching her antics.  Every once in a while there is a garter snake that attracts her attention.  She seems more curious than anything else.  So far I've never seen her try and attack the snake.  But yesterday, as a result of her curiosity, I took a photo of the snake that had just captured a slug.

Well, that's a day in the life around here, and I expect that our routine will continue during my stay.  Without a doubt, there will be more walks in the woods on the schedule, and we look forward to all of the upcoming gazing and sniffing that we will do while we are there.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

24,606th DAY ON PLANET EARTH

POST # 510 

Today, July 14th, 2022, I get to experience something that my dad never had the opportunity to enjoy.  Today is my 24,606th day here on planet earth.  One more precious day than he had in his lifetime.  Mind you, the day isn't over just yet, so I shouldn't presume that I'll make it to the end, as any moment may be our last one.  However I have a good feeling about today, so I'll try to enjoy it as much as I possibly can.

To begin my 24,606th day, I completed a simple task that I now tend to do about three times per week.  While still in bed, I check my resting heart rate.  Today it was 55 bpm.  It varies from 55 to 59 on average, and as far as I know, that is a relatively healthy number.  Here is something to be thankful for.  If I use that number, and multiply it by the number of minutes in a day, then multiplied again by the number of days, 24,605 (the number of full days lived up to now), the result is very large indeed: 1,948,716,000.  Let's round it up to two billion.  Day in and day out, without even thinking about it, my heart continues to do its work each and every second of every day that I have been on this journey called life.  If you can't find anything else in your life to be thankful for, then this should be more than enough, don't you think?

In spite of the fact that the last couple of years haven't been as enjoyable as previous years, I still manage to try and find moments of joy along the way.  Yesterday for instance, on day 24,605, I had the pleasure of picking fresh strawberries from the garden,

followed by a walk along the beach with Trixie,

and finally, as the sun was setting, I managed to capture this image of a hummingbird coming in for a landing at the feeder in the front yard.

 I'll never know if my dear old dad ever had the opportunity to watch a hummingbird in flight, but if so, I imagine that he would have been as captivated as his son now is, each any every time that I see one.

Well, day 24,606 is continuing to fly on by, and Trixie is giving me that look.  So it's time to wind this up for today, and head outside for a walk with her.  I want to spend as much time as possible outside on my 24,606th day.

Finally, and somewhat coincidentally, my friend Guy created a video earlier this week. The message of time passing is explored, and that relates very well to today's blog post.  If you care to have a look you can find it here.

https://guymcpherson.com/seven-threes-via-video/

grateful for every breath (and day),

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

"HIM AGAIN?"

 POST # 509

                                                                TRIXIE

"Him again?"

"Yes, that's correct Trixie.  You may have thought that you had seen the last of me back in April but you're wrong."

I guess that Trixie's owner was happy with the house sit that I did back at that time, so I'm now back for round two.  Trixie seemed to enjoy seeing me again, and within minutes we were playing ball in the backyard.  

With the change of seasons, in addition to keeping Trixie amused, there is plenty of grass to cut as well. This is the largest lawn that I will have ever had the pleasure of cutting.  Now, all I need is for the weather to cooperate and I can get to work.  It's hard to know from one day to the next what the sky will be offering up.  Right now it's too wet, so at least I have a day off from this chore.

Having only just arrived, it will take a day or two to get into a routine with Trixie, and then it should be smooth sailing from then on.  At least that's the plan anyhow.  But who really knows these days, what might be in store just around the corner?

As I write these words, I have my "editor" close by to make sure that I'm not writing anything that she doesn't approve of.

And so it begins.  Round number two with Trixie.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer