ONE ON ONE WITH DORA-DOG

 POST # 666

                                                              Post walk relaxation

I could probably write an entire blog on the various meanings of the number 666, but instead I'll just say that I am currently one on one with Dora-dog.

Mary is off on a vacation to Hawaii, so it's just the two of us for this week, and as can be expected, we get along very well together, and I think that Dora-dog is enjoying this one on one time with her housesitting human friend.

We get two and sometimes three walks per day accomplished, and seeing as we are both carrying extra pounds these days, it's doing us both some good.

Our time together began with some rainy weather, but the last couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous, and we are enjoying spending as much of it as we can outdoors.

We've got the rest of the week to enjoy our one on one time, and we'll try and make the most of it while it lasts.

                                                Enjoying some late afternoon sunshine

The last time that we were one on one was way back in September of 2019, when I had the great pleasure of removing the cone off of Dora-dog's head.  She was very happy when that happened and here is a link to that blog post.  https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2019/09/so-long-cone.html

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

LEON'S NEW NEIGHBOUR

 POST # 665

Since my last visit here, Leon has a new neighbour.  In case you didn't get a good enough look with the first photo, here he is again.  Leon's owner did mention his name to me, but as of this writing, I have forgotten it.

But what's in a name anyhow?  The main thing to know about this new furball in the neighbourhood, is that he is extremely friendly.  Every day when I look outside in the morning, he is there to greet me at the back door.  I'm not sure if Leon is as happy to see this furball as I am, but they at least seem to respect each other.  I'm pretty sure that if the owner wanted to adopt another furball, this one would be only too glad to accept the offer.  Leon, maybe not so much.

I'm glad that he's in the neighbourhood, and I enjoy our daily visits out on the back deck.  He comes over on many occasions, and I get the impression that he would rather be here than at his own place across the street.  Why that is, I can only guess.

Of course, Leon is my first priority, and he is also very good company.  So the house sitter has had it good lately, enjoying two furballs for the price of one as it were.

However, tomorrow I will have to say so long to the both of them, as I continue on my journey.  As always, it's been great to hang out with Leon again, and I'm glad that he has a new friend in the neighbourhood.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE BRUSHAHOLIC'S SLAVE RETURNS

 POST # 664

Armed with one of Leon's favourite brushes, The Thoughtful Wanderer aka The Brushaholic's Slave, has returned once more for another round of pampering Leon in the way that he has come to expect.

I've had the great pleasure of getting to know and spend time with a variety of wonderful furballs over the many years that I have been pet and house sitting, but without a doubt, Leon wins the award for wanting to be brushed on a very regular basis.

The brushing begins right after he's had breakfast, and continues right through the day.  About the only time that he doesn't request to be brushed, is when he is sleeping.

I'm happy to oblige as I think that I enjoy it almost as much as Leon does.  It's a soothing activity for both of us.

So after breakfast is done, and Leon's had his first brush of the day, it's time for him to take a well deserved rest, and while doing so, he can dream of the future brushing opportunities that he will have the pleasure of enjoying before the day is complete.  He's one lucky furball.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

"YOU WERE VERY LUCKY"

 POST # 663

On September 18th which was last Thursday, I decided to head over to the local shopping centre to pick up a few items.  I happily hopped onto the bicycle that I have to use, and began my journey.  It's not far, probably about a ten minute ride from here.

I arrived at the intersection pictured above. I approached from the E&N trail at the bottom of the photo, and pressed the button at the crosswalk while I waited for the light to turn green.  A few moments passed, and then it was my turn to cross.  I hopped on the bike and began to ride across Island Highway.  The first lane of traffic had come to a complete stop, and as I began my journey across the highway, a car drove right in front of me and through the red light.  Luckily for me, I stopped in time. I watched the car pass, and the people in it, looked like they had no idea that they were driving through the red light.

Someone in the car next to where I had come to a stop, yelled out, " you were very lucky."  Whether it was luck or good awareness on my part, I'm not sure.  

I continued on to the shopping centre to do my shopping, and as I returned home, I re-played the near miss over in my mind a few times.  One really never knows what's around the corner each and every day, and I am glad that I was able to avoid the potential collision with a car travelling at 60 kph or so.  

Arriving home, I explained the whole event to Silken, and as you can see from the expression on her face, she was quite shocked at listening to my story.  She was probably just glad to see that I had returned home, so that she could continue to be fed and pampered for a few more days by the housesitter.

I also mentioned to Silken, that I will have to say goodbye to her this coming Wednesday, and head over to my next sit, which just happens to be only three doors down the street from here.  It will be a much shorter journey than I experienced prior to arriving at my current location.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

A VERY LONG TRAVEL DAY

 POST # 662

Last Wednesday, I once again had to say goodbye to Mary and Dora-dog, and head off to my next house sit assignment in Nanaimo.  We arrived at the train station a few minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival time of 10:04 am.  After saying goodbye, I headed onto the train platform, and soon, the Amtrak was arriving.  And for the first time that I can remember it was on time.  Well, almost on time.  We departed at 10:06 am.  It has always been much later to depart in past journeys, so I thought that we were off to a good start.  I had some things that I wanted to do in Vancouver after my arrival, and so I was quite happy that we were on our way.  About twenty minutes or so after leaving Bellingham, all of a sudden the train came to a very abrupt stop, out in the middle of nowhere.  This had never happened on previous journeys, and I, like all the other people on board were somewhat confused by this sudden stop.  After a few minutes, the conductor came on the intercom to inform us that the train had experienced  a "trespass" and that we were going to be here for quite a while.  It turns out that a "trespass" is the term they use for someone jumping in front of the moving train.  Unfortunately for that soul, it was their last day spent alive.  The photo above is where we were sitting on the tracks after this incident happened.  Originally, it was the conductor who told us that we would be here for at least a couple of hours, but later on, the engineer came on the intercom to let us know that it would be much longer of a wait, due to the fact that when an incident like this takes place, the crew has to retire, and wait for a replacement crew.  The replacement crew had to come from Seattle, and so we just had to stay put until that happened.

Well, it was shortly after 11 am when this incident took place, and the replacement crew didn't arrive until after 3 pm.  We finally got on our way again at 3:30 pm  My original plan was to be catching a 4 pm ferry, so that certainly wasn't going to happen.

I finally cleared customs at 5:26 pm and continued on my journey to the ferry terminal.  

I now planned on catching the 7:25 pm ferry to head to Nanaimo.  At the scheduled departure time, the ferry was just arriving at Horseshoe Bay, and we didn't get underway until 8 pm.  So my arrival into Nanaimo was very late indeed.

I visited with Ann Marie for a little while, but I was looking forward to bed, as it had been a very long travel day indeed.

Silken was looking as relaxed as ever, so I guess that she was happy that her favourite house sitter had finally arrived.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS.  I learned on this trip that there are people that actually just do a day trip to Vancouver, and then head back on the returning train.  For these passengers, once they finally cleared customs they had to get back in line and get on the train that they had just left, and head back to their original destination.  So much for their day trip to Vancouver.

PPS: In spite of all the inconvenience to the passengers, we should all spare a thought for the poor soul, who for whatever reason decided that this was going to be their last day. Sad news for sure.

HAZY DAYS

 POST # 661

Remember that old song by Nat King Cole, about the Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer.  Well I can't say that the recent days have been lazy or crazy, but they most certainly have been hazy. Each morning the sun looked like the image above, and every evening the moon (full today) looks just as hazy.

It's been like this for most of the days that I have been here in Washington, but today at least, it's just cloudy for a change.

Today was a perfect day to take Dora-dog for a walk, as the temperature wasn't too hot for a change.  

Here she is waiting patiently for the human to get his act together, so that the walk can begin.  And then we were off, on our favourite walk into town.  There are always plenty of places for Dora-dog to have a sniff along the way, and she never seems to get tired of the walk into town.  Today, we even met some of her four-legged friends along the way, which always adds something special for her.

But before long we were back home, and it was time to take a well deserved rest.

She's earned it, and I am happy to have been able to accompany her on our journey to town and back.  With any luck, our last couple of walks will not be hazy, but I guess we'll find out, starting tomorrow.

I say last couple of walks, because on Wednesday I will return to Canada, and once again I will have to say goodbye to Mary and Dora-dog, which is always a sad moment. 

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

FOUR IN ONE

 POST # 660

As I was making my way out the door, and saying goodbye to Carlos and Dulce, they gave me this look.  I've seen it before with other critters that I have had the pleasure to spend time with.  It's the look of "where are you going?"  Four short days ago, I had to say goodbye to them.  They were two of the finest boneheads that I have ever had the pleasure of taking care of, but they certainly kept me on my toes, and probably taught me a few lessons along the way, so I'm grateful to them for doing that.

From there, it was back onto a ferry to head across to the mainland once again, and spend the night in Vancouver.  My furball friend, Ollie was there to greet me upon my arrival.

As you can see, it was yet another hard day for Ollie, but somehow he manages to cope with all the stresses and strains that life sends his way.  He even allowed me to take a photograph in spite of the fact that he was trying to go back to sleep.  My visit was just a short one, and then I was once again on my way.

I boarded the Amtrak train, and once again headed south to visit Dora-dog in Washington State.  And so that completes the "four in one" in the title of today's very short post.  Three boneheads and one lone furball all in the same week.

I will still be here for the first post in September, so let's see what Dora-dog can come up with to keep me amused while I'm here.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer