BACK TO WASHINGTON FOR A WHILE

POST # 364

I have had the good fortune to travel on many aircraft in a variety of locations around the globe, but I have never had the experience that I enjoyed the other day, when I was returning from Menlo Park on my way to Washington.

As we began our descent, I decided to take a photo, just prior to going into the cloud cover, and lo and behold, I managed to capture a couple of images of the plane's silhouette.

 Here is another view.

Moments later, we were enveloped in the cloud, just before touchdown at Paine Field in Everett.  It was a shock to walk outside into the very chilly air.  I had become accustomed to the heat in California, but for now, the party was over.

Mary and Dora-dog arrived at the airport to collect me, and before too long we were back at their place.

I had fun spending time with all of my California critters, but Dora-dog still remains my favourite bonehead.

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

CHEERIO TO MENLO

POST # 363

When Cody isn't leaping into the pool to chase his toy, he spends some of his time teaching the house sitter a lesson or two.  Last night, and in spite of all of the other times he thought that I had understood this one lesson, he was forced yet again, to repeat his instruction.  I had only turned my back for a second, after having prepared a little snack for myself, and just like that, Cody was on top of it in a flash.  Somehow, I managed to save part of it, but the rest of the snack was now making its way from Cody's mouth, and into his stomach.

So I suppose he actually taught me two lessons in one.  Don't leave any food unattended, and don't get distracted.  The part about being distracted was the most valuable lesson.  Thanks Cody, for once again helping me to re-learn something that I should already know.

From sun up to sun down and beyond, Cody has been my shadow, during my short stay, here in Menlo Park.  I am not prone to suffering from loneliness, but if I were, it wouldn't be possible with him around, so I am grateful for his companionship.

Of course, as mentioned last week, he is only one part of the menagerie.  Harley and Milo, the furballs, are almost underfoot as much as Cody, not that I am complaining.  They are both lovable creatures, and I try to share my time with them as much as I do with Cody.  Harley is my lap furball, and if he happens to see me settling in for an afternoon nap on the couch, he wanders over, and settles right down on top of me.  Milo on the other hand is much more adventurous, and a bit more of a character.  He is the only one who is allowed to go outside, however I have noticed that as each day passes since my arrival, he seems to want to be inside more than outside.  I think he likes the house sitter.

Here they are, all together, pondering what's next.  Cody is the "meat" in the furball sandwich.  Milo is in the foreground.

They all seem to enjoy each other's company, as can be seen in the following two photos.

The owners arrive home tomorrow evening, and I will be heading out on Sunday.  I've certainly enjoyed my time here.  It has been very relaxing, and peaceful.  

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

WEEK #1 at MENLO PARK

POST # 362

Having looked up my current address on google maps prior to flying here last week, I had a rough idea of what to look for from seat 20A, as the flight approached San Jose airport.  The long white "line" in the above photo is SLAC, or the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre, which is an easy landmark to spot.  If you look slightly to the right of the centre of the photo, (and just above SLAC), you may be able to see a triangular green area.  That is where I am currently house sitting.

It took a couple of days to learn the daily schedule, what with all of the critters that I am responsible for, (12 in total), but we have all now settled into a comfortable routine, and so far, I don't seem to be receiving any negative feedback from any of them.

It's a very relaxed location as can be seen by this photo,  but the temperature has been on the rather hot side.  Thankfully as of today, things are cooling off somewhat, and as I look at the thermometer while writing these words, it's only a "cool" 82F.  

Temperature at the start of this week

At this point in time, I am roughly half way through my sit here in Menlo Park, so there will be one final opportunity in a week's time to make one more blog from this location.

I'm looking forward to my remaining time here, especially the time spent with all of the critters.  Cody, the bonehead is my shadow, Milo and Harley, the furballs provide plenty of purring companionship, the rabbits, Cloe and Sweet Pea are cute little creatures, and the seven chickens, Tinker, Bianca, Daisey, Tucker, Tootsie, Rosie, and Kevin, provide me with way more eggs than I could ever eat.

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE MENLO PARK MENAGERIE

POST # 361***
***(Written prior to June 7th)

By the time this is posted, I will be relaxing by this pool and settling into my current house/pet sit, here in Menlo Park, California, just down the road from Stanford University.  That's Cody, the bonehead in the foreground, and he will be keeping me company along with the furballs Harley and Milo, as well as two rabbits and a half a dozen chickens.  It should be plenty of fun for a couple of weeks.  The chickens will provide the material for the occasional omelette as well.

Today, June 7th is the day I will be making the journey to Menlo Park.  The owners have offered to meet me at San Jose airport, which is relatively close to their place.  I'll probably be humming the Dionne Warwick song from 1968, "Do you know the way to San Jose" on the flight south.

I am looking forward to this sit, and some relaxing time by the pool with Cody, and the rest of the menagerie.  More details to come on next week's post.

maximizing my moments,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

MOOSE ON TOAST

POST # 360

In the Yukon, you can have moose in a variety of ways, including moose on toast. I am not in the Yukon right now, but I still have moose and toast.  In this case, as can been seen below, it's Toast on Moose.

That's correct.  These are my two latest bonehead customers, Toast on the left and Moose on the right.  Toast on Moose.  These two brothers are a Schnauzer/Poodle cross, a breed that I hadn't come across until now. 

Upon my arrival, Toast wasn't too happy about me being here, but within less than a day, he has now become my number one fan.  Toast and Moose have been captured by the spell of the house sitter, and as one can tell by looking at the above photo, they now seem to be very content with my presence.

These guys are very easy to care for, and our daily routine is quite a relaxed one.  We're up relatively early, in order to go out for the first walk of the day, a short stroll around the neighbourhood, in order to poop and pee. At least that's what Toast and Moose do on the walk.  I'm just the observer.

The afternoon is when we take a much longer walk, and even though there are places where I can have them off-leash, I prefer to keep them under control.  The last thing I want is to have either of them take off on me.  I don't think it would happen, but it's better to be safe than sorry.  So far, I have a perfect record of not losing a single bonehead, and I'm not planning to start with these two.

In early evening, we go for another walk, and last night we were confronted by an extra long train, blocking our path.  They seemed to handle the noise, unlike another bonehead I know, south of the border.  Dora-dog would have been freaked out for sure.

It seems that the days go by way too fast now, and before I know it, it's time for one last walk around the 'hood, so the boys can do their thing prior to bedding down for the night.  They've got great bladder control, but I don't want to put them under anymore stress than is necessary.  I would like to think that they appreciate the extra walk.

I'll only be here for a little over a week, before once again moving on, so I won't really have a chance to get to know Toast and Moose very well.  It's all the more reason to spend as much time with them as I can, while here, and who knows, if the owners are happy with the service, they may decide to have me back again at some point in the future.

 MOOSE

TOAST

"It's dinner time, Paul."

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE DORA-DOG BLOG?

POST # 359

If this keeps up, meaning the amount of times that I take a photo of this adorable dog, then I may have to change the title of the blog from The Thoughtful Wanderer, to The Adorable Dora-dog blog.  

I am enjoying a brief break from my house/pet sitting duties to spend time with her, here in Washington, prior to moving on to my next location.

The Thoughtful Wanderer  has also had an opportunity during this visit, to have a close encounter with nature, as I wandered a little bit too close to the resident wasp nest, located in an abandoned bird house.  

Wasp 1- The Thoughtful Wanderer 0

I had forgotten just how painful the sting is, but at least the pain doesn't last very long.

Thankfully, I had the opportunity to go back to playing with Dora-dog and her new toy, in order to distract myself from my swollen eye.  If this is the worst injury I suffer going forward, I've got nothing to complain about.   

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

YOUNG DOG, OLD DOG, SOMETHING REALLY, REALLY, REALLY OLD AND A BUG

POST # 358

I must be one of the luckiest people alive.  In the past week I have had the great good fortune to spend time with my two most favourite dogs on the planet.

First, it was young Dora-dog, on a quick visit in Washington, followed by a week long visit here with good old  Mac.  I would be hard pressed to come up with any other canine candidates (still living), that would top either one of these mutts.

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And now for something, really, really, really old.  Here is a photo of a petrified tree from the Petrified Forest in Arizona, sitting upon a log here in the yard.   Mac's owner's brought it back with them on a recent visit there.

This specimen is somewhere between 211 and 218 million years old, and it is without a doubt the oldest thing that I have ever come across in my 64 years of existence on the planet.  This certainly puts one's lifespan in perspective. 

 However, my life is very long compared to this little bug that I happened to come across the other day on the deck railing.  It was kind enough to stay put, while I pulled out my magnifying glass to capture it with a close up view, in order to marvel at its exquisite beauty.

I'm just here for a short time (at the house-sit I mean), but one could argue the same for my life in comparison to that petrified tree sample.

I'll be on the road again soon, and I will have another opportunity to see Dora-dog for a few more days.  From young, to old, and back to young once again.  Perhaps it would be interesting as a human to go back to being young again, but I rather enjoy this ageing process, as I think that at least some wisdom has resulted from the journey.  

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer