THIS JOURNEY BEGAN A LONG TIME AGO

POST # 378

MARCOTTE

"Clarence and Madonna (nee Lambert) announce the arrival

of Paul Francois on March 3rd, 1955, weighing in at 4 lbs., 9 oz.  

A brother to his four sisters, who will spoil him later."

It's debatable whether or not I was spoilt by my four sisters, but I do know that I most certainly have been showered with their love over the ensuing years.  I suspect that this love, combined with the love from my parents, has been the major reason that I never feel lonely on my journey through life.

Crawling turned into walking, and I've never looked back.  In spite of the fact that my walking pace isn't as brisk as it was prior to March 4th, 2012,  I still manage to keep moving forward.  There are no plans to settle down at this late stage in life.

And so now I'm off to my next location.  There will be a total of three, four-legged furry friends to keep me company, for a little more than a week, after which time, my journey will continue.

What more, could a Thoughtful Wanderer ask for?

Maybe a new pair of walking boots?

maximizing my moments,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

A SHADOW OF HIS FORMER SELF

POST # 377

It has been quite some time since I had the opportunity to take care of Shadow.  He has had some health issues during the interim, which  resulted in a significant weight loss.  He is now just a shadow of his former self, and is finally living up to his name. He can now stare at himself in the mirror, and know deep down that he is living a life that is true.  That sounds like a good plan.

His new slim profile hasn't had any negative impact when it comes to his energy level, and if I was meeting Shadow for the first time, I would never have thought that he had had something wrong with his health.  I still get to enjoy his playfulness and companionship during my time here.  In fact, Shadow seems to be even more playful and affectionate than before.  Perhaps he is living even more in the moment than he used to do.

Of course, being a furball, he can't spend all of his day playing, and so he manages to get in some well deserved rest throughout the day.

We wouldn't want to see him get overworked, now would we?  This is just one of many strategic locations that Shadow has, to catch up on his sleep.  

One trait that has remained the same as before, is Shadow's love of having his back smacked repeatedly, just in front of his tail.  I have only come across a few furballs that enjoy this treatment, and one soon finds out whether or not any particular furball is on board.  They either just stand there, purring contentedly, or you end up getting swatted at by them, usually with their claws out.  Shadow is most certainly in the former category, as can be seen by the short video below.

This is just round one of my time with Shadow for 2019, and in about another month, I'll be back here for round two.  For now, I am content to get re-acquainted with him, as we enjoy our week together.

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: In spite of the fact that Shadow is a furball, I keep calling him, Dora.   Hmmm!!!

ROLE REVERSAL

POST #376

HAPPY DORA-DOG, THIS MORNING

As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.  A short two weeks ago, the rolls were reversed.  Dora-dog was looking sad, while Murphy was the happy one.  But here on September 28th, things have changed.

MURPHY'S LOOK AS I WALKED OUT THE DOOR

Dora is having fun with The Thoughtful Wanderer,

and Murphy?  Well I'm not sure what he is doing at the moment, but my guess is that he may be relaxing in one of his favourite positions,  and by now, he will have totally forgotten about the past two weeks that we spent together.

YOGA, MURPHY STYLE

Perhaps some day in the future, the two of them will have the opportunity to play with each other again, so that they can both be happy at the same time.

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER 2019

POST # 375

 

 If I don't mind saying so, the photo above is one of my better efforts.  It was late afternoon, and for a change, the sun was shining, the light was perfect, and Murphy was looking very regal, as he "stood" upon the flower in the foreground.   I couldn't have asked for a better photo, and I was thankful that Murphy co-operated by looking into the camera.

Autumn officially begins here, at 12:50am, Monday morning, September 23rd which is a little bit later than usual.   

"During the equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”—an imaginary extension into space of Earth’s equator line. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through this line. When the Sun crosses the equator from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox; when it crosses from south to north, this marks the vernal equinox."

The above quote was taken from "The Old Farmer's Almanac" so I guess that is as good of a source as any other. 

The days are winding down regarding the season, and so too are my days remaining with Mr. Murphy. As before, he has been a wonderful companion, for which I am grateful.  In spite of the fact that I call him Dora every now and again, he doesn't seem to have taken it personally, and our relationship has remained firm throughout.   

Aside from our daily walks, there is plenty of time to interact with one another, and Murphy has become my four-legged shadow.  As was the case last year, I will be sad to say goodbye to him when I leave, but who knows, perhaps I will have another opportunity at some point in the future, to spend time with this wonderful critter.

Last night, we were fortunate enough to do our evening walk, just as the sun was setting, so I took the opportunity to snap one more photo of him, prior to returing home.

 

 The sunset was much more spectacular than it appears here, but at least Murphy was doing his part to assist the photographer in capturing the moment.


maximizing my moments,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: My sister Gerry had a birthday this week, and the date ended up being a palindrome, 91919 which was rather unique.

HELLO AND GOODBYE

POST # 374

 

 HAPPY MURPHY

Yesterday, I arrived at my current house/pet sit, accompanied by my dear friend Mary, and Dora-dog.  Mary generously offered to drive me here, and we arrived at Murphy's place in the early afternoon.  Murphy was out for a walk with one of his owners, so the three of us went looking for them.  Within minutes I spotted Murphy, and called out his name.  He came bounding across the field to meet us, and more importantly, to meet Dora.  The two of them hit it off right from the get go, which I had expected, but it was still a relief to see them playing together.

Back at the house later, the four humans, and the two dogs had time for a visit, prior to Mary and Dora getting back in her car in order to head back home to Washington.  As much as I am happy to be here for the second time, it was sad to see Mary and Dora drive away.  I took this photo of Dora just moments before they drove off.  Her face reflected my mood as well.  Such is the life of a wanderer, but by now I am very familiar with this feeling, and I also know that it won't last forever.  

In no time, Dora will be back chasing squirrels, bunny rabbits and deer, so I'm quite sure that she will be OK, as will Mary,  as will I. Perhaps I will make the transition a bit more effortlessly, because of all the wandering that I have done in my journey through life.  Saying hello and goodbye is as natural to me as breathing, however the goodbyes are always more difficult, and especially so, considering the world we live in, in late 2019.

But for now, it's time to settle in with Murphy, and enjoy my time here.  It's all that I can do.

 

 SAD DORA-DOG

maximizing my moments,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

SO LONG CONE

POST # 373

CONE FREE

Now that looks like one very happy bonehead.  Finally, after two long weeks trapped within the cone,  Dora-dog is free again.  Because this is the first post for September, I was going to explore another topic, however I decided that this would be an appropriate follow up from last week, and it brings to a conclusion, the saga of the cone.

The cone was removed on Thursday, and today we went down to the local beach which has become Dora's favourite location to run and to swim.  Normally she heads straight for the water, but having not been there for more than two weeks,  she decided to go on a sniffing tour of the beach first.  She had to find out how many of her four-legged friends had been there in her absence.  That procedure took the better part of fifteen minutes, and then it was time to jump in the water, and play fetch the stick.  She was in her element.

Like I stated at the beginning of this short post, Dora is one very happy bonehead.  And her happiness  is contagious.  

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

CONEHEAD BONEHEAD VERSION 2.0

POST # 372

According to the dictionary definition, the words conehead and bonehead are words to describe a stupid person.  Dora-dog takes exception to that, and so do I.  For many years now, I have been using the word bonehead as a term of endearment for dogs, and as far as conehead goes, I think the photo above makes a good case for a second definition of that word.

How did Dora-dog end up in this pickle?  It started a little while ago when the dewclaw on her right front paw was injured.  Dora-dog is such an exuberant runner, that I am amazed it took until just recently for this injury to take place.  No doubt it hurt, and she licked the affected area on a regular basis, so Mary her owner decided to take Dora-dog to the vet last week to have both front dewclaws removed.  It made sense to do both at the same time, in order to prevent a similar injury to the left dewclaw in the future.

Hence, the conehead bonehead.  Now instead of just looking cute, she looks both sad and cute.  She is adapting to this new arrangement and her wounds are healing as time goes by.  The follow-up appointment with the vet is for September 4th, so she still has about a week to go before she can go for her first run and swim.

So why the Version 2.0 in the title?  Let me explain.  I first met my friend, Mary almost exactly seven years ago, back in September 2012, as a result of applying for a housesit at her place, in order to take care of the dog she had back then, named Tika.  On a subsequent housesit in February of 2013, Tika developed a sore on her right front paw, and as a result, ended up at the vet as well, and came home with her own conehead to deal with.  Tika was a rather large Malamute, and when she wanted to eat or drink, she preferred to crouch down on the floor.  This arrangement didn't work well with the cone, so I ended up having to crouch down in front of her, and hold her dish up to her mouth, so that she could eat/drink.    Here is a link to the post that I wrote back then.
http://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2013/02/cone-head-dog-and-other-stuff.html

Dora-dog as Version 2.0 is much easier, as she has no problem at all eating and drinking with her cone.    Yesterday, I decided to remove the cone for about an hour in order to give her the opportunity to lick various parts of her anatomy, and to allow her to feel normal for a least a little while.  But in order to do this, I had to be watching her constantly, so that she wouldn't attempt to lick her wounds.  For the most part she ignored her front paws, and was way more interested in attending to the hind parts of her anatomy.

So the conehead bonehead will have to put up with this arrangement for just a little while longer, and then everything in her world will be back to normal.  But in the meantime, one advantage to the cone is that when Dora-dog wants to sniff something on the ground, she now has the ability to encapsulate the smell within the cone, which probably accentuates the fragrance for her.

She's looking happier by the day.

By early evening,  it's time for some well deserved rest.

maximizing my moments,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer