BACK IN WASHINGTON FOR A LITTLE WHILE

 POST # 576

Travelling south on Amtrak at this time of the year, offers plenty of seats for the individual.  I took advantage of the situation, and boarded the train to visit Mary and Dora-dog in La Conner WA.  Part of the reason for the empty train was no doubt the fact that my day of travel was American Thanksgiving, and the vast majority of travellers had probably already arrived at their destinations the day prior to November, 23rd.

Of course, I wasn't settled in very long, before Dora-dog wanted to play, and of course I had to oblige.

This past Saturday, Mary's friends had asked if we could spend the day at their house, and take care of their two lovely boneheads, as they were going to be away for the day.  We were happy to spend the day there with Benson and Sully*** (Benson on the left and Sully on the right), and Dora-dog enjoyed her time with them as well.

After a quick walk, treats were in order, and all three were more than happy to stand and wait, while Mary handed out the yummy snacks.

Mary's neighbours have a nice location overlooking the water, with their boat "Sound Venture" in the foreground.  If one looks closely, you can see the moon rise just above the bridge on the left of the photo.

With our house/pet duties completed, we headed back home.  Benson and Sully's owners would  be back home soon, so it was time to go.

We can now give all of our attention to Dora-dog, and she's happy about that.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

*** I spent a day with Benson and Sully back in April, 2021. Here is the link.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2021/04/sully-and-benson-day.html

Today's sunset.

MY MORNING WAKE UP CALL

 POST # 575

On most mornings, the first sound that I hear, is Shadow meowing from the hallway.  It's my morning wake up call and his way of telling me that it's time to get up and feed him.  But on some days, like today, he skipped the meowing part, and silently jumped up onto the bed.  I happened to be awake, and I was lying down on my side.  No problem for Shadow.  He just climbed up on top of me, and settled in.  I guess that he was still happy to sleep somewhat longer, and wait for his breakfast.

This went on for some time, and then I gently rolled over onto my back.  Shadow cooperated, and he was now upon my chest.  This is his favourite position.  From here he can now lick my face,  or any exposed skin with his sandpaper-like tongue, or bite gently upon my beard.  This goes on for as long as I can put up with it, and eventually I pull back the covers, Shadow jumps from the bed, and heads straight for the laundry room, which is where his food dishes are.  Breakfast time for Shadow has finally arrived.

Moments later, I am finally out of bed and doing my duty, attending to his needs.  This feeding process takes place three times per day, but the other two are easy in comparison, as I am already up and moving around.  

He's a pretty laid back furball,  and spending time with him is time well spent.  I'd like to think that maybe he feels the same about the house sitter.  After more than a decade of caring for him, each November,  he knows and can trust me.  It's a good match.

But in a couple of days, our journey together will once again come to a close, as the owners arrive home this Thursday, and I will be on my way.

From that point on, it will be their turn to feed and care for Shadow.  No doubt he will be happy to see them, and just like that, The Thoughtful Wanderer will just become a distant memory for him, at least until this time next year, and with a bit of luck, we will once again have the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks together.

Thanks Shadow.  As always, it's been a great pleasure to spend some precious time with you.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

TAKING A STAND FOR MY BACK

 POST # 574

Just four short days ago, while Shadow was relaxing in this chair, he inspired me to do the same, so I  settled down on the couch for a bit of relaxing as well.  I wasn't there for more than a half hour, but when I went to get up, my back told me that it wasn't happy about that decision.  Up to that point, my back was absolutely fine.  In fact, for about the past thirty*** years, with the exception of just once, (see here-https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2021/01/damaged-goods.html ) in January 2021, I haven't had any problems at all with my back.  That all changed on November 10th, when I arose from the couch.  

Since that time, I have been struggling to get through each day.  It's not so much that I am in pain, which I certainly am, but it's the fact that I struggle to do just the simplest of activities.  Like for instance, putting on my socks and shoes, or numerous other things that we all do each and every day without thinking twice.  

In fact, any other time in the past when I have had an injury to my back, I felt pain, but usually had the ability to function through the pain.  Not so, this time around.  It's a challenge to get through the day at the moment.

Lying down hurts,  and sitting hurts even more.  Bending over is impossible right now.  So that leaves me with standing, hence the title for today's post.  Standing, also includes walking, so I have been able to go out for a short walk each day, and that helps to take my mind off of my back pain.  And who knows just what I may encounter on my daily walk?  Like this character yesterday.  It seemed to be posing for me, so I took its photo.

Also during yesterday's walk, I took a photo looking back at the condo that I am currently staying at.  It's the large green structure in the photo.  I've been Shadow sitting here  every November since 2012, so it's a very familiar location for me.  

After returning from yesterday's walk, I took one more photo, looking out of my front window.  It's been beautiful weather the past few days, but unfortunately, I have been holed up for the most part, standing, and staring out the window.  At least, I have the ability to go outside if I want to, unlike the time a few years ago when I was locked up in quarantine jail for two weeks. In spite of my pain, I'm sure that I prefer this over that.

So I will continue to stand for most of the day, try and get a few restless hours of sleep each night, and maybe things will improve sooner rather than later.  That would be a blessing.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

*** Thirty years ago, I was living in Melbourne, Australia, and I had a similar incident with my back.  Fortunately for me at that time, I was introduced to a guy who worked out of his garage.  He fixed my back, and showed me some back exercises to do as well.  So far this time, the exercises haven't been as beneficial, but I will keep doing them, and perhaps things will improve soon. 

I'VE GOT TEN MORE YEARS

 POST # 573

                    

                           TEN MORE YEARS

It's now official.  I've got 10 more years.  To be even more precise,  as of today, I have only 9 years and 347 days left to go.  Now wait just one minute.  How could I, or anyone else for that matter, be so absolutely sure that that is the amount of time that I have left?  Before I answer that question, I must emphasize that this number is OFFICIAL.  There is absolutely NO speculation in this regard.  None other than the Canadian government has made this declaration, and in spite of the fact that I have had a few run-ins with said government in recent years, which leaves me questioning its honesty, on this topic, they are absolutely correct.  How on earth could my own government be so very sure about the time that I have left?  The answer is quite simple.  The following photo will give you a hint.

Yes, that's right.  I now have a brand new passport in my possession.  It doesn't expire until October, 20th, 2033.

Out with the old,

and in with the new.

That date seems to be a long way off,  as I survey my life and the world around me at the moment.  Nothing would make me happier, than to be able to walk into a passport office in the year 2033, and once again renew my passport.  At that time, if I lived that long, I would be 78 years old.  It seems like an impossible dream at this point, but one never knows for sure.  All I can really do, is take things a day at a time, count my blessings,  and in the meanwhile, I will continue to be...

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

LEON'S SERVANT

 POST # 572

Most of my mornings begin with the sound of the cat door opening, and moments later, Leon is meowing his head off.  The translation in human terms is, " get the hell out of bed, you lazy human, and feed me right now."

I would like to remain in bed for a few more minutes, but the meowing never stops.  Leon wins, and moments later I am in the kitchen, preparing his breakfast.  I am just his servant.

Now that my master has been served, I can relax for a while, as he gobbles down his food.  The next item on Leon's agenda, is his morning brushing routine.  He races into the spare room, jumps up on his cat tree, in anticipation of me grabbing the brush, and going to work.  I have to admit that I enjoy the brushing probably as much as he enjoys being brushed.  It's a task that helps to keep me in the moment, and not be distracted with anything else going on in the world.  I'm grateful to Leon, for allowing me this simple pleasure.  And as mentioned in last week's blog, he certainly purrs up a storm, to show his appreciation.

With both of those tasks completed, I am free to do whatever I want, and Leon usually heads outside once again, to do whatever he does outside.  It's somewhat of a mystery what he does when he's outside, but he probably spends almost as much of his day and night outdoors, as he does inside the house.  Like many furballs, the night time is the best time to be out there.  He's working up an appetite prior to coming through that cat door each morning.

A large percentage of Leon's daytime activity, revolves around relaxing and sleeping.  After all, he needs to rest up, and digest his food.

 

Even though he was now relaxing on the bed, I asked Leon for a favour.  Seeing as this post started off with the cat door, I asked him if he wouldn't mind giving me a demonstration.  Because I take such good care of him, he was happy to oblige.

Thanks Leon.  Now you can get back on the bed and have another rest.  You've earned it, my furry friend.

So that describes at least part of a day as Leon's servant.  I'm sure things could be worse, so we are happy to spend this time together, while it's available.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PURE PURR

 POST # 571

Earlier this week, I began another round of pet sitting with Mr. Leon.  He is pure purr.  I've known plenty of furballs, and I can only think of just one, who topped Leon, when it comes to purring.  That was a furball named Boris, owned by my friend Brian, in Melbourne.  I imagine that Boris is long gone by now, but when he was still alive, and when he purred, it was even louder than Leon.  Boris also had the bad habit of drooling while he was purring.  Thankfully, Leon doesn't do that.

My week began, by saying so long to Ollie, then moving on to spend a couple of days caring for Eunice, and now here I am with Leon.  He's very easy to care for, and there isn't even any litter box to clean, as he just heads out through his cat door to do his business outside.  All I need to do is feed him twice a day, and then spend the rest of the day making him purr.

The last time I was here, there was another furball across the street, named Marshall, and he would come by each day, just to hang out.  That neighbour has now moved away, so no more Marshall.  I doubt if Leon misses him, because Marshall's strong point wasn't purring.  He would rather lash out at you unexpectedly, and on more than one occasion, he drew blood.  Still, in a funny way, I kind of miss his company.  He was over here everyday, and as long as you gave him space, all was well.  Try to pet him, and the blood was soon flowing from your hand.  

I've got a little bit more than two weeks to hang out with Mr. Leon, so I will make the best of things while I'm here.  And after a big round of purring, Leon needs to have a nap.  But before long, he'll be back to pure purring once again.  What a life he has.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: Today, marks the 12th anniversary of this blog.

IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD

 POST # 570

While gazing across the night sky at the big "W" the other night, I was reminded of the title of a movie that premiered sixty years ago, in 1963.  I thought that the title was an appropriate one for today's blog post.  The reason that the big W brought this movie to mind, is because there is a big W that is part of the plot in the movie, hence my remembrance of it.  

It certainly seems like a good way to describe the world we currently live in, at least that's the way I see it right now.  Ollie, on the other hand doesn't seem to care one way or the other, as you can see.  As long as there is food in his dish, and he has a place to sleep, he appears to be quite content with his world.

Even the arrival of the window cleaners this past week, seemed to have no effect upon him.  While the guy was hanging outside, I decided to pop out on the deck to say hello.  As soon as he opened his mouth, I could tell that he was Australian, and when I asked where he was from, he mentioned Brisbane.  I told him that I had lived there for a couple of years back in the late '80's.  What are the odds that the only window washer that I have ever met, is from a city I lived in long ago?   He continued on with his work, and Ollie continued on with his sleep.

The days are winding down on my current house sit with Ollie, and I'll be back on the road this coming Monday.  Ollie seems to have a sense that something is up, as he has taken to sleeping on my luggage, perhaps in an effort to convince me to stick around a bit longer, and in spite of him being such wonderful company, there is another furball on Vancouver island that has requested my service, so I will have to say goodbye to Ollie in the near future.

In the meantime, we still have a couple more days to experience this mad, mad, mad, mad world, together.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer