To Market, To Market

The trip to town today leaned a little more toward "want-to" than "have to" go. It was cooler-overcast and I wanted to get a harness for Buddy, sundry supplies, cheese for meds, and to search for "mosquito dunks." The mosquitoes have been fierce. Honey has a bump on her nose from bites. I got so many bites yesterday my histamines were out of whack. I have been fogging and they have been coming faster than I can kill them. Mosquito dunks are rings of "stuff" that you can put in standing water that kills mosquito larvae. They last 30 days, do not harm fish nor fowl nor animal.I think they release a bacillus.  If they work, I should see a difference in 48 hours and then I can fog again.

Buddy's harness is black. No real choices. It is pretty fancy though-a mesh-no tug, design with "Sherpa" straps. Fuzzy ones. So no irritation that I can see. He is a good traveler. He loaded himself but the jump down was a little daunting so I helped him. Part of the trip was to buy a milkshake for Honey. That is the only way I can get the Iverheart medicine down her (and Buster). She shared and really enjoys this treat. She also enjoys sharing Fritos under the table. She is not usually a beggar but I got a definite rake of the paw. I had asked Glenn about her killing Prairie dogs and he said plague and tapeworm were the only real concerns. There has been no plague for 30 some years. The Iverheart will take care of any worms.

The social cohesion is growing in our little group. Buddy achieved the bed last night. Honey is definitely a  baby sitter when she is not leading a safari. Buddy is a little trouper but will return if he gets tired or worried. Mealtime is a little problematic. Buddy is a communal "every dog for himself," dog. Honey is a "this is MY bowl, thank you!" dog. Buddy is very trusting of me and a little too dependent. That is just fine for now. Fixed them liver last night to build them up. That was a hit.

An interesting study on Calcium supplements is out. They caused more harm than good in a large study. They do help with the bones but they send the calcium levels in blood too high and that is bad for the heart. I am going to continue to take them because my diet doesn't have a lot of calcium but I am going to break them in half. The harm comes from the overdose.

Buddy Settles In

Buddy is to be the pup's name. He already has that role. He tends to stick close. He is dark, my house is dark and my rugs are dark and he is in danger of becoming a squeak toy for my clodhoppers. The intern Vet suggested a harness for him rather than a collar due to the location of his wound. I will get a couple: one for formal wear and another the brightest color I can find-fluorescent if possible. He takes meds like a dream. Wrap a little cheese around it and it is gone!

We had milestones yesterday, first poop, and first boner, which I take as a real sign he is on the mend. He seems housetrained (I think) and comes when called pretty well. Unlike Honey, he will work for food. He eats well-much bigger bites than Buster ever took and he was a bigger dog. I think it probably comes from having been half-starved all his life. The testicles will go in a few weeks- he is not big enough to compete here on the rez. It is dangerous.

Honey is tolerant, and is taking a big sister role. For some reason, though she doesn't ever spend the night on the bed, she decided he wasn't going to either. I drifted off last night as they were working that out. They do have to work it out themselves and as long as there is no biting, it works for me. On the positive side, she feels like she is in charge of somebody and is working with her ears forward and shoulders squared. Buddy is not as mobile as he was and will be but it is funny to see her bustling around with a little sidekick in her wake. He disappears in the tall grass. She is concerned if he squeaks. He would like to be friends but she is just an aloof dog. That will change when he can play.

Buddy is pretty vocal. I have never heard him bark but he howls, yips, complains, cries, and squeaks.

He has gone back to his old haunts a couple of times but nobody is there. He is back shortly and I hope he gets it out of his system. Cranes have arrived and the bridge is going to be fixed one day. Cars will be zipping along that road.

On the Mend

The X-ray with a hemostat in the wound of little "Nudnik." The vet's office is very cautious about attributing a "how" or "why" to the circumstances of the wound. I am less so. This could not have been a self-induced impalement. The poor little guy doesn't have enough mass or torque to do this. He is doing much better and that is what we are all working for. He got two puppy shots and Thea showed me how to inject the wound with "Red shit" as Glenn calls it. It has DMSO in it to penetrate tissue and we have three antibiotics to use-Clavamox is preferred but it sometimes causes barfing plus Amoxicillin and I have a backup of Cephalexin if he doesn't tolerate the first two. Rimadyl is the painkiller we have. I am not crazy about it but I pay the vet to tell me what to do.

He looks bigger in this photograph than he really is. He is really just an armful. Not exactly handsome but he is winsome and charming and sweet.

While we were there this guy came in with a human. I think he is going to have shots and a wee bit of surgery. When you look at the young man's face it is clear why pets are so valuable to us.


Two hundred miles and $348.00 later we are on the mend. Another "free dog." I was not actively looking for one but I suspected one would come into our lives eventually. It has.

Jesus Wept!

The pup was feeling much better yesterday. I left him home while we made a quick dash to town in the evening and did everything and got back in a little over 2 hours. I was on a high waddle. The pup had rearranged the furniture-made a nest under the stove. He pushed out some things I had forgotten I had. After a good dinner, he was antsy to go home. He pushed open the screen door. I fetched him back. Then I got to thinking holding a critter hostage is no way to win affection- he was going to go eventually. I had noticed no people or dogs over at Norse's on my way back from town so I petted him, gave him my blessing and away he went.

He was back in 30 minutes, gave a peep and lay down. Later on it seemed to me he was going backward so I held him and felt some wetness on his chest. I made a print with a paper towel. It was blood and fluid. He wasn't bleeding but this was not good. Having determined that it was Veterinary time, I barely slept and we were off to the Vet even before coffee.

They looked him over, said X-Rays were necessary and suggested I come back about noon. I got some things done that had been on my list for awhile and it was relatively cool. Went back to the Vet's about 11:30. They told me they wanted to keep him overnight. He was receiving two I.V.'s : one fluid, the other antibiotic. Glenn said he wanted to talk to me. He showed me the X-Ray. Somebody had stabbed the pup frontally in the throat "with a blunt object." From the wound it looked to me like a pencil.  It missed the heart and lungs but it pierced a very important membrane. He had additional scrapes and bites. As Glenn and Gunda are leaving tomorrow for Germany for nine days, he instructed me on the meds and a "horse medicine" I have to squirt down the hole every day that will make the wound heal from the inside faster. He said from the looks of his nails the pup had been penned most of his life and he thought he was about a year and a half old. I checked on the way to and from town today. There are no dogs left at Norse's and one car comes and goes. Something awful happened over there. I was on the verge of hyperventilating on the way home. How could anyone....

Like Old Mother Hubbard

Like old mother Hubbard my cupboard is bare. I need to go to town and it is scorching out there. I am happily in my hermit rut and would just as soon not go. I do need to fetch my poor dogs "a bone." They got the last chicken breast last night and I had the last of the tilapia. Little Nudnik, the pup, is making good progress and has tried twice to hobble home. He is still very weak and sore. Something over there tried to kill him though, and I am not done with my ministrations. He disappeared from the doghouse yesterday and I panicked. I was looking and I told Honey to find the puppy-and she did! Bless her. I am hoping he will stay but I do not think that is in the cards. He at least needs to be able to run. He can take about six steps now, and needs to rest. I put well water in the dog dishes. It is iron heavy-why I don't drink it, but I think he might need it.

I have been reading a new biography of Somerset Maugham. I tricked myself. I got him confused with Guy  de Maupassant in my mind. I have read all the short stories of de Maupassant and a couple of novels. I have read a lot of Maugham too. When I saw the new biography The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham thinking it was de Maupassant, I downloaded it. I thought it would be juicy because de Maupassant was said to be a victim of priapism- (victim?) and I wondered how one would negotiate life with a tentpole in one's trousers 24/7. But I am not disappointed. Maugham was bisexual and knew everybody in Edwardian England-the Woolf's, Rodin, Gaugin, the Impressionists, G.B.S., Wilde, the Waughs, Aleister Crowley. So it is juicy enough.  Back when I was doing past life regression sessions with Dr. Leo Sprinkle I had a clear image of being snuffed out in WWI or WWII in Europe. That may explain this fascination with the era or it may be that it was a remarkable period intellectually and artistically. Our era is kind of pale in comparison.

Richie Turns 60!

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Animal Hospital

Sunday morning there was doggie tumult at the Indian neighbor's house. They were upset. So was Honey. As I picked up the mail "the puppy" was across the street trying to get here. He was a mess: bloody, very shaky and in obvious pain. He was soaked.  He came across on his own but I packed him off to the deck. He seemed "shocky" to me. So I wrapped him in a flannel shirt for awhile. He was still shivering so I made a potion of water, sugar, sea salt and ibuprofen and spooned it in his mouth. I seriously pondered a mad dash to the vet but decided if he were going to leave the planet, which seemed imminent, he would be comforted and I hoped he would make it. After warmth returned to his extremities he moved into a doghouse right there by the deck and there he slept except for periods of crying which broke my heart. In the evening we did more potion and he was able to lap a bit of from the bowl. I brought him in for the evening and he slept, unmoving, by the stove. The plan was for an early Monday morning dash to the vet. I spoke to him this morning and got a little wag-there is not much to wag. He was still whimpering when he tried to move. I didn't eat much of my dinner last night so I had some tasty morsels of meat to offer and he was ready to eat them. He drank some water and I carried him outside and we had a little pee. He is inert by the stove but he has more tone in his muscles today and only whimpers when he tries to move. Although he had blood on his leg, I can see no gaping wound. Internally, I don't know, but it seems his systems are functioning. He has a way to go but I think he will recover.

Well, I am back--the pup disappeared on me. I went searching and found him inert on the hill in back of the house, covered with mosquitoes. I think he had a chill. So I wrapped him up and brought him back in. He is happy by the stove in my jacket. In typical adult attention deficit disorder behavior I got attacked by the mosquitoes, so I fogged again. Cuz Donna called to inquire about the puppy ( he may not be a puppy-maybe just small- I saw his teeth) so I fogged with her, then sat on the deck and we gabbed until our batteries went dead. I played with Honey. She has been very tolerant of our patient but I do not want her life to change. She's my baby.

Slow Days

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A Little Reunion Memento

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Good, Sucky, Party

Brother Rich turns 60 Monday. Bob and Doris came from Omaha. Cuz Jim and Susie planned a great meal and party as we are wont to have in July or August annually. I drove 175 miles, planning to return late the same day: Fair week in Casper and I require accommodations for my peccadilloes. "Christmas in July" left me with leftovers in the gag gift department so this year my contribution to the party were gifts of the same ilk. I left here in a rainstorm-welcome to me. Just prior to my leaving Rich called to say they were just going in to Frosty's bar. I was wondering if the party was going to be over when I got there. Sometimes walking and talking are problematic after a visit to Frosty's. But it was just a quick visit this time- a mid-day "pick-me-up."

I got there early. Susie's son Scott and his wife Karen dropped by. They were wildly successful in Yuma in the contracting and real-estate realms (and sold out for a bundle before the bust was even discerned). They bought the scenic part of a ranch near Ten Sleep and Scott, who owns Jim and Susie's home (or lavishly supports it) has an apartment upstairs. He, like his mum, is one of the choicest of this earth-kindness exudes from him. Karen who is from the Klungness family in Casper had buried her mother two weeks before and is staying with her dad. She kept dissolving in tears-overwhelmed with what she has to do and sadness. Bob and Doris arrived. Commiseration ensued. Karen and Scott left.

One of our regulars at these events, Skip, who was my classmate, Alice Hubley's, sister, and was Susie's sister in law, succumbed to breast cancer since our last soiree'. Susie was a brick throughout the whole thing. But we had some sadness there. And our whole age cohort is thinning out. Skip was a pistol and what a pie-maker!

It was cold and Bob flipped a chill so we made ready to avoid the light rain and move inside from under the umbrellas. The others arrived. I pushed back my chair on the wet patio and hit the ground. Honey copped an attitude with Rich and Val's dog and had to go to the van. We had delicious canape's and cocktails, a few laughs with the gifts, and Bob started feeling worse. He had been off antibiotics for e-coli for about three days before they came west. He was running a fever of 104. Jim took Bob and Doris to the Wyoming Medical Center ER. They took him right in. That cast a pall on the festivities at the party. We visited and dined on excellent grub but it was a subdued gathering.

I left Casper at about 10 p.m. Bob was still in the hospital scheduled for a CAT scan at 1:00 a.m. but his vitals were better after an I.V. drip. From Casper to Ethete it was a raining, lightning, evening for us. While I thought I escaped my tumble unscathed, my shoulders started to set up. I was glad to get home.

I called Bob this morning-they were at Rich and Val's and Rich was making them breakfast. They kicked him out of the hospital about 2:00 a.m. He sounded fine and said he was fine but he has an appointment with an Infectious Disease Specialist in Casper today. He has paperwork in hand.

Honey is still barely speaking to me today. Yesterday was not her favorite day and I tend to agree with that assessment.

Amber Waves of Grain

The gold part of the top picture is huge fields of barley. Destined someday soon to be made into beer, the Fegler's barley won last year's top prize and will likely do it again as the heat makes for rapid maturation. The picture, taken in the late afternoon could be better-the sun was in my eyes and I couldn't see very well. I was on a late afternoon trip to town for essentials. I hated to go but forced myself, and returned about 10:00 p.m. I can do that because I have installed solar lights to guide my path in the dark. They are really getting better. A number of $2.00 lights mark the footpaths and some $10.00 spotlights light up the way. They also are pointed in a direction that does not pollute the night skies and spoil my stargazing.

I am not crazy about spiders but I tolerate them because they are beneficial. A web is now installed by this one in a place that will catch many, many gnats. The flash caught the patterns on this one. These spiders can get pretty big. There are lots of them outside every window. They use the house lights to their advantage to attract insects, then they eat them up! (This picture is worth a click to enlarge for the details-pretty cool)

My "Bird Brain-Trust" informed me that what I identified as Mourning doves in my last post were actually Eurasion collared-doves, an invasive species that are pushing out the Mourning Doves. I am learning a lot. I know from the music that I have Mourning Doves and there was one sitting patiently to be fed this morning. I pulled the feeder to discourage the Cowbirds who were dominating the feed but I took pity on this bird and some others and broadcast some seed for the morning.

Tye came by to chat while Harlan and some company shot prairie dogs. They are more under control -Honey hasn't killed one in about a week.

The reading jag continues. I read two books yesterday. I am up to the 1940's in classic mysteries. There is nothing new under the Sun! Just about every gimmick that crops up today was used sometime in the last century. It really is pretty interesting to me. Substitute Al-Qaida for Hitler and Goering, Transportation Authority Security for "dim-outs" on the coasts, ore for steel alloys for oil, and you have the same stories. The hero's car, an FBI provided Cadillac, had a governor to keep the speed to 35 m.p.h. to conserve fuel. The hero, Doan, has a sidekick-a Great Dane name Carstairs that he won in a crap game (Travis McGee and his houseboat-same gimmick). Loads of fun and insight for 99 cents a pop.

Honey brought home a puppy. I think it belongs to the neighbors. It enjoyed some food and went away. It is cute and would be a good companion for her-it is little but plucky. Meanwhile Honey sat in a mud puddle while playing and will need to be groomed a bit before we go to Casper tomorrow. Kids!

Beating the Heat

Saturday afternoon I scurried around and installed the Swamp Cooler. It seems to get heavier every year. I will try to engineer something before I have to call on help to stick the darn thing in the window. The rest of it is easy. It is too big by half-but it was all that was available when the old one went to swamp cooler heaven. The cleaning, oiling, etc., went fine. It really does make a big difference in the evenings. I miss the plain fresh air from the fan. It can be 94 degrees during the day but it gets down to 60 at night which is just perfect for sleeping with a cover. Honey enjoys it. She compromises: she lies on the pack porch catching the cool breeze from the cooler while keeping eagle eyes and ears on the world.

After wonderful mornings on the deck, I spent most of the weekend days inside in the cool playing with my toys. I mastered the art of getting my DRM liberated iTunes into the Droid. I am thrilled. The Droid has a wonderful sound/speaker system-better than iPhone. And when I plug in the iHome tiny speakers it is a real stereo in my pocket. I am eagerly awaiting the forthcoming Android 2.2 update. It will allow the Droid to become a WiFi hotspot. It will be like an aircard. I can use the phone to access the web on my laptop. It will mean connectivity anyplace. Meanwhile, my Kindle library, and my favorites of my music library are in my take-along smartphone.

The iTunes purchases from day one were backed up to 2 DVD's- 6.5 gigabytes worth. Then I made some new purchases rendering the backups obsolete. I am working at doing the same with photos-getting them backed up. The link below goes to the Bird web album. I will add to it as time goes on.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sroberts.wyoming/BackyardBirdsWyoming2010#


I got a text message on my phone. "U wanna F___?" At first I was flattered and intrigued. Perhaps someone in the Lander Safeway "fancied the cut of my jib." It took about 40 seconds to picture myself: bald, grey, bearded, gut hanging over my baggy pants, velcro fasteners on my Dr. Scholl's flapping so my feet would fit in them, shambling through the vegetable aisles: no, the beauty contest was lost about 30 years ago. The text must be a commercial venture. Then I riffed on completing the transaction: Making payment contingent on a "Happy Ending." Enjoying watching the service provider's face fall when confronted with my naked splendor. Their Sisyphean efforts and my leaving with my bankroll intact. Cruel, eh? But maybe it is a trap. "Let sleeping dogs lie."

Brother Bob will come to Casper for a visit this week. I will go down for some festivities.

Hummers

The cattle were feeding close to the house on a scorcher of a day Friday. I had a species of bird right under my nose. The execrable Cowbird. They started raiding the birdseed because they were close. Cowbirds are stinkers but interesting. They never sit their own eggs. The females can lay up to 140 eggs a season in somebody else's nest. Other birds hatch and feed the cowbird babies. Most don't seem to mind but if they kick the egg or bird out, cowbirds are known to trash the nest. They are symbiotic with cows, marching in their shadow to keep cool and eating the seeds and bugs stirred up by their grazing.

Harlan's much younger brother Steven is seeing a Lander lady who owns a fireworks stand. He came into a pile of big ones-freebies. We had a fireworks show last night. I went out on the highway to snap a few pix. Couldn't stay long because I lose my balance in the dark but it was pretty neat. Honey, blessedly, is not fazed by fireworks. That is a mixed blessing because she is also not afraid of gunfire.

The hummingbird feeder has been out for a month and so far, I think the bees have about emptied it. But a little hummer showed up yesterday so I re-stocked. I got several good bird pictures yesterday. It is probably about time for a Picasa web album.

I was in need of dogfood, meat, and bottled water yesterday so I waited until after 5:00 and went to Lander. It was still hot. Safeway, after WalMart is sooo middle class and designed to force you to "buy up." The spuds are big and showy and mealy. The smaller packages of meat are higher per pound. I bought big and repackaged after I got home. But it is all presented so nicely-then you get to the checkout stand! They tell you how much you saved by being a "Club member" but the non-club prices are simply jacked up.

Lander is a neat little town. It has a nice feel to it. Seems to be thriving. Having cooked at home almost continuously since arriving back here, I indulged in takeout from a little jewel of a place called "Asian Food." Generous if a little pricey: excellent Pad Thai with shrimp. The small space was very nicely done. Wished I could have taken the time to dine-in.

It took until 9 p.m. to cool the house off yesterday. Installed one more window fan to hurry the process along. The swamp cooler installation day is probably near.

And me without a camera!

The house stays blessedly cool during the day but after 7:00 p.m. the absorbed heat makes it warmer than outside so the fan comes on and I go out to sit on the deck until it balances. There I was sitting like a dummy when an owl sails up to the bird feeding station and settles on a fence post. I tried creeping in to get a camera but I scared it off.

From three different experts my robin-like bird was identified as Turdus Migratorius, a Robin! I am not entirely sure but it will be a Robin until I can say otherwise. Made me feel kind of like a turdus couch potatio. I downloaded an iPod application to identify birds but I am hopeless with it. I will practice but I have more faith in my advisors than the program at this point.

The mosquitoes were making a pretty good comeback so I scared away the birds and fogged this afternoon. The little varmints were biting through my clothes last night. I had to find my backscratcher.

Harlan and Tye fed this morning. Tye came over to the fence to talk and told Harlan not to look-several times. Harlan would look away and I could hear him laughing. But as soon as Tye gets stuck for a word he is hollering for help from his Grampa. After help, Grampa has to look away again. It really was kind of funny but I had to keep a straight face.

Skyped with Matt last evening. Last time we Skyped we dined together. We just both happened to be eating. It was really kind of cool. Eve took off for Colorado to see her sister and Audrey went with to meet her brand new cousin. Lots of cousins down there. Matt said Audrey is having a good time.

Matt has a couple of days left of being Supervisor and I think he is going to be glad to have it over. He looks tired.

I called Greg. His Facebook page said they were vacating Florida by the next weekend. Too damn hot. Had long IM's on Skype with Jeanne. She got the bill for her angiogram. It was totally worth the $9500 for her peace of mind but I am not sure if the taxpayers would share that sentiment. Whatever...

The undersea oil gusher appears to be capped. Everybody is being tentative about it but it sure feels like a relief to me. I will see if I can do some eco-tourism on my way down to Lake Worth this winter.

Now for something completely different

Peggy drove the pickup for feeding today. Tye rode on the wagon with Harlan. Tye would wave in different ways and i would mimic him. He was laughing out loud.
The squirrels were on this side of the house today. They are hard to photograph but I think you can see them. They were quarreling or courting. One was aggressing, the other was having none of it.

There are two of them below- click on the pic to see them both. Fun to watch and so far no interference with the feeders. I got some good bird shots today but nothing newsworthy.

I felt really well today. It has been kind of up and down. Every day is a surprise. I keep trying to isolate what makes a difference. Good sleep+, Salt-, Sugar -, Meds on time+, Nap+, Certain supplements+: EFA, Magnesium, new time released Rx Potassium, Calcium with D, Oxegen.

I haven't used table salt for a long time but I am now having to read those labels for sodium. Too much and I am puffed up inside and out. It is a revelation. A can of prepared chili has 50% of a daily allowance of salt.

Hey, that Mel Gibson is quite the poet, eh? What a way for a nice Catholic to talk!

Fatigued

When I bought my Rez Fishing license it was an afterthought and I left two cartons of Dorals on the counter when I left, apparently. This was not discovered until yesterday about 1:00 p.m. "Good time to quit!" By 4:00 p.m. I was cleaning cars looking for a pack or at least a long one. By 4:30 I was on my way to Ethete to buy a couple of packs.

This morning I was still searching for my missing cartons and waiting for Tye to show up before I took off for town on an errand of mercy for myself. Tye overslept so his sweet daddee (how Tye says it) let him ride his little bitty four wheeler on the deserted highway while he followed him on a big ATV. We had our little visit but it was getting toasty when we left here for town.  I had made a list of chores so as to not waste the trip entirely. Good thing. It was so warm I could not leave the dog without the air conditioning running. So while I completed my list, I broke it into bits where I could park close, run in and run out. Got birdseed at WalMart. Stopped at 789 Bingo for cheap cigs and thought to ask if I had left my cartons there on the counter. Turns out I had. Yay! On to Lander for my groceries at the new Safeway. Four hours later I was home and tired from the heat and the running and the late night last night. Nap time.

Happy Bird Day

Grackles are good parents as I mentioned before. The top bird is an offspring of the other two. He was perched and opening his mouth to be fed and his mother was industrious in feeding the big baby. He's as big as she is.

Often, I do not know what I am looking at until I get the picture blown up. Then, often I don't know what I am looking at either. This one looks robin-like but is smaller and I have never seen a robin on the feeders especially a finch feeder. I suspect it is an oriole but I don't know that.

This is a black crested something or other. If you can help, email me at the usual place. Same with the one below which may well be a...I am not going to guess. I'm not being lazy about this. I have been on the Cornell ornithology site. In any case, I am seeing a few new faces at the feeder which encourages me because I am nearly at the end of 65 pounds of birdseed and I need some new faces to keep me interested. The same old, same olds do look mahvelous, simply mahvelous, because they are getting top grub.

Tye Eric is feeding the cattle with grandpa Harlan. Every morning he stops the pickup at the bottom of my hill and bangs on it until I come out to visit for awhile. It is good for him to try to communicate and he certainly wants to but I am frequently mystified. He is a happy little guy except when he throws a tantrum. I thanked Harlan this morning because Honey found a nice pile of green bullshit to roll in. I am not cross with her but it does make me cross. Between brushing and sponging she is better if not pristine. I have been busy trying to keep things watered. Under my canopy it is probably 10 or 20 degrees cooler than the rest of the countryside but at a cost of heavy transpiration by the trees. We got some water in the ditch this afternoon and Honey was ready for it. She runs in it and cools herself off. Before long, the water will start to sub and the trees on the oasis will prosper.

The Sundance is about to commence. It is going to be toasty during the day as dancers dance to exhaustion. I think I could do it in ten minutes flat...tops. I have never gone. It is a sacred rite to the Natives and it just doesn't feel right to me. The makeshift road is getting a lot of use. I sat in the cool evening air and watched a steady stream of vehicles lights going both ways as families haul their mattresses and tents and willow branches for traditional houses to the sacred grounds. Eventually it will be nearly a square mile of temporary city. They even cancelled Bingo for the duration. This is serious business.

Christmas in July 2010

Because I am in Florida at Christmas, Guy and Janet and I started a "Christmas in July" tradition. The players vary but it always turns out to be memorable and lots of laughs. The food is great, the gag gifts produce some hilarity, and we make a memory. I document most of it with the camera and the smiles keep on coming. I got some Flamingo patio lights that will go in the Florida Christmas decorations. Bring "home" to Florida.

It kept me running up and down the long road a good bit this year but it is well worth it. Click on the small picture for the web album and commentary.

Christmas in July 2010

My Little Valley

The tribes have opened and graded a dirt road that allows an alternate route to town. It is no prize but it affords a vista of the valley that has been closed for years so I took the camera and the dog to shoot a few shots. A beautiful spot for a hermit to live, eh? A car passed me and stopped just where I wanted to shoot. A Native American jumped out and took a whiz. Then he came over to chat. He saw my pill bottle of "traveling meds" and wanted to know about pain-killers. I offered a diabetes pill. It is hard to get your head around the reality and ideal of rez life. There are noble traditions which I admire and realities which turn my stomach. Just like the American Culture at large.

The trip was not a necessity-today's is. But I will take the big van and the air conditioning today and drive the highway. UPS made it clear they will deliver here under duress until the road is fixed. When I came back from town Tribal Police and the Sheriff's Office had somebody stopped on the dirt road. Litter is starting to make its appearance.

I am still churning through two books a day. I have been immersed in the works of J.S. Fletcher. He wrote mystery adventure romances of his era which was turn of the last century England. Much better use of the language than today but I have been collecting idioms that are still in use: "too many irons in the fire," "needle in a haystack." My favorite (politically incorrect one) "to watch him is like offering chickens to a nigger. He fairly revels in it." The prejudices of the day are many in evidence but the sites: manors and country inns, and teeming city slums and fancy hotels are a nice bit of territory to visit, the plots are serpentine, motorcars are a novelty, dog carts, taxis and pony traps are conveyances, walking 5 miles is common, women are intuitive but spunky and a wedding is announced at the end of all.

Life goes on

Alive, well and enjoying this peaceful existence. Nothing much to report. The heater has been on. I'm not complaining as it is hot, hot, in other climes as reported by the near and dear. Reading more than is balanced and I am going to try to move more and have more to show and tell.

A Gorgeous Day

Sunny, temperate, water in the ditch for Honey to play in, birds at the feeder, and I am fixing the blots on my blog. I am not sure what happened-if it was an attack on the Internet or what, but it was discouraging. I spent three days, count 'em, downloading music. I have been adding to my collection for some years-from CD's and from iTunes.  iTune music from the beginning had digital rights management (DRM) which essentially made the music a prisoner to Apple players. They dropped the DRM and started charging more for the music. This made for a terrible hodge-podge. I could download some tunes to my phones and not download others. So I did the upgrade on everything I purchased from Apple. In the fine print it said the upgrades would be better quality-twice the size, files. Only 150 could be downloaded at one session. Huge, time consuming downloads and not much bandwidth left for anything else. But it is now done. The music is now mine-free and clear.

I can barely express how much I am enjoying having the bridge out. I used to be in the middle of this road. Now I am at one obscure end of it. I ran around in my underwear until 2:00 p.m. Friday. It is quiet, peaceful, serene, Arcadian, Eden-like. Friday evening I gave the dirt road a try. Thayne said it had been graded and the grader took the crest of the steepest hill down a notch or two. It is not too bad but I am not sure it is a big improvement over the 50 mile trip. It is going to take at least 40-50 minutes to get to Riverton either way. The dirt road is pretty much a washboard most of the way. I may need a tribal fishing license to use it as it is tribal land. Thayne said he talked to the D.O.T. man and they have no plans to start bridge repairs until September.

The 4th of July came and went. I haven't felt much like flag waving for about a decade.  Saw some fireworks from a distance, made a pot of ham and beans. Honey got some good bones. Called Delores. She was on Wingrove Hill with Jayne and Marilu "having a weenie roast." "Oh," I said, talking about men, huh?" They thought that was funny. I am so glad there is not a woman in my life to disappoint because it strikes me they most all end up that way.

Talked to Rich. They are so in love with their new/old dog. Greg called. He is so ready to get out of Florida until the fall. The Florida kids are sweltering, too.