BO?

I must have BO (Body Odor). Either that or Molly has it. Why you ask?

When Molly and I went for our walk yesterday, we went to the park. The walking path around the park is about three quarters of a mile long, so eight laps and you have your 6 miles done. In any case, when Molly and I got to the park we ran into people and dogs galore during the first lap. We must have seen 20 or 30 people. But ... by the second lap there was nary a person to be seen walking in either direction. We saw no one else for all the rest of our laps. The only explanation I can think of is that we had really bad BO or something. It must have been as bad for them as for the ladies in the armpit sniffing line below.

What do you think?

A Lady In The Evening

Tonight as I was heading off for my walk, I ran into a lady I haven't seen for a while. I went to school with her son and was a patient of her husband in my long ago school years. So I said hi and she said hi and we continued on with our lives.

But ... as I walked, I found myself thinking how unfair life has been of late to her. Several years ago she waged an epic battle against cancer, a battle that most had given up on her winning. It was a close thing, but she survived, although as a fragile shell of her previous self.

After that harrowing experience, you would hope that she and her husband of more than 50 years might be able to enjoy a few of their sunset years. Just kick back and be able to watch life pass by together. It just isn't to be. Her husband has developed progressively worse Alzheimer's Disease. So she is now devoted to taking care of (and zealously protecting) him.

Even two years ago, he was outside and taking care of the lawn, washing the car, visiting. He drove his wife to her treatments, etc. Now he is confined to the house or he wonders off. Every day there is less of the man, father, and husband that he used to be still present. Every day is closer and closer to the horizon where he will not be able to remain at home. How unfair is that?

It brought forth memories of L's dad journeying through the throes of Alzheimer's Disease. I remember finding him standing in our back yard, puzzled and frustrated by his inability to open the gate. A gate secured by a simple lift latch. And him having owned and operated hardware stores for much of the time I knew him. I remember thinking then how unfair it was to him and his family, even as there was less and less of the man I knew present every day.

And so I felt great sympathy for the lady and her family.

The Heat is On

So much for the summer cold front. It was truly glorious while it lasted, but the reminder of fall and the coming of winter was brief. As I write, the temperature is hovering between 105 and 108 depending on which of my two shade thermometers you believe. Needless to say, tonight's walk is going to be late in the evening and warm.

Speaking of which, I have upped my daily walking to 6 miles a day from 5. It is just enough extra that Molly gives hints that we should turn towards home every time we pass a possible turn off in that last mile. But when I say "Not yet, we still have further to go." she takes it in stride. It hasn't dampened her eagerness when I put on the ear buds and pick up the leash, signaling it is time to head on out.

Which segues naturally into my question of the day: which one or two out of three would you choose? Now that you are bewildered, the question comes from listening to Meatloaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" last night as I walked. In the ballad, the three refers to the infamous triad of "I want you. I need you. I love you."

Aw heck, just take a quick listen, I'll wait:

In any case, it led my mind to ponder the question(s):

• If you only get one of the three in a relationship, which one?
• If you only get two of the three in a relationship, which two?

I assume we all want all three in our ideal relationship, so the question is moot for the case of three. My own answers for the one and two cases are predictable to those who know me. If I only get one, make it love. If I only get two, make it love and want. But I know people who would answer differently, so what are your answers?

Black Kitty?

It is that time of year once more. The black kitty cats with the charming white stripe are back in force. Last night as Molly and I were walking, at 10:30pm when the temperature finally dropped to bearable, we had the joy of renewing our acquaintance with our fine furry friends.

We came around the corner and there were a not-so-shy pair of these fine creatures

frolicking in the grass and trees beside the path. Of course Molly desperately wanted to go make friends and I just as desperately wanted to leave the area without making introductions. I was very happy that Molly was on the leash so I could convince her to journey on without saying hello.

Another half mile down the path, we ran into a friend and his dog out walking and stopped to chat. Given the friend had undergone the joy of a fully sprayed dog a few years ago, he decided that a return to the homestead might be the better course of action for the evening. As we walked together, what should we see but another skunk scurrying across the path in front of us.

It is the season of the year to keep one's eyes peeled. The skunks are coming out in force as grub season arrives and they go foraging. It normally might not be too bad, but this year there have already been attacks on humans and animals by rabid skunks in the region.  That means that the normally timid skunks may now charge rather than sauntering off.

The thing that amazes me is the number people who walk within feet of a skunk and think it must be a kitty cat. When you warn them that those kitty cats are skunks, they tend to look askance at you. Maybe their night vision is gone?

In any case, the real question is whether to endure the heat by walking in the light or to endure the risk of skunk by walking in the cool of the night? Which would you do?

Multi-topics

Tonight's post comes to you as a collection of disjointed ramblings. Welcome to my mind. {*grin*}


Topic 1:
After an enjoyable Easter weekend, L headed back to the mountains this morning. Of course, that meant that Molly was in a sad and inconsolable state. I thought about adding a picture, but decided to be kind to Molly.

(I lied, Molly got pictured anyway.) This evening, I convinced Molly that a walk would be a fun thing. It seems like a lot of people we knew were out and about. In the course of walking 6 miles, Molly and I saw (and walked for a bit) with at least 5 groups of people and dogs we knew. It perked Molly up a bit. I suspect that she will be back to her chipper self by tomorrow.


Topic 2:
I suspect all of us remember the music of the Bangles from the 80's and 90's. When they broke up, I didn't follow any of the members solo careers. I was not even overly enthused by their reunion for the Austin Power's soundtrack song "Get the Girl". So I was pleasantly surprised to find this duet by former Bangles lead singer Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet. Her voice has matured and she now reminds me a bit of a cross between Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin. Enjoy.

They got together to do an album of hits from the 60's with startlingly good results. I encourage you to dig the tracks up (The album is "Under the Covers, Vol. 1") and take a listen.


Topic 3:
Easter was a nice day. Good conversation, good food, with mom and L's mom and friends, and then a nice long walk in springlike weather. And the weather wasn't quite so nice that I had to work on the yard or get started in the garden. Laziness with no guilt, what more could one ask for?


Topic 4:
Back to writing a monograph (not really, more a series of press releases and radio spots) with the enthusing working title 'Rabies, Your Pet, and You'. There has been an outbreak of rabies in skunks and muskrats in the area in the last month that has resulted in several attacks on humans and their pets, so it is time to remind people to make sure their pet vaccinations are up to date and to avoid possibly rabid animals. Most dog owners are pretty good about staying up to date on vaccinations, but many cat lovers fail to realize that cases of rabies in cats have become more prevalent than in dogs in recent years and so fail to keep their cats vaccinated. Back to the salt mine.

A Hard Days Night

Molly had a busy day today. We went out for our walk early in the afternoon so that football could be watched with concentration later. About four miles into the walk, we ran into my friend Bill. Shortly thereafter, we started being followed by a Samoyed that had a collar but no tags. Bill got a catch halter while Molly and I  talked to the Samoyed until Bill could put the halter on. Then we  called one of the animal control officers (who work for me in my position with the Humane Society). As Bill and I figured, the animal control officer recognized the dog and knew where it belonged. It apparently has a habit of roaming on its own. So Molly got the excitement of meeting a new friend and someone to share the doggy equivalent of the masonic handshake - the butt sniff. That kind of excitement just doesn't happen every day.

Molly and I finished our walk and then I got ready to go to the Super Bowl party. Along the way I talked to L in between interruptions by other calls. Molly decided to take a nap since I was ignoring her.  She was still napping when I got back after the game. Entertaining her new friend must have exhausted her.

As I was putting away the laundry, I noticed she was already sacked out in the master bedroom just waiting for me to come to bed. I hate to tell her it will be a while before that happens. What can you say to this:

Especially when Molly then flops down flat when I try to explain:

Guess she'll just have to get over it. It's either that or she was a Colts fan and can't face the final outcome of the game.

Blue Monday

L headed back to the mountains today, so it was up to me to console the mournful Molly. We tried a sneaky trick this time - we had Molly out in the back yard playing while we loaded L's truck. It meant Molly didn't catch on to the impending departure of her mistress quite as soon. In order to cheer both Molly and myself up, we went for a nice long walk this afternoon after L left. If Molly is tired enough, she doesn't get a chance to mope because she is busy sawing logs as she snores away, usually at my feet in my office.

While we were walking, it was once again borne home to me just how much the climate change has got the flora and fauna confused this year. The robins are still here in mass. There will  not be a first robin of spring here since they never left. This is the first time in my memory that the robins have not left for the winter to return in the spring. It is really strange to see hundreds of robins in the trees and on the grasses in January and February in this area. I even saw a few pairs mating today. Makes me wonder what is going to happen to the population if they all get fooled into early mating and subsequent egg laying while it is still freezing at night and we may get weeks of extended cold.

Yet another sign that the climate is driving the birds loony is that Canadian geese are circling in the late afternoons. The characteristic Vs of geese honking and circling the corn fields and river ponds is not usually heard at this time of the year. They have apparently not completed their southward migration and are instead hanging around in the fields edging town and on the river bottom. Normally they come flying south in November and December and aren't seen again until spring. Not this year.

I could continue with a long and boring compendium of odd fauna behaviors related to the climate upset, but you get the picture. Things are a bit strange out here in the hinterlands. The weather is changing, air streams and the resultant rain patterns are changing, and the plants and animals are duly confused.

I'll close with a couple of pictures of Molly.

First we have Molly laying forlornly by the fireplace in the library:

But then I asked her if that was a squirrel making noise outside:

That got her attention. Note all of her chew toys on the floor. (You didn't really think I'd leave a hamburger sitting on the floor did you? And you surely didn't think that Molly would not snarf it if I did leave it did you?)

The Cold Front (and Rear)

Today as Molly and I headed out to walk, it was about 40 and calm. A nice day for a walk.

So I have on my walking shorts and a sweatshirt and a windbreaker. Just fine for the weather at the start. Molly and I begin our trek heading North, directly into the little breeze that is about. As we walk, the wind starts picking up and the temperature dropping. At the half way point about 3 miles out when we turn around, the wind is up to about 20 mph and the temperature is dropping fast. Pretty much a typical storm from coming in here on the plains.

By the time we are within a mile of the house, the wind is gusting to 40 mph and the temperature is down to 30. Molly's fur is blowing forward on her face and has her tail whipping in the breeze like mad. I am walking a bit like a Keystone Kop from the old movies. You know, the hop-skip-jump-step that looks so funny in the movies. That is because the wind is blowing right up the back of my shorts and freezing what the TV commercials so politely call "that certain part of the male anatomy." Needless to say, Molly and I were both happy to arrive at the house and get out of the wind and into the warm. Our walk tomorrow will probably require sweatpants - it is forecast to be cool and maybe even have some new snow.

Tomorrow looks to be busy as I have a haircut and then am off to the prison for a gang activity briefing from the Department of Corrections intelligence service. It will be interesting to see what is going on. Events and trends in the metro and front range areas tend to migrate out here to the rural areas with a certain lag factor. Thus we get a bit more time to prepare for upcoming trends. I don't know whether to feel honored or insulted - I am the only non-law enforcement official invited. Is that good or bad? Assuming all goes well and I don't get stuck in a lock down, I have the council meeting tomorrow night. The agenda doesn't look too bad, but we are going to have to meet on the 23rd because we have a first reading of a contract ordinance tomorrow which means that we have to have the second reading and public hearing 2 weeks later for the contract to be in force by the end of the year (which it needs to be). The council members are generally pretty good about such needed formalities.

Well, time to see if this will post or not. Blogger has lost it's editing headers and the font controls and ... So I am not sure if enough of the function is present to successfully post or not.