Desert Canyon Living

An Update Post

2012-03-01T16:49:00.000-08:00

Before I say anything about our wind storm here, let me express my sympathy for those of you affected by the recent tornadoes. I'm pretty sure I could never live in those parts of the country, it is just so destructive. I live in an area where several wind systems converge and sometimes we do get some pretty scary big wind storms. We are under wind advisory right now, I believe the gusts are around 60 mph.

When winds are from the west like today, they stir up the sand at the donkey rescue and blow it all over the canyon. I'm glad donkeys are such tough animals because they are eating a lot of sand right now, not to speak of sand in eyes and ears. My husband and I are both feeling better, but not well. I have a persistent cough and will see my doctor next week if I'm not better. Tomorrow we are going to try to go to town and pick up some more OTC medicines and other stuff I have been longing for while sick, like club soda. Some bubbly stuff for my stomach. I hope the wind subsides by then.

I have some plans for my blog for the month of March. If I can keep my mouth and pen shut long enough, I would like to turn my blog into a photo blog for most of the month. Very few words, just pictures, old and new. That way I will have more time to visit your blogs, discover who my new followers are, and getting caught up on all the wonderful blogs out there.

That way I can also have some time to prepare for April's A to Z Challenge, a time where I will post every day, except Sundays. I have already begun to write some stories and ideas down. Last year, some bloggers had themes. Mine was Desert Canyon Living. This year, my theme is Swedish Rhapsody and I'll be writing about the country of my birth and all things Swedish from trolls to coffeecake.

Finally, I'm one of those bloggers who loves to leave comments, I find it's a great way to get to know people and perhaps even become blogger friends. Thanks to the double word verification mess, I will no longer leave comments on your blog if you decide to keep this feature. I will read your blog, but I will not leave a comment. I did away with my word verification over a year ago, as did most of my blogger friends. I have not had a single problem! Spam picks up all Anonymous comments, all comments in languages, such as Greek and Russian, where the alphabet is different. If you are concerned you could keep the option to approve all comments before posting them to you blog.

A Fever-Induced Google Nightmare, Updates, and Thank You All!

2012-02-28T17:43:00.001-08:00

Thank you so much for your comments, your concerns and well wishes. And welcome to several new followers. I will not be able to catch up with you for a while yet, but I will and I will follow your blogs as well.

I still have the flu, but am feeling a bit better, so I thought I would provide an update here. As some of you know, I am not happy with Google as far as Blogger goes. I hear that Apple and others are also upset, so maybe some changes in general will take place, but I doubt it will help Blogger. My latest Google/Blogger gripe is this: I like to keep my mouse point on the screen as I proofread (it helps old ladies like me to stay on point) and now every time this blurb pops up called Composition Editor. And covers the stuff I am trying to proof read and edit! As with the two word word verification fiasco, no one asked me if I needed a Composition Editor, whatever that is. I am a technical writer, proof reader and editor, so no thank you and please get this irritating thingy off my posts.

I had quite a bit of a fever last week as my flu took hold and you will not believe this, but it's true. I had just watched The Tudors on BBC America, so I know why I ended up in the dungeons of the Tower of London. While there, I dreamt I saw a man turning a sort of large tube with a handle. He was dressed in white with a large Google Chrome sign on his chest. I was shocked to see that what he was rolling up on that tube was my blog! He somehow got into the computer and was confiscating my entire blog! I could see parts of it flashing by on sheets of paper as it was being wound around this tube. I recognized the pictures! A weird dream, wasn't it? What do you think it means, if anything? (And yes, Google/Blogger spell checker: dreamt is as correct as dreamed.)

When you have diabetes and you fight any kind of infection, your blood sugar go through the roof. I had horrible pains in my feet and legs in addition to all the flu pains and I was so grateful that I had just passed my annual retina and eye exam. I was way too sick to deal with my diabetes properly until yesterday, when I decided to just focus on reducing my carb intake and eat a lot of protein. That was a huge help with the only side effect that I am very, very hungry.

I have felt so bad for the dogs and it has also been interesting to observe their reactions to both of us being so ill. Soldier is the same. He has no clue, he whines in the mornings because he doesn't get to walk, then calms down, and then whines for his dinner and then goes to sleep. I told him I will rename him Whiny Winny if he doesn't cut it out. Angel is concerned, she sniffs our faces, she sits and looks at us, she worries about our coughing attacks; then she tip toes to the front door, like hint, hint, can we please go for a walk. Samson has been the best! Since he is less than three years old, I am very impressed. He has been quiet, cooperative, concerned, obedient and not made a noise. I keep telling him what a good dog he is, I think he knows.

On another subject, I am extremely concerned about my blogger friend Sylvia. I helped with a fund raiser for her and her partner Amy, who is fighting Stage 4 melanoma. No one has heard anything after the successful fund raising ended. I wrote another comment on her blog before I got sick and just checked and there was no response. So many other people wrote back and asked her to please let them know what is going on. I will keep you informed if I learn anything.

And then it snowed and it melted and it snowed again. And there was more pogonip in the mountains. Now someone doubted we had pogonip because it doesn't get cold enough. Well, that's true, we are at 4,141 feet here in the canyon, while it's in the teens at night, it warms up pretty fast. But peaks of both Double Mountain and Tehachapi mountain are at about 8,000 feet and it gets cold enough there. The pogonip I see looking east is in the Sierra Nevada and I have no idea how tall those peaks are. Of course, I had no idea what pogonip was, never hear of it either, but fortunately we have an excellent local newspaper that has a wonderful naturalist and photographer who writes a nature piece each and every week. I have learned so much from him about the local flora and fauna and that's where I learned about pogonip. So I just wanted to share. I zoomed in on the picture above, but it is still difficult to see the high peaks in the faraway distance.

As soon as I feel better, I will get back to blogging. I miss you all and hope you take good care and have a nice rest of the week.

My Husband's Ancestor -- An American Inventor

2012-02-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

My husband's father's family came from Germany in the late 1700s and settled in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the late 1800s, one of them became mayor of New Orleans and later governor of the state of Louisiana, but that's another story. The story I want to tell today, in honor of Black History Month, is of an ancestor on his mother's side, named Norbert Rillieux, 1806 - 1894.
To quote Wikipedia: 'Mr. Rillieux was an American inventor
and engineer who is most noted for his invention of the multiple-effect evaporator, en energy-efficient means of evaporating water. This invention was an important development in the growth of the sugar industry. Rillieux was a cousin of the painter Edgar Degas.'

Norbert Rillieux's father was a wealthy white plantation owner, engineer, and inventor; his mother an African-American woman, who is sometimes is referred to as a slave, but in most accounts as a free person of color. His aunt, Marie Celeste Rillieux, was the grandmother of the painter Edgar Degas. Norbert was also related to Bernard Soulie, one of the wealthiest free black men in Louisiana at the time.

As a Creole, Norbert Rillieux was able to get a good education in Louisiana, where he was educated at private Catholic schools. He later traveled to France and studied physcis, mechanics, and engineering at the École Centrale. Fluent in French, he became an expert in steam engines and was also a skilled blacksmith and machinist.

The process of refining sugar was slow and expensive in the 1800s. While still in France, Norbert Rillieux began looking into ways of improving this process. He continued his work upon his return to New Orleans and patented his evaporator machine in 1843. I'm not going to describe this machine or what is has meant to the sugar industry, but if you are interested, please check Wikipedia here. Suffice it to say that the new machine was so efficient that sugar makers soon covered the cost of the evaporators with the huge profits from the sugar produced by them.

From the Internet

Norbert Rillieux also attempted to apply his engineering skills to dealing with an outbreak of Yellow Fever in New Orleans, presenting the city with a plan that would to a great extent eliminate mosquito breeding grounds. His plan was turned down by a state legislator, who had become his enemy. However, several years later the ongoing Yellow Fever problem was successfully addressed by white engineers, using a method very close to what Rillieux had proposed.

Norbert Rillieux spent his later years in Paris where began a study of Egyptology and hieroglyphics. He also created new inventions and spent time defending his patents.

Norbert Rillieux died in Paris in 1894 and is buried there. He left behind a legacy that revolutionized the sugar industry and thereby the way the world eats.
And I can testify to the fact that my mother-in-law was extremely fond of sugar, as is my husband to this day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This time, the flu shot didn't protect me and I came down with this flu my husband has been fighting for several days. I haven't had a flu in over 20 years and I'm a huge fan of flu shots. But nothing is perfect and I feel really awful, so I wanted to let you know that I will not post anything here until I get better. Have a nice rest of the week everyone.

Fabulous Fishducky (A Few Things Her Friends May Want to Know)

2012-02-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

The road trip I posted here last week took us to Fran (AKA fishducky) and her husband Bud's house in the Westwood area of Los Angeles.

Fran and Bud's house.

When I saw Fran about a year ago, I told her about my blog. She began to read it and leave comments every day. Then she branched out and started to read several other blogs and leave comments on them. Soon something marvelous happened: Fran's comments were so special, so right on target, so frequently humorous, that she began to get a following just from leaving comments. People were begging her to start a blog of her own, but Fran didn't want that kind of blogger interaction, she was happy leaving comments. So a compromise was made and Fran is now writing stories of her life that are published on her friend Elisa's blog every Friday. Fran has lived an incredible life, she has both wisdom and a fabulous sense of humor, and so many crazy fun stories to tell, so if you have a minute on a Friday, stop by Elisa's blog and visit with fishducky.

So with her fans in mind, and perhaps adding to them, I decided to show a some of Fran's stuff. She didn't want her photo added here, but it doesn't matter. There are other ways to tell a person's story.

Fran's got a thing for speed, so this is Fran's car. Did I mention how old she is? Those of you who read her Ode to Being 73 know she's at least that old.

Did you know that Fran is an artist who has worked in many different media throughout her life? Stained glass, oil, pen and ink, and some whimsical motifs, like the mirror we have in our home. And, of course, her signature ducky.

My husband built an elevator shaft for Fran and Bud and Fran had the brilliant idea to move her gorgeous stained glass window from another house to the hallway here.

Imagine being greeted by this window as you step out of your elevator into your hallway.

A closeup of the window that Fran made. If you look closely, you will see a little worm or snail climbing up a flower stem. Fran is not one who takes herself too seriously.

But she is a serious artist and this painting is one of my favorites. It speaks for itself.

Last time I was at her home, I admired her pen and ink drawings of Victorian houses. So what does she do? Of course she sends me a set of professionally made prints of them. She gave me so many because that's another thing about Fran, she is a very generous, kind, and thoughtful human being. I will share more of these, but for right now I'm sharing my three favorites.

Look at the details in these drawings!

This is the simplest, least adorned, of all the houses and my favorite. Oh, to live in a house like this!

Fran sent me many photos of her paintings, but in a pdf format that I can't upload to my blog. I tried copying too, without success. So I will work with Fran on getting them in an acceptable upload format and display them in a later post.

I blogged about Fran's home, her art, and how the elevator came to be a much needed reality for Bud and Fran here last March.

Several years ago, Fran had a great idea: She would make mirrors for her friends and family, using miniatures to represent what was important in each family's life. She asked my husband to make the frames, which he did, and, lucky us, we got a mirror too. As you can see, ours shows that we like friends, cooking, baseball, sailing, dogs, and so on. The mirror is such a special work of art that we love and treasure.

My husband and I had a great time visiting with Fran and Bud. They took us out for lunch to Junior's Deli, one of those wonderful, old-fashioned, delis you have to live in a city to find. While Beverly Hills has Nate 'n Al Delicatessen, the famous deli where you can find an assortment of comics, movie stars and tourists; West Los Angeles, for as long as I can remember, always had Junior's. And that's a good thing.

Thank you Bud and Fran for a lovely lunch and a nice visit.

My Husband's Ancestor -- An American Inventor

2012-02-20T16:07:00.014-08:00

From the Internet

Norbert Rillieux spent his later years in Paris where began a study of Egyptology and hieroglyphics. He also created new inventions and spent time defending his patents.

Visiting With Rachael

2012-02-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

Rachael came up a week ago, Sunday. Being Rachael, of course she couldn't help herself but had to bring a bunch of gifts along. The oranges above are just a few she brought from her friend Claudette's garden together with a large bag of lemons. The flowers are from Rachael. She also brought some snack food, magazines, and her hair cutting scissors. But first we went to town to have brunch, I suggested Kelcy's Diner, and old fashioned country diner with excellent food.

After brunch, we are full and happy.

Here I am, outside the diner.

It was a cold, dark, day. This is the railroad depot, rebuilt after a fire destroyed the old one in 2008.

The building to the right houses a German bakery with the most delicious eclairs, I've ever had.

Driving through canyon wilderness to the

Mountain Spirit Center. The Peace Bell structure was just as beautiful in the dark canyon, where clouds hung low on the mountain, as in the sunshine of our previous visits.

Neither of us was dressed for the cold and windy weather. It seemed just as cold inside, but we sat for a while anyway.

Then we hurried back to the car and home where Rachael cut my hair.

Then Rachael visited with the dogs. Soldier, who loves all

women is head over tail in love with Rachael. See how he smiles?

Then Rachael had to go back to Burbank to one of the many jobs that keeps her going between her animal education programs. A short visit, but so nice, particularly since it was short and the drive is long. Thank you, Rachael, for everything.

Sunday Morning Reflections

2012-02-19T06:17:00.000-08:00

My reflections this morning are of a whimsical nature. When we drove through the Mojave desert and Antelope Valley the other day, I thought about my blogger friend Graham, who blogs from Namibia. He travels frequently and on his travels he runs into all kinds of wonderful and creative expressions by the people of Namibia, be it road signs, farm signs, old abandoned trucks that have been redone into flower pots, and so much more. Of course he also runs into antelopes and a variety of wild animals and birds, as well as donkeys, horses, kids, and dogs of every shape, size and color. As we drove, I thought wouldn't it be fun if something or someone were to show up by the side of the freeway! Antelopes are long gone from here, but maybe a fun sign or something. And then I remembered this truck, which looks identical to the African ones you may see on Graham's blog. I found it a few years ago on the side of California Highway 58, the road that leads from the desert to our town. So I'm posting it again, just for fun!
You can find Graham's blog here:
http://onestonedcrow.blogspot.com He is in the north right now and doesn't have internet access, but when he comes back, I know you will enjoy checking out his blog.

Pictures From The Road

2012-02-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we went to Los Angeles to take care of some business and to have lunch with our friends Fran and Bud. I woke up this morning feeling tired beyond belief, so I will rest today and just post some pictures from our road trip.
Then next week, I'll tell you about my socializing ways and visiting with both Rachael on Sunday and Fran, AKA fishducky, and her husband, Bud, all in the same week. That's quite something for an old hermit like me. I'm just surprised by how tired I get these days.
Also thanks for your comments. I have read them all, but not been able to get back to you. I just want to let you know that I look forward to reading your comments every day and I love to hear from you. I will have some time to visit you later today or tomorrow. Do you feel guilty too when you can't keep up with your blogger friends?

Snow in the Tehachapis.

Many new wind turbines have been erected in the desert outside the small town of Mojave. You can probably see them if you click on the photo to enlarge it.

Driving the long straight road through the desert from Mojave to the towns of Lancaster and Palmdale. This part of the desert was named Antelope Valley for the antelopes that roamed here when the first settlers arrived.

Since I moved to the desert mountains almost six years ago now, I have become fascinated by rocks. I see so much beauty in them and history too, millions of years of it. It was difficult to get a good picture as we zoomed by these marvelous rock formations.

This is actually a park, called Vasquez State Park, formed by movements in the San Andreas fault. It's named for a notorious bandit that sought refuge here. This spectacular scenery, so close to Los Angeles, has been featured in many films I learned from Wikipedia. You can read more about the park here.

My husband and I heard about this score of 100 for a perfect spouse. I determined that my score was about 80 and we've joked about this ever since. Here we are, in the CARPOOL lane, on the 405/Sand Diego freeway. My husband often travels here alone, stuck in traffic. He had completely forgotten that there's now a CARPOOL lane, that he thanks to me, could drive in, and thus speed past all the cars with just one driver. I joked that my wifely score now increased by at least 5 to 85.

The buildings on top of the hill are part of the Getty Center a lovely complex of art, great architecture, and gardens with fabulous views of Los Angeles.

We have arrived in Westwood, where I worked at UCLA for over 30 years. I lived 7 miles away. When I first began commuting to work in 1973, it took about 15 minutes. When I left the university in 2005, it took 45 minutes.

On our way to fishducky's house, this is her neighborhood.

Gas prices in Los Angeles, $4.25, out here $3.85. A sign of times to come?

On our way out of town, we just beat the worst traffic. Here we travel downhill towards the many communities located in the San Fernando Valley. These are the suburbs of Los Angeles. They are varied in their population, from movie stars to gang bangers, but mostly just ordinary folks living ordinary suburban lives. It's a very large area.

Back on the 14 freeway, heading home in yet another carpool lane, I find these hills and buttes really interesting.

So I thought I would share just a few views.

Finally, I always wanted to take a picture of the mansion that is perched on top of this knoll. It would have been a better picture if taken on our way to Los Angeles because then you would have seen the road/driveway that meanders up this steep hill to the house. It's a huge house, with a view of the freeway. I wonder how much freeway noise reaches up there. Of course the rest of the views must be magnificent, but still, there's nowhere to walk in nature, unless you like to hike up and down a very steep and barren hill. Since the first time I saw this place, I have wondered who lives there. One thing you would know for sure: The brakes on their cars must be kept in the best condition.

Snow Falls On Our Daily Walk

2012-02-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

I woke up wondering what to write in my blog today. It was gray and cold outside, but my husband wanted to walk the dogs anyway. So I had the idea that I would document our daily walk. While I complained about the cold, hubby said, "Just put your ear muffins on!" Well, he's from New Orleans, so what does he know about ear muffs?!

On TV they said snow to 3,000 ft (we're at 4,141) so that would be us! Finally!

Dark clouds covered the mountains that were covered with pogo nip yesterday. As we drove to town yesterday, without my camera again, we noticed all the trees in the mountains to the east were covered in pogo nip. It is a spooky looking phenomenon that I wish I could one day see up close. If you are interested, you can read about it here.

After we reach the mailboxes at the main road, we turn around and see this. A bit more actually since I'm already on my way back to the house here.

Soldier is doing great! See that big stretch in his hind legs. Last night he made it up on the dogs' love seat. And today he walked this walk three times around. Angel and I made it twice only. We're the oldest, that's for sure.

Hubby and dogs say, "Come on, we're supposed to walk together." I say, "I MUST take pictures, it takes time!"

Here the road becomes private and leads up to our house.

Past the house, it takes us to the barn. It's uphill all the way. Angel and I are panting. Phew, but we make it!

The area around the barn is all fenced in with these great old gate posts framing it.

Around the barn we go.

It's lovely up here, quiet with nature all around to make you slow down and enjoy the peace.

And then it starts. It hasn't snowed here since the fifth of November 2011.

Angel gets covered pretty fast. I take her in the house for a moment and dry her off, but she wants to walk more, so off we go again.

Here we are at the end of our driveway, facing the mailboxes over there by those hills you can barely see.

When Angel walks with daddy, she wants me and keeps turning around, looking for me, making sure I'm keeping up. When she walks with me, she can't wait to catch up with daddy and drags me down the road.

Here we are, turning around and beginning our walk back home.

Back at the barn, something catches Angel's attention.

While the others continue walking, she wants to investigate.

At 13 1/2 years old, she is still the most attentive and observant of the dogs. Always the first to notice things. After walking around twice, Angel and I go home where we try to get dry. Daddy walks the other two around one more time. All in all this is probably a couple of miles, no more than three.

We used to go on long hikes in the mountains around here, but Angel is old and Soldier was so injured that this year we haven't gone. I am beginning to miss it. After everyone's back, hubby makes a nice fire.

And Samson and Angel watch the snow fall.

Samson Says: We hope you enjoyed walking with us this morning. I had lots of fun playing in the snow!

THE END

2012-02-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day

Love must be as much a light, as it is a flame. ~Henry David Thoreau

Samson Gets Brushed

2012-02-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Samson Says:

There I was, in my corner of the hallway, minding my own business, when mommy approached with brush in hand and lured me into the back bedroom.

No way was I in the mood to get brushed. I know I've complained about fur neglect, but when it comes down to it, brushing is no fun for a dog like me. And the longer I'm unbrushed, the worse it gets. So I tried to escape out the room.

But mommy was determined. Here she makes me sniff the brush. As if that's going to make it better. I know that brush, but I sniff it anyway to make her happy.

But that's as far as I'd go. I laid down on the floor, rolled around a few times, and bared my fangs. This did NOT go over well. Mommy grabbed me and tried to make me stop. Then she started with the brushing.

At first I fought, I bit the brush, I rolled around, but then I decided on a different tactic. I remembered that Mr. Fishducky, who's a very important lawyer, offered to take my fur neglect case pro bono, which is Latin, which is a practically DEAD language, and means it's FREE. Now, both Mr. and Mrs. Fishducky seem to speak in this practically DEAD language, I wonder why they do that. They are not ghosts, are they? I mean, I'm dealing with a real lawyer here, aren't I? And Mrs. Fishducky seems real enough now she has her own blog post and all. She comes on every Friday, here. She's funny, I have to admit it, you should all check her out.

Back to brushing my fur. I decided to roll over and play dead, all the time watching out to see if maybe I'd have a case for UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS. Then Mr. Fishducky could take it pro bono and I would be sure to win and not have to pay a dime! He, he mommy, I got you now!

This is just a little bit of the fur that came off me. She had a bag full when she was done. Trouble is, we aren't done yet. She only got my front, sides and tummy done. Then she got "tired." Happens a lot around here, someone or other is always getting "tired," so they can't walk me, play with me, or even let me play with them. That goes for Angel too.

OK, so here I am with my front parts done. A pretty boy, I know.

But wait! Auntie Rachael came by yesterday. She sat mommy down in the high chair and started messing with her hair. Ah, I thought, mommy is going to get it too!

But why are they smiling so? I sat down by the back door to watch and see what's going to happen.

All that happened was that Auntie Rachael cut mommy's hair. And mommy was happy, but when she looked in the mirror she started to complain that her hair was going all white.....

Now, why would anyone complain about that? Just look at me! What's the color of my fur? And am I pretty or what? I'm only a dog, but to me, persons are really strange sometimes.

That's the end for now. I have no case, yet. But once that nasty rake comes out, then we'll see. You know the one that comes after the first brushing with a brush. And when mommy reaches my rear end and my huge and furry tail, there may be war!

Have a nice day everyone!

Posted by Samson the Samoyed pup.

Sunday Morning Reflections

2012-02-12T07:31:00.000-08:00

Silent Sunday

Peace

This and That on a Saturday Morning

2012-02-11T09:43:00.000-08:00

It's raining again and as those who follow my blog regularly know, that's great news. Very little is coming down, but it's better than nothing. We enjoyed our trip down the mountain to Bakersfield the other day, but I was upset I didn't bring my camera. On the highway, we passed several trucks with the Oversize signs and what they carried were blades from the wind turbines. Those blades are enormous and I'm sorry I can't show them to you. When we got to the doctor's office, we found that spring had arrived in the city. Ornamental fruit trees were in blossom all around and all kinds of colorful spring flowers bloomed in large stone containers. More reasons for me to miss my camera.

My eyes are in great shape, no diabetes complications, and 20/20 vision with glasses on my left eye. My right eye has a small cataract that the doctor said would take many years to develop into a problem. He said my eyes were great for my age. Talk about age, dear Dee Ready, the person you thought might be me in that photo is just about 30 years younger than I. Born in 1940, I'm just a few years younger than you. Now, of course, I do hope you will read this post. If not, everyone else may wonder what that was all about.

I'm very upset with this ticker tape that's running at the top of my blog. I tried to get rid of it by wasn't successful. And then they have all these offers for advertising that I don't want to clutter up my blog with. I'm really upset about this.

I also clicked on that offer to, what I thought was to try, the newer Google version of Blogger, and found that I can't get out of it. So now I can only blog in Google Chrome because my other browsers, like AOL, cannot support it. I want to get back to the old-fashioned way, but can't figure out how to do it. Or if Google tricked me and it isn't possible.

Then a friend said she would not leave comments any longer because Google wants her to sign up for something new so they can access her accounts or something like that. She has commented all along since I started my blog. I'm waiting for her to respond to my questions about this.

And one final complaint, the font size on my Dashboard and when I leave comments in some popup screens, has gotten so small that I can barely read the words. Has this happened to anyone else? I will research these issues in the days to come, I haven't yet. If anyone has any ideas about this stuff, I would appreciate your help. Thanks!

Brave Bessie Coleman -- Do You Know Who She Was?

2012-02-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

Since Febraury is black history month, I thought I would write a couple of posts about notable African Americans. We all know about the Tuskeegee airmen and their amazing record of service during World War 2, but did you know that the world's first black aviator was a woman? Her name was Bessie Coleman 1892-1926. I'm sure you can imagine what she was up against in those early days of flight before she even got into an airplane. Bessie Coleman grew up in Texas, one of thirteen children to a Native American father and an African American mother. She was a highly motivated young woman, who when she decided she wanted to fly, went for it. Of course, all aviation schools in the US were closed to her because of her race or gender or both.

So Bessie Coleman went to France where she was trained by both French and German aviators. She earned her pilot's license in 1921 and got her international pilot's license a year later. After she returned to the United States, she became an exhibition pilot. She was an inspiration to countless young people in her career as a barnstormer and speaker on aviation. She appeared in air shows across the country and became known as Brave Bessie.

Bessie wanted to open an aviation school for black youth, but before she could realize her goal, she was killed in Jacksonville, Florida, when the controls of her airplane jammed and she was thrown from the cockpit as the plane spun to the ground. It's estimated that 10,000 people attended her memorial service in Chicago. Bessie Coleman's career may have been brief, but she was an inspiration to many in the early days of aviation.

Interview With Orion, The Great Horned Owl

2012-02-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

Every Thursday morning, my friend Rachael volunteers at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center in the hills outside Los Angeles. She puts on her falconer’s sleeve, fetches her friend Orion, the Great Horned Owl, and spends time outside with him. Sometimes adults and children that visit the sanctuary come by and interact with Orion.

If not, Rachael calls her friends and chats on the phone. I look forward to Rachael’s phone calls every Thursday and now more than ever because Orion talks to me too. That is he chirps and twitters into the phone. It's really a call from the wild and I had no idea a huge bird like Orion could make those sounds. I get chills and tears in my eyes and I feel honored and grateful for the experience. Rachael tells me he makes those sounds for her only. I wanted to talk to him more and that gave me the idea to do this interview with Orion:

Inger: Hello, Orion, first I want to thank you for granting me this interview. I was so thrilled you agreed to talk to me after you chirped in my ear the other day.

Orion: You’re welcome to the interview, but I must correct you: I didn’t chirp into your ear, I chirped into Rachael’s cell phone and it must have chirped into you ear.
Inger: OK, you are right. Now Orion, you are such a magnificent bird. May I ask how old you are?
Orion: Yes, I’m 22 years old. We can live a long time in captivity, one of the other owls here recently died at the age of 35.

Inger: That's really very old. Now how did you get your name?

Orion: I was named for the master hunter and
constellation: Orion.

Inger: Now, let me ask you some owl questions. I know owls can see very far, can you tell me how far you can actually see?
Orion: They (people) say if I could read and they put a newspaper at one end of a football field and I was at the other end, I could actually read it. (Of course, they (people) don’t know if I can read or not.)
Inger: Wow! That’s amazing! Now tell me about your silent flight options.
Orion: In the wild, we have to be silent fliers so we can catch our prey. The prey is also the reason we can see so well, forget about reading newspapers and all that silly people stuff. We have special fringed feathers that allow us to fly very silently.
Inger: That makes sense. Is there anything else about owls that you’d like to tell me?

Orion: Yes, I can hear just about as well as I can see. My ears are placed in such a way that I pick up sounds better than most.
Inger: That's impressive. You are a formidable hunter, aren't you? Now tell me about your eyes. I know you can't move them in their sockets. So what do you do when you want to look around?
Orion: If I want to look to the side, I have to turn my head because I can only look straight forward.
Inger: Oh, and that reminds me of another question. One I’m sure you have heard before. Is it true that owls can turn their heads all the way around?
Orion: Duh! We’d be dead then, having wrung our own necks, wouldn’t we? But I can turn my head 3/4 way around, and very fast. I wonder why I always get that question.
Inger: I don’t know how that rumor got started, but I’ll put your answer in my blog so at least some people will learn the truth about that issue. Now, I bet you are happy when Racahel comes to visit you.

Orion: Yes, I’m always very, very happy to see Rachael. Rachael is my very own volunteer. She comes every week and tells me everything she’s been up to since we last saw each other. I do the same. I tell her all the latest that goes on here at the sanctuary. It’s the highlight of my week when Rachael comes and I get to sit on her falconer’s sleeve and watch all the goings on in the woods. We usually sit under a big tree and I get to see all kinds of animals, birds, and people. Rachael is a very kind person, who takes so much time out of her week to help me and all kinds of other animals, even snakes, lizards, and feral cats. Can you imagine? And, and, guess what?
Inger: What?
Orion: She tells me I'm her Boyfriend!

Inger: If I put that in my blog, it will be all over the internet.

Orion: It's OK, you can put it in your blog.
Inger: Thank you very much, Orion, for taking time to talk with me and thank you Rachael for facilitating this interview. Finally, I would like to ask Rachael how the falconer's sleave works.

Rachael: You are welcome. Here are a few words about the sleave that Orion sits on when I visit him:
Working with birds of prey is considered the art of falconry, even though he's an owl and not a falcon -- that term applies to all birds of prey. The equipment: he has leather anklets on (which get replaced as needed when they wear out) and they have little slits in the bottom of them. A swivel goes thru the slits and then a leash goes thru the swivel, which is then wound around your fingers on your gloved hand -- this all keeps him attached to the handler. It's called 'manning' him. There is a little slack in the leash so that he can 'bait' -- which means trying to fly off of your hand. You don't want it so tight that he can't bait.
Inger: Thank you very much for all this interesting information, Rachael and Orion.
Rachael and Orion: You are welcome.

Click on the tab, Sydney's Legacy, located at the top of my blog to see my earlier posts about Rachael's animal education program with that name. You can also visit Rachael on her website:

It's All About the Animals or click on Critter Education with Rachael toward the bottom of my sidebar to see Rachael on YouTube with her albino Burmese python, Sahara.
And there is more: to see a very cool video about the invasion of Snowy Owls in Washington state, filmed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, please visit Upupaepop's blog:
http://meanderingwa.blogspot.com/ It's gorgeous and you will see how the owls turn their heads.

Waiting for the Rain and a Huge Thank You

2012-02-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

The canyon is waiting

for the rain.

Dark clouds gather,

and the canyon is waiting.....

When the rain came, there was so little of it,

not even the old truck got clean.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I took the above pictures and wrote the little ditty the other day, when I was hoping for a lot of rain. That didn't happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you all for your contributions helping Sylvia reach her goal of getting a place for her and Amy. Sylvia says thanks to my followers who were so generous, thanks for everything, your messages, prayers, money, and good thoughts. In an update on her blog, Sylvia wrote that an old friend of hers saw her need and offered a matching contribution of up to $2,500. I believe this would enable them to get a house to rent until Sylvia's practice begins to generate more income. Sylvia is still keeping the Paypal button open, in case anyone else would like to contribute. Thanks again!

Today, hubby and I are off to Bakersfield to see my ophthalmologist for my annual retina check up. Since I have type 1 diabetes, I have my eyes checked every year. As everyone, type 1 or type 2, should. I also need new eye glasses, so I will get that process started. Have a great day, everyone, and thanks again.

A Friend in Need -- Asking for Your Help

2012-02-06T08:08:00.000-08:00

A long time ago now, I met on the blogs a woman who called herself Hopeful. I later found out her name is Sylvia.

She lived with her partner Amy in Joshua Tree, California, where they were working to get a small ranch going. They built a shed, they built a chicken coup, their chickens arrived, Sylvia had a horse, and of course, they had several dogs. Even though Amy had been diagnosed with melanoma several years earlier, they were hopeful and their blog was about the joy of building something for a future together. It was filled with joy and hope.

Last year, Amy got worse and has now been diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma. They had to leave their ranch and move to San Diego in order to get medical care for her. Now they live with friends and they have only one dog with them. Sylvia has opened her business in San Diego, but it will be a while before she makes any real money. Right now they have very little money and have to rely on friends for a place to stay. Yesterday, on her blog, she asked for help. Sylvia feels, and I agree, that Amy needs a place of her own, surrounded by the dogs she loves, and her familiar things. They have found a place where they can keep all their dogs. The rest of their animal family are with various friends and I think their home in Joshua Tree is up for sale.

Sylvia has always been hopeful, she has never complained, and never asked for any help. I really wanted to help, but I could only send a small donation. In general, I don't mind not having the kind of money I used to have, but when something like this happens, I just hate not having enough to give to make a difference.

But then I remembered how kind my blogger friends are and I thought that maybe I could do something by simply asking you to help with a donation. It will go strictly to renting this place for them. Sylvia is desperate to provide the best care and environment for Amy; she wants Amy to have her beloved dogs by her side, and be surrounded by familiar things. I could just feel Amy's joy and the joy of her dogs as they would reunite in this place Sylvia found for them. So that's why I'm asking for your help. Any small donation will make a difference.

If you can help, please click here. It should take you to Sylvia's post for Sunday, February 4, 2012. There is a Paypal button in the post. I know Sylvia will be grateful for anything you can do to help their situation and bring some light into Amy's life. If you cannot help with money, please keep Amy and Sylvia in your prayers and thoughts. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Sunday Morning Reflections

2012-02-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

I dedicate this post to teachers and retired teachers everywhere.

The tribute to learning is teaching. ~ Wise Saying from the Orient

Our grand-niece.

My inspiration for this post were several recent posts by Dee Ready. On her blog, this incredible woman tells how she faced some, what she interpreted to be, racist thoughts traveling through her mind in the late 1960s. What did she do? She went to teach in an inner-city school. Where she was faced with a version of English unfamiliar to her. Then what did she do? She enrolled in the University of Minnesota where she studied, among other things, linguistics, and learned about Black English or African American Vernacular English, as it is now called. Dee is the kind of teacher, who when faced with teaching about the Underground Railroad to an inner city class, decides to make this a real journey: Have the class draw pictures of the flora and fauna the fleeing slaves may have encountered along the way, study the stars, cryptic codes, and much, much more. You can read these posts here. Some of them were posted in late January. I was so touched by these posts, I just had to mention them here.
Teachers everywhere, I admire you.

Traveling the Blogger World, Part 2

2012-02-03T07:44:00.000-08:00

My job at the vicarage was easy and school was a couple of evenings, so I had a lot of free time. Maybe too much, because after a wonderful time, I forget how long, maybe nine months, the vicar's little boy was ready to start kindergarten, or the British equivalent, and I lost my great job. I moved back with my Polish friends and lived there for quite a while, supporting myself by cleaning houses and baby sitting.

I had a great romantic love affair, one of those that was bound to not work out. We would meet in the coffee houses of Soho and from there go to the different jazz clubs. I was young, it was fun. I met people from all over the world -- I lived in the now and enjoyed London so much, not thinking much about the future.

OK, back to the blogs. And what follows is a story of how small the world is and how much it can open up for you on the blogs. Last week, sometime, my friend Dee Ready mentioned a comment by someone named Friko. The name stood out in my mind and when Friko then left a comment on my blog, I checked hers out here. It turns out that Friko is a German woman who lives in England. When she was young, she also lived in London and in her most recent post she describes how she tried to make a living as an undocumented person there. And she also mentioned frequenting coffee houses in Soho. So Friko was someone who had lived a life in London, very similar to mine. I felt an instant connection and became a follower of her blog that day.

But it gets even better. The day after that, a woman who blogs as Vagabonde here, saw my comment on Friko's post and left one on mine. She suggested I visit a post of hers from December 2011, where she writes about the coffeehouses and jazz clubs in Soho that she went to at exactly the same time, New Year's 1959-1960, that I was there. She also mentioned that she is a jazz fan, just like I am. She wrote about how she came to love Traditional Jazz, just like I did. She mentions some of the jazz greats who played both in Paris, where she lived, and also came to play in Stockholm, where I lived. And the UK Skiffle music, and bands that I had long forgotten. And more, she showed photos of a lot of places in Soho and remembers their names. I have said it before and I will say it again: Isn't blogging wonderful in how it opens up your world? Here I am, sitting in my little house on all this land in the middle of nowhere, and I get to travel back to all that!!!

And in real life, my love affair ended, as it was bound to. I went back to Sweden on a gleaming Russian ship, surviving a horrendous storm on the North Sea, and arriving in Stockholm after a breathtaking journey through the thousands of islands that make up the Stockholm archipelago. After a year or so in Stockholm, I got a job in the US and left Sweden for good. And that, of course, is another story.

Note: I took the pictures a while ago and since I don't have any new ones, I thought you would enjoy seeing them again. I love clouds, but unfortunately clouds are few and far between this warm and sunny winter.
P.S. I wanted to mention when I got to Post 500, but I forgot. This is Post 503 and I can't believe it!

Traveling the Blogger World

2012-02-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading all the blogs in my blog roll. I read them in alpha order from "Go West Feral Woman to Author Elizabeth Mueller, she's last in my roll because she has surrounded her entry with little hearts and stuff. I have traveled the world on this journey. I went from Nan's blog in Alaska to Liesl's in South Africa, while in Africa, I visited Graham in Namibia. I have been to Smaland in Sweden, visiting some adorable, very capable, and well trained hunting dachshunds. I've been to South America, Central America, and Canada (Hello to Sophie, the labradoodle, who's living a dog's life to the fullest there). I have been to Australia, New Zealand, and all over Europe. And, of course, I have explored almost every state in America. It was a wonderful trip that took me the whole month of January. I did it in small segments so that I could pay attention and leave comments on the blogs I visited.

I took these pictures early this morning. I was thrilled to see dark clouds.

Some blogs just stopped with no warning. Last entry 3, 4, 6 months ago. When my blogger friends Sharon and Louise stopped blogging even for while, they left a notice and I didn't worry. But there are blogs I used to read often, where the blogger just stopped. And, you know, one comes to care for you guys, so I would feel better if I just knew why you stopped so suddenly. Has anyone else had this experience? Anyway, from now on I plan to read current posts in Google Reader and then go back to Dashboard and open the blogs there to leave comments. Seems like a lot of work, why can't you leave comments in the Reader? Like a Reader/Writer, hello Google!! This way I hope to stay current on your posts.

I get so tired of cloudless days here. Then I worried that the pictures were too dark to post.

And then, one thing lead to another and I got to take a trip down memory lane:

When I was young, I lived in London for two very memorable years (1959-1962). This was before the Beatles, Mary Quant, mini-skirts, and all that. On the action front, this was the London of Bertrand Russel's Ban the Bomb crusade, where the symbol for peace first appeared in the marches. This was the London where huge demonstrations against apartheid were held outside South Africa House in Trafalgar Square. Where I got run down by a bobby on a horse, while hugging a Jamaican. Oh, well. For me those were also the days where I was a mother's helper to a refugee Polish Countess, a very intellectual family, who were close friends of both Graham Greene and Arthur Rubinstein. They were poor though and in their house roomed an assortment of characters, refugees from the war, all enormously interesting people. I loved the little boy I looked after. His name was Kai and I wonder so what happened to him. Google, maybe? That's an idea.

But decided to post them anyway.

After the countess couldn't afford my help any longer, I went to work for a Vicar in Lee Green, Kent. I lived in the vicarage and looked after the baddest little 4-year old boy you could imagine. Living in an English vicarage was for me something like living in a novel. I went to church on Sundays, I met the entire community, the kids had a pet rabbit, Guinea pigs, and an orange cat, name Ginger. I went horseback riding in the lovely Kent country side with their eldest daughter, Janet. My horse was huge, so huge its name was Everest. I loved it all. It was so English, like I had dreamed it would be, reading all those novels. I also studied English, English literature, and visited all the museums, the beautiful parks, the little shops, and all the landmarks and historical places. And then I spent a lot of time in the coffee shops and clubs of Soho. And that's where I made a blogger connection yesterday that continued this morning, as I opened the new comments on yesterday's post. (...to be continued)

Tuesday's Treasures & Things

2012-01-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

I think these candle holders are a great example of Swedish handcraft (hemslojd). The pair was a gift from my cousin's son, Thomas, when he visited us in Los Angeles in 1992. It was a bittersweet visit for us as his dad, whom I was close to, had recently died in an accident. Thomas came to visit soon after the Los Angeles riots that passed by our neighborhood. Rioters burned down businesses on La Brea, the commercial street about four blocks away, on their way to Hollywood. These were the riots that affected the entire city and caught fire after the Rodney King trials. Of course we toured the wreckage and, coming from peaceful Sweden, this must have been a sight. We later took Thomas and his girlfriend down to Mexico where we spent a lot of time in those days. The extreme poverty in Tijuana, cardboard homes and children begging in the streets, deeply affected them both. The girlfriend cried, I remember. I felt bad for taking them there, and remembered how shocked I was when I first saw Tijuana many years earlier, and wondered if I had just gotten used to it. But at least Thomas and his girlfriend got to see the great Pacific Ocean, Venice Beach and Hollywood. They probably returned to Sweden with some mixed emotions though. Thomas recently became a follower of my blog and I want to welcome him. Thomas, if you read this, please leave a comment every now and then. And as you can see, your two Swedish candle holders are still very much a part of our lives here. And they fit just as well in this house as they did in Los Angeles. Sending love and hugs to you and your family.

Your Comments, Google Reader (?), Native American Wisdom, Ms. Vining and the Crown Prince of Japan.

2012-01-30T09:11:00.000-08:00

Samson's got the Monday morning blues because daddy left for Los Angeles this morning. I, on the other hand, am happy because I believe I may get a few things done around here. Am I the only one who gets more stuff done when hubby is away? Of course, I know something that Samson doesn't: Daddy will be back this evening. Before he got sad, Samson told me how happy he was with all the nice comments left on his recent post. He is especially happy to know that you all find him handsome.

It was great for me too, of course, to read all your recent comments. I don't go back and forth responding to comments as some of you do. There just isn't enough time in my day now since my aforementioned husband recently retired. A laptop would make this easier, but I don't have one. This doesn't mean I don't love to read your comments and appreciate the time you take to leave them. And I do like to read comments on blogs where conversations are initiated. It can be very interesting and a good way to get to know your blogger friends. My blogger friend Jim at Ocean Breezes mentioned that we can now use some feature to answer comments immediately. I am so behind on all the new things, I only recently discovered Google Reader. I really like it, but I don't see any way to comment in the Reader. So what do you do? Go back to Dashboard?

My replies to your comments: I am glad you enjoyed yesterday's photo. I love it when the clouds are low on the mountain like that.
Lindsjo Taxar: My dogs like to sleep late too, as does my husband. Not me.
turqoisemoon, Chatty Crone, Pearl and Bengt: Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog. It's always fun to meet new bloggers here.
Leovi: I was particularly thrilled by your comment. For those of you who don't know, Leovi is a fabulous photographer and if you haven't visited her blog yet, you should, it's amazing.
I'm happy that you liked the quote and how fun that it reminded Dee of my most favorite quote, which I have in my sidebar between the pictures of my pets and the wild critters. At least I think that's the one Dee was reminded of.
I will repost it here, it is so worth while:

"Treat the Earth well:

it was not given to you by your parents,

it was loaned to you by your children.

We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,

we borrow it from our children."

~ Native American Proverb

I got yesterday's quote from a copy of the cover of Elizabeth Gray Vining's book: Being Seventy, The Measure of a Year.
I came upon this copy in a file I have, called Writers. So it pays off in different ways to go through and purge your files.
Back to the author: Ms. Vining lead an interesting life. In her best known book, Windows for the Crown Prince, she wrote about her time in Japan, where she tutored the then Crown Prince Akihito.

The author with Crown Prince Akihito ~ from amazon.com

I was probably in my 50s when I read Being Seventy, perhaps it would be fun to read it again now, that I am that age, seventyish.

Sunday Morning Reflections

2012-01-29T06:03:00.000-08:00

Life is a trust,

given into our hands,

to hold carefully,

to use well, to enjoy,

to give back when

the time comes....

~ Elizabeth Gray Vining

A Cold and Windy Canyon Morning

2012-01-27T22:50:00.000-08:00

On a cold and wintry morning, I got up early as I always do. Tried to write a blog post after breakfast, but didn't feel inspired so instead I read a few blogs and left comments.

Outside, the sun tried to break through the clouds with little success and the wind was howling. Early. The wind here usually comes up around ten in the morning, but yesterday it started around seven. Not a good sign.

After hubby woke up and had his morning tea, I put on this: My favorite wool scarf, my new earmuffs that I found at K-Mart on my one shopping trip last year. I know how much my ears hurt in the wind and when I spotted them I knew I had to have them. And they really help in the cold wind with my little hat and big, old, Swedish mittens.

I got Soldier ready with his raggedly leash and followed hubby and the other dogs out for our walk. Soldier came cantering through the dog yard when he saw me come, so excited to go for his walk. And how he walks. His recovery is remarkable. He is now able to stretch out his hind legs, where before he could only sort of hop along. You can see the good stretch in the picture here. Soldier, Angel and I walked for over an hour.

My husband always takes Samson for another half an hour or so, since he is the young one and needs to get exercised. I really felt that more than an hour for Soldier and me was fantastic and I've sort of gotten used to Angel's old age feats. She is just remarkable and I'm so happy she's having such a good old age.

After I got back, it was time for some morning chores. First I had to run around after some recycle stuff that was not secure in the trash cans as the lids had blown off. Some cans and bottles managed to blow all the way to the bottom of the yard, down by our field. After that, I cleaned the dog yard and filled the water bowl.

Most of the laundry that had been on the line all night was dry. Remarkable, since it was still early and very cold. That's what a good wind does up here. We don't have an electric dryer and I really don't feel a need for one. It's amazing how much I am enjoying this sort of primitive life here in the canyon.

I brought the dry laundry in the house and folded it. Then my husband made a fire to warm up the place. We have two really good heaters now, but a fire is nice and it has been so warm this winter that we haven't used the fireplace much.

We heated up some of last summer's vegetable soup for lunch. It's so good this soup my husband made last summer with veggies from our garden and some more from the store added. Hot and spicy and just right on a cold winter's day.

And in the afternoon I worked on cleaning out my files and purging. I actually finished the job and reduced stuff in the two-drawer filing cabinet by about a third. I so wish I could have done better. I feel like I'm drowning in papers and stuff and wish I could just burn it all. But at least part one of my purging project is done. Now I move on to the next step. More about that some other time.

Samson's Nose Goes Meandering

2012-01-24T06:07:00.000-08:00

Samson Says: OK, mommy, I saw that fish or duck or person say something that I think was an apology for taking up my blog space. Why wasn't it in English? What kind of language was that?

Mommy: It was Latin, Samson, mea culpa means that it was her mistake, she didn't mean it, and she is sorry.
Samson: What's Latin?
Mommy: It's a very old language, some may even call it dead.
Samson: Are you telling me I get my apologies in a dead language?!! From a fish or a duck or a ........... Notice I don't call her an old lady, even though I think that's what she must be, speaking in a dead language and all.
Mommy: Samson, you are supposed to just accept apologies. And Fishducky is a very nice lady who has a blog of her own now, so she won't be posting on ours. See everything works out in the end.
Samson: OK, OK, Fishducky, I accept your mea culpa sorry. And wish you good luck with you blog. Can I tell everyone about my meandering nose now?
Mommy: I thought it was your mind you were going to tell us about.
Samson: A dog's mind is in his nose. Goes to show how much you know.
Samson Says: Here's how and where my nose meanders, each and every day:
First I wake up and have to go and pee. Angel goes with me, so it's only natural that my nose meanders to where she just went. After that my nose gets such a strong urge to meander to her rear end, well, you know what I mean.
Mommy: I'm not sure I like where this is going.
Samson: OK, but then I smell my breakfast biscuits. I know some dogs get all their food in the morning, but we get it in the afternoon. A leftover habit from when everyone had to rush off to work in the morning. My nose is very attracted to these biscuits. After I'm done with mine, my nose meanders over to the place where Angel had hers; she always leaves a few crumbs behind. Then my nose takes a rest. If we don't go for a walk, it becomes bored, bored, and more bored.

When we go for a walk, my meandering nose gets very busy. Did you know that a dog gets all the news from his morning walk? Angel calls it reading the news on the ground and she takes a very long time doing it.

Me, I go from news to news. Yesterday, there was an article about a bird that bit the dust. That means it got killed. And eaten. Only a few feathers and some down was left. Then coyotes and rabbits had walked all around in the night. They left calling cards. Rabbits leave many calling cards, very tiny ones. Coyote cards are more like those us dogs leave behind.

Every time Angel is finished with an article, she pees on it. I do the same. Angel is kind of like my mommy, my dog mommy. I learn everything I know from her, except sit, stay, come, and all the stuff my person mommy taught me.

Sometimes I catch a scent in the air. Then my nose comes up and my eyes and ears go to work, like here. I smelled something, but mommy wouldn't let me investigate. It was muddy on the land because of the rain.

At the end of our walk I go with Soldier and daddy. First my meandering nose has to say hello to Soldier and put him in his place. So I have to sniff him, you know where, and he just has to put up with it. Then we walk and Soldier has to read the news too. Sometimes I get mad when he finds some news I missed.

After we're done walking, we stay either in the house or the dog yard. I prefer the house. After we play, my nose always meanders into Angel's ear. That's something I've done since I was a puppy. I don't know why.
In the afternoon all our dog noses meander toward the kitchen, looking for our dinner. After dinner it's back outside to do our business. But then my meandering nose goes to doggie heaven. Daddy is cooking and all these wonderful smells touch my nose and it stops its meandering ways and stays very still.

Close to the kitchen, where it absorbs the best smells in the whole world. After that it gets tricky. Us dogs are not allowed at the table. Hmmm, I always sort of wiggle over next to daddy because I know that after dinner he may give me a treat.

While I wait, my nose meanders back to doggie heaven. I don't know how to drool, because I would if I could, but I don't know how. Just check out that huge pork chop!!
So that's pretty much it. My nose meanders from one thing to the next, all day long. Without it, my life wouldn't be much fun, I don't think.
Have nice day everyone!

Posted by Samson, the Samoyed pup.