Sabbatical Camping Trip Vignettes

August 7-10

LaPine State Park, Oregon

V 1 - Never Stop Camping

She is 80. He's 81. They have medical issues. She almost died from one last year. Their kids have moved away. It's just the two of them. 

They previously downsized from towing a travel trailer. Now their 29 foot RV is getting to be too much for them to manage physically. But they aren't ready to give up traveling and camping.

First he came over to check out my class B. Then he brought her over to look at it. He pulled out his little pocket notebook and took some notes as we talked about other models that might be better for them. I hope they find their next rig soon and enjoy many more trips together. 

V 2 -  Heartbreaking Camping Trip

The couple pulled in around 4pm as I was heading out for an excursion. The passenger got out of the truck, carrying a pair of old chihuahua pups like 2 footballs, and spotted for the driver to back the trailer in. It took a few attempts as it often does.

The next morning, I stopped over to say hi. One man was hovering over an ice chest. The other man sat at the picnic table facing out, cradling a blind and fearful 14 year old dog. They apologized for coming in so late the night before. 

I was confused. I was there to apologize for coming back so late at 10:30 pm. They continued to explain one of the 14 year old dogs had died in the night and they'd gone out to find a vet, returning at 3:30 am. 

2 luxurious dog beds were near a pair of camp chairs on an outdoor patio mat. Those senior rescue pups were very loved and spoiled in their final years.

V 3 - Never Stop Hiking

They were coming out of the hole, one little section of paved trail left to reach the parking lot. It was just a short hike down to the Big Tree, the biggest Ponderosa Pine on record.

He was leaning against a tree, looking fit, if you didn't consider the oxygen contraption strapped over his shoulder, making a pumping noise, helping him breathe. He commented on my dog's gait, a slight limp, barely visible to the untrained eye, from climbing a steep bank out of the river earlier that day. 

They were taking it slow but they were out there in the woods, still active, still hiking down a hill to see a 500 year old tree.

V 4 - Never Stop Walking

I exited the campground for the final time to start my trip home. An old man was walking slowly along the road, a hiking pole in each hand. I thought of my father at home, so glad to be out walking again each day. Such a healthy habit.

I pulled into the trash collection area. A spry old lady was tossing her small trash bag in the dumpster. We exchanged pleasantries and she headed back the way I had just come, to reconnect with her walking partner.

Most Precious Girly - My Super Star

On (or about) the 13th anniversary of the day I first met her in 2010, it's a fitting day to finally write her tribute.  

But first, some flashback. The first dog tribute I wrote was for my second dog. I had adopted Lily when she was 5 and Network was 2. It was my first time dealing with losing a dog, having to make "that" decision, the trade-off where I consider quality of life and risk of a horrible ending if I wait too long. I wrote Lily's story immediately, or it wrote itself, in my head over a few days, (while sitting in jury duty), such that it came out fully formed when I finally sat down to write Lily Danced. And just like that I was able to move on. 

History shows that I've waited longer and longer to write these tributes with each successive dog. Life is more busy and I'm more accustomed to the routine. I've also been lucky that they've all gone the distance and I've had plenty of time to prepare, so I didn't require the therapy of writing to move on.

Network

Sunny Part 1

Sunny Part 2

So what to write about my precious girl?

For starters, she was so darn easy. Sunny and Star together were a dream, from early 2010 until late summer 2013, when Xander crashed onto the scene. 

Network and Lily, my first "pair", once I moved past solo dog household, were large and tough, and my firsts, so I had to learn a lot and make some mistakes. Perhaps the universe rewarded me with an easy pair for the next phase. Good thing, as those were the years of many moves, masters degree and CPA exams. Without counting, I think Star gets the award for Most Moves, starting 3 months after I got her. Well, I couldn't resist counting - 6 moves in 7 years. And this is what she looked like on moving day - first with Sunny in 2010 and then with Xander in 2014.

Sunny and Star played well together, but it was so gentle and quiet, not the typical noisy bear fighting I sometimes get with the 2 boys, Xander and Tuc. Even if there were teeth, they were so laid back about it that they just laid on the ground and played mouthies.

She was soooo athletic! Before we started agility, she would jump up on a friend's retaining wall, just pop straight up from a stand still. I used to say she could jump over a Volkswagen without a running start. She was my first agility dog and a good one for me to learn the sport with. We did have a few frustrating months of the zoomies when the combination of new job/last semester/last CPA exam stress was the highest, but darn if that didn't stop the exact same day that I finished the semester. It was fairly smooth agility sailing with her after that, except she always seemed to have a little performance anxiety - instead of working on Start Line Stay, we had to work on Start Line Go. She got to Masters level in AKC and then Xander started and since I had to learn a completely new style of handling for him, I let her take a break for a while, tried again once, and then decided she was happier being an agility support sister to the next generation.

It was so fun watching her cut loose in a mud puddle or with a pack of dogs at the great dog parks in Colorado. She ran so fast and loved to lead the chase game. I never felt she was running away when being chased. She just really seemed to enjoy it when a game of chase started up and she could cut and turn, heading back the other way as the momentum of the pack carried the others on until they figured out she'd gone back the other way.

She didn't retrieve, but she did love to chase down the retriever, even deliver a solid body slam, then gleefully run back with him for another throw.

She was my bestest traveling buddy. Any time I was able to leave the boys behind and take her on a girl's road trip was a real treat for both of us. We went to Santa Fe alone together in 2015, red rock areas of Utah (Zion and Cedar Breaks perhaps) with one friend probably 2016 and to AKC Nationals (the low stress way, as non-competitors) in 2019 with another friend and her BC.

Oh, our first big trip just her and me was back to Colorado in 2013 to pick up Xander. Speaking of which, she was infinitely patient with him the many times he felt he needed to lay on top of her or steal the best seat in the house from her. The laying on top started about 15 minutes after we picked him up and continued nonstop for the 2 days driving back to Washington, taking turns using each other as pillows.

She was photogenic and patriotic and the perfect compact size, fitting into a Sheltie sized dog bed in the camper.

She was great therapy dog material, but we never pursued it. I don't recall ever even considering it until now.  It probably would have been a good thing to do with her, if we hadn't already had a full dance card in those years. When I took her on our solo trips she might have been a little bit of that to me. She just had a way of sitting quietly with a person. Here she is with Dad, and I'll look again later for one of the many pictures I'm sure I have of her sitting next to Mom and just hanging her head in her endearing way, totally relaxed.

Lazy warm summer afternoons in Utah, while the boys did boy types of things, her favorite thing to do was to sit with me on the lounge chair, right between my legs, where I could lean forward and give her a big hug or lay back and take pictures of her precious face from up close. It always reminded me of the first picture I took of her the day I first met her. I forgot to mention that day (first picture at the top of this post) I was only transporting her from point A to point B for the rescue. She decided in that 30 minutes that she belonged with me and refused to get out of the car. Hmmm.

Finally, she was just so darn beautiful to me - front and back. I loved those strong sexy hips, that perfect body, that adorable face, and I loved taking pictures of her anywhere and everywhere.

The sad part of the story is that when they cannot make eye contact anymore, they seem so different to me. She had bad, untreatable cataracts for the last couple years of her life and I didn't feel as connected to her. Other than that, she never ever had any medical issues. Oh, a little scratch on her eye one time and one scary but isolated seizure maybe 2 years before the end. 

Okay, she did have that little coprophagia issue, but we were in apartments the first 4 years so I didn't even learn about it until later. I also hold her responsible for training Xander how to do it. But she was also not obsessed with anything like the ball crazy ones I've had and was never demanding in any way. I don't think she ever got into anything or destroyed anything either.

While each has been my favorite in their own way, she was surely my overall favorite (don't tell Xander). Just a perfect girlie, never demanding, so easy going. If only I could find another just like her. And doesn't that just say it all.

Miss Star, Most Precious Girly 2008ish to Aug 26, 2022. Adopted Feb 2010.

Change of Scenery

On the four week "anniversary" of the evening my mother passed away, I want to share another glimpse of Kathy, Katie, Kathryn, Mom, Grandma. Those familiar with my posts will recognize the "glass half full", or as I prefer to say, "glass overflowing" perspective on life.

Here's the view Mom loved for the past 18 years. She could see it from the kitchen, dining, living and bed rooms of her home. She enjoyed it literally from the moment she woke up, through the whole day of preparing food, eating food, making quilts or puzzles, etc, even watching the night sky over the mountains if she was awake in the wee hours.

The morning after she came to stay at my house, I took this picture of her new view. Quite a change of scenery.

But she soon saw something different. She kept telling us, family and caregivers, what she saw. We all looked, and looked, and eventually saw, or had her explain it. With the holidays approaching, she saw a Christmas Tree.

She had the caregivers go outside in the cold with their cameras and try and try for the right angle because she had an idea, a plan, something she wanted to make.

Finally, the picture was perfect. The Star placed on top by caregiver Micah. Do you see the tree?

And I made it into what she envisioned. I printed it out and took it to her. Oh the smile of wonder and joy on her face, to see her small wish come true. The card she might have sent to her friends, if she'd had just a little more time.

Merry Christmas to My Mother in Heaven

 I wrote this little tribute to Mom and to the caregivers that kept her smiling during the 7 weeks she was at my house. The picture with me is from 2 years ago, 2 days before Christmas. The video just a silly little thing, not even sure what we were doing, from the hospital on Oct 24, while on a call with my sister. The picture with my brother was in my house on Nov 24 - she was confused about what was behind her bed (a monster) and behind the wall (the kitchen).

Once upon a time, there was a lady.

She had a horrible thing happen to her, medically,

That robbed her of her independence and mobility,

And another layer of her cognition.

She was frustrated, and in pain, and sad.

Mostly just sad.

But the strangers that met her,

Caregivers 'round the clock,

Met a dignified lady, full of grace,

And quickly became dear friends.

They reveled in her smile,

Were entertained by her silliness,

And astonished by her quick wit,

As was I, 

At this time when her brain didn't seem so sharp.

And the laughter! 

Until the final days, 

There was unexpected laughter coming from her room,

With the new friends who adored her.

Each caregiver who came in the last few days

Said they wanted to see her smile just one more time.

I felt the same way.

Every smile was a wonderful gift.

The last time I asked she said she just couldn't.

As eight pm approached on Wednesday,

Caregiver hand-off time,

We watched her breathing slow,

And at 7:59, on 12-22-21,

With Tanya and Virgil on Zoom,

Tim and Dad and I and a caregiver in her room,

She took her last breath.

Once upon a time, there was a Beautiful Silly Lady.

                   

A Year Later

I knew it was "about this time" a year ago that I let Sunny go but I couldn't remember the exact day. It was 3 days ago. I had to look here in the blog to figure it out.

I'm surprised now that I didn't really write much about Sunny himself in that post. How he came to me as a foster who needed a quiet place to recover from knee surgery for 2 months and my place was quiet, with 13 1/2 yr old Network, my first Lab, winding down to his last days. How I knew immediately that he'd be a great therapy dog and someone would surely want to adopt him and do that with him. But after letting Network go, I needed Sunny. And having seen what he did when I took him to the respite foster while I was dealing with Network, I knew Sunny needed me. His name at Safe Harbor was Sonny, but he was clearly Sunny. So I adopted him and changed his name, and he promptly tore his other ACL. I wasn't as well trained about the recovery therapy as I was later when I took Xander through it.

The most memorable thing about Sunny was what a good patient he was. 6 months after he finished his recovery from the 2nd knee, he started having seizures. We got those under control and then he started having eye problems. By the time we finally got to the point of removing his eyes, he was up to 24 eye drops a day, 4 different types of drops, and 3 or 4 oral meds. But he was such a trooper. Giving him pills was never a challenge. When it was time for his eye drops, he just put his head up, eyes open, held still and didn't fight it at all. One time in those years I had to give Star some eye meds and it was a battle to the finish, serving mostly to make me realize how lucky I was that Sunny was the opposite.

He did work a bit for a couple years as a therapy dog in Reading Rovers, but his medical conditions kept him from doing as much as I had hoped. I hope a teenager somewhere out there remembers a special dog that listened to them read back when they were in the first grade. I hope he made an impact on some young lives.

Once his eyes came out, he was finally free or in control of all his medical conditions and, after 4 long years, less than that even, life was finally good for our little guy. He was happy, fearless when out and about in new places, and so easy going. He had 4 more wonderful, healthy, uneventful years and then a swift decline with minimal suffering.

The time/place I sense his absence the most is on road trips and dog walks. Enjoying complexity as I do, I liked the challenge of juggling three dogs in and out of the van on long road trips, in the dangerous heat of the summer and the dangerous extreme colds of the winter that we traveled through. He isn't missing from our home because he never lived in this one. We lost him about 6 weeks before moving into the new house. But our walks and road trips are less complex, not necessarily a good thing in my book.

I also kinda miss having a special needs kid. There's something special about the one that needs a little more care and protection. But really he didn't - he was the most independent of my three and if allowed off leash, he just trotted off happily, following his nose, without a care in the world.

Reflections 2017

December 10th, 2017

I'm standing in the Spokane Airport on my 3rd trip to Boston this year. I arrived here at 7:30am. My flight has since been pushed to 1:30pm. If I were to say it's one of the most relaxing mornings I've had this year, it wouldn't be much of an exaggeration.

Boston Harbor in August.

  I work in the tall building on the left.

I don't have good travel karma for business trips in December, but I make the best of it. One year I flew from SFO to Chicago, headed for a meeting in North Carolina. Delayed in San Francisco, I wrote all my Christmas cards. I eventually made it to Chicago, spent the night, and, with no possibility of making my meeting, I flew back to SFO the next day, after sitting next to a window for most of the morning watching the snow fall. It was probably one of the most relaxing days that year too.

So, back to 2017. The job drama from previous years continues. I started the year in Utah. Job eliminated in March due to a merger. Bye bye Utah. Headed back to WA to be near my parents, who are hitting 80.

Playing with Mom's new tablet

With Star in my new backyard

Exiting Utah was quick and fairly painless, although a little exhausting, due to the work I did to get the house ready to sell. Why didn't I fix those inherited paintless spots earlier - it sure looked nice when I left it that Thursday afternoon as it was going on the market. Half a dozen offers came in over the weekend in a super hot market - it sold for more than the listed price by the time I arrived in Washington on Sunday. Happy Birthday to me.

I quickly landed a great job at a company I had first interviewed with 6 years before. Neither of us was ready for each other at that time and of course things worked out for the better. If I had gotten that low level accounting job way back when, I would never have been qualified for the job I got this time. It was the experience that I gained in the years in between that made it possible to get this job. I also would never have gone to Utah and made some more friends, mostly from agility. Maybe my life is just about moving around the west and collecting friends.

Paddle boarding on Liberty Lake

with Donna from Utah.

Maiden voyage of campers

with Laura from Washington.

My next order of business was securing housing - always a challenge with 3 dogs. The market was pretty dry, but I had been doing my research for 3 months already, and had identified a new home neighborhood that might work. There was only one lot left in the phase that would be completed this year. Only 2 models were allowed to be built on that lot. Of course one was the one I had already had my eye on. My life just works that way (except when flying for business in December).

Bonus - it was a corner lot!

Now I had to secure temporary housing for the summer. Of course there was one perfect little apartment available on the outside of my preferred complex - just a few doors down from where Sunny and Star and I spent 3 great years while one of us was getting a Master's degree, one was getting certified as a Reading Assistance Dog, and one was getting her first titles in agility.

Sunny, Star and Xander in June on the Centennial Trail

just a stone's throw from the apartment.

I kinda miss the challenge of walking the herd,

or juggling the herd when traveling.

I just realized the order of things stated above is not correct - in fact it is completely reversed. I had identified the job I wanted but due to the travel schedule of the Greek hiring manager who was in the process of moving from Rome to Spokane, I didn't get the interviews or the job offer until after I had made the deposit to have the house built, and I had lined up the apartment as the first order of business. I knew I was going to move here and planned it all so that the home was modest enough to manage regardless of the job I got. And there is that good move/job hunting karma that I enjoy and, for better or worse, have come to rely on. Now if only the job-keeping karma would kick in.

Here's the tissue paragraph - we lost our dear Sunny in July. He never made it to the new house. You can read all about it in the previous post, The Empty Dog Bed.

Sunny in June at the apartment

Despite the long hours at the new job, I enjoyed monthly trips to visit my parents 100 miles north at their lovely place

 

and agility competitions approximately monthly as well. Our results weren't spectacular as our training time was minimal, but Xander is awesome and . . . oops, we're not there yet.

Things started heating up in August. The temperature. The final touches on the new house. And a new toy for agility - a little popup camper.

Had to look twice, didn't you?!?

I took a week off work at Labor Day, but it wasn't any more relaxing than the time I was off work in March and April. We were finally moving into our new house. A week later, we took the new camper on its maiden voyage.

Xander in the doorway, singing his hound song.

All the pieces were finally falling into place. I discovered I still had too much stuff, despite my best efforts to get rid of stuff before leaving Utah. As I write this, I still have half a dozen boxes left to unpack, and a few items in storage waiting for spring when I can get a shed built. But the little camper and the van are both in the garage for the winter, and the dogs are cozy in front of the fire.

And that super awesome agility dog I hinted at earlier . . . he stepped it up a notch in mid-October and was brilliant at the last trial of the year (for us) in early November. We got one of the two titles that were on the line that weekend, and only missed the other by a hair due to specific skill gaps, the solution for which was already waiting in the wings in the form of an online training class that I had lined up for the winter break from classes.

Weave pole entry training in the hallway

Only one other thing to mention as I wrap up the year is my darling little girl. She is still healthy and photogenic at 9ish. She didn't love agility, so I let her slip quietly into retirement so I could focus all my attention on learning a completely different handling style for Xander. Star is now an agility support sibling and enjoys our monthly mother-daug-ter trips to see Grandma and Grandpa while Xander stays at home with the sitter.

My most precious girly doing a little pretzel twist with her legs.

Xander and Star distracted by

Grandma on the porch, fortunately, 

as I wasn't getting the shot I wanted.

Xander watching me work (except 

probably not because I must have been

taking the picture) with Honey the Horse

in the field outside my home office window. 

Xander showing what he thinks of Star

taking HIS seat while I work.

Mind Meld? How can we get Mom to 

stay home with us more in 2018? 

You got your wish, kiddos, kinda. For the 4th time in 4 jobs in 5 years, there was major upheaval within 6 months. The latest merger has me reporting to the accounting team in Boston now. The team there is great and I'm enjoying my frequent cross-country trips. 

And when I'm in WA, I can work at home a couple days a week. Here's to a good 2018 for all.