Love, Life and Puppy Dog Tales

We gathered with friends tonight, old and new, and made cookies. I won the 'how quick can you make the cookies' unofficial contest because I make a no bake chocolate oatmeal peanut butter cookie (my family has called them bull____ cookies for forever) that took me all of 15 minutes. My wife's sugar cookies took the entire afternoon and evening - it's the decorating that takes all the time... I had plenty of time to sit and ponder the things around me. I watched a bit of football, but not being an avid fan, it only held my interest for short spurts. When my friend brought out his latest shot glass in his collection, my mind turned on. It is a fully leaded crystal shot glass with a small glass ball in the bottom of it. That glass, in combination with their Christmas tree just lit up my brain.... I give credit to Dr Sheila Cason (www.drcason.org) for the thought process entering my brain as she has a contest on her site now - All About The Holidays. I then spent som...

I got in my truck this morning and was initially annoyed at the ice on my windshield. But then I looked at it. It was so beautiful, I couldn't resist getting my camera and taking pictures. I only took 3 pictures but it was hard to tell if they were coming out okay, so I stopped there. Now that I see how they turned out... next icy morning I will take more! I never reailzed how much opportunity for beauty winter could offer. This winter I am definitely seeing the beauty all around me!!

Winter weather may be here, but this tree is hanging onto fall with all of it's might.. those leaves are just not ready to fall.... Tenacity... it serves well

The snow is falling, the snow is falling.... This is our first day in the snow at our house.... it is fabulous!!

There is a long, bumpy, dirt road out in the middle of seemingly nowhere. It twists and winds and goes up and down and along the way there is the most beautiful scenery. I have travelled this road many times for searches and this spot never ceases to amaze me. Every time I drive by there is SOMETHING in this tree. Elmo(he was stolen quickly), a stuffed bear, a stuffed dog... and this day, a rabbit. And other than the day Elmo was there and was stolen, I have never seen this tree empty. I have seen one thing early in the day and another by the end of the day... but always, something. Interesting, eh?

One of the really cool things I got to do in Mexico was parasailing. Once I got past the "I know too much about ropes and shock loads and is this rope really okay?" I just enjoyed myself. I was please to see that they used autolocking carabiners... It was fantastic. It was beautifully silent way up above the ocean. I could feel the wind, I could watch the ocean and I was simply flying. I kept looking into the ocean to see if I could see fish (I didn't). I don't think I ever stopped smiling while I was up there. It was an awesome experience. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

These are the last three leaves on a tree next to my driveway. Fall is here. Still having 70+ degree days however, tricking you into thinking a bit of spring. And this flower helps to keep the illusion of spring going. Times, they are a changing.

I spent a lot of time on this beach. All my life, whenever I went to the beach the ocean was pretty to look at but don't touch cuz ---- BRRRRRRR it would be just so freakin cold. This time was the first time I fell in love with the water. In fact, one night I sat down and just let the waves wash over me, over and over again, lounging in the fantastic feel of the warm water. I spent time just feeling the waves tug and pull at me... trying to take me out to sea. I knew it wouldn't succeed, but it was a good massage. It felt like a luxurious spa treatment. I never wanted it to end. These two looked as lost in the ocean as I felt so I couldn't resist this shot. I had spent a lot of time both before and after this photo looking out into the ocean ... and letting go. I watched the waves come in with such fury sometimes. And then watching it all settle and calmly flow in and out. And the cycle repeated over and over again. Kind of like life.

The photo was taken on the beach at Cabo San Lucas outside our resort. I didn't realize that the full moon was rising behind me. It would have been cool to have taken pictures of the sun setting and the moon rising simultaneously... Always remember to look behind you!

This is something I saw in several places in Cabo. There was one at one of the restaurants we ate at and this was in a shop on the marina. The simply replace the candles, but let the wax do what it wants and build on itself. It was pretty cool to see.

I affectionately called these my Crab Buddies.... they were abundant! It seemed whatever rock I climbed up I was interrupting a huge Crab party! It was fun to settle and watch them do their work along the rocks. It was also fun to watch them run sideways... more to come!

I couldn't resist taking these pictures on my way home from Cabo San Lucas. This is from the plane as the sun set on the horizon...the colors were that vivid . More photos to come.. I took over 500!!!

I have never considered myself terribly political, but this year has been different for me. For the first time there was a ballot measure that would take away a right of mine. I was elated when that right became a reality, and I was angered that there were people out there that wanted to eliminate that right for me. I took a real interest in this ballot measure. I stood up for myself. I stood up for my friends and the community I am a part of. It felt right. With many others in my community, I spent time standing on a street corner trying to raise awareness regarding the ballot measure. I had people calling me faggot. I had people calling me queer. I had people flipping me off. I watched as children were told they were going to hell for supporting their parents in this fight. I was dismayed at the blatant hatred. I realize I put myself out there. But these people didn't know me. They didn't know if I was gay or straight, a parent or just a supporter of civil righ...

I was silly to mention Mr Stinky in a recent blog. I should have stated that I was extremely grateful that he hadn't had words with the dogs. That changed last night. It's raining like a big dog here now and it was last night. Peaceful TV watching was instantly and rudely interrupted by an immediately identifiable smell. Mr Stinky had introduced himself to Hazer. And in guilt by association, Please got to say hi too.... for ONCE Kaeden wasn't involved in the mischief! Immediate action was called for.... so for the next 2 hours I was occupied with airing out the house and bathing dogs. Happy Halloween. Maybe I should have had candy for the trick or treaters...

Meet King Yoda.... He is an absolutely adorable mixed breed puppy that comes to my hospital and every time he comes in he makes my day because he makes me laugh out loud. It makes for a good day. Enjoy him!

I live in the woods now.... I have my own herd of deer, led by a beautiful 6 point buck I affectionately call Venny. He's pretty brave and I think one day, with as much time as he spends on our deck, I will find him lounging in our spa. Occasionally Mr. Stinky visits, luckily the dogs haven't had any words with him. There is Flit, my favorite hummingbird I got to go eye to eye with the other day. And we have our own Woody Woodpecker, who is convinced our house will give him the MOST delicious meal! But last night was the best! Timing in life is everything. You will have to use your auditory imagination to really get the full effect of this. It has made me laugh over and over again each time I think of it. Theme music: The theme to Mission Impossible - Seriously... it was on the radio. I am driving home, on my road. As the MI theme begins I see a movement out of the corner of my eye. I slow reflexively, anticipating deer. But no... it is a family of RACCOONS! A...

It seems as though the darkness comes earlier and stays later. I know that the time will eventually change, but it feels so far away. The mornings seem so much darker each and every day. When darkness touches so closely, it can take you by surprise. It can rock your world, your core, every fiber of your being. You can't fight it... you can't make it undark all of a sudden, because you can't unknow it. Once the darkness has come, whether upon you or someone close to you, you can't make it go away. Eventually, the light may shine again, but, at least for a while, you can't be sure, and you worry it might never come. The darkness brought tears. Tears I wasn't aware were there until the darkness slammed down upon me so unexpectedly. The darkness brings so much uncertainty and it brings so many questions. Even if it isn't your darkness, the questions still come. All the what to do, how to do it and when to do it questions swirl around, a horrific typh...

Working in the veterinary field, I have been asked many, many questions... as far as odd or unusual questions, they have quite a range. My dog has been vomiting for five days.... do you think I should bring him in to see the doctor? (ummmm... yes) I have to give the medication twice daily for the rest of his life... does that mean every day? (Only every day that he is alive...) It says I have to give the pills every 12 hours... can I give it twice a day? (sure.. that should work...) I think there's a werewolf in my back yard. Who should I call? (Men in white coats....) But yesterday's question threw me for a loop. Never in a million years would I have guessed I would have EVER been asked this question. A gentleman and his young daughter dropped off their small dog. The dog had a minor problem that would easily be taken care of by the doctor. After discussing all the contact information and pick up time, the gentleman got a very serious look on his face and made direct and...

Such a roller coaster week. So many sick patients! There was very little in the way of simple issues.... it made for a challenging week. You sometimes get used to a flow of the easy in and out... the lacerations, the gi upsets, the itchies.... all things that have easy fixes. This week was more of the serious things that require research and diagnostics and aggressive treatment to make a difference.... unexplained kidney failure in a 3 year old.... a cat unable to have a bowel movement - for 2 weeks! .... a prostatic abcess that ruptured.... a routine UA that led us down the path of searching for cancer .... a bitch not known to be pregnant suddenly having puppies... a dog eating dental floss - container and all! A dog, abandoned by its owners, diagnosed with an expensive to treat disease and trying to find a home.. Throw in a power outage in the middle and no wonder I am tired! Our blood analyzing machines, ultrasound and digital xray all worked their hearts out this week...

I am listening. I am hearing my dogs talk to me. I have one asking for more adventures. More more more more more, please. I have one asking what can he do next - whatever I want, he will deliver... just tell him what it is. And I have one that is reaching out to important people in her life... in my life.... those that are open enough to listen. She is trying to prepare me for her transition. I can hear enough of what she is saying to understand that. I need to let her know I am complete now. That the purpose she was here to fulfill with me she has completed. I need to let her know that WHEN she is ready, I am okay with her going on to her next mission. And if she needs help in that transition that I am here for her for that. I see nothing really wrong with her, just by looking at her. I mean, I know that she has an enlarged heart and that she has horrible hips that are painful for her. I know that she can't hear well and her last bloodwork showed her kidneys were beginni...

Cruise the middle of nowhere long enough and there will be a site that you can't believe actually exists.... this is a driveway, lined with toilets. In the toilets are flowers. Please forgive the poor photograph - I only had my cell phone with me, but I couldn't pass this up without some kind of photographic evidence that this exists in the world.

I had a very long and very difficult day. I thought about writing about it here, but then I thought I needed to refocus myself. So I got out my camera and chased the moon around. I took dozens of pictures (thank goodness for digital cameras!) and got nothing but a white blob. Then I looked up how to take pictures of a full moon (thank goodness for Google!) and went back to work. A few dozen pictures later, and this is the result. Isn't she beautiful? I took all the day's pent up energy that strong emotions can bring and I focused on learning something new and putting that knowledge to use. And for the evening, all my anger, anxiety and irritation are now out of focus and harder to dwell on. Sometimes you just have to refocus yourself. Kaeden knows how.

I am once again seeing patients that I remember seeing as puppies getting to the point in their life where we have to say good bye. I can so vividly remember the happy little ball of energy or fluff or fluff and energy coming in for the first times and the owners needing guidance to get through the terrible twos and all the other rough stages to get to their 'perfect' dog... and sometimes they never got their 'perfect' dog, but they could make do, so to speak. Now, some come in and you can just see it in their eyes. They're tired. They have done what they have come here to do, and it is time for them to move on to their next mission. They give us so much during their lifetime. Unconditional, unbridled love is often a benefit we get from them. If only we could be so giving of our emotions to them. We wish that they would just 'go in their sleep'... but sometimes that just isn't in the cards. Sometimes we are put in a position to make the decisio...

A great day with friends yesterday spawned an interesting conversation that hasn't left my head. Great friends will challenge your thought process and yesterday I was confronted with the problem with 'even though'. How often have we, as lesbian and gay people, heard someone say something like this to us: "You know, I think you're (fill in the adjective.... nice, wonderful, awesome, intelligent, great....) even though you're gay," or, even more delicately put, "you're the way you are. " I know that when people that have become close to me or that I have admired have said something like this to me I have felt good about it. I have felt like maybe I have been able to change their prejudice, certainly where I am concerned, but perhaps on a broader scale. But in taking pleasure from that, have I actually perpetuated the prejudice? Here's the thing.... no one would ever get to know someone and then say "You know, I think you're a g...

I want to be like Del Martin... I want to be so proud of who I am that I am willing and able to stand up and speak out about who I am without fear of reprisal, regardless of what that might be and without fear of shoving my wife out of my life by alienating her with my actions..... I want to make a difference. For someone. Somewhere. I wish I had known about Del in the late 80's. I didn't have that role model growing up. There was one woman I thought was gay and was my friend, but when I broached the subject she shut me down so hard and so fast, I was scared to pieces to mention it to another living soul for a long time. My actual coming out experience, when I finally did begin to share with others, was mild. I only lost one friend, that came back to me later. But my struggle was horrendous. I fought it. I hated myself for so long. Now, I look back at journals and OH MY GAWD I was a DYKE, but I would NEVER admit it even there. It took silently melding myself into ...

With Phyllis Lyon, her partner, by her side, at 87, a legend has died. I didn't know her, but I admired her for all she stood for. And in her lifetime she stood for so much. She came out of the closet long before it was even thinkable for gay people to do so. She believed in equal rights for all, and was able to finally *really* marry her partner of 55 years in June of this year. In 1960 she and Phyllis started a newsletter that grew to a magazine. In 1979 she and her partner started a health center for gays and lesbians. She and Phyllis were the first lesbian couple to insist on joining NOW at the couples membership rate. The list goes on and on. She stood up, spoke out and never let go of the idea that gays and lesbians are entitled to the same rights as any other human. She had such courage. She had such conviction. A woman to be admired for all time. From her obituary: "Gifts in lieu of flowers can be made to honor Del's life and commitment and to defeat th...

The community came together and donated money so that the little kitten of my earlier post - the kitten who was thrown against a door and had a broken leg and a bazillion fleas - can be repaired! In fact her surgery was scheduled for today and hopefully was successful! The humane society has named her "Mercy"... The local police are still investigating the incident, but at least Mercy is getting taken care of! I love it when a community gets together to help the helpless!

I have been violated. I have been accused of being in a relationship that is not "the ideal situation for children" and it was posted on my door. I am incensed. Outraged. Just plain PISSED OFF. People came on to my property, walked past my rainbow flag, and posted a notice on my door that is PRO proposition 8 - the proposed amendment to the constitution that would only recognize a marriage between a man and a woman. I wasn't home and my WIFE was sleeping when they showed up at our door, so they left their brochure along with a hand written note that said "Sorry we missed you." Actually, we are sorry we missed them. It could have been an interesting discussion. Among other things the brochure says: "A Man, A Woman, Plus California's Children. While death and divorce may prevent it in too many cases, the ideal situation for children is to be raised by a married mother and father. Proposition 8 is a positive step. Proposition 8 protects our children...

She knows. Yet she doesn't know. She can feel it slipping, but she can't grab it tight enough to stop it. Pieces and parts are going, and there is nothing that can be done. I see it happening. It is not as vivid for me as it is for others seeing it daily, but the picture has been painted well for me and my mind can grasp it. I am not good at feeling helpless. But I am also not good at fighting. And I am not faced with it day to day, so it is easy for me to sit back and armchair quarterback, almost as if it has nothing to do with me. But it does. As we age, we just don't work like we used to. Our bodies begin to fail us. Our minds begin to quit. Somewhere along the line I think somehow medicine has gone wrong. I know that people are living longer and longer but, really, is it all that good? If you are fortunate to not have arthritis and diabetes and heart problems and dementia, you are rare. Before now, getting old was abstract. I could tell you what to expect...

Despite my anxieties about changing my name, until today, it has proven anticlimactic. The great majority of institutions allowed me to make the name change via email, which surprised the living daylights out of me. Only my bank required that I come in, and those that didn't accept an email request, wanted only a phone call to process the change. As of today, I was down to three changes that needed to be made.... the phone company, my bank and my auto insurance/homeowner's insurance. The bank was simple. In and out in under 8 minutes. I then went to the insurance agency. When I made the decision to go to the insurance company, I didn't know I had signed up for a comedy show. I suspect that I am the one who thought it was funny. But someone's got to be the straight man sometimes, right? (yes... pun intended). I walked in with paperwork in hand. A very nice, mid 40's gentleman met me at the counter, asking if he could assist me. I informed him I was there ...

My wife and I spent Saturday just cruising all around town hitting yardsales. We searched for nothing in particular, just wanting to learn more about our town and thought maybe we could find a few bargains in the process. We did indeed find one awesome bargain... a set of halogen shop lights for $10 - and they work! We were very proud of ourselves for that one! What a grand adventure we had! And then we drove by a snow cone vender. Okay, so I guess they're called shaved ice now, but really... they're snow cones. It was HOT out and my wife thought the idea of a snow cone sounded awesome. I actually turned around and went back so we could get a snow cone. When we got to the little stand, there was no one at it, but there was a gentleman painting a post near by. He hollered for someone to come out of the liquor store that the snow cone stand was stationed in front of. Sure enough, a young man walked out and opened the little stand up. We eagerly gave our flavor order (I o...

I long ago realized that I would never 'see it all' and that there would always be something else that could amaze me. And today gave me that. Who could hurt a poor, innocent little kitten? How could someone possess so much hatred that it would be okay to throw a kitten at someone's door, like today's newspaper? That's what I saw today. A small, undernourished, horribly flea infested kitten was indeed tossed at someone's door - hard enough to startle the occupant inside. She opened her door to find, wrapped in a towel, this sad little kitten, mewing at her. She took it to the humane society who brought it to us. To look at her, you would never know that she had so many fleas that she was pale with the anemia they caused, aside from the pale gums that is. All she wanted was love. Someone to pet her and pay attention to her. Someone to give her affection to. She didn't even seem to mind that she was skin and bones, severely undernourished so much so ...

I shouldn't be surprised. Time has certainly moved along. Suddenly the reality of what that means is catching up to me. You are born, you live, you die. Sounds like a simple process, but when you are intimately involved in it, that 'live' part sometimes connects with 'die' a little more poignantly than you expect. In the last 2 weeks four long term clients have died. They touch my life, and I theirs, only briefly in the grand scheme of things, but some of those 'touches' are very significant because they have put their trust in myself and our hospital to care for the creatures they love very much. Sometimes that makes for some incredibly intimate connections. And suddenly, those people are gone from my life forever. I know that their loved ones grieve for them far more intensely than I, but I still find myself grieving a bit. I guess I am surprised by that. In discovering that I am grieving, I am realizing that these people have come to mean somet...

I am finding that at the moment, I am leading a double life... I seem to be in identity limbo! I have completed the federal process in changing my name, and have just completed the DMV process. But until the new photo ID comes, I am somewhat in between names. I have notified credit cards and utilities, and some changes have been completed. Some however require my physical presence to complete the process. Oddly, I am almost not sure who I am and what name to sign! Take DMV for example. I was smart enough to make an appointment before going in. When I got there for my appointment, I gave my name and she couldn't find me. Suddenly I doubted the date of the appointment was about to groan out loud at my foolishness for not double checking the paper I printed after making the appointment. The lady behind the counter asked why I was there. I told her it was for a name change. So she asked for my 'old' name. I said that was the one I gave in the first place. She s...

If I hadn't been there to see it, I wouldn't have believed it! Splash likes to sprint. No purpose, no bug or bird being chased... just an all out windsprint! We were working the garage the other evening when he flew by us out into the drive way at top kitty speed. I initially thought, 'hmmm he must have seen something out there.' After the second time, I began watching him because I was concerned that maybe something was watching us (we have a skunk that pops by now and again) and he was chasing it off. Nope. Not the case at all. He walked to the very far back of the garage and sat. Then he stood up and stretched and then bolted, through the garage and out the drive way. He did this 10 times. I kid you not. My wife and I counted! Each time was the same. After each run he would saunter back into the far back of the garage, rest up a bit, stretch and then bolt out again. My cat was doing windsprints! What a funny little cat!

Today was great!!! Occasionally we train for shorthaul - flying beneath a helicopter to allow for insertion into a search area that might be difficult to access or take a heck of a long time to get to if you were to hike it. Today was Kaeden's and my first 'for real' flight for a search. WOW... Kaeden was fantabulous! He wore the harness without fuss, hooked into the system and flew like a pro (better than I did I think!) and when we set down and got the harness off, he went right to work like we had just gotten out of our truck! He was so meticulous.... He searched everywhere he could get to and was absolutely in heaven when he realized he got to swim TOO! He, of his own choosing searched both shores and everywhere he could access via rock across the creek. And when he saw something he knew he hadn't checked and the only way there was to swim, he slid in carefully and swam to it... It was fun to watch. When I finally could watch that is. First we had to rock...

This is raw. I had a client say something to me yesterday that I would never in a million years have said, even to someone I hated. In a matter of fact tone, she says "So, what happened to your diet?" When I politely smiled and tried to go back to her invoice, she continued "No, really, what happened to your diet?" This time more insistent, as if the fact that I am providing her a service or a product also entitled her to being able to ask personal, probing questions. I suppose I could have said that, with all due respect, that wasn't an appropriate question or that the question overstepped some unspoken boundary. But I was shocked. Amazed. Mortified. Instead, I replied, quietly, rather embarrassed, taken aback, "Sometimes life gets in the way." "Yeah, it sure is easier to pack on all those pounds than it is to take it off!" Did she mean well? Best of intentions and all? In whatever small way, she probably thought she was helpful. ...

They say that anticipation of a thing is often greater than the thing itself. Today proved that saying to be true. I spent 1 1/2 hours at the Social Security office today. When I walked in, there were 3 other people there. I had to check in electronically, making a choice about why I was there. Pushing a special button garnered me a piece of paper with the number E 196 on it. I sat down to wait. There were two windows open and each had a customer actively processing their issue. Within 15 minutes the entire room filled with people. Every chair was filled and the walls were lined with people. Thirty minutes later, one of the customers was done and left and the woman manning the window closed the window and left. I read through two Newsweek Magazines. Occasionally, someone would come from the back and call a name. And then the other window opened and they started playing bingo. They began calling out numbers - O 236. R 329. M 560. As a number was calIed multiple people in...

Yesterday I received our certified copy of our Marriage Certificate. It is what I need if I want to, and I want to, change my last name to my wife's. This is where I think the fallacy of CA saying lesbian and gay couples can marry is going to play out. While it gives the 'appearance' of making us equal... it is only in CA eyes.... To change my name, technically, in CA, I can just simply begin using my wife's last name (or any name I choose really), but in the post 9/11 era, that isn't recommended. What is recommended is to go through the legal hoops to do it. When one gets married, that Marriage Certificate is your key. You begin with Social Security and 'trickle down' from there. Once the SS recognizes the name change, you can go to DMV and make the change. Then from DMV you can go anywhere else you need to make the change happen and do it. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Not that it isn't work or time consuming, but it is a relatively simple ...

Would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Would have been baffled by it for who knows how long. This morning I got one of the biggest laughs I have gotten from the antics of my australian shepherd, Please. Please is not a big Australian Shepherd. She weighs about 43 pounds and stands about 15-16 inches tall. She's a decently wide Aussie dog, but she is not fat. Why does any of this matter? Read on my friends, and prepare to laugh. I walked out to the mail box this morning to put some mail out and took Kaeden with me. It was an uneventful walk and when I got back, Hazer was in the yard to greet me, but Please was nowhere to be found. Not that that is unusual anymore. She doesn't hear as well and since I left via the front door and was returning via the back yard, I thought perhaps she is still waiting patiently, if a bit wistfully, at the front door for my return. As I came into the house with Kaeden and Hazer, I could hear the unmistakeable sounds of a dog...

We did it! We got married July 10th 2008!!!! It was real and it was legal. And guess what!!??? The world didn't end. No lightening bolt struck us down. The earth didn't open up and swallow us whole. None of the other people witnessing the marriage saw their straight marriage fall apart before their very eyes. And the world didn't catch on fire and burn down! (Well,okay, some of the little world we live in IS currently on fire, but I am fairly certain we didn't start it....) Who knew???

This is a different kind of snow. It is not the nice fluffy, cool, moist snow that you might think of... No... It is fire snow. Most people call it ash. But the sky was as black as any snow storm might make it and the outside, at least through the kitchen window, made you think that when you walked outside it would be cold. It was a cool, crisp 80 degrees at 7 am. This is Ashy Splashy! Yes, those are ashes on his head and near his eye. He just had to get involved. This is the ash on my TBird's windshield at 7 am. By 7 pm, it has doubled in quantity. If you stare outside, you would swear it was indeed snowing, the particles that are coming down are that big and noticeable. I feel like pig pen when I walk as my pant legs create enough wind to fluff up the ash as I walk. There are tens of thousands of acres burning all around us. The heat has been turned up and we're running in the 100's to 110's and the fires are just loving it, eating up more and more land...

I have recently begun having enough time to read again. I found a book that I can't put down and since it is the first in a series, and I am nearly done with it, I ran to Barnes and Noble before coming home tonight so as to have the next in the series. Imagine my embarassment when I realized it is in the new releases for TEENS section! AAAKKKKK I just turned 40.... I am not sure what that says about me and what need in me this book series has touched.... but I am thoroughly enjoying it! Mostly what I am very aware of is the fact that this book (and the "Dexter" series I just whizzed through on CD) is that the story that is told is an absolute escape for me. I become a voyeur into another life and can go for the ride and enjoy the thrill and all the emotions a good story teller can invoke. I find that too with music. I am currently in love with Alanis Morissette's new album. I have an affinity for singer/songwriters because somehow I think the music that they s...

I bought a sprinkler last week. I was looking it over thoroughly to see how much area it would cover when I saw this warning: "For outdoor use only." Really? That ruined ALL my plans for watering my indoor plants! This means that someone actually used the sprinkler inside their house. And probably complained to the company about it. And the same day, I saw something else that caused me to laugh hysterically! A building is being put up and I saw 4 people working on it. Well, actually I saw 1 person working. He was standing on a scaffold crane swinging, rather lazily by the way, a hammer onto a nail in the plywood. There was a man on the scaffold with him, leaning, seemingly comfortably, on the railing. I would have guessed he was there for safety, except he wasn't watching the hammer swinger... he was chatting with his coworkers down below. The operator of the scaffold crane was sitting in his seat sideways, immersed in conversation with yet a fourth person, whose...

Picture from the local news paper... that isn't the moon... it is the sun! I awoke this morning and discovered our house was socked in with fog. Except it wasn't fog... It was smoke, thick enough to taste it. I have worked fires and been exposed to less smoke! I am beginning to redefine the meaning of 'trial by fire' in my life. I just got home from evacuations for fires for the 2nd time in 2 days, with more expected as the week goes on. Not my evacuations mind you, but other peoples. My area, for now, thankfully, is safe. So here I sit 2 weeks after a fire that started on a Tues and caused me to give out evacuation advisories to others, only to find myself being told to evacuate days later. Now, with the new fires, I have found myself traveling to ends of the county waiting to be told the next road that needs to be notified. This time it seems a little scarier. No my house isn't in jeopardy. But the whole north state is on fire, so resources are thin. ...

California began allowing gay marriage as of yesterday at 5:01pm. Four years ago San Francisco had begun allowing gay marriage and we made an appointment to get married there. But it was taken away before we could go there to get married. But Portland Ore began the marriage thing and so we dashed up there and got married. It was legal in Oregon for less than a month and then we got our money back with apologies. Now we have a shot at it again. Even though we refer to each other as 'wife', we aren't married. We are.... in so many ways we are... but we aren't. Today we went to the clerk recorders office and paid our money. Once again we are on the road to married-dom. Someone asked me 'Just how many times are you to gonna get married?'.. I replied; "till it sticks!". This time it just might. The Federal government still won't recognize it, however. We will not be able to file taxes jointly, although we still have to figure them jointly f...

It has been one week since that nasty fire began to make its dent on my life. The evacuation notice was lifted Sunday afternoon and within minutes our power went out as the last remaining powerpole that brought power into our community gave up and fell over. Such was the day. Six hours later power was back and it was time for bed. My dreams tell me just how vulnerable and scared I really was. I know I maintained an outward appearance of calm concern and perhaps a bit of frustration as I looked for the next thing I could do to ensure our safety. Inside I was a nervous wreck. But since my wife was outwardly worried enough for the both of us, I decided it was better to not let my nervousness make its way out. My dreams are now releasing that tension, with dreams of hearing radio traffic from the firefighters, but not being able to tell what they're saying, as well as the intense need to leave where I am, but with no ability to get out. Even now though, the dreams are less and le...

Just wanted to throw out an update... we are breathing easier (no pun intended, but actually, there is no smoke up here...) Today they are attacking the living daylights out of the fire with a bunch of aircraft. I can hear them working fervently as they pass over head and watch them work in the canyon below us. They are cautiously optimistic that they've got a solid handle on this now. I am SO glad I was able to listen to the fire's progress with a handheld radio all yesterday. Without it, we would have had to leave because we couldn't be sure what was going on with the fire. Once I figured out that I was listening to the fire crew in Butte Creek canyon below us... I was GOLDEN and we felt comfortable staying. When the fire got past/around them yesterday we couldn't have stayed without hearing what was going on and knowing that air support was redoubling efforts and that they were fully aware of what was happening. All I could see was that the quality of the smo...