Year: 2009

Productive Endeavors On Hold

DSC_1746Yesterday was doggy bath day – O Yeah.

Catfish just hopped into the tub. I soaped him up and rinsed several times. Each time he needed to turn around in the tub he did so without complaint.

Annie on the other hand fought the whole process. First off, we have a 78 pound lab mix that hates yes, hates water. Finally got her into the tub started pour warm water from an old plastic coffee can and just as the water hit out she jumped. The game was afoot. After several repeat performances of her jumping out I gave up.

Wet dog runs down stairs and out into the backyard soap on her fur and all. Well dang it.  KRP and I finally got a hold of her and rinsed her off with the garden hose. She then jumped up into the planter and yep rolled around in the dirt. AUGH – with  her otter tail, webb feet, teflon coat, and lab attitude it cracks me up that she dislikes water. Go figure. Next time she is going to the doggy bubble wash.

Went out and about and picked Catfish up a new collar. Picking out a collar is a big deal. First I have to find the right size, the material can not be to hard or to soft, it must be blue (I swear he can tell), and the tags need to hang as to not annoy his royal Mr. Catfish neck. If it is not just right Catfish pouts.

I also found two used Xbox games  to play this winter. I am reading the manual on Fallout 3 I think it is going to be fun to play.  I liked Gears of War and Bio Shock so I shall see.  I have six books waiting to be read.

Productive endeavors around the house are now on hold.

Back from Nevada Again Again

DSC_1037The stuff you find lurking around in the desert. This little one is so much nicer than the scorpion that I found creeping across the living room carpet toward me! Yikes – I don’t do scorpion’s.  Figures I would be there for the first ever scorpion sighting inside the house.

Ryan’s team won (6 to 36) the game – go Senators! – and I think I got a few good shots on my memory card. We drove further out into nowhere’s and amongst the ranches found the football field. Fun time for all.

Near the end of the game I stretched out on my stomach and shot from that position. As one of the players was running the ball he got close in my lens and I just kept zooming back to get the shots as he ran. All of a sudden my lens was unable to focus – this means the subject is too close – in this case – way to close.  I looked out from the viewfinder just as the kid was tackled em about two feet to my left. The moms all think I am a very brave soul and worthy of respect – truth is by the time it registered with my brain that this might not be a good thing it was all over LOL.

The drive back was uneventful, the rest stops were open YEAH and we made it back in time to catch the party Lucio and Kara invited us to. Lots of good food homemade Mexican style – yum. Not sure what all I had cause my Spanish is not so good. Loud music is a must and the kids were having a blast in one of those bouncy house things that are popular now.

DSC_1126Ryan’s sense of humor at work.

Sand, Shots, and Scooby Snacks

DSC_2143_webCatfish knows that we are taking off again. He gives me eye as he watches us pack the suitcases and gather up the goodies to go.

I love seeing the kids and watching the youngsters play football, practice casting while dreaming of the big bass, and doing what teenagers do but I so dislike driving there. Weren’t we just there I say.

I guess the idea is to get in all the time we can before the winter sets in and travel becomes a crazy flurry of snow and ice. Remember I am a California Valley gal who got stuck in Nevada a couple of years ago for weeks. Two wheel drive truck would not no matter how hard persuaded make it off the property to the main road – it hates frozen sand as much as I.

This week getting up every morning and calling the flu shot info line payed off and I now have been officially stabbed with the needle. Checking the CDC website it became apparent that they were running low. As soon as the tape said I qualified (that can change in a few hours) I got my arse there. Since I had already received my regular shot the line for the H1N1 was short and moved quickly.  I think we were lucky in a way that KRP was exposed at work because we have Tamiflu in the wait. Thank goodness neither of us needed it.

My friends have been busy teasing me because I was calling the number every morning and urging them to do the same are not so vocal now. All of a sudden with the numbers of the flu cases going up and the availability of the vaccines going down . …

Seriously, the flu in general is not a good thing for compromised peeps like me. While it is a personal choice to get the shots or not this winter is looking grim in the H1N1 area. Don’t assume that your government is going to take care of you. Some states pandemic plans triage guidelines contain clear cut language stating that folks with medical conditions will not be admitted to hospitals  – nice thought eh? They already placed an EUA on Tamiflu, and Relenza and the vaccines. Hope you all take care.

Ok enough of that now – off to load the camera gear as KRP loaded everything else early this morning – and head off to pick her up from work and head off toward Nevada.

Our roommate is taking care of the dogs so they will be well spoiled with Frosty paws and other scooby snacks while we are gone.

Beyond the Fog

DSC_2032_NG copyI was going through the gigabytes of photos I have amassed in the past few years.  It is slow and laborious, looking at each photo and deciding should it go or should it stay.

I came across this one taken in the Spring of 2008 at a Civil War Reenactment. I had forgotten all about the shots taken with the D70.

I can imagine myself right there behind the fog of war tramp-sing though the brush. The landscape where some of the skirmishes happened is very similar to those around the sutter by pass. The trees are different but still . ..

I spent a week in Jacksonport,  Arkansas hunting around the old sites.  The Black and White Rivers meet there and control of the area went back and forth between the Confederates and the Union. Walking through the back woods I came across old ammo, a few odds and ends – reminders of the social and political battles. I spent hours in the museum there years before it became a popular park and the ladies minding the history were so excited to have someone to share the wealth with.

This trip was an exciting one. When we crossed into Tennessee I got to experience a tornado as it passed by tossing cars up and bathtubs down.  Hugging the weeds along side the freeway was quit an experience for this California Kid. Then while driving through the backwoods of Georgia a small trickle of water turned into a ragging stream, My buddy finally convinced me that driving the rental car up a brush and tree covered hill was the only solution. Next the roadways in Arkansas were so covered with water that the only way to stay on the road was to keep one set of wheels on the shoulder so you could feel the edge of the road. The rental car company dinged me for a lost hub cap at the airport turn in – not bad considering all the poor car went through.

The strangest thing that happened (for me at least) was we were chased out of a town in Mississippi by a bunch of ya hoo’s because I drank out of the blacks only water fountain at a gas station. I so could not wrap my mind around it – segregated fountains in the 80’s?  go figure. I did get a super neat pair of cowboy boots farther toward the coastal area.

The photo also has me thinking it resembles the way my life is some days. Looking through a fog at the action going on around me.  I want to get in to the action but hiding behind the weeds and the smoke – it eludes me – waiting just beyond the fog.