Blossoms in Lotus

Independence Day

This is the day we celebrate having broken away from our mother country, Great Britain. Was it such a good idea? I suspect so but wonder if any of the major issues in our history would have been different.

Obviously, GB would have needed to recognize us as a more independent colony, a colony that had earned a say in how we were taxed and governed. You don’t dump a bunch of criminals and unwanted third- and fourth-born sons, and adventurers in the middle of nowhere with little, or no, support, ignore them for a couple of generations and then say, “We are your mother country, you have to do what we say.” The absentee parent doesn’t get to walk back into a child’s life just so the child can support the errant parent.

So, if GB had given us room to run, we still would have had slavery, we still would have had the Native American genocide, we still would have had the westward expansion but I wonder how those events might have been different with only local governors instead of a president.

Just thinking.

Wildlife Rescue is Hard

So, the raccoon who showed up on Thanksgiving day with the serious injuries to his face and some possible brain or neurological damage was put down yesterday. He started having seizures and they continued and the vet decided that it was too serious. I had my doubts about the raccoon’s ability to recover from such severe injuries and hoped that the one good sign — eating — would portend a happy ending. Sadly, the ending is simply humane.

Still Feeling the Loss

So, Tuesday I drove home and was driving up the long and winding dirt road when I wondered if I would see my neighbor out running his dog on the road when I realized that it would not be possible because Yukon had died. I was hit by the realization and couldn’t stop crying as I drove — VERY carefully — up the road. I was always pepped up when I saw him running and I will miss that very much.

Losses in the Neighborhood

My neighbors have just had a terrible week. Wednesday night they came home to find that their 19-year-old cat had died. She was a sweet girl and is very much missed.

Then, Friday, the neighbors realized that their 13-year-old dog was not able to stand and would have to be euthanized. Oh, sucky, sucky week. The old chum was a great boy and very friendly, letting the turkeys eat his food (!) and just generally being very charming. I will miss him.

So, here it is, Saturday night, and I’m hoping that we can get through the next half-hour to the end of the week without losing anyone else. Man, this sucks!

The hard part is that my neighbors both really love their animal friends and have just lost two of their family members — two that they liked. Man, this sucks!

Fire Season

Heading home Monday night, we saw a plume of smoke rising into the sky. We weren’t worried because it looked like it was well east of us. As we got closer to town, we saw that the smoke was much, much closer. As we drove into town, we saw that the smoke was behind one of the neighboring hills and the gusting wind was blowing away from the house. We had planned on stopping at the local diner for dinner so we stopped and got a booth by a window so we could keep an eye on things. We figured that if we did have to evacuate, we should eat first. We saw two flatbed trucks hauling the dozers while we were eating. That was an impressive sight. We finished eating and went home and everything was fine. After arriving home I was able to log on to the online scanner and listen to the progress. No buildings were lost and everyone was safe but I have not yet heard how it started.

The Chase

Living in an area where wild animals can still live by hunting is sometimes a very odd reality, the hunting usually done outside of my awareness. Today I was very nearly in the midst of the hunt. As my husband and I drove up the road to the house we saw a rabbit tear across the road from uphill to downhill. Seconds later a coyote tore across the road and when he heard that we were nearby, he stopped and turned to look at us. Then he headed down the hill. It was one of the most exciting and incredible moments of our time here.

The coyote probably lost the rabbit but that means that the rabbit didn’t lose his life. I have great sympathy for both.

It rained today making everything so beautiful and green and sweet-smelling.

Fried Green Seedlings

Well, the sad news is that the seedlings about which I wrote (doing well, yada, yada) are no more. I think I should not have left them outside… where they fried… and died… gone is my pride…

Such is the news from up on the hill by the river.