Dog Days of Summer

I believe we are in the middle of them.  I don't want to do anything. I water the flowers and feed the birds at 8am. And after that, I hide in the house in air conditioning.  I am looking forward to Fall. I don't even have any great new photographs to post.  Because we have not been going anywhere so it would just be another butterfly photo or hummingbird. Oh yes, about the hummingbirds. We started out with the Mom and Dad and now we have four. I had to put up a second feeder across the yard under the crepe myrtle tree so they would stop attacking each other.  They are soooo territorial. Not nice birds at all. I love to hold up the feeder from my hand and make them come right up to my face.  I always wear glasses because they have strifed me like a jet.  Trying to scare me, I guess.  It has been so hot, I have to change the sugar water every third day.  Even by then it starts to ferment like wine. 

We have had wild thunderstorms and torrential rains. Then it will dry out.  And get hot again.  Had to take the dog to the Vets. He came home from his trip out West and went into shock from the flea's and heat and humidity.  His skin and fur were perfect out in Montana. Its cool and dry there.  I really would like to move
out there.  But I don't have the say in that matter.  Now the dog is on new flea medicine, a people allergy med called atarax.  I want a puppy.  I think Tiny would be so much happier if we had another dog. He has lost all his friends.  We lost our cat Inky a few weeks ago.  Old age.  Now it's just Tiny and he is lonely 

I made friends with a man in Tombstone Arizona.   He built his own observatory on his land.  I wanted to go and see him when we went through Arizona.  He found out he has terminal cancer. He gave his observatory to a university and established a scholarship in his name.  He expected he would be gone by now as the doctors gave him six months.  But he is still here. He said he is stopping the transfusions so he will go faster.

I wish he could have a miracle.  Doctors don't know everything.  They should not give out those six month things.  Ok, this is all I've got.  I need another road trip.  I want to go up to Maine.  Far far away from this heat and humidity.  I want to walk on a Maine beach and eat lobster and corn on the cob.  Later.

I don't want to be the last to go.

Those were words my mother always said as she got older. Especially from age 80 onward. And so she left before her cousin Irene who was 85. Irene would have probably gone on to make 100 as her own mother did but she had no patience. And she would never wear her hearing aid. So, she did not hear that car coming up as she crossed who did not heed the stop sign.

We left for parts West (California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado) about three weeks ago. It was a month long trip. We debated about our cat Inky. She had to be at least 14 (hard to know when they arrive as a stray) and a bit depressed as she had lost her pals Bo and Snowball the year before (two boy cats from the same litter) We had never taken Inky along on trips before. But then, she had always had the company of the other cats. So, a week before our motor home month long trip we took Inky to St. Augustine beach as a test. At first we kept her in the carrier on the way. But on the way home (just an hour drive) we let her loose to wander the motor home. She did very well once camped, seemed a bit anxious on the road but soon found her spot. So we decided to take her on the road. She did fantastic on the entire journey. I think maybe both she and our dachshund Tiny had a bit of trouble in the Montana and Oregon mountains and had to learn to alleviate the pressure in their ears. Tiny yawned finally, not sure how Inky handled it. And on this trip Tiny and Inky bonded. By that I mean, Tiny came into the house late in the game so he was always a bit jealous of Inky. And Tiny wanted a playmate and they were the same size but Inky was not the least bit interested. But on this trip they got closer and closer. Even sharing beds and robes. Maybe they were both scared and thought they would never find their way home. But they bonded. When we came home Inky seemed very happy. But she started refusing food soon after and next refused water. The Vet was unsure of what was going on. I think her kidney's may have been challenged on the long trip. But she was well the entire trip and enjoyed it immensely. Even riding on the front dash on the highway. The other day she passed away quietly in her sleep. No more cats. We had always been a multi cat home. Inky came to us with a mother cat and four kittens. We think Inky was from the previous litter. We found homes for all the kittens. But Mama Kitty and Inky became ours. We already had two brother cats, Bo and Snowball. So that's it. The end of the cats. My husband said he is tired of burying pets. So Tiny. You are the last of the last as my mother would say. May you live long and prosper..