February 15, 2006

February 15, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 243

 

Today was partially cloudy, warm, and humid.

This morning after regular morning chores and preventive maintenance, I paid the monthly cell phone bill, by phone. I phoned Arena Veterinary Clinic, to make an appointment for an examination and inoculations for Bo, and a thyroid blood test for Teddy. I took Bo for an obedience training session. As we were walking along the road through the campground, a trailer door opened, and a Jack Russell Terrier, who evidently had heard Bo’s tags jingling, came running out of the trailer at full speed, and attacked Bo. Bo was stunned, to say the least, as was I. The owner of the Jack Russell came running out of his trailer, screaming at his dog. I thought the best course of action was simply to lift Bo up, into my arms, away from the attacking Jack Russell. Our animals have always worn body harnesses, and I’ve always felt it was okay to just lift them up by the leash attached to the body harness, when they need to be lifted for any reason. I yanked up on Bo’s leash, yanking him off the ground, up into the air, and into my arms. He yelped loudly. OMIGOD ! ! ! I forgot that his leash wasn’t attached to his body harness, it was attached to a choker training collar. I yanked him up off the ground and into my arms by a choker. Oh, Bo, I’m so sorry. The Jack Russell’s owner had grabbed his dog by then, and was gushing apologies. Yeah, yeah, I don’t really care ... I was worried that I may have really hurt Bo. He seems okay. I guess he’s got a pretty thick little neck, and while it hurt to be yanked up by a choker like that, it didn’t seem to have any lasting effect. There’s no stiffness, or soreness, or any other sign of injury that I can ascertain. Poor, poor Bo. Stupid, careless Daniel ! I replaced the batteries, and made some adjustments to my digital camera. I did some work on the computer, updating vehicle maintenance records, and entering the details of a recent investment transaction. I planned and prepared my digital photo “slide show” for tonight at the CARE Centre. I’m going to show my photos of British Columbia in the spring, mostly Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, as well as Jasper National Park and Banff National Park in the fall. I suspect most of the people at CARE haven’t been to Canada.

Joanne left to go visit her blind friend at CARE, Arley. She took Bo, and asked me to come along in 15 or 20 minutes, say hello to Arley, and take Bo away. I did that. After visiting briefly with Arley, I left Joanne visiting with Arley and I left with Bo. We walked around the volunteer’s camping area at CARE, and I stopped and visited with Mary Lu, a woman who was a volunteer here last year at the same time as us. She was very impressed with Bo’s and my exhibition of dog obedience skills. Very well done, Bo ! You’re quite impressive. We returned to the trailer, and I made lunch for myself. I wasn’t sure how long Joanne would be visiting with Arley. After lunch I read for awhile, then napped with Teddy and Bo.

When I woke, Joanne and I walked over to see Phyllis Bridge, the woman who gave a home to the cat we rescued a year ago, Rain. Phyllis still has Rain, renamed Baby Cat, then renamed Cat. We’ll always think of her as Rain. She now weighs 17 pounds, more than double what she weighed a year ago when we rescued her. She’s certainly not starving. We visited with Phyllis, and Rain, and Tooty the old Yorkshire Terrier. Phyllis found out from the vet that Rain is much older than we thought. The vet pegs her age at about 11 years. And when the vet surgically opened her up to spay her, he discovered that she had already been spayed. OOOPS ! Phyllis walked us back to our trailer to see Teddy and Bo. We’re so very glad and grateful that Rain has a good home. Thank you, Phyllis.

We went to the daily 4:00 P.M. social hour. I chatted with a woman who, upon finding out that we’re from Winnipeg / Lorette, told me how much she enjoys shopping in Steinbach. Yeah, I know. You told me the same thing a year ago. After social hour I began to work on today’s journal entry before going over to CARE to do my slide show. We walked over to the CARE Centre, and while I did a "slide show" for a small but appreciative audience, Joanne visited and chatted. I showed photos of Vancouver Island, and the Sunshine Coast of B.C., taken in late April, West Hawk Lake and Whiteshell Provincial Park's Petroforms, taken in July, and Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper National Parks, taken in September.

Joanne made Gumbo for supper. She wanted to use the last of her Gumbo mix before we get to Louisiana in a week or so. She plans to stock up on Gumbo mix when we get to Louisiana. We spent the evening watching Olympics coverage.

DSK