It was a glorious day to spend outside weeding! I took a chunk out of the jungle of weeds in our front garden today, and it couldn't have been nicer out. I also harvested enough sungold tomatoes (in the back garden) to make on of our favorites--Mac & Cheese. As I was preparing dinner, my friend Julie dropped off a few ears of corn on the cob, so I roasted those up for dinner, too. The corn was fantastic, and we enjoyed a great meal tonight!
Luciana has been doing a little more art lately, as her lockdown boredom is reaching peak levels. She's even started doing sidewalk chalking again. She also ordered a book series that she used to love as a youngster (from Ebay) that she gave away years ago, but has been revisiting her past. She is planning to reread the series (Fairy Realm) as well as one of her favorite books written by a friend of ours (Rick Bogle), called Vegan Nation. She loved that book when she was younger but I loaned it out and never got it back (the fate of about 50% of my books). Our friend Rick was generous enough to send another copy of it, which arrived today, so she was really thrilled to have a stack of books to read.
For some reason, Silas' poop schedule has been off today, which has resulted in a day full of nasty messes and cleaning. I'm not happy with this at all. I really hope he returns to his normal schedule tomorrow, so I don't feel like I've spent the whole day cleaning up poop messes. On a more positive note, he continues to improve his leash walking skills. He really likes his walks and is making lots of new friends in the neighborhood. He's a very social boy and likes everyone. He's very gentle with kids, so he seems to pick up new friends every day that we go out.
We adopted Silas a little about six weeks ago. He was transported here from Arkansas. We knew when we agreed to take him that he was paralyzed in his back legs and hindquarters and had some very deep, infected wounds. Everyone thought he had been hit by a car. A kind old lady in AR saw him dragging himself around and took him to a small rural shelter. There were no vet clinics in the area who could do a good exam or give us a good picture of his health and future prognosis. The day I agreed to take him was the day he was to be euthanized. It was such bad timing to take on a critically wounded dog that would require a lot of vet visits and money, but as I was talking to Mandy (the shelter owner), she kept saying he was such a special boy and he really wanted to live, despite all he had been through. I meant to say no, but yes came out somehow. That was a Thursday, and the following Saturday afternoon, he arrived.
We discovered at his first vet visit that he had been shot at least three times, by two different guns. He had a bullet in his spine, one in his thigh, and bird shot scattered throughout his body. He was covered in fleas and ticks when he got to the shelter, and Mandy had already taken care of that. He was still full of parasites, extremely anemic, and of course, not neutered. He's about two years old. We got rid of all of his parasites, and his anemia was improved on his last visit. We go back for another blood test on the 6th, and if he's within normal range, we'll be able to schedule his neutering.
His leg wounds are healing nicely. He had huge open wounds on his knees and feet when he arrived, as he had been dragging himself around rural AR for at least a month before he made it to the shelter. He had tendons exposed. It was a mess. He's had lots of antibiotics, I clean and dress his wounds daily, and they're almost healed up now.
He's learned to get around really well in his drag bags, which allow him to drag himself around the house very easily. It's a slippery, durable fabric, so he can drag without ripping his legs open. His custom wheel chair arrived last week, and he's already really good with getting around in that. He can't sit or lie in it, so that's for play time and walks, and the drag bags work for the rest of the time. This week we have started taking him on walks. He's never been on a leash before, so he's learning how to leash walk and stay on the sidewalk as well as building skills with his cart. He's a fast learner.
He has to wear diapers and a belly band, and we have a pretty good routine for that. There's a lot of laundry--I swear he poops more than he eats, but we have a system that works fairly well. The biggest issue we have is that sometimes his poop sneaks out of the side of his diaper and sometimes it sneaks out of the open mesh panel (for air circulation) in his drag bag, leaving poop skids around the house that require lots of cleaning and scrubbing. I hope to find a solution for that, but I haven't succeeded so far.
He is a lot of work, but I'm so glad we took him! He's happy, sweet, playful, cuddly, and loves life. We're committed to giving him the best, most normal life he can have. Once COVID settles down, he'll start swim therapy and acupuncture. I give him massages and do stretching every day, to try to keep his back legs from locking up. I'm still hoping we can find something to restore some functionality back there. He has been to the bet vets--orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, and they have told me that he won't improve, but I believe miracles can happen, and I'm working toward him getting better!
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
The garden is in it's awkward phase right now. A couple of weeks ago, it was a glorious profusion of lilies and poppies. Now, there are a handful of things blooming, but it will be a couple of weeks before it is gorgeous again. This is the point where we really enjoy the foliage and combinations of leaf color and texture.
We have gotten lots of green beans and eggplants already, and the tomatoes, peppers, and chilies are coming soon. Tonight's dinner was all from the garden--eggplant curry and red swan beans.
I love all of the trees we've planted, but Twisty Baby (locust) is my favorite. I love this tree with a passion. We had a broken water main lateral that needed to be replaced last year, and they weren't sure twisty baby would survive the process. They had to dig the soil out from around it, remove the old pipe, put in a new pipe, and it's a lot of trauma for the roots. Then the new pipe blew out and flooded the area, because they turned the pressure up too quickly, so they had to do it all again. This year, Twisty Baby seems okay, and I'm so relieved. It's a beautiful strong tree, with a gorgeous shape. It's a contorted locust, so the branches and leaves are both "twisty". She was only supposed to be 15 feet tall, but you can see she exceeds that by quite a bit!
Yesterday was the third anniversary of my friend's suicide. It was technically considered suicide, but in reality, it was murder. His brothers worked very hard to campaign, coerce, and torment him, knowing he was in a very vulnerable state. They wanted him dead, and they succeeded. I miss him every single day, and I'm still so angry with his "family", who knowingly pushed him into this. I've spent three years waiting for some kind of justice--minimally, hoping their (corrupt) family business would fold, but there remains no justice in this world. He's gone, they completely ignored his death, and have continued on with their lives. I know this anger isn't good for me, but I have not yet been able to get past it.
We gathered last night (outside at a distance) on our patio to have our annual celebration of PK (Patrick Finnegan), and it was very nice. It was a beautiful night, with lovely weather, and a fire kept
the mosquitoes from joining us. After all he had gone through, at the end, he was really struggling with mental illness, and there were three friends left standing. Yes, he was getting to be a bit stressful, but other than a small group of us, the rest of his friends and relatives abandoned him. People struggling with mental illness are not the easiest to deal with, but they still need people in their corner. Each year since his death, the three of us have gathered to remember him, and we will continue to do so.
After his death, I got a tattoo to memorialize him (on my leg). I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a design that included things that were really significant to us over the years. I was initially planning to get a little color touch up this summer, but it will have to wait until things have settled down.
Today I had an outing. I was really stressed about leaving the house. I really haven't left the house since March when the lockdown started. I've had a few vet appointments since then, but Mark has gone with me. Of course we have daily dog walks, but I'm not really leaving the animals, so that doesn't count. I enjoy being home, and leaving is tough, because of the animals. When I do leave, I have very limited windows of time that I can be gone, so it tends to be easier just to stay home. The longer I go without leaving, the harder it is to leave. I spent a couple of hours on my friend's big deck, overlooking Lake Koshkonong. It was very pleasant, and despite being stressed about driving and being away from home, I'm glad I went to catch up with Julie. She is in her 70's and lives alone, so she was especially happy to have a little company.
Since COVID, I've only seen my parents and daughter a handful of times, and always outside at a distance. I'm torn about it. I know both sides are lying. Yes, there's a virus that can kill people or do long-term damage, but they are definitely hyping and exaggerating for control and to set up the new fascist normal that we're moving into. I trust absolutely nothing from either side and nothing that mainstream media feeds us. That said, the sad reality is that my heart and lungs have issues and my auto immune disorder puts me at risk, so I've taken the lockdown very seriously.
COVID, like everything else in life, has brought both positives and negatives. While I miss seeing family and friends (and having reliable income), it has given me time to really focus on and improve my health. As a fit vegan who has eaten well and worked out for years, my health (even with the autoimmune crap) is better than most Americans', but there's always room for improvement. The gifts it brought include:
Going caffeine free! I have not had any caffeine in any form since mid March. That's the longest I've gone in my entire adult life with no caffeine.
Meditation habit: I have made daily meditation (at least 20 minutes) a habit that I start every single day with.
Wim Hof habit: I don't need caffeine to jump start my mornings, because the Wim Hof breathing session I do every morning provides me with lots of energy that helps throughout the entire day. The icy showers are also a part of my daily ritual that I've really grown to love. They have helped a lot with my chronic pain.
Mark's fitness: Mark has worked out with me every evening since the beginning of April. I'm happy to have a workout partner and thrilled that he is getting fit and improving his health.
Earlier bedtime and better eating habits: I've done intermittent fasting for years, which works great for my body. I adjusted my eating window from 7PM-midnight back to 3PM-8PM and am in bed by 11 PM. Eating earlier has helped with sleep and some of my stomach issues.
More time home with the animals! They've never been happier.
Today we had a gathering for Dej's 30th birthday (which was really yesterday), but she wanted to spend the day cooking. She brought me donuts that she made--so good! She's such a talented cook/baker.
Bea insisted on sitting on Dej's lap, despite the heat.
I made our traditional birthday dessert. The rest of the world calls it peanut butter cup pie, but we call it "Douche Pie". Many years ago, I made it for Dej's birthday, and Luce offered to decorate it for me. When I put the candle on it, I found that she had written "Happy Birthday Douche" on it. Since then, everyone has called it douche pie. We were pretty worried about the weather, as it was supposed to be over 90 with potential thunderstorms.
I have only seen my parents and daughter a small handful of times since March, and only outside with a safe distance. It's been really challenging. We met outside today in the intense heat with Dej, Chris, and my parents, and stayed in the shade, which helped a bit. It was a very pleasant visit. While we were outside, a hummingbird visited a couple of times, the wren parents were busy taking care of their babies in the bird house, we had some monarch visitors, and the garden was a nice backdrop.
I sent back douche pie with Dej & Chris, and she left some donuts for me. It was a really nice day.
After everyone left, Mark and I did our evening workout--yoga tonight. One of the "gifts" of the COVID lockdown has been Mark's commitment to working out with me every night. I've tried to get him to join me for years, and finally, in early April, he started joining my workouts, and it's been great! Tonight we did Strengthen & Lengthen--one of hundreds of free, quality classes at DoYogaWithMe.com. We do two or three classes a week through DYWM, and they're all excellent!
I'm going to give this a try again. 2017 was a rough, life-changing year for me.
Jasper
Jasper
Jasper
Daisy
Daisy
Jasper and Mark
Ivan
Ivan
Dej and Ivan
Ivan
Ivan
I lost several beings who were vitally important to me. First, my Ivan cat. He was my first cat. I raised him from the day he was born, and we were connected in a way that is beyond words. After he died, I needed to make a post to honor him, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. It's still incredibly painful to contemplate. There were some other difficult animal losses as well--Breanna, our beautiful two-year dog, who was fine and normal and died in her sleep. Those were some really tough losses. We lost Jasper, who was our second cat--Ivan's little buddy, then Daisy, who was over 15 (we adopted her when she was a year old). So many losses in the period of a couple of years!
PK and Lupe
Patrick and Gumby
I was struggling with one of my best friend's mental decline. He was and is part of me. He, my cousin Denny, and I were the three musketeers. I met him my first semester in college. He was the first vegetarian I met. He ended his life almost three years ago now (7.27.2017), and that has changed me forever. Profoundly. I was with him the night of the 26th, and he ended his life a few hours after I left him.
In 2017, I couldn't really talk about these terrible losses. I couldn't ignore them and just blog as if nothing had changed when everything had changed. I've spent the last few years trying to get my bearings on life. I'm in a much different, and mostly better place than I was then. I still cry about the losses almost every single day, but I have a beautiful life, full of love, and I'm in a much better place now.
Silas
Silas and Beatrice
We've most recently adopted Silas, a foxhound mix from Arkansas, who is paraplegic. We've had him for about a month and are finally getting the systems and routines down that make his care manageable. We thought he had been hit by a car when we adopted him, but learned at his first vet appointment that he had been shot, at least three times by two different guns. He still has two bullets and lots of bird shot inside him. His custom-made cart just arrived yesterday, and he's quickly learning how to use that. The majority of the day, he gets around very well in his drag bag.
In Aug. 2019, my husband left Rotary Gardens after 21 years. The corruption and malfeasance had reached a point far beyond the threshold of acceptability and unfortunately continues to get worse. Leaving was a good thing for him--not so good for the gardens though. He started a business which was doing very well, but has been wiped out by COVID, which has pretty much destroyed our job security/income. We're still happy. We have a home, food, and so much love in the house, it's hard to complain, though the world seems to be melting down more each day.
I think I'm finally back to a place where I can blog again and chat about life in a positive manner. I feel like a very different person than the pre-2017-Amy. I have a few more battle scars than that woman did, but it didn't kill me, so I must be stronger.
Our girls are all grown up. Our younger girl is 20 and has finished her first two years of college, and our older girl turned 30 today!
Number of animals killed in the world by the meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage. This counter does not include the billions of fish and sea animals killed annually.
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