Ranch Life – Page 26 – The Hermits' Rest

Renovating the Motorhome, by Necessity

I promised I’d write more about Seneca, our motorhome. On our last camping trip the bedroom slide-out that makes a path to the bathroom and provides access to the drawers (such as they are) hasn’t worked.

It’s not a problem going to horse lessons, since there’s a half bath Lee could use if needed. But camping means shower access is useful, and to get there you have to crawl over the king-size bed. That’s hard on us elders.

Much effort has been put into trying to fix it. It turns out the batteries weren’t the issue. Or were fuses, though I believe fuses fixed the issue of lights on trailered vehicles not working properly. One issue fixed! Yay!

This has been referred to as the rats’ nest. No actual rats are in the very, but I vacuumed up mouse evidence.

The slide apparently has a short in it. My home mechanic/electrician figured out the diagnostic code by delving into the bowels of the system. But no one here at the ranch can do the repair. We will have to take it to a pro.

No photos of this, so here are my cool nails that can look green or purple.

But I hadn’t been camping in a while and wanted to go before we can get it in to get fixed. So, the clever men of the house came up with a plan and implemented it. I found it quite creative!

With the slide in, the base of the bed doesn’t stick out too far. The piece of wood above the base is what’s longer, to support the mattress, so needed to be removed and replaced with a shorter piece of plywood.

This is close to our floor plan, only the washing machine is in the bathroom in the 2022 model.

A twin mattress, which we happened to have one of in the former Airbnb, fits perfectly in the bed space, turned sideways. There’s a little more base hanging out, but that’s no problem (my guess is a double bed would have fit perfectly).

Once the setup was done, I put sheets on and turned the area into a cute daybed. You can easily get to the bathroom and I can sleep fine.

We’re lucky that Lee sleeps in a zero-gravity chair. That makes a single bed for me quite practical. We sure have customized Seneca to our idiosyncratic needs!

Lest we forget, the former dinette is now a desk. The living area is wider when its slide is fully expanded.

Tomorrow we do get to go. I had hoped to leave today, but there was a communication mixup. It will be fine.

Pay Attention, Suna!

In my frazzled state of late, I’m not only being clumsy and forgetful, I’m not noticing things. That’s not at all helpful. And my powers of investigation aren’t their strongest.

For example, this morning I got up and couldn’t find Goldie. Oh no! Something happened to her! Oh, maybe she’s outside. No. Not in my office. Hmm. It took me ten minutes to figure out that she was in the other bedroom. Duh.

Take a flower break. These Mexican petunias look like they should be a painting, not a plant living in the middle of the driveway!

I got through a hectic and confusing work day fairly well, though our team meeting was moved to the afternoon and ran long, making me unable to groom the horses. I rushed out and easily got Droodles.

I’m a good boy, but I don’t pay attention either. I sorta missed the goal of standing beside the mounting block and just plowed over it. I’m so cute.

Apache was another story. It’s as if he knew we were running late. He ran and ran, galloping hither and yon, but eventually went into a pen. That was very strange. I hurriedly put on his halter and marched him into the trailer. Drew followed nicely. He was an a good mood from eating good grass.

We got to Tarrin’s and quickly tied the horses to the trailer. I saddled Apache on his left side (this matters) then we walked to the lesson area. I began lunging him over the little hill. When I turned him to go the other way, Tarrin stopped me. Look at his eye!

Well shoot. Neither of us had looked closely at this right side. His eye was full of goop and all swollen. I could have paid a bit more attention when I was rushing to get to lessons. Tarrin hadn’t noticed when taking him out of the trailer for me either. We felt bad. But we are both barely coping. Give us a break!

So, Tarrin ran and got a wet cloth and a shot of Banamine to reduce the swelling. None of that went over very well with Apache, but it did give me time to remove his burs. Tarrin said I should ride him some to get the meds in his system. I said that was fine and put my helmet on.

Sigh. I put it on backwards. That at least gave us a laugh and a funny photo. And Apache did very well. He even side passed vaguely correctly. Good boy. And me.

Believe it or not, this is a huge improvement.

Drew’s lesson was pretty good once he lined up right so I could mount him. I did a good job dealing with some reluctance on his part to hold himself straight, too. I was proud of us both.

Back at the trailer we decided Apache should wear a fly mask to go home, to protect his eye. This began an adventure as none of Tarrin’s spare ones fit Apache’s rather bulky head (hard to believe he’s part Arabian).

I liked this one best because it made him look like Batman’s horse.

We all laughed through this, especially at how curious Drew was about the mysterious headgear.

He kept breathing down Tarrin’s neck as she was trying to fit the masks. Once she left, Apache told him to get back.

We did make it home safely. But I wasn’t finished being inattentive. You see it was dusk by the time I was heading to the house. I went over to shut the henhouse door. Then I looked in on the chickens. I saw this.

Oh look, Cindy and Cathy are roosting! They found the branch I put in there.

But, someone was missing. Where was Bianca?

Turn the light off! I’m trying to sleep!

Well look at that! She was in the coop! She does remember how to get in! See, I’d never checked them this late before. I feel a bit better about how they are settling in. I just needed to pay attention.

I paid attention to my birthday flowers and they’ve made it to October! It’s a first for me. This ranch is hard on decorative plants.

Tomorrow is another day. Hope Apache is better. Otherwise, off to the dang vet.

Yep. Time Passed.

Or we passed time. You can view time as going by while you stay still, or you can view yourself moving along through it. it’s all fine, because no one understands time.

Quiz time. Can you find four butterflies? The big one is a variegated fritillary.

Today was hard on Goldie. She mostly didn’t move, which is good for healing. But she’s in a hard part of her recovery. Mostly she stayed in her crate other than a little time in the sun. She is eating, though! That’s good.

Harvey seems to be having trouble with his front legs and maybe his vision. He still seems in good spirits and eats well.

Apache will not touch his food, even solid sweet feed (bad for him). However, when I opened his own, he marched over and finished Fiona’s food, which is probiotics and some rice-based stuff. Tomorrow I’ll try putting a random food dish out nowhere near where he gets medicine and see if he eats that. I’m also trying to medicate him in the morning if I catch him.

Leopard frog. Not sure why it wasn’t closer to the pond.

Tomorrow I have to go to the dentist so I will work at the office when I am done. Maybe I can have Dell cafeteria food! It will be a long day.

Could I be more dull? Every day it’s a sick animal report. Tomorrow is a new day!

Day by Day

It’s my plan to take things day by day for the next month or so, while Goldie heals and annoying political ads get more absurd. Today was different from yesterday, as days tend to be. I did my best to embrace the changes and challenges. It seemed to be the best option.

I’m glad I didn’t have the overwhelming anxiety of yesterday. I felt more centered, or so I thought until it became clear that my mode today was jitters. I managed to drop things, burn myself, allow myself to be bitten by Apache (my fault, not his), trip on random weeds, and even dribble my coffee.

I’d like to fly away, but that’s not the mature choice.

I was also more impatient than usual. Things I usually let go of easily, like being corrected or contradicted repeatedly, were bugging me. I can’t live my life at home if I start noticing and reacting to other people’s quirks that aren’t going to change. If I expect for my quirks to be accepted, I need to return the favor, right?

Quirks like toting this giant thing everywhere I go.

If I were to wager, which I don’t do, I’d bet that most people in partnerships occasionally want to get a break from certain habits or situations in their home, whether it’s leaving the toilet seat up or not putting tools back where they belong (partially made-up examples). That’s why I think my little trips are good for me. It gives the family a break.

Another of my quirks. Doing my nails in weird ways. Oh, and saying I’m sorry all the time. I’ll end the list here.

Anyway, I assume I’ll be better tomorrow and head towards a more pleasant attitude. I did make a nice dinner, so I wasn’t totally grumped out.

Sure, we’re both pleasingly plump, but you could have shared that food! Oh, shrimp? Never mind.

As for Goldie, the reason for my jitters, she is okay, though she seems to be in more discomfort. That huge incision has to hurt as it heals. It looks good, though, not infected or leaking.

Not gonna display the incision. It’s a foot long, at least.

She changed her shirt (the other one was cut off her, so no repeat shirts). I found a white one for her to wear to keep the incision area clean and keep other dogs from licking it. None of them have tried, though.

She’s eating well and doing her doggie business successfully. We humans spend lots of time with her, which I hope helps. The other dogs are respectful, thankfully.

Carlton is just glad he gets to sleep upstairs with us.

My hope is that day by day she and I both feel better. Every day I’ll feel more confident in her healing, too.

Time to Heal, So Heel, Goldie!

We got our dog back and I survived the journey. Let’s just say it’s hard for stressed-out people to deal with how those close to them act when stressed out. But Goldie is home!

She was glad to see us, and is walking well for her first tripod day. The poor girl will not pee or poop anywhere but here, so I was glad to hear that they expressed her bladder during surgery. 48 hours is a long time to hold it, even when your bladder is large.

We have to keep her quiet for two weeks and not let her run and jump. That’s gonna be hard, but we brought her crate into the living room where she won’t be alone. You see, Harvey can’t come upstairs since his stroke, so he has to have someone down with him. So, the living room is now a bedroom. Yow.

We took the couch cushions off, too, so Goldie can sleep in her preferred spot without straining. No more straining now that the car ride is over. The exit was difficult.

Yeah, it was an extra stressful day, not only from a dog standpoint but also a work standpoint. Things change a lot when you’re suddenly in change management. But hey, I got to see a hawk up close, not flapping around. That was good.

This is a good spot, says Mr. Red Shoulders.

I’m just tired. Too many early days and too much calendar chaos with meetings and events changing on me. Time to draw on my reserves, because guess what? It’s burr season again. The horses are covered. We didn’t get enough of them. Now I’m pre-exhausted.

At least the dog is back.

Gray Skies Are Gonna Clear Up

We are putting on our happy faces because even though the weather was weird today, we got encouraging news about Goldie’s prognosis.

The important news is that the veterinary team took X-rays of Goldie’s chest this morning and found no evidence of metastatic growths. That means she has a better chance of hanging on for a good while as a tripod. She then had the amputation surgery and came through it well.

Spooky sky with light of hope shining through. Photo by Lee.

Now we are waiting to see how she does overnight. I’m glad this facility has an overnight doctor to keep an eye on the animals there. She is well drugged, so she can rest pain free. What a relief. If things go well, we will get her tomorrow afternoon.

While anxiously awaiting news of Goldie (we thought she was going in early but that wasn’t the case), I hung out with the birds. There were over 40 species today! You can tell it’s migration time. The clouds never made any rain, either.

Vultures waiting for their wings to dry, and that same cloud.

After lunch with the ladies and Casey (the dude of our crowd) I came home to more weird weather. The wind picked up drastically, to where I couldn’t work outside anymore. Just as I was finishing my last meeting, Lee came in and said some of the horses were out.

Look, Mom. We are over here by the welding thingie.

I went over and shut the main gate, then went to figure out what was going on. Two horses were still in their pen area. Dusty was just standing by the big gate, assuming I’d let him out, which I did. Drew, in the other hand, was running anxiously back and forth, not settling down enough to figure out where the exit was.

I found that the back gate, which already had some issues, had blown open in the wind and was sitting at a most awkward angle. Drew finally found it and flew past me, jumping and leaping. What a dramatic boy.

We decided to let them do some edging and mowing for a while, but the gate did get fixed. Of course, as we were discussing it, Drew had to come help. I guess we humans are more interesting than new grass to the curious one. Anyway, other than causing the dogs to bark, the horses are fine. They’ll go back inside soon as they get thirsty.

Now I can go sleep. I sure didn’t last night, as my good friends knew! Let’s hope the ride home goes well. We have the new halter and a t-shirt for Goldie to wear.

Waiting and Watching

Another long day of waiting. You know I’m trying to distract myself when I bury myself in AI training, which I did.

Suna, post training. Just kidding. AI is the BEST! Just ask corporate training!

I did get some nice pictures with Goldie today to remember her four/-legged era. We had a very nice morning sitting outside and enjoying the birds and breeze.

Lee took pictures of her on “her” couch, which used to be mine and used to be clean. And the blanket used to be nice. Yes, I was in hippie mode today.

Again, loving this dog and sending healing to her.

Lee took her to the vet this afternoon. She was so good. I keep saying that, but it’s true. She was sweet to everyone at the veterinarian office and tried to comfort them as they recited everything that could go wrong. Poor Lee. Wish I could have gone with him.

The watching part of today was a nice balance to sadness over terminal illness. I was looking at a Green Heron through my binoculars this morning and realized the cow above the bird had an amniotic sac hanging out of her.

You can sorta see it. The white thing is her bag of milk, ready to feed. The white cow was keeping Caracaras away.

I called to Lee, and he was able to watch “the miracle of birth” with me. It made us both feel better to see new life. I was a little nervous because Mama kept swinging the calf around when it was mostly out, and it was close to the drop-off to the pond.

Once the calf was on the ground, much licking ensued. Mama did a great job! It took the calf a few tries to stand up, but it eventually got up to slurp down that delicious colostrum. Mom licked it a lot more. The owners came by to check, because Lee told him it was born sorta close to the edge.

This all took like 20 minutes. That’s a successful birth with no issues … but the calf did end up down the slope but not in the water, thanks to the dry weather. Luckily the other owner showed up to pick it up. It was so cute just wagging its little tail.

That slice of ranch life helped us a lot and put things in perspective. The Circle of Life is the other trite saying that comes to mind, but it’s true. We all have our time to come and go. It’s just hard to be a witness at the end when it’s someone you love.

Think of Goldie tomorrow, if you can. We just want her pain lessened.

Getting Ready for Goldie

Stressful day! Not only did I have to get up early to meet with my new boss, but I also spent all day waiting for a call from Goldie’s surgeon. That made for a long day, because I didn’t hear from her until 6 pm.

I distracted myself by talking to my online friend group, helping people (best part of my job), and doing some training the new boss pointed me to, but I admit I got a bit antsy. Looking at plants and birds took the edge off a bit, and certainly seeing a flock of White-faced Ibis flying over helped. I happened to have my binoculars with me, so I got a good view.

By afternoon both Lee and I were not worth much, so I called around 4:30. The staff person was so nice, and reassured me I was on the list, but the doctor was dealing with a sad client. I said that was way more important than calling us! I want a kind and empathetic surgeon!

I felt sad for the person who lost their dog friend.

While waiting, Lee finished his book (the one o read that retells the Mulan story) and I started the latest Elizabeth Strout novel, so I could be distracted by Olive Kitteridge and the other folks on Crosby, Maine. That was smart.

I was feeding the horses by the time the surgeon called, but I’d brought my notebook so I was ready. I feel like we have a good and realistic plan to give Goldie some additional time. I don’t think we can do chemo, but if the guys want it, I’m okay. It’s just a lot of travel in the car, which is hard on her.

I did learn from the surgeon about a harness that’s good for helping support newly tripod dogs out and got one ordered in time to have when we pick Goldie up. I’m glad she’s crate trained, because that will help keep her away from licking dogs. No licking the wound for two weeks!

Anyway you don’t need to know everything the woman said to me. I’m just processing. Mainly I want Goldie to make it back home safely. I’m getting weary of bad news.

Think about birds, Suna. Happy, fluffy birds.

Back to the novel. They come in handy in stressful times.

Book Report: Wild Old Woman

Once again, my friend Ann thrusted a book at me and said she knew I’d like it. She’s very good at selecting reading material for me. Ann said there was a part in it about Burning Man, did I know anything about it?

It was hard to find a usable photo of burning man. This is a temple. From Pexels

Well, yes, I know people whose adult children go, and my jewelry friend got married there. And I get the concept, but never had an urge to go. Too much sand and too many drugs for me. I really hate sand and wind combined. It gets everywhere. And most of my life I avoided psychedelic drugs. I was afraid of messing up the only brain I had.

But, that’s neither here nor there. The book Ann gave me was Wild Old Woman, by Joan Maloof, a great writer about trees and nature. This memoir, more about love, sex, spirituality, and adventure, was self published this past summer.

And yes, indeed, this was a memoir that resonated with this weird old Suna woman as I’m sure it did with Ann. Bonus: I learned a lot about Burning Man, among other places. I don’t plan to go, but Maloof sure learned a lot there.

Sometimes memoirs are interesting because the writer does fascinating things or meets famous people. This one intrigued me because Maloof experienced many life changes and spiritual insights, and she reacted just like I would, for better or worse. That felt a little weird. I appreciated her honesty and openness. She’s a real, fallible human with many strengths, but who likes to examine her failings as endlessly as I do.

One of the best parts of the wild old woman’s tale (she is a couple of years older than me) comes after the narrative ends and Maloof finishes her dream journey to Bhutan. She provides two “meta” chapters that outline how the book took shape, was reviewed, and was published. I just loved how this section provides insight, especially into what’s not in the book and why.

I learned something in this section that gave me a useful new understanding about a certain kind of very frustrating relationship, one I have experienced as well. This relationship is with a man who keeps pushing her away and pulling her back, while her brain recognizes the pattern but her heart understands why he acts the way he does. It’s called a trauma bond. Here’s what she discovered:

I learned that it was more of a one-way thing. Someone alternates being kind with being unkind, and the bondee sticks around waiting for the next dose of kindness-sugar. P. 199

That explains an extremely embarrassing relationship I was enmeshed in when I was much younger. I knew the guy had issues and was toying with me, but I kept coming back, hoping for more kindness.

Maloof pointed out that her research said that the only way to get out of a trauma bond relationship is to completely cut it off. And I did that. I was in contact once more when I was older, and the person started right back in with the poor me, everyone is out to get me stories. I didn’t reply.

I’m just happy to know there’s a better word for what I went through for a few years than pathological obsession. I feel closer to closure over this regrettable and embarrassing period of my life. It’s hard to admit I could be so gullible, but I was young and inexperienced. I have worked years to forgive myself. I mostly have done so.

Sadly (in my mind) Maloof is still going through the push and pull, though distanced. Maybe it’s okay. On the other hand, she’s still living alone and free, running her wonderful nonprofit to save trees. We all have things to work on, even us chronic meditators.

Mental Health Break

Neither Lee nor I were feeling our best in the mental health department today. All the illness around us gets to us sometimes, and we’re worried about people in addition to dogs.

This Giant Swallowtail did make me smile.

We ended up not doing much other than going to get horse and hen supplies and watching comedy shows. Sometimes you need a mindless day.

Every day is mindless for these guys, who are getting along fine and enjoying their grubs.

It’s still really hot, though I honored the equinox by creating a splashy weird nail look. It’s either cool and graphic or it makes my nails look dirty. You be the judge.

I also still can’t get used to long hair.

There were no animal hijinks or injuries today other than birds and butterflies to amuse me. I saw two Wilson’s Warblers today, a first here at the ranch. I enjoy the migratory visitors, especially when they have cute little caps.

Hoping I feel more chipper tomorrow.