Lambiedog

Possible new exercise guru

A woman I met at the bluffs offered to let me exercise with her.

She led me through some moves designed to make me more limber and relaxed.

    I'm going to take it slow.

       

Was it my breath?

    The party broke up virtually as soon as we got to the bluffs last night.  Above is a photo of everyone leaving.

Was it coincidental that they all took off as soon as I arrived?

    I tried to act like I didn't care.

Medical report

    I've had a mixed bag of medical developments this week.

    First of all, on Wednesday I went to see my doctor.  The issues on the table were:  (1)  My weight and (2) My anti-seizure medication.  Also: (1.5) My bone.

     The weight discussion was a complete triumph for me.   Dr. Galea said I am not overweight. And upon seeing a sample meal we'd brought along for him to evaluate, he exclaimed, "He must be starving!" -- uncannily echoing my own sentiments. 

 

 

 

    To my critics -- As Richard Nixon used to say, "Let me say this about that."  I don't want to hear any more catty comments about my body size.  I am not fat -- it's been stated decisively by an expert.  Go find some other dog to pick on.    

    The bone discussion was more sobering.  Dr. Galea is not a fan of bones.  He says that he often sees dogs who have broken teeth on their bones.  Also, he said that bones can cause constipation, which, without going into details, let's just say struck a nerve with me.  So bones may be off the table. But I can handle that if I can at least get decent portions of my regular meals.

    As to the seizures, Dr. Galea took a blood sample to test my sodium bromide level.  Depending on the results, he'll either increase my dosage, or switch me to pheno barbitol, which has a lot more side effects. 

    So that was four days ago.  I ate like a king, and was much relieved by my good report and happy prognosis.   

    But then, two days later, I had another seizure.  It came out of nowhere:  I was barking at a solicitor who'd come to the door, and then suddenly I was falling over and arching my neck and my paws were stiff. 

    It took me a couple of hours to feel like I might be recovered from that seizure. Then we took a walk out to the bluffs. But once we got there it turned out that I was still exhausted.  

     

 

I stopped in the shade of a bench, underneath a stranger who was reading her book.  For ten minutes I just sat there, collecting my strength and reflecting on my medical travails.

 

My family urged me to get up, but I thought it prudent to stay put.  Not to be dramatic, but I needed the time for reflection.  What did it all mean?  Why me?

                

    Eventually I pulled myself together and went home.  Sometimes the only answer is to just put one paw in front of the other and keep going.   

Final solution for the squirrels

    New intelligence on the squirrel situation just in, and my conspiracy hypothesis  actually turns out to be correct!   Apparently the government is engaging in squirrel eugenics.

    It seems that the county has set poison distribution centers below the bluff because of concerns that the extensive squirrel tunnels were contributing to the destabilization of the hillside.

 

The photo above, taken yesterday shows a poison distribution center placed on the hillside between the bluff top and the fire road halfway down the bluff.

The photo below, taken in May, shows some of the tunnels that the squirrels made in the hillside.

 

Below is a photo of a squirrel enjoying the ocean view from the bluff on a lazy afternoon back in May, before he was targeted for extinction.

I can only hope that he or she enjoyed that day to its fullest. 

The girls are back in town

    Yes -- that's Winnie and Trudie, just back from their Colorado vacation.  They said that Trudie had had some health issues while they were gone.  As Nelson Mandela's wife commented the other day, it's hard to deal with the indignities of extreme old age.  At Trudie's age, just showing up is a real accomplishment.

 

    Winnie had missed the ocean, so I went with her and a bulldog named Buddha to check out the view.

The ocean air seemed to have restorative power.  I think I saw an added buoyancy in Winnie's step as we returned.

Naturalist theory

Maybe the squirrels are hibernating.

Problem with this theory:  Animals hibernate to get through a long cold winter, not a temperate California summer.

Welcome Finney!

One of our most esteemed bluff group members, Sadie, died tragically in May after a brief illness.  Her family and her sibling, Harry, were blindsided with grief. 

Now comes the happy news that they have adopted a puppy named Finney.

             

I met Finney for the first time last night.

Here is a photo of us sniffing one another while Harry stands by with his ball.

Finney, welcome aboard!

Conspiracy theory

Looking back at my entries here, I realize that the squirrels' retrenchment began not long after the incident of the dead squirrel.  

Maybe someone has been poisoning the squirrels.  That would explain the dead guy I saw.

Problem with this theory:  Shouldn't there then be additional corpses on the bluff or the hillside? Even if they died in their squirrel-tunnels, you'd think there would be an accompanying odor, not to mention more dazed bereavement on the visages of the few squirrels remaining on the hillside.  

Confab about the squirrel mystery

Preoccupied as I have been with my bone, I can't completely let the squirrel thing rest. It's hard to let go of something that has been so important to me.  My colleagues at the bluff seem equally bemused by the squirrels' departure.

As Rosie and I were discussing the issue the other day, I took it upon myself to go down the hill to search for clues.

   

After a little while, Rosie came down and nosed around too.  

Comparing notes after a bit, we found that neither of us had had any luck.

                                    

I hope that Rosie has a bone to console her.  Mine has been a great source of solace for me.

My little spot of green

The bluff is virtually barren of greenery this summer.  Mostly it's just a lot of hard dirt.  

There is still one sweet spot of grass, however.  I find myself drawn to it again and again.