Hospice?

Today McKenzie, Koyuk and I went to dad's for a family meeting with the hospice social worker and nurse. Dad and Iris love the dogs and provide unlimited ear scritches and pats. Before the meeting I asked if anyone would like the dogs to go out to the car. Everyone felt better with them in the room. Koyuk and McKenzie seemed to know this was a stressful occasion. When everyone was gathered for the meeting, they both laid down in the center of the group and no longer bugged for attention. Koyuk's head was on dad's feet and McKenzie mine. What wonderful dogs they are. Koyuk is a puppy yet calmed herself and others. McKenzie is always in tune with my mood and feelings.
Medically, intellectually I know it is time to think hospice for potential comfort care for dad. We all want him to stay at home with Iris. His labs and medical conditions say it is time. Seeing dad and Iris, my heart says - "NO! It isn't time. Go away." His spirit says "NO!" Dad is still very independent and full of life. Daddy-Do still gets bored when not producing or fixing something. Dad impressed the hospice providers with his vigor. On paper he is very near death. In person he looks and acts as if he was 30-40 years younger than his 93 years + 331 days.
When the nurse asked dad about any recent falls he replied: "Well, not long ago Iris and I were in the kitchen smooching and we both closed our eyes..."

I NEED a Geek

In 1976 I was part of the first Women's Expedition of the Nahahanni River. We were 6 women chosen from all over the U.S. Our original plan was something never done before: to pull up the Ross river in the Yukon Territories; portage the Rockies; run the Nahahanni from it's source; then run the Laird to the confluence with the great McKenzie river. Record rainfall and snow prevented us from the first part. We had to get a pilot drunk at the one cabin town of Ross River to fly us into the moose pond source of the Nahahanni. A book about the lower 1/2 of the river is titled "The Most Dangerous River". The maps of upper 1/2 were almost useless at 24 miles/inch scale and were highly inaccurate as few had ever run that part of the river and none of them were surveyors. The names of everyone who had run the river, including the vast majority that had started in the lower 1/2 were scrarched into a 2'x2' board in Deadmen's Valley. A group of elite British Marines tried to run the upper river a week before us - all perished - hence the reluctant, drunk pilot. The spectacular lower 1/2, called the South Nahahanni, became the first United Nations International Park a few years after we were there.

The geek part comes in the preservation of my 450+ photos. They are all on deteriorating slides. I took them to Costco to have digitalized. I no longer have a light board so I could not organize them before I emptied the boxes of slides. I thought I would be getting back a DVD that I could just put into my photo editing program. My plan was to organize then edit/spruce up the photos and make a permanent, in-order, record. Well, I did get a nice CD of random pictures. I spent over 4 hours on initial editing and decided I might be better off putting them in order so I could just delete the bad ones before I went to the trouble of any more editing. The editing program would not arrange. I switched to another program and they became again arranged randomly. I now had 800+ photos with the edited ones scattered throughout. I spent 8 hours matching photos (think a mega child's game of matching the pictures) and arranging everything in order. I hit "save" and walla they were saved again unmatched in random order. AARG! Today instead of skiing in fresh powder, I put them on Picasa and rearranged them in order but I can't edit them to the detail I want in that program. All of my intuitive attempts to put my Picasa file into my photo editing program have failed. AARG! I need a geek!

Me portaging my canoe on the upper riverThe Nahahanni has 3 canyons deeper than the Colorado Grand Canyon. I am floating toward the first. Lunch in the third canyon.Our group (I am back row L) at the confluence of the Nahahanni and Liard Rivers.

The poor Chinooks are missing out on training time while I tackle this project - geek anyone?

Water, Water, Everywhere

It appears the more experienced weatherman was correct - we have had rain and a lot of it. Yesterday I awoke to several inches of muddy water on on top of the ice on the big pond. The high water was threatening to breech the pond walls. Before breakfast I chopped through the ice to open up the outflow pond pipes and removed a section of retaining wall. Once the water flowing out, I tackled the drive. I wore my ski helmet while digging out over 1/2 mile of ditches to redirect the water washing out our road. High winds, ice, snow, and rain had stressed many trees beyond their breaking point. Thirty to fifty MPH winds caused branches to rain down on me. They then floated in the stream that had been our drive damming up the weed clogged ditches causing even more flooding. We still don't have heat. My living room looks like a teen's boarding house with wet clothing hanging everywhere. Yesterday when I got soaked through, I came in, took off the wet layers, warmed up by the fire, drank hot coffee and checked e-mail for news of Chinook people in Washington. Their conditions are worse with snow and freezing rain coating a foot of snow. Today we were supposed to meet in Portland but even I-5 is closed due to a major transmission line down across the freeway.
A little flooding adds a new dimension to a game of Chinook tag.The rains continue. A couple more inches are expected each day for several days. Our back yard is flooded. The garage has a stream flowing through it. But with the very real danger of the 22' deep, acre pond bursting the wall and taking out the neighbor's house diminished; and my ditches confining the road and spring run off; I can spend lots of time doing taxes and sorting through old picture slides.

Wood Heat and Snow

Last evening we discussed whether I should go out and clean the snow off the kennel roof. One TV forecaster said we would continue to get a lot of snow the other, more trustworthy, one said we would get a couple inches of rain a day for the next three days. We went with the second forecaster, enjoyed my birthday dinner and got up to 4 more inches of heavy snow. The kennel roof is corrugated plastic over 12 foot, 2x4 spans. It is stout enough to handle yesterday's 4" of snow but when the second story roof slides, trusses break. I awoke to about 8 inches of snow on the roof. I quickly went from PJs to ski clothes and before breakfast, cleared off the roof with a long handle, industrial squeegee. My other big concern is the magnificent horizontal branch on our oak tree. I always stake up up in the winter but with all the fun I had yesterday, I forgot. I can normally stand with up stretched arms under the branch. The yellow wasp trap hangs way over my head. This morning I could look over the limb and the wasp trap was about 1' from the ground. Not good! First I had to find the very heavy, 60' ladder buried in the weeds, under the snow. Then I had to haul it from behind the greenhouse, all the way up hill to the oak tree. I considered harnessing the dogs and having them pull it but I did not want it 1/2 mile away at the road. I got as much snow off the branches as I could and wedged the ladder. This ladder would be vertical if I had placed it before the snow. Not liking the slope of the ladder, I hauled the 12' red ladder to place under a branch further out. Heavy winds are expected this afternoon and it is still snowing very hard. How hard is it snowing? I shoveled the back patio bare then the front to free the dog sled. When I came in, the back was already covered. Lore has it that you get warm 5 times when you heat with wood: when you cut the tree down; when you cut it into rounds; when you split the rounds; when you stack the split wood; when you burn it. I just added a 6th: when you shovel snow so you can get the wood from the pile to the house.

Kitty behind the wood stove. We still don't have other heat.Damp clothes from doing this mornings chores are drying in front of the woodstove.

Not Quite Enough Snow

Yesterday Ma Nature gave me a special birthday present: snow. (Dave gave me a hula-hoop. I can see a lot more laughter as I try to get back in shape.) I also got to grab a ride to the mountain at the more reasonable hour of 0730 instead of 0545. The ski area still doesn't have quite enough snow to open anything but the north peak, black diamond runs. The temperature was 16 degrees and it snowed about 1 foot of powder during the day. Except for the buried stump I ran into sending me floundering, skiing was amazing. My ride home left before final sweep. We crept down the mountain at 25 miles/hour in a line of cars and trucks that seemed to stretch from the ski area to town. The road was blizzard on ice. Eugene itself was actually bare but on the road from town, I passed three cars and a full size moving van in the ditch less than a mile from our drive. Dave left the ski area about 1/2 hour after us and encountered a major pile up of crashed cars. When he called to let me know he would be a few more hours, I put my birthday dinner back in the fridge and went outside with the dogs to play in the snow.

This morning the excited dogs would not let me sleep - there was snow to run in.

The view out the window above my bed.

The caboose.

And play they did as the sun rose. Chinook tag - Cedar and Koyuk awaiting Willy to come crashing trough the bushes.Taking pictures was not easy. The dogs were in constant motion. Only when it was their turn to tag the others zooming by, was I able to get a shot.

Willy

Cedar

McKenzieKoyuk

We then took a harrowing sled run. 4+ inches of snow in my yard was not quite enough to cover the road under the trees. The dogs are strong enough that pulling the sled across frozen gravel did not phase them at all. My problems started after they got tangled around the fire address sign by the mailbox. I knew that as soon as I untangled them they would jet forward back across the icy road. They did. I managed to jump on the runners but the newspaper bounced out of the bag. Once back on the gravel I was able to stop them but, when I stepped off the sled to reach back and grab the paper, they took off.

I had decided to use a drag rope on this run since they seem to have forgotten the word "stop" no matter how desperately yelled. The rope got caught on my wrist and I was unceremoniously drug on frozen gravel until I could free it. The sled finally stopped the team by getting stuck in some blackberries after going off the cut bank on a sharp corner. Had the dogs come back to get me, they would have released it. But they just stood there tugging and barking to go on until I got to them. I made them pull the sled back up the cut bank with me on it and we were off again happily running back to the house.

The sled tied to the tree before hooking up the dogs. I was wise not to trust carrying my camera on this trip.

You would think that after so many trips around the sun, I would have enough common sense to take up less body damaging activities - like hula-hooping. Um - maybe Dave was trying to tell me something.

Busy Friday the 13th

Our 3rd - 20 degree night/morning in a row. The pond is frozen enough to skate on and infinitely amusing skipping rocks across. I repeated Anna's tossing dog water bowl ice. The initial crack then concerto of harmonizing tings - thrilling, delightful and just plain fun.In preparation for expected snow, I stripped the last firewood from the rock house wall and stacked it inside the great room. I also emptied the dog's bathtub toy box - our tubs are too shallow to use as such but perfect to confine a myriad of toys and bones - and filled it with water in anticipation of the inevitable loss of power that comes with a wet snow storm. I then made curtains for the mudroom. I hate curtains but am desperate to not loose what little heat the wood stove provides.

Kitty checked out the view from the novel ironing board the green house trough water is a bit cold for watering wintering plants I am slowly mastering the Wii balance board exercises but my laughter makes it even tougher to keep the red dot in the yellow zone.
The dogs love the cold. They spent much of the day playing Chinook tag and hunting the fox that must be living somewhere near my boom truck. By the end of the day, they huddled for comfort and warmth - yes it is that cold in the house.

Sled Dog Titles

I have been wanting to put Working Dog - Sledding titles on my dogs for quite some time but never got around to the proper documentation of their pulling adventures. Today I decided to change that and in the process, baring committee DSQ, Willy, Cedar and Koyuk should have a NSD behind their names sometime soon.

Our training road is the old Weyerhaeuser haul road. It is closed off to all motorized vehicles thus is safe to run the rig on. Unfortunately it is paved but the interesting, winding, trail with ups and downs makes up for foot wear and tear. Thus far the tough Chinook pads have suffered no ills.

The red line is 2 miles. Willy is making sure I know it is time to go.barely panting at the 2 mile turn around I wanted to capture a picture of them going under the powerline (easily seen on the Google earth picture) but had to get off the rig to take it. Forget anything I have said about Chinooks not taking off without you. All I got was a picture of the powerline shadow and a brief jog.These guys are pulling to fast for me to safely - my safety not theirs - take pictures while moving. I needed a trails-end picture for the documentation, so I grabbed the camera and just aimed forward when Koyuk was a little slack. a very happy, now un-officially NSD Team Nookies dogs. Our next title requires 100 miles. Stay tuned.

More Than One Way to Keep Warm

Yesterday, after another harrowing rig ride to get the paper, I decided that besides exercise, I need something to improve my recovery-after-thrown-off-balance ability. I loaded up the dogs and headed to town to buy a Wii with balance board for my birthday present from me.
To add a bit of luxury to my dog van and because it takes a few miles before the heater kicks in, I have put in a seat heat pad. This trip I got a bit more heat than I had planned. On the way to town, the smell of an electrical fire and melting poly padding alerted me to the smoldering heat pad internal wiring. By the time I could safely pull over, my butt was not only overly warm but the seat leather was scorched. Oops. Not good!

Kitty seeking warmth on the batting "snow".

Last night Dave added the Wii wiring to the cat's cradle behind the TV then spent the next hour laughing hard while watching me try various balance and strength exercises. Both of us were warmed by my uncoordinated efforts.
The ultimate way to get warm was my midnight hot tub soak. Ahh yes - wine, near full moon making frozen surfaces sparkle, stars, 20 degrees out while soaking in a 104 degree hot tub. Of course that was followed by 4 Chinooks and 1 cat smothering me while I fell asleep.

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

I have not written for 9 days because except for a day of skiing on powder over rocks, all my energies have gone into trying to keep the house and me warm. I am tired of being cold and damp. I did not want to whine, so did not write. Except for the wood stove and a small heater under my desk, we have not had heat since the week before Thanksgiving. The weather has been in the 30's with bone chilling fog. Beyond the fire's semi-circle of warmth, the fog's dampness has penetrated the interior of the house. Last night it warmed up to 36 and sleeted. This morning when I went out to get more wood, the patio and grass were coated in a layer of ice. One hard-won load of fire wood will have to hold until the ice melts.

The wood under the rockhouse eve was double stacked and meant to last he winter.Only Willy and Koyuk ventured out to help me get wood.I guess it is just getting old that is wearing on me. I spent almost 10 years living all seasons mostly out-of-doors the Oregon and Canadian wildernesses. I celebrated my abilities to live with the challenges and inconveniences the weather brought.

Whining over - when the ice melts off the rig, I'll take the dogs on a run. The exercise will do all of us good. For they too have been huddled, mostly on top of me, for hours on end.