Wandering Spirit

Sixty-seven was the year that I graduated from High School.  I never thought of it as an AGE for Pete sakes!  Yet now I have reached it!

Not sure how this happened, but what’s the deal with aging physically, but otherwise feeling like…oh, say, 20?

I was ok with 60 because I’d finally reached the decade in which I could retire….and I spent a lot of time preparing mentally for…um…’succulent sixty’.  Whatever.       I was darn happy with 65 because I knew I was going to retire at the end of the month, and by golly, it looked like I might actually make it!   Then I was busy with other things and I ignored 66.  But 67….wait.  Slow down!

Maybe someday I’ll look back and feel like 67 was ‘young’….only time will tell.

As it turns out, there is another solo woman Casita friend here at this RV Park.  She would prefer to remain nameless on this blog for now.  Today we went to some festivities at the Ninepipes Museum just outside of town.

It is really a great Native American museum, if you ever get a chance to stop in on Highway 93 just south of Ronan.

This Sioux war shirt was made for and used in the movie “Dances With Wolves” (my favorite movie ever), but there was an original from the 1800’s that really did look just like it, here at the museum.

There was so much beautiful beading!

They have  a beautiful gift store.  I loved this quilt, but it was over $400.

I bought this barrette, made by a Navajo beading artist.  Happy birthday to me!

The view outside, behind the museum.  This area where I’m staying is the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Later we went to Polson to a Mexican Restaurant on Flathead Lake and my friend bought dinner.   I enjoyed the food and the margarita!

A margarita with a view!  🙂  It was drizzling on and off, or we would have been sitting outside on the deck,

But inside was just fine!

Umm….my friend let them know it was my birthday so the gang came and sang to me and I was honored to wear a sombrero !

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You know, there ARE good things about getting oldER.  That beloved Senior Pass is one of them.  The America The Beautiful Senior Pass becomes available to US citizens when at the age of 62 and costs $10 for lifetime.

Social Security and Medicare are nothing to sneeze at!  I love them!  There are senior discounts here and there. And there is some Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-SPECT….just a little bit…” Take it when you can get it.  🙂  Having been a teenager in the 60’s was a pretty good deal too , with Mick, John and Paul singing to us….not too shabby.

But there is something else that I appreciate about getting older.

I am all the ages I have ever been.  They are all a part of me NOW.  Part of me is still 5 and 10, and sweet 16.  I’m 21, and 30….and well, you get it.  It’s all part of who I am now, and I love that.  Maybe it brings a little wisdom…having been there and done that.  Maybe I learned something along the way.  (Or not.) I feel like I am still learning.

And of course, getting oldER beats the alternative.

Loving life at 67!  Cheers!

First we had some company on the evening of the third.  Casita friends Reine and Paul came and spent the night here right next to us.  We had a very nice visit.

Another one, just like the other one!  We both have the Freedom Deluxe model of the Casita.

But then they left just before noon on the 4th, heading for Glacier National Park.

There they go!  Bye Reine and Paul!

The day was peaceful and uneventful then, until….10pm.

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All my life I enjoyed fireworks and sparklers ( firecrackers, not so much)…until I became Joys mom, over 12 years ago.  She has never liked the noise at all, and when Shiloh joined us 3 years later, he didn’t like them either.

Last year, my first 4th of July ‘on the road’, I spent with Mary at a Thousand Trails park, and there were no booms and bangs at all.  Nice!

Last year, above and below.

( This year, sadly I couldn’t find the big flag or the shirt.  I couldn’t dig around due to back pain, but also I may have left them at Mary’s house.)

This year, well, I am where I am, and I didn’t see any way of getting around that.  There are no fireworks allowed at the park, but the surrounding area had no shortage of them.

It was nice that there was really no noise until dark, which here right now is about 10pm.  With the first boom, Joy and Shiloh ran inside WS, panting, scared, not knowing where to hide.  I shut the windows and turned on the overhead fan for ‘white noise’.  Then I cranked up the music on my little sound system and started singing!  For some unfathomable reason, Joy and Shiloh like it when I sing.  On and on it went and we listened (and I sang with) The Stones, Mick’s solo stuff, the Beatles, Bob Seger, John Denver, John Lennon,  Donovan, CCR, Van Morrison, and towards the end when it started to calm, some Native American flute music by Carlos Nakai.

The Bombs Bursting In Air went on for OVER THREE HOURS!

Could we still hear the fireworks, with my drowning out techniques in effect?  Oh yeah.

Joy finally settled under my legs.

Shiloh was on the bed,  as close to me (sitting in the chair) as he could get.

At about 12:45 it began to slow down and die out, and I didn’t hear any more ‘bombs’ after 1:15am.

Joy and Shiloh finally fell asleep.

The war was over I suppose.  I don’t know who won, but for Joy and Shiloh the music and my singing seemed to have the correct calming effect.  And it’s good to know that for at least 2 someone’s, that my singing is preferable to bombs going off.

🙂

Independence is a precious, sought after, state of being, and it goes hand in hand with freedom.  From the independence of country, right down to ones own personal level of independence, it has high value.

(I took pictures of flags around the RV park this morning, to put in this blog 🙂 )

From the time we are babies, we strive for it…it’s inborn.  We want to feed ourselves, crawl, walk, run…run our own lives.

Nations fight for it and struggle to maintain it.

Some say it’s just an illusion.  Some say it’s all about strength and power and money.  From certain perspectives, those things are true, and I do understand those perspectives.  It’s only tangible as long as there is strength and power to maintain it, and independence and freedom are all relative.

But in the reality of being in the present moment, I see independence and freedom coming from the Spirit.  It’s a state of heart and mind that spreads into the physical world if all the other ingredients are in place, which include will and faith and attitude and strength, along with power and finances….and so many factors.

It’s always static and relative however.  For instance, we won our independence from England, but in doing so we took the independence and and freedom from other people who had lived on this land for thousands of years, loved it, took care of it,  and relied on it’s bounties to sustain their way of life.  We left (and continue to leave) much death and destruction of people, animals, land, water and air. We call it progress.  We call it civilization.  Ironic.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love my USofA!  I’m patriotic.  I get chills, and sometimes tears, when I hear our National Anthem.  I fly the flag.  I’m thankful for the freedom and independence of this country, and I hope it lasts awhile yet.  But I’m not so patriotic that I’m blind.

Oops.  I bit blurry!

I’m grateful to those who have fought in our wars, but I don’t like the killing.  I have stood in some of our national cemeteries and mourned the deaths of so many thousands of lives.  I have stood on battlefields, like Wounded Knee, and the tears have rolled down my face.  I want there to be a better way.

All We Need Is Love.  All I Am Saying Is Give Peace A Chance.  Imagine….imagine all the people, living life in peace….you may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

Maybe you are one?

I’m grateful that living in this relatively free and independent country allows me to live the lifestyle I’ve chosen.  On a personal level my own  independence is crimped right now, and as I hobble along with a sore back, I grasp even deeper the importance of health and strength in the scheme of things.  I see how fleeting it can be.

My friend “Kerry” (“Annabelle’s” mom) also a full-time, solo RVer, whom I recently visited in Sisters, OR has recently experienced a blow to her independence because she fell and broke her leg while working at the RV park.  It was a serious break and required surgery.  She’s barely walking with crutches and can’t drive for at least 6 weeks.  The city RV park where she was working when it happened just gave her notice that she has to move…in one week.  She does have friends and support in the area, but so far doesn’t know where she will be living.  If anyone has suggestions that might help her, please mention it in the ‘comments’ section.  She wants to stay in her 5th wheel and she needs hook-ups.

On a more up-beat note, I’m expecting friends Reine and Paul here later today.  I met them on the Casita Forum before I ever set out on this journey.  Then we met in person at the “Pine Knot Rally” in southeast Texas early in my travels.  Now they are on their way up to Glacier NP and will be spending the night here right next to me. I’ll be happy to see them!

Happy 4th to you all!  May we all ponder Independence and Freedom and discover what it means to our own hearts and minds.

Below are the words to the first verse of “America The Beautiful”, the 1904 version.

“O beautifull for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!”

Purple mountain majesties.

I’m writing this post to you, but probably mainly as a reminder to myself…

Be in the present moment, because really, that’s all we have.

(Some of the pictures I’m using today are from past ‘moments’.)  This was a cup of coffee at Deetjens Big Sur Inn.

I’m having a hard time just resting.  My mind gets into ‘race’ mode, as I think of all the things I ‘need’ to be doing.

With this ‘back’ thing going on, it seems like right now doing a very little bit is ok, but it’s hard to stop with a little bit and it’s hard to even know how much is enough, and how much is too much.  I’ve blown it a couple of times already and set back healing by days, which is frustrating.

So I need to be here now in this moment and not thinking about all the next things I want to do and the next places I want to be.

Stop, and smell the roses, literally.

This used to be in my garden, once upon a time…

Or Stop, and smell whatever flowers you fancy.  These are wildflowers near Marsha’s house in Spangle, WA.

Gaze at the purple mountains majesty:

These mountains are part of the Mission Range, which is part of the Rocky Mountains.  They are right here next to me.

Watch the robins hopping through the grass….the hawk circling in the sky…the clouds floating by…

When will I learn that this lifestyle rarely requires rushing?

In a nursing career, rushing is the name of the game, unfortunately, and of course trying to look like you have all the time in the world.  Your mind is  often way ahead, planning how to accomplish everything you have to do in the allotted time frame.  That thought pattern carries over into the rest of life, even to a walk in the park, or a vacation.  Even into retirement.  With career almost 2 years behind me now, this back injury has caused me to see that I still haven’t left the old thought patterns behind.

I’m so conditioned.  But I have teachers….I have so much to learn from…

Yes!  From Shiloh and Joy!

They are the epitome of living in the moment, and being here now.  They are my little Golden Guru’s….the wise masters in a disguise of silky golden fur, four legs, and a tail, living life as it comes, joyfully, with acceptance, and overflowing with love.

Infinitely patient, and so filled with wonder at every leaf that tumbles in the breeze…or the majesty of the Grand Canyon.

Ever exploring with their keen senses, and thrilled with every new find, if it be a bug in the grass:

Or the amazing ocean:

Another conditioning that we have is our tendency to look at animals as ‘lesser’ than ourselves.

I think we couldn’t be farther from the truth.  We don’t understand them so we dismiss their intelligence and understanding and their message and the preciousness of their lives.  (Talking about cows, pigs, chickens, etc here, not just dogs.)

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So these were some of my thoughts this morning, as I sat outside sipping coffee, trying to be a good student and learn about ‘living in the moment’, and acceptance, from my wise and furry masters.

Joy under a Live Oak

Shiloh on the sand dunes gazing at the ocean

Joy, enjoying.

My Golden Guru’s

Not very exciting or adventuresome is it?

But this too is part of life on the road.  Things happen that we don’t expect.  How do we handle it?

In this case it was to come to as much as a complete stop as possible.  Reasonable when you can barely move, right?  I’ll be staying at this park in this site as long as it’s available, which is until July 13 at which time a group is gathering here, probably for the local cherry festival which starts on the 14th.

Not a bad place to be holed up.  Here is my view.

Getting here was hard and I just pushed myself through it and then for 2 days did nothing but rest and feed the three of us….just the basics.

Since then I’ve started walking Joy and Shiloh once a day for about 15 minutes (this morning was 20), and doing one task a day.  One day it was a load of wash here at the park, another day it was shopping.  I think today it will be a little bit of cleaning.

Somehow the dogs seem to understand and are not begging for more walks or making me feel guilty. (I do that on my own!)

I’m using my heating pad and an ice pack loaned to me by my neighbor.  I wear an elastic support, known as a back brace most of the time I’m up.  I do some simple yoga stretches that feel good, I read….and that’s about it….except for maps!

I’ve been pouring over maps, including Google Maps and Allstays, because I haven’t yet got a feel for where I’m heading next.

Joy helps…

But then I think she finds it rather boring…

(Actually I need to amend that….I just this morning decided on my next spot, which will be by Thompson Falls, MT.  I managed to reserve a spot at a nice place for a week.  Yay!)

I’ll still be wanting to take it easy (hook-ups!), and it’s the middle of vacation season, and lots of places are fully reserved at this point.

Meanwhile, I’ve reconnected with an old, young friend who lives in Kalispell now.  We used to work together as RN’s some 12+ years ago (probably 12 +++ years), and have only been in touch through Facebook in recent years. We are going to visit and catch up on Monday, and I’m very much looking forward to that!

A Rainbow.  One morning I open my eyes, and out the window in my perfect view is this:

(Not a very good picture, taken through the tinted window.)

This gives me peace because I know for sure I am supposed to Be Here Now.  (Even though things didn’t work out according to plan).  Glacier NP and rainbows hold a very special meaning for me.  I won’t elaborate…it goes back some 25 years when I was here before, and was trying to work out some difficult things in my life.

Then the last morning we’re here, at 6:30am as the sun rises it turns the mountains behind my campsite this red-gold-pink color:

Shiloh is outside with me.  Joy is still cozy in bed.

Glacier National Park makes it hard to say good-bye.

Things sure didn’t turn out like I expected.  I thought I’d be visiting with friends and running to and fro seeing this and that.

Instead it was all about introspection, sitting still, quiet times, meditation.  Reading.

During the week I finished the book I had been reading which was “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed, about walking the Pacific Crest Trail.  Then I read “Blood Lure” by Nevada Barr about bears in Glacier. Hmm.  Then I read the book in the picture “The Art Of Racing In The Rain, by Garth Stein.  I highly recommend all three, especially the last one if you love an older dog.  Warning…keep tissues handy, especially at the end.

As I write this we are back in the land of electricity, wifi and cellular service.  I worked too hard getting us here and now I’m paying for it.  It had to be done though, and we will be here for 2 weeks.

Glacier National Park….I’ll be back.

Mick said that!

I wanted to let you know plans have changed again!

The day we arrive here at St Mary Campground in Glacier we take a walk to the visitor center from Loop A which is the only trail dogs are allowed on.  Since we are in Loop C, the walk is maybe a mile and a half, tops.  I notice my lower back feels achy and fatigued, weird because I’d been taking much longer walks with Kerry a couple weeks ago with no problems.

On June 14, the middle right side of my back hurts a bit, and feels like a pulled muscle, but not too bad…till I bend over to do some little thing in the late afternoon and the spasms set in, and since then I’ve been generally not a happy camper.  This seems similar to the episode that happened about 9 months ago and also started while I was in Montana.  It took a month to heal.

I ‘sleep’ sitting up the night of the 14th, afraid that if I get in bed I won’t  be able to get up again.  By the 15th I realize that traveling to Canada right now wouldn’t be a good idea.  I need to call Shirlee and Doug and I have no AT&T.  I go to the visitor center but they have no pay phone.  I know I am going to need to stay somewhere with the comforts of electricity, water and Internet when I have to move on.  I go to the KOA nearby but they are booked solid…also they have no pay phone.  The young lady at the desk offers to let me use her phone, and I tell her I need to call Canada.  She says no problem, she has an international plan.  I leave a message for my friends and hand the sweet lady her phone back with a $5 too, thanking her.

I try another RV park up the road but they are also booked (this time frame runs into the holiday), and there is no pay phone.

I need to talk to the friends I’m supposed to be meeting, and I need to make some reservations  ASAP.  I really need to stay in one place for at least 2 weeks and give myself time to heal.  I need to drive to Browning again to get my AT&T signal, but frankly I’m not feeling well enough to do it.  I decide to go back to WS and try in a couple hours.

Ina couple hours I’m no better and still can’t face the drive.   Tomorrow…

Tomorrow is now today and we are sitting outside the IGA in Browning on the Blackfeet Reservation which is on the east boarder of Glacier.  Browning is 30+ miles from our campground.  I have talked to Shirlee and Doug, and Laura too, and answered comments on the blog.  I’ve answered texts and sent messages to those people I’d given emergency Canada numbers too.  And, I found a place I can stay for two weeks…through the holiday!  Yay!  It’s the same place in Ronan I stayed before I came to Glacier, near the buffalo.  (Bison for Ed. 😃)

So, the other significant line in that song I used to title this blog is “but if you try sometime, you get what you need.” And hat I have been able to do!

I feel so fortunate to be able to live the life I’m living and I’m not going to be complaining because everything doesn’t work out.  I do feel bad though about not being able to meet up with my friends.  It will happen, just at another time, which we don’t have planned yet.

Sorry no pictures today!

I will be out of touch until sometime on the 20th when I leave Glacier.

Take care!  I’ll be mostly resting…we are doing ok.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

What can say? I can give you facts and figures but I can’t describe the beauty here, and pictures don’t do it justice.

This is a place you have to see and feel and be a part of, yourself.  Yes, you have to feel it, because that is how you will know that it is sacred.  The native people who lived here knew, and that doesn’t change.

Everything about this place inspires the human spirit.

Lake St Mary is in these first two pictures.

I was relieved to see that there is little in the way of development happening, compared to when I was here 20-odd years ago, unlike the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, which have almost what you could call small towns within them.  That’s reflected in the fact that I can mention Glacier National Park to people, and the response is “Where is that?  I never heard of it.”

Our campsite, at St Mary Campground.  Very private.

Yet many people around the world HAVE heard of it because the park sees more than 2 million visitors a year.

GNP land area is 1583 square miles, and Going To The Sun road, which by my map is 51 miles long, took 10 years to build.  It runs through the park, east to west, and there are a few other paved roads around the edges, but there are over 700 miles of hiking trails.  If I had my life to do over, hiking in Glacier would be high on my list of priorities.

There ARE bears however!  Lots of bears, both Black Bears and Grizzlies.  This was their space first, and thankfully it is still their space, along with mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, elk, deer, moose, and even wolverines.  (I haven’t seen any of the above yet!)

They are very strict about bear rules, and the saying is “a fed bear is a dead bear”.  Even if they are fed by accident.  You can have food outside while you are eating it, otherwise it must be inside a closed, hard-sided camper or vehicle.  Tenters or tent-campers need to store food in their closed vehicle or in provided bear lockers.  Once a bear finds easy edibles at a campsite, he will come back to campsites for more.  Bears are not dumb!  Hefty fines are imposed if patrolling rangers find so much as a can of coke unattended on your picnic table….and I’m glad.  It’s for the bears protection, not to mention the humans protection.

Our fist full day here we travel the Going To The Sun road for as far as it is open, which is 12 miles from the St Mary entrance.  Trailers and vehicles more than 25 feet long are not allowed past a few miles in on this road.

Joy and Shiloh would rather look for gophers than at the mountains!

Much of the surrounding area of those 12 miles I drove have extensive fire damage to the forest from last years fires.

It’s sad to see the fire damage, but considered a more or less natural occurrence by those who study such things.

Wildflowers grow profusely all over the place!

The one below is called Beargrass.

The issue I find most disturbing here is the rate at which the glaciers are melting.  They are expected to be GONE by 2030!!  That’s 14 years!  If you want to see the glaciers I suggest you visit sooner rather than later.  If you are someone who is still in denial about Global Warming , come see for yourself.  These glaciers that have been here for thousands of years, within the past 100 years are diminishing at an astonishing rate.  What will happen when they are gone?  Drastic changes will occur, beginning with the microbes that live in the glacial ice and water, and on through the chain of life.  It this point, it’s too late to stop the process…

I am so touched by the beauty here!

Lake Sherburne.  The color of the water is caused by the glaciers breaking off minerals in the rocks. (The dark area on the water is cloud shadows).

It costs $30 to enter the park and have a weeks pass, or you can get in free with your senior pass.  Camping at St Mary Campground with no hook-ups is $20 a night, or $10 with senior pass.  There are water spigots, toilets and there are showers in Loop C. You can reserve sites in St Mary Campground and a couple others, but the rest are first come first serve.  Most sites at St Mary are pull through, but pay attention to the vehicle length limits if you are reserving on line.

The fact that Going To The Sun road is not yet open, only makes me want to come back again, later in the season, and perhaps camp on the west side of the park….yet to be determined though.

There is spotty Verizon service here, but NO AT&T.  I drove to Browning, about 35 miles away to get on line, and to give emergency phone numbers to a few friends and family.  When I leave the park on the 19th, I’ll be going into Canada, and I don’t know if or when I’ll have WiFi access….probably, but it could be awhile until you hear from me on this blog.

Joy and Shiloh….sleepy babies!

Weather report for Reine! 🙂  Cold!  It’s been in high 30’s or very low 40’s at night and in the 50’s during the day with a lot of wind that makes it feel colder!  I’ve heard the west side is similar, except generally not as much wind.  I don’t know which side you are coming to.  I’m wearing my winter coat out and about, and yesterday could not take it off even in the warmest part of the day.  But of course in 2 weeks things could be all different…

Take care till the next time all!

THE NATIONAL BISON RANGE

It’s estimated that about 30 to 60 million buffalo roamed the north American continent in times past.   It was theirs, the land belonged to them and they belonged to the land.  Some of the native peoples that lived on the plains were able to survive because of them.

Long story short, large scale killing by whites…amazingly large scale…began as early as the 1820’s,  but most of the slaughter took place between the 1830’s and the 1860’s.  When there were about 100 free range buffalo left, someone said  “STOP!”

The story seems beyond comprehension.  SO. MUCH. DESTRUCTION. OF. LIFE.

These animals are huge and magnificent.

The National Bison Range consists of 18,700 acres of prairie, forest, and wetland, set aside for buffalo….bison…to roam free.  Over the years since it was established in 1908 many other animals have been added such as bear, elk, dear, and the like, to make it a more natural habitant .  350-500 buffalo are maintained here.  They have their families, they graze, play, and live in peace.

Those little black dots are buffalo.

I watched them today.  I saw the little ones run and play, I saw mama’s watching over them, I saw them move through the grasses looking for tasty treats.

Wow.  What amazing animals!

I use my IPhone camera and there isn’t a lot of zoom, but you can see them a little bit better here.

More black dots…

This is part of the refuge, with the Flathead River in the background.

Another view of the reserve.

And this is the backdrop….The Mission Mountains.

The prairie is like a wild-flower garden right now.

A White Tail deer!

Ok, and I have to throw in last nights sunset.  🙂

This is the sun reflecting on the mountains near the RV park where I am.  It only lasts for a few minutes…

Wise words from a wise man.  All things are connected.  All animals and people and the land and water and air.  Have we even begun to understand what Chief Seattle was talking about yet?

**Tomorrow we head off to Glacier National Park!  I am SO excited about this!  I hope to post regularly while I’m there, but it will depend on what kind of wifi/cell signal I can get, or how far I need to go to get it.

**PS It costs $5 to drive through the Bison Range.  Or, you can use your senior pass and get in free.  It’s maintained by the Fish and Wildlife Service.  I HIGHLY recommend coming here if you ever get the chance.  Best in early morning or evening.

We are making our way towards Glacier National Park, slowly.  Some major plans have changed though, just within the last few days.  The idea was to meet my friends Shirlee and Doug and their kitty, Missy from Alberta, Canada, at Glacier and spend a week there together. After our week, we would go into Canada. We reserved camping sites next to each other at St Mary Campground a long while back.  But due to circumstances beyond anyones control, that won’t be happening.  They won’t be coming to Glacier, but we will still go there, and when we leave we will be going to meet them in Canada.  They have some favorite camping places they would like to share, and I’m looking forward to camping in those places with them.

Tuesday night we spend at Wolf Lodge Campground, about 8 miles east of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

We have full hook-ups so we dump, take on water, and gratefully use the air conditioner. The temperature reaches into the 90’s.

As I write we are at Bumble Bee Campground in Idaho Panhandle National Forest.

There are no hook-ups here.  It’s ‘only’ in the 80’s today, but it’s humid and rain is expected by noon.

It doesn’t happen.

It’s quiet with only bird sounds.  I see only one other occupied campsite  and later when we walk, I see that it’s the “Campground Manager”, who doesn’t seem to be anywhere around.

So we are along with the peace and the beauty…. with the birdsong and the breeze in the trees….with the scent of pine and wildflowers….with the gently flowing stream.

There is no cell or internet service, which at first alarms me, but then calms me.

It lends to the magic.  I don’t suppose there is so much magic that time might be standing still…or turning back so that our stumbling old bodies might be fresh again…that Joy might ‘jump for Joy’ again.  I’ve cried a few times today as I’ve watched her struggle to stand or as I’ve seen a back leg give way as we walk.

I’m not ready to let her go.  I’ll never be ready.  Looking for…acceptance…for when the time comes.  I can’t help but notice that she has found acceptance.  She handles her newer limitations with such grace.  In her aging she’s still a sweet, inquisitive, loving, joyful child.  Since she has been with me, depression that often bothered me has been gone for the most part.  She has constantly brought joyfulness into my life.

And when it comes right down to it, isn’t Joy as good as life gets?

Peaceful Joy.

I turn and look at Shiloh.  “Oh my gosh!  What happened sweetheart?”  His face is swollen and he looks Oh. So. Sad.

In the picture it doesn’t look as bad as it was!

He doesn’t want me to touch his face.  He must have been stung by at least one bee.  Both sides of his face are swollen…it must be painful!  His breathing seems ok, no respiratory distress.  I give him Benadryl for the swelling and possible allergic reaction, and also a doggie pain pill.  He has no trouble swallowing the pills inside the Pill Pockets.  Poor Baby!

Later I notice the sky begin to darken, the temperature drops slightly, and I feel dampness in the air.  It’s going to rain.  I begin preparing for that, closing JR’s windows, move my chair under the awning, and bring my Benchmark map of Idaho, my journal, and the binoculars, inside.

The rain is gentle and there is no wind.  It continues until sometime in the night.  I see lightening one time, and the rolling, crashing thunder that follows, resounds throughout the mountains and sounds like some monstrous being out there, smashing it’s way through the wilderness.  The dogs are frightened and I don’t blame them.  I’m glad it only happened once.

At 4:30am I awaken with the birds.  There is already plenty of light in the overcast sky.  We are approaching the summer equinox, so days are long.

I make my special coffee and take it outside to greet the morning and the birds.  The rain was cleansing and the air smells fresh and good.

Raindrops linger on the leaves.

Morning reflection….from JR’s back window.

Joy and Shiloh come outside.  After their breakfast we start our morning walk.

So small.  So tall.

We go to a water hole so the fur kids can take a dip.

Refreshing!

Morning has broken….

(later we go into the little town of Smelterville, and I post this blog!)