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Catch up from 4 weeks of no diary updates.
I have to catch up from nearly 4 weeks of no diary updates. After Sargeant died, every day for the first week started off sad, not seeing him greet me at the kitchen door each morning when I went out to feed the horses. Not having him bark after the horses, or bark happily at me when we finished feeding and walked down the driveway off the property for his daily walk. That is still very hard for me now walking down the driveway with only Kona.
I would tell you about how Kona is not Sargeant but it is a moot point. Just know that she is her own dog, who happens to be going through a mourning period of her own. Kona always was a "talker." She doesn't bark much, rather she growls affectionately often for several long seconds. It could be better compared to 'singing.' Well now she is even more vocal. She growls, whines, and moans a lot, and because she has no Sargeant to play with, or talk to, she does lots more vocalizing. She has also taken to digging now that she has no playmate. Okay, enough dog news. I will have to throw in some photos of Kona.
Two weeks ago I got a cold, probably from the toil of losing my dog, work related stress and maybe late night dancing with my girlfriend. Stayed out much later than I'm used to, danced longer than I have in years, and had a few drinks to boot. We had lots of fun, but I paid the price since I'm not a teenager anymore. So with a cough and sore throat from having to yell at each other over the music plaguing me, only a doctor's visit with prescribed drugs was going to pull me out of it. On the mend, the following week my sister Venise came to visit with me for a few days. She lives in southern California and arranged several months ago to spend her Mother's Day holiday away from the maddening crowd, instead to the fresh forest lifestyle of her older sister here in Washington state. I had been waiting a long time for this visit to arrive. Venise has 3 children, from 9 to 14 years old. Her husband would be taking care of them and bringing them to his mother's for Mother's Day.
After Venise arrived, we immediately went to Elite Muscular Therapy in Vancouver, WA for a wonderful hour-long massage. We both needed it, and boy, we came out of there feeling like our bodies weren't attached to our head. I think I will have to save up money to go there on a regular basis, the results are out of this world. Then we went to a Mexican restaurant and had margaritas and happy hour snacks. She opted for the Cadillac margarita, one that comes with a separate shot glass of Tequila gold. Gee, talk about feeling GOOD!
Friday we spent in downtown Portland, (Oregon) shopping. Venise says she hasn't had a chance to really shop for herself in months. She usually has her children with her, which doesn't allow for concentration or much time for selection. I hardly shop myself, but today we spent hours shopping.
Saturday May 13, Guy, myself and Venise made our way north on interstate highway 5 to see Mt. St. Helens, our resident celebrity volcano. It's only a little over an hour away, and she is a most unusual visual spectacle. There was a lot of snow on the mountain still. We visited three of the visitor centers, each one with many details of that May 18, 1980 explosion that killed over 50 people. The centers are gearing up for the 20th anniversary so there were many interesting added information from when I was last here. The volcano crater is open and exposed to the north and 'Helen' is rebuilding her lava dome slowly but surely. The blast zone is unreal; trees knocked onto their sides like toothpicks, bare rock hillsides where forests used to cover. There has been much regrown in the 20 year history of the blast and scientists abound, all studying some ecosystem from aquatic life to terrestrial life. Mt. St. Helens is one of the most visited tourist spots in all of the U.S. and she never disappoints.
We spent Sunday hiking five miles from my home at Moulton Falls park. The park covers both sides of the east fork of the Lewis river. The weather was perfect, sunny and not too hot. We took Kona with us. She was delighted and moaned most of the way there in anticipation and wonder of being allowed in the back seat of the car. Hardly any people were around because it was Mother's Day. We stopped to take numerous photos, with my camera, Venise's camera and my digital camera (borrowed from work). Then we dropped Kona back home, and made our way to downtown Vancouver to Beaches restaurant on the shores of the Columbia river. The wait wasn't bad since we had missed the lunch crowd. The sun was really warm now. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed watching the jet skiers, sailing boats, and cabin cruisers taking advantage of the lovely warm weather. After lunch we walked along the river and found a nice spot on the lawn to sit and chat. Guy took a nap.
Sadly Venise had to leave early Monday morning back to her hot and dry environment of southern California. She had a great visit, we caught up on what was going on in each other's lives, and promised to get together again soon.
That is why I haven't gotten much work done on my website. With the month of May marching on, I have much to do to catch up. This includes training a coming three-year-old mare to saddle. There aren't enough hours in a day!
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