Saturday, August 03, 2024

Yesterday, in our triple-digit temperatures, a vehicle’s heated exhaust ignited a fire on this town’s northern outskirts, calling for evacuations. The city streets packed with traffic had vehicles crawling. In the department store where I work, all the electricity quit. We sent the store’s customers outside and waited an hour until the lights went on again.

Later, on leaving work, I avoided heavy traffic by taking an alternate route home. I knew the fire wasn’t active in my neighborhood, but I was worried about my horses in the smoke-filled air. At home, emerging from my air-conditioned vehicle, I was in a very noticeably hot, stagnant, and smoky environment. I checked on the horses; they were okay and hungry.

The heat and smoke made caring for them a chore. It included capturing and medicating my donkey, soaking hay bags, and struggling to hang those drained heavies. A good note is that her meds are working quickly, as Pimmy has a noticeably better appetite.

There’s sad news that the town of Paradise, CA, is again hit by wildfire, this fire having spread from a nearby city up in flames. Several years ago, many lives were lost in the first quickly appearing and raging Paradise fire. This second round is a double tragedy.

I often think of Paradise while watering areas around my house to hopefully keep it less susceptible to wildfire. I recall Paradise in two ways: first, as a community on television, in an astonishingly blazing fire. The other is a memory from twenty years ago: Paradise when I first spotted the tucked-away, surprising pop-up community in the middle of seemingly nowhere while traveling to and from Central Oregon in the process of moving here.

Here’s hoping that yesterday’s local wildfire is the closest my critters and I will ever be to one.

Dear Friends: Locally, the suns and moons spectacularly are reflecting wildfire. Diana

Friday, August 02, 2024

Yesterday, my donkey Pimmy had an appointment with our equine veterinarian. Everything started off awful though. Trying to start my truck revealed its dead battery. A trickle charger connected to the truck’s battery had failed.

I kicked myself for not practice-starting that truck the evening before. I thought about doing that, but the truck has always started—well, mostly—and surely it would again. When it didn’t, I had little time to fool around before Pimmy’s appointment and wasted a block of time waiting for roadside assistance. Finally, I figured out how to use a big jump-starter that’s stood around forever.

Pimmy loaded quickly into the horse trailer, and we went to the veterinarian. She got a physical checkup, had her blood drawn, had her front hooves x-rayed, and was re-diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease. I came home with a bag of medicines and new instructions about soaking Pimmy’s hay regularly. I dread the many needs, obstacles, and short time to do all.

I’ve learned from experience that a donkey is an almost impossible animal to medicate, except for one-time only.

Last evening, I haltered Pimmy and gave her three meds through different syringes. I also soaked hay for her and the horses. Then I found the drained nets too heavy to move and hang. I am trying to think creatively about how to lift future drained handbags, and I anticipate my donkey avoiding me this morning.

On the veterinarian’s advice, I will ask our farrier to trim Pimmy’s hoofs a little differently. If you’ve ever tried to tell a farrier to do something differently, you have a sense of what that’ll be like.

Oh, yes, about Cushing’s. It’s a metabolic disorder that surfaces in various ways. In Pimmy, it shows up in her weight, coat condition, and slowness of movements. Her disease appears primarily as laminitis which affects her front hooves. If left untreated, laminitis can become permanently disabling.

Dear Friends, I tell myself to do the best I can, and if it’s imperfect settle for progress. Diana

Thursday, August 01, 2024

We are entering the final month of summer. Here in Central Oregon, this year’s weather has been up for grabs, so hot that we have barely experienced a kind summertime. Now, I must start looking toward winterizing. That’s about bringing in hay and planning needed changes.

We had an early wet spring and hay is plentiful. I am waiting before ordering a new hay load, and am feeding older hay bales. They’ve been stacked at the rear of the hay shed. Clearing the back space will let me refigure the whole shed space. By rearranging how new hay bales are stored, I want to gain enough sheltered space for storing two lawn tractors through winter.

Another big task will be to clean and rearrange my “she-shed” workshop. Since last fall, a part-time job has kept me very busy and with too little time to be active in the workshop. This fall, I intend to reserve time to engage my brain’s creative side. I keep wanting to design and create; I don’t have ideas to focus on, but time for playing will grow them.

It’s unpleasant to already be considering the coming winter weather and shortening daylight hours. Having livestock and machinery forces thinking ahead and grabbing the future in friendly moments.

Dear Friends: The changing environment affects planning for our most routine needs. Diana

Tuesday, July 30 2024

A couple of days ago, my donkey Pimmy refused to eat. One thing about equines is the minute one doesn’t eat, it’s a worry. I watched closely and saw her eating again the next day, not vigorously but reasonably enough. Now, Pimmy has an appointment, for an exam by her equine veterinarian on my next day off.

Yesterday, Kate Beardsley, the knower of all things related to horses, came and took Pimmy’s vitals. Pimmy’s temperature and gut sounds were good; her heart rate was a bit quick, and Kate blamed that on some anxiety while being examined by a stranger. Kate also thought Pimmy’s front feet, while she walked, looked a little tender. That suggests oncoming laminitis, a worry, because Pimmy has a metabolic disorder called Cushing’s Disease.

We’ll know more later this week, and it likely will mean medicating Pimmy. That medicine is unpleasant. She has to accept a syringe along with bad-tasting liquid. After a single dose, Pimmy will start avoiding me. (A donkey tends to look sleepy but is keenly aware of everything, including what’s coming toward it.)

We’ve started down this road before, and each time I’ve quit that unpleasant medicating. Meanwhile, her disease progresses. This time, I must be on board and do what’s needed to stave off the Cushing’s.

Dear Friends: Experience with a donkey teaches that knowing one is a treasure. Diana

Monday, July 29, 2024

In America, this week is starting with the national scene heating significantly. The presidential candidates are tied neck-to-neck, the Feds might cut interest rates, Joe intends to reform the Supreme Court by instituting term limits and an ethics code, and gender battles are re-energized and in an uproar.

There’s plenty to worry about locally, too. Here on the West Coast, wildfires are raging; they’re huge and destructive, with arsonists, as usual, responsible for many. I’m not personally fighting a nearby wildfire, but grid damages and supply shortages will increase my monthly electric and water bills.

Now, it’s much more than “the economy, Stupid.” Today, all nations are involved; “it’s” a world economy of environmental changes, supply chain inadequacies, overpopulation tensions, and religious and migration issues.

We’re all on edge with worries about earthquakes, wildfires, rising costs, and shifting populations, and we are doubting the once-rosy visions of promising technology. For example, electrical grids that can’t adequately charge the predicted waves of battery-powered vehicles.

Sure, societies have weathered big changes. They cycled through the Industrial Revolution, a horseless carriage era, and the Twentieth Century’s post-world wars. Finally, resistance to the war in Vietnam changed how societies weathered events.

My point is that this week is opening to a renewed wave of social-economic issues. They’re about who will run the country, who will legitimize decisions, and whether the economy can be regulated to help daily living become more affordable.

It’s about a world economy, Stupid.

Dear Friends: About the movie “Casablanca,” I love its naive dose of heroism. Diana

Sunday, July 28, 2024

I am excited to see how effectively my re-self-generating Spanish Lavander plant attracts bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Today, I will add new sets of that easy-care, fragrant, and beautiful plant, even a whole section, with nearby seating for hanging out to see and enjoy insect action.

Before living on a small acreage, I rarely thought of insects as more than nuisances. Nowadays, it’s astonishing how well I have learned to appreciate and admire them. Also, what’s different from the “old days” is my great awareness of the value of small reptiles. Lizards and garter snakes that live on my property are always mightily seeking prey with quick tongues that flick and grab.

My increasingly trained eyes see much more around. Time has taught me the value of watching closely every tiny critter. Most of them have small footprints but are, as a whole, essential to environmental and plant welfare.

Having rethought my garden, I will select new plants, and those most applauded for attracting insects and birds. The high desert weather is perfect today for digging and planting activities.

Dear Friends: From the ridiculous (politics) to the sublime (nurturing). Diana

Friday, July 26, 2024

Whee! The Olympics, America’s presidential race, the Good Guys intercepting jets from Russia and China, and Netanyahu’s visit to America. Plus, in Central Oregon’s cooler weather last night, I slept under a blanket.

The chaotic world news forces us to find balance. Staying informed is worthwhile, and so is maintaining personal well-being.

We must know to vary our perspectives. Absorbing news through an historical perspective reminds us of how societies have navigated past crises. Absorbing news with a global perspective provides insight into how other countries are dealing with similar issues.

Following news with various perspectives to analyze it broadens a grasp of challenges and potential solutions. Those aren’t necessarily calming, which makes it important to constantly nurture personal balance and a sense of well-being.

News chaos that seems disheartening presents opportunities for growth, learning, and positive change. We must stay informed and engaged and have a sense of personal well-being. It’s how to navigate political and social turbulence, and hopefully anticipate a more stable and just world.

Dear Friends: These days of chaos have been refreshing my sense of hope. Diana

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Today, the weather bug anticipates that Central Oregon temperatures will drop significantly. A cooling-off will make working outside easier than in the intense heat during the last weeks. Fortunately, this is a day off from my part-time job. If it’s cooler outside, I will feel more like handling the work waiting here at home.

I said I’d not make political comments but am completely offended by a public persona, an alpha male, who has called women without children “cat ladies,” suggesting they’re not “normal women.” Bye, bye, dumb-sh*t. I sensed long ago, upon reading your book, that you have deep, unresolved psychological problems. Now, you’re confirming my impression.

Not only mine, because today’s social media are full of cat lady memes, clever, laughable, and on-the-point. This election cycle isn’t a good time to be picking on women’s choices; those are huge issues these days. Trump and Vance are misogynistic. It’ll be interesting to see how they will or if they can adjust their campaign styles.

Hey, if they even need to adjust! A large section of Americans, both men and women, consider those guys the tops and potential saviors of what’s best about this country.

While working outside in the cooler weather, I’ll stay aware of what’s happening politically. Like almost all (and likely worldwide) others, I intend to watch and listen and expect to have shifting perceptions.

Dear Friends: We are characters in a reality novel written in the moment. Diana