Memories

The words just flew. "Where is so-and-so now?" and "So, you're into digital photography too!" and "You have a daughter?!?" "and she's 15!?!?" It's been a long time since I've seen these guys. I visited Steve a couple times on my other visits to Tahoe over the years. But I haven't seen David since I left Tahoe in 1981. Sure wish I could be here when he does his next performance of Woody Guthrie. I'm sure that's wonderful. They both came by our motorhome at Boomtown and we chatted over some wine. Luckily Steve grabbed my camera and snapped the following, so I didn't miss this spectacular sunset while I was so busy talking. Steve takes a lot of photos of flowers and plants in the Tahoe area. Do you think I had fun?

Odie gets Stitches

I really try to avoid doctors. Just as I believe we are a society quick to hire a lawyer rather than solve our own problems, I also believe we are too quick to go to doctors rather than rely on natural healing. But what do I know? It was getting pretty clear to me that Odie's cut wasn't going to heal right unless there was something like stitches holding it together. So, we found a vet that would take us without an appointment and did the deed. He's still pretty pathetic, but I'm confident he'll heal well now.

It's Snowing

OH MY GOD it's really snowing! Time to head south, or at least to lower elevation. We actually see snowflakes in the air. By the time it hits the ground, it's wet. Look just a little ways up on the surrounding hills however, and there's no doubt. It's snowing. Our neighbor in the RV next door says this is typical Reno weather .... FOR JANUARY!! Our heater works real good. We're nice and comfy cozy inside here.

Doggie Down

We stayed the night at Melinda and Laird's house Friday night. The first time we haven't slept in our motorhome since selling the house last November! They live at 7700 ft. elevation - my heart was beating like I was doing jumping jacks while I was lying in bed! The weather reports actually said it might snow. It didn't snow, but the wind blew with at least 60mph gusts. Yep, this is living in the mountains. They see bear often. This is not a bear next to Odie ... this is Elwood, their German Shepard dog. 120 pounds of playful, friendly, dog. He and Odie got along just fine, he was even gracious enough to share some of his food. But, when they got into a little tussle outside, Odie ended up on the bottom. We were able to grab Odie and Jim held him up high on his shoulder for a few minutes. Odie was a little dusty and shaken, but we thought he was fine until we saw the blood on Jim's shirt. Then we saw the small gash in his side. So, what should we do? Would rushing him to a vet (at least 15 miles away) be overkill? Well, let's just watch and see. We cleaned him up and he seemed to be OK, he didn't even hold a grudge with Elwood. We used hydrogen pyroxide to clean it and my favorite, Lavender oil, to disinfect and help the healing process. But, by evening he had gotten stiff and sore to the point that he couldn't walk. hmmm, if I was bruised and sore, I'd take some aspirin. I wonder if that's ok for dogs? I googled the Internet for dogs and aspirin and up pops my answer. As long as you don't give more than 5mg per pound of dog - it's a great thing to do. I also googled for vets in the area and found an emergency one that would be open on Sunday if he was any worse in the morning. How DID we ever live without the Internet? So, now it's Sunday. I don't think he had a very restful night and he's not his normal, bouncy self, but he ate his food, his nose is cold and wet, he went for a short walk and the wound looks like it's closing and healing already. We'll just have to start calling him 'scrappy'.

Lake Tahoe and friends

I've been looking forward to this ever since we left Fort Lauderdale. Lake Tahoe is a special place and was a special time in my life. I lived here in 1980. I had just finished law school and taken the California Bar exam. It takes 3-6 months before you get the results, so I decided to use that time to have fun!! I moved to Tahoe and lived with my friend Melinda in Incline Village. I found a job as a cook and waitress in a local cafe (The Stereoscope Cafe). And, when I wasn't working, I was playing, partying, hiking, reading, meeting new people, just having all sorts of fun. Come to think of it, I was doing that when I was at work too. It was a great cafe where people came to eat and talk. I made a mean juevos rancheros! Melinda still lives here. So, here we are with the spectacular Lake Tahoe as our backdrop. And, here she is with her husband, Laird. Laird is a professor at the local Sierra Nevada College. We went to visit his office in the newly completed library building. Makes ya wanna go back to school doesn't it? It does me anyway, especially when I know he teaches classes like: the King Arthur Myth; Universal Themes in Literature, The Unconscious, the Ego, and the Search for Soul. Then we went on to a presentation by a favorite artist of ours, James Christensen, who was visiting Tahoe. I've always loved his fantasy paintings (we had one in the house called 'fantasies of the sea" with little mermaids riding seahorses etc.), but it was so interesting to learn about his symbolism. For example, this guy's layers and layers of heavy clothes represents the encumbrances we collect as we grow older, the 'baggage' that accumulates and weighs us down. The name of this one is "Even as he stopped wobbling, Wendell Realized he had a Dilemma": His artwork tends to ease your worries and make you smile.