Close to midnight, my 19 months old Boxer puppy Rex sounded a real alarm for the first time in his life. We all rushed outside, and I immediately smelled, LOL, a skunk. Obviously, Rex had smelled it already inside the house.
I could write a book about animal stories that I experienced while living at the far outskirts of Los Angeles. Just a few more stories from my memory.
We had a few chickens and a rooster. At nightfall, they were all back in the chicken coop, but the rooster was missing. I searched all over the place. Finally I saw it at the end of my search light: a raccoon was washing its paws in the creek bed, and before it was my rooster like dead. It took our rooster three full days before it woke up from its coma and came back to life.
The rooster also discovered that inside our breeze walk his crowing sounded twice as loud. When he started entertaining us also at night, then I habitually locked it up.
At night I heard a racket in the garden. OK, Animal Control had given me a dog cage to trap curious coyotes. So, I went out and for sure, I had trapped one. Under a flashlight, I thought I looked the devil in its face. Incredibly wild and ferocious. Before calling Animal Control in the morning, I went and checked the cage; but the coyote was gone. Incredibly, it had worked itself out of the dog cage.
Habitually, I hiked a 3K tall mountain with my pups, starting at about 1,300 feet. While adjusting her collar, my Doberman slipped out of my hands and started chasing a coyote that I hadn’t noticed. Both were gone quickly, and I went after them searching hours. In the distance, I saw crows circling in the air that made me fearing the worst. I searched that area but nada. When it got dark, I went crying back to the parking lot ..... and saw my pup waiting for me and obviously asking, “Where have you been all the time?”
With four of my pups, we marched in line on a narrow trail. From time to time, I looked back. Yes, my Boxer “Heidi 1” (now I have Heidi 2) and Boxer Fritz behind me. The latter turned his head around every minute for any possible danger approaching from behind. Suddenly Heidi was missing. I called and was at a loss, but my Doberman Betsy instinctively understood the situation and assumed the leadership, leading us back for some distance, turning sharply left off the trail, and through the wilderness up and down till I saw Heidi in the distance in coyote country. I was so happy.
My daughter had a blue-nose Pit Bull. Even though she was on a long leash, she suddenly jumped behind a bush. What I didn’t see was that Bella attacked a rattlesnake and got bitten. I immediately started walking back downhill to the car. By that time, her head and neck had swollen, but two very expensive anti-venom injections at an emergency animal hospital saved her life.
And then there was my other daughter's Great Dane at 125 pounds. After we had walked the same trail three times, I wanted to go differently the fourth time. But Sir Mordred started arguing with me, "Dummy, don't you know where we have to walk?" I think the larger a dog is, the more intelligent and self-assured a dog is.
Well, I could go on and on; but I guess, you can imagine what life is like at the edge of civilization.
Above, I started out with my puppy Rex. On the photo below, he is the one furthest to the left. The picture was taken about six months ago.
So many of our loved ones are resting in our pet cemetery, while their souls are in dog heaven.
My wife's life turns around our grandson, whom she watches often while the parents are gone; as well as the church, her garden, and
her chickens. The food for the chickens is generously shared with birds, gophers, and squirrels that make their way into the chicken
coop. Nowadays we have hawks nesting in our tall Eucalyptus trees, and we can no longer let the chickens roam around freely.
PS, having placed 900 posts on SeniorForums during the last three years, I intend taking a break to spend time cleaning up my
holy mess. I wish my wife would do the same; but being twenty years younger than I am, she has more time left than I am.
California has almost 40 million people. I read that California has some 70,000 licensed drivers age 100 and over. It’s my endeavor
to join them, but it’s in God’s hands to let me do it.
God loves you, and so do I.
God helps who helps himself.
This is the day God has made for us.
Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
Tough times never last, but tough people do.
(the late Rev. Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral, now Christ Cathedral, Garden Grove, California)
I told myself not to do any hard garden work today and to leave it until tomorrow and give my body a chance to recover from the last 2 days... but I didn't listen, and I cut back all the ivy, which involves a heavy hedge trimmer..., swept all that up with the big garden broom...
