Snow coming Wednesday

I just ran across this graphical snow accumulation forecast by Channel 7 News/Weather. It looks like we have an "interesting" couple of days in our near future... with somewhere between 10 and 27 inches of snow accumulation in the forecast. Oh, boy...

 

Here's a different hourly way of looking at the snow accumulation forecast, courtesy of AccuWeather. 

Here's an interesting graphical way of presenting historical snow accumulation numbers, from HowMuchWillItSnow.

Waiting for J's PET Scan

Taking a quick walk around the big block at Swedish Hospital, while Jennefer gets a follow-up PET scan. This seems like the proverbial O’Dark-30 time of day, although it's really a relatively normal 6:30am, compared to the old days… It feels a little weird and lonely, walking around the block here without my trusty companion dog Mandy, although it does allow for a much faster average pace… even with quite a few icy patches and piles of snow on the sidewalks and streets…

 

I've always enjoyed this view of Swedish Medical Center before sunrise, but was rarely happy about the reasons for being here.

 

 

Quick stop at Safeway, to load up on a few warm calories before my 26°F walk.

 

 

 

Looking West on Girard St, after coming down from the parking garage. Funny how the mountains look so magnificent to my naked eye, but it loses something in the translation to a photo. 

 

Billows of steam are coming out of the top of the hospital, as the heating system is working its magic.

 

There are still quite a few mounds of crusty snow piled up around the edges of the sidewalks and parking lots. I'm finding it relatively easy to avoid the slippery spots, as long as I keep my eyes on where my feet are about to land. 

 

Here's a slightly less obstructed view of the mountains in the sunrise, as I'm approaching the parking garage.

 

 

 

Update at 11:40am: Her doc just called - he said there is no evidence of cancer in her throat, just some scar tissue, which I assume is from the radiation treatments in 2020. Hooray!

Flicker

Cold 32° Sunday morning here, heading up to just 46°, with the 10-day forecast showing subfreezing lows every day. The star of this morning’s show is… the Flicker! They occasionally fly off, then come by low and fast, buzzing the other critters on the deck, and startling them, by appearing to be a predator. Then they land on the suet feeder, and nibble some more...

 

To misquote Skip Mackey, the flight commentator for our Atlas launch vehicle for many years, “The Flicker is in control!”

 

This House Finch was in the process of changing their mind about trying to land on the suet feeder.

ER visit

Jennefer’s had a nagging cough, ever since she accidentally inhaled some juice last week - one of the undesired side effects of the radiation treatments to her throat, is trouble swallowing - and lately it’s been sounding kinda wet, and we’re hoping it didn’t turn into aspiration pneumonia. Urgent Care’s X-Ray tech was out today, so here we are at the Littleton ER, to find out what’s going on in her lungs... 🏥

Here are my updates from the visit: 

* The initial check-in went ok - no unexpectedly weird vitals 👍

* The PA says her lungs sound ok 🤞

* He’s finally ordered an X-Ray of her lungs, and they sent us out into the lobby to wait 🥱

* I guess the PA got the X-Ray back, as they’ve pulled her back from the lobby, into a private room 😳

* And... it’s good news - the PA says he didn’t see anything bad in the X-Ray, so… he’s sending her home, and I guess we just hope it will resolve itself, over time. It does seem like her body takes longer to heal from things, since the radiation and chemo treatments. So… Woo hoo? And we’re off to home! (And we shaved 30 minutes off the usual 3-hour minimum ER visit!) 😅

Something fun

We had some minor excitement on this otherwise quiet Sunday morning… Jennefer was out squirting water at those rascally squirrels, and startled a couple of deer down below in the yard.

The deer had been quietly munching away, and started moving off cautiously, when they heard her using the squirt gun...

 

 

 

Jennefer’s Amaryllis is looking great, with all four blossoms out in full bloom, and a little blurry action going on at the tire swing bird feeder behind, as one House Finch challenges another, for that tasty perch.

Quiet Thursday

My fingers are crossed, for my west-coast family and friends, who just dealt, or are still dealing, with that weather bomb. Here are a few pics from our quiet 15° first Thursday morning in January.

Jennefer’s new Amaryllis popped up three of its January blooms in a hurry, once it got going, and we’re enjoying the rich color on our breakfast table! 

We’ve been experimenting with offering Cleo two different soft items to relax on - the blue blanket that Freddie made, and a little super-soft white blanket we picked up in Atascadero one Christmas. She alternated between them, with no apparent preference, so I tried stacking them, for the win! 

We watched Green Hornet last night. I had seen it perhaps a decade ago, and remembered that I thought it was really dumb. For some reason, I enjoyed it more this time (still dumb, though). Kato’s barista scene had me salivating…! Tonight, Cleo is preferring the blue blanket-bed that Freddie made... These paw prints in the fresh snow on Tuesday morning got to me. I'm not sure who came to visit, but for a brief moment, I was SO sad, when I imagined that it might’ve been Mandy, with no way to let me know she was out there in the cold. 

I finally put up another hook (far left), so we could hang the old bird feeder that I’d glued back together, after the squirrel-induced Great Fall to the rocks below. 

It’s hard for me to see both bird feeders at the same time, from my vantage point at the breakfast table. This is about the best I can do, if I lean back...

Mandy's things

Some people have been giving me recommendations on what to do with Mandy's beds and other items. So, just for the record, all of her things are going to good homes! 

I gave several bags of Mandy’s unused food, treats, and supplements like Cosequin, to Jennefer’s friend Sherry and her German Shepard Gus. 

Mandy’s widely varied collection of squeaky and fluffy toys are on their way to my sister Otamay and her four dogs Xena, Connor, Alfie, and Shakti. (Update: Received! Shakti is having a ball with her new toys!)

Mandy’s tall stack of beds and the remaining paraphernalia are going to her loving friend Jen and her little dog Stella. Jen used to care for Mandy, when I was working or traveling. 

I’m keeping Mandy’s name tag, the whimsical paintings that Sheila made of her about 10 years ago, and the plethora of photos I took of her doing things with us, over the last 15 and a half years.

The backpack

I just ran across the "Mandy supplies" backpack that I've been carrying around in my car for so many years. This one was really tough to go through, without completely losing my composure. It has lots of small and large compartments, all of which were full of the items that I wanted to have nearby, any time we left home with Mandy, including lots of dog bags, treats, and regular food, dog coats and a sweater, an extra leash, some small water bottles, medicine for stings or other injuries, a small "pets and people" first aid kit, a reflective leg safety wrapper band. And of course, the wonderful little doubled-up traveling dog bed that Freddie made for her, from a soft fluffy Costco fleece blanket, which I would toss down on any restaurant patio, and Mandy would plop down on it and relax, while we ate.

This backpack has gone with us on more outings than I can remember. For sure, I have fond memories of walking with Ken and Mandy down to Blueberry’s so many times for a turnover or egg sandwich and a latte, but also to Abe’s Cafe, IHOP, Littleton Cafe, Peaberry Coffee, Egg & I, Stone Creek Grill, and Born2Bake for breakfast. 

We visited Kristan at so many hospitals and long term care facilities, and explored their surrounding neighborhoods. This photo is from when I brought Mandy with me into St Joseph Hospital for a visit in late 2011. She learned to do so well with the elevators there, after her first few very anxious rides.

I brought Mandy to work with me, when dog sitting alternatives had dwindled to nil. Then there were walking adventures at Sand Creek / Northridge Park, Cheese Ranch Historic Area, Bluffs Regional Park, Chatfield Park, Roxborough Park, Cherry Creek Reservoir, Centennial Airport, Bible Park, Washington Park, Cheesman Park, Cherry Creek Farmers Market, Denver City Park, Sloan's Lake, Red Rocks Park, Meyer Ranch, Flying J Ranch Open Space, Devil's Head Lookout, Indian Creek, Garden of the Gods, Breckenridge, Saint Mary's Glacier, Echo Lake, Idaho Springs Reservoir, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion National Park, Steamboat Springs, and Aspen. And of course there were our long driving trips to Atascadero, San Francisco, Benicia, Lincoln, and most recently, Yuma, Arizona. And the multiple airline trips to visit family in Lake Tahoe, Atascadero, and Florence, OR. 

So. Many. Memories. 🥲

Remembering

We’re doing something a little different this New Year’s Day - we’re burning a candle today, in remembrance of everyone we’ve lost over the years.

 

And speaking of remembrances, Mandy was such a big part of our lives, for being such a little dog, that the impact of her leaving is tremendous. Everywhere we look, we have a comfy little bed or other special place for her, so she could position herself to be able to watch our every move. It’s so painful, each time I pick up a bed and put it on the pile of stuff to go out... so here I go, itemizing them all, and maybe that will help me process, and then let go of, some of my more difficult emotions right now. Feel free to skip, or scroll down to read the individual photo captions, as you like…

 

Mandy’s (and now Cleo’s) water dish in the bedroom, and also, her first bed, a folding wire-frame dog kennel, which we only used once the first night to confine her, and then immediately let her out, and brought her up onto the trunk at the foot of our bed. The next night, she weaseled her way onto the foot of the bed, and then finally she was rewarded with a spot on the bed between us. The kennel, with its fluffy pillow, became one of her favorite and most comfortable places to hang out in the bedroom, for many years. We got her so many dog toys, which you can see on top of the kennel, but she rarely played with any of them, but we still kept them for all these years. She has an even larger collection of even smaller dog toys, under the table in the great room by the sofa. She rarely touched them, either. 

 

Mandy’s special blanket on our bed. After our first few days with her, and we realized she was going to end up on the bed with us, we always kept a small blanket on top of the bed for her. For years, I would just flip the blanket over her, after she got comfortable, which was only after I had settled down. Lately she had a much harder time getting settling in, which was one of many small and large clues that she was nearing the end.

 

Mandy’s bed and blanket in the back of my car, which was brand-new two weeks before we got her. She spent so many hours snoozing comfortably back there, as we were driving cross country, or just on the mornings while she was waiting for me to get out of breakfast, so we could go for our late morning walks…

 

Mandy’s bed in Jennefer’s closet. This was one of the earliest beds that we set up for her, in locations throughout the house, and it was the place she would patiently wait for me to get home from work, after our caregiver/housekeeper/dog-sitter left. When I started bike riding, she would wait in here for me to return.

 

Mandy had a bed behind the sofa, so she could hang out and watch us prepare our and her meals. Then there were two beds here for the past few years, as Cleo at some point started commandeering Mandy’s bed, which left Mandy standing on the hard wood floor, gazing at us morosely. Now this one bed is just for Cleo, if she wants it.

Mandy’s bed in my basement office, by my (now-vintage) desktop computer, which I’ve started using again for some activities, as the larger screen works much better for me at times. She followed me down, in spite of the blockade I’d put at the top of the basement stairs, and would snooze comfortably for hours, as I finished up my various e-chores here.

 

Mandy’s bed in the Study, near my (relatively new) laptop computer, which I was "forced" into getting, because the old computer could no longer keep up with my favorite activity, flight simulation. She would snooze here at my feet for hours, as I would plan and fly my many trips using the X-Plane and Microsoft Flight Simulators. This became her favorite place, especially recently, and she would often detour into here, when she was roving the house looking for where I must’ve gone, and I'd eventually find her here, waiting for me…

 

Mandy’s collapsible traveling dog house, usually in the corner of the great room, but currently in the Study, to make room for Christmas decorations. This became yet another regular place for her to hang out and supervise us. Cleo quickly decided that it’s also a fine place for her to get some rest in relative privacy, while keeping an eye on us.

Mandy’s airline carrier, by the fireplace hearth near the TV. She traveled quite a few miles with us by air, but when we got home, this became yet another place for her to hang out and supervise us, as we were watching TV, when she wasn’t cuddled up with us on the sofa. Now Cleo has decided she likes to hang out here, and has taken over the supervisory duties. Oops, I just realized, there is a bunch of Mandy traveling paperwork and other supplies stashed in the big pocket on the other end of the carrier - so I have yet another task of unpacking and dispositioning all those items. 

 

Mandy’s bed by the table in the breakfast nook. In her never-ending quest to keep an eye on us, she would settle down in this bed, any time we were sitting at the breakfast table. I found myself looking there several times today, as we were getting ready to go out for an errand, as lately I've picking her up from there, to carry her to the car, for our drive to pick up breakfast. She didn't need to be carried all the way, but it was expedient sometimes, to skip the extra time she took to get out of bed, stretch, stretch again, and again, wander behind us to the door, sniffing a few things along the way, and then for us worry about whether or not she would make it down the garage stairs without a misstep, and then pick her up and put her in her bed, in the back seat of the car. 

This is the pile of beds and blankets waiting to go somewhere. You can see that we've already made a little progress on removing some of these items that also have strong emotional ties, from the places where Cleo doesn't seem to want to use them.

Happy New Year 2023

I woke up in front of the TV, with Jennefer already in bed (after I fell asleep), and The West Wing running back-to-back, to loud booms outside… groggily wondering what’s going on… then I really woke up, and realized… oh, yeah, people are out there celebrating with their illegal fireworks, and it’s time to wish you a very Happy New Year in 2023!