Wild Animals and Hedonistic Folly in Everyday Ramblings

I took this last Sunday on my walk. I thought the buttery roses were pretty, plain and simple. If the wind is blowing the right way it smells like roses out there.

There was a huge evening celebration last night with a parade and fun run to kick off our citywide roving festival for having made it through another year and our auspicious environment for roses. That meant the afternoon 5K fundraiser for Melanoma was a bit of a bust.

There were maybe 25 women like me, alone wearing our purple survivor t-shirts. (Both my dentist and my periodontist have mothers who have experienced melanoma.) And then there were maybe 100 more friends and family that showed up. I felt particularly bad for the family of a woman who just died on Thursday of this scourge. S. bailed on me and I am glad she did. It was all sort of sad.

The course went through our waterfront area where high-end folk and tourists go and there is a park like atmosphere and there were a very pale gorgeous young couple sunbathing with practically nothing on. They were completely oblivious to us but not us to them. It was such a touching visual of the hedonistic folly of youth and the challenges of an aging and evolving body.

There were some “survivors” or “warriors” that were younger too. But it looks like here at least it is mostly women in their 50’s and above. As if breast cancer wasn’t enough.

There is a large raccoon in my patio well this morning. I bring the bird food in and empty the birdbath every night before dark and I thought this morning it would be fine to put the feeders out after full light (or should I say full glare as we have a lot of particulate matter in the air and cloud cover). I have tried throwing water at her and that spooks her for a moment but I need to be mindful of the cats. She is twice as big as them.

A few days ago Diego came nose to nose with her through an open double-screened window. Diego remained remarkably calm. And the cat’s behavior towards her this morning while completely engaged is respectful. Yes, they have had their rabies vaccinations (you have to if you have a pet licensed in our county).

With Kes coming to stay tomorrow night, (the cats are very excited, they love Kes) I need to clean today. And I need to record my continuing ed and teaching hours. I waited until the very last day to do this.

I did my hospital continuing ed yesterday. I did actually learn something… that the herpes zoster virus that causes shingles and chickenpox can be transmitted through the air. You can’t give someone shingles from contact, only chickenpox. You need to have had chickenpox and a compromised immune system (oh say from stress) to get shingles. But kids not vaccinated for chickenpox can get it from the air they breathe. I guess I hadn’t thought that through. That virus is everywhere.

The book on stress by Kelly McGonigal is ready for pickup at the library so I will be going there in a few hours.

I am subbing the morning class tomorrow, then working and then teaching in the evening. I will be plenty ready to laze around Tuesday after part two of my latest dental extravagance.

Sorry, for this pedestrian post after that teaser title.

My heart goes out to Cindy’s (our seedys) family and her close community in Skagway. I am glad she is no longer suffering and will continue to miss her as the days unfold. She was such a bright light on OD and here just briefly on PB before she became ill.

Last updated June 01, 2015