More Energy Would Be Nice in Everyday Ramblings

This is from our hike yesterday morning, an old carriage barn. It was hard to get a centered perspective because there was this giant black truck parked in front of it. It was a rare dry winter morning here and hikers and runners were out in force in this rather densely populated area of NW Portland.

Frida was very excited to see me (as I was her) and I was impressed at how much energy she had to start our hike with. Somewhere about mile 3 she started to flag a bit. Her kidney function numbers are still not down into the normal range but she is so much better. Mrs. Sherlock is feeding her kidney diet specific wet food by hand as her appetite is still a bit strained.

We stopped at a coffee shop on the way back and she rested for about 20 minutes and there was definitely an improvement after that short respite. She ate her regular teeth cleaning treat that I bring her about three times more slowly than is usual as well but she enjoyed it.

Her weight is down about 4 lb.

We spent a lot of time talking while we were walking (and getting mildly lost) about how grateful we are for the emergency vet being available and having the space to handle her and that they had the resources available to pay for it all. For Frida, it truly was a matter of life and death. Because they don’t know what caused her kidney failure Mrs. Sherlock had to throw out all the food they had and start over.

As Mrs. Sherlock is planning on leading a group hike in the near future we were looking for a place called the White Shield House that she knew about. This is where the slightly getting lost part came in. After we did eventually find it (on our own, without the help of the three sets of passers by we asked and Google Maps. It turns out the reason we couldn’t find it was that the connecting trails to where we were going had been closed by the water department and that the facility is still being used to house girls and women from 2 to 20 with behavioral problems and so the location is not mentioned. The Salvation Army runs it.

It has this absolutely cool (basically) private bridge over a ravine with a creek in it next door. I didn’t get any good pictures (because I was totally entranced by everything I was hearing) of it so I hope to go back. A guy who made his fortune selling tents to prospectors constructed the building as a home for unwed mother in 1914. The bridge was built in 1922.

It has a view of what is now a very industrialized area built on the fill that was created by sluicing water and tree remnants after logging down the hill on the way to the river.

There is certainly a market for tents here now with the homeless drug addicted population. Though I suspect the majority of those tents are stolen out of garages. It was a particularly gray day yesterday and evidence of the drug epidemic was everywhere on my walk over there.

I wanted to walk because I wanted to experience the sounds. What was extraordinary was how much bird song I heard! There were birds everywhere. There were robins and starlings, jays and chickadees, juncos and a raptor or two along the way. Because we haven’t had a hard freeze yet and it has been warmer than usual, signs of spring are already appearing. We saw daffodil shoots, one particular early shrub with pink purple buds and a surprise tree with flowers with a northern orientation.

There are a few things about my hearing aids I need to figure out like how to get my glasses on and off while wearing them, how to wear a hood or a hat without displacing them. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks for adjustments and hope to get some tips then. Tomorrow I think I will teach my class with my glasses on. I have figured out how to talk on the phone.

This was cool;, as I was walking I walked by a couple of lone older women, and I smiled in acknowledgement at them. As they were passing me, at a point where I could not see their faces and so could not tell they were talking, they said “Good Morning”. I heard them! Who knows how much of that I have been missing in my limited hearing cocoon?

I did get a slight headache from concentrating so hard and having the sound I am hearing centered in the middle of my head and so I took them off in the late afternoon yesterday and took a leisurely bath. While they are in fact, this new rechargeable version, water resistant (I can wear them in the rain) they are not waterproof.

Before the leaves come back on the trees I need to do some birdy outings to hear what I can hear and see what I can then see after hearing.

In the meantime though, the low rumble of a discreet cat purr is music to my ears.

I wonder if I will have more energy now that I don’t need to work so hard to hear what people are saying? Boy do I hope so. I could use it

Last updated January 06, 2019