What an amazing way to end a work week!
Friday, January 20, 2012
A Whale of a Sunset....
The four of us - me, Michael, Ami & Kona (on brief sabbatical from house arrest - see "Kona Blues") - had just stopped in at a favorite little local haunt - the Tiki Lounge - for some good live music. We departed minutes before sunset so decided to make the trek all the way across the street to take in the view. It was so quick, and quite beautiful, in a simple way.
Just seconds after the globe descended below the horizon - no, not the green flash - but a big whale flying up and out of the ocean, back lit by the afterglow, perfectly silhouetted and so clear. It was a huge breach - full body jump, followed by a huge splash. For the next 10 minutes we watched several more whales frolicking right at the horizon line. It was really something to see!
What an amazing way to end a work week!
What an amazing way to end a work week!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Mauification....
As of 9:15 am this morning, I am officially an ex-Californian. I surrendered by CA license and now sport a fancy new Hawaii driver's license. That was a momentarily weird feeling. I've had a CDL for twenty-some... no ... thirty-some.... well, since I was 16. A long time. Anyway, now I am truly kama'aina.
The last time I had on a "real" pair of shoes other than flip flops (or slippers, as they are often called here) was New Year's Eve (and even then only for about an hour - remember, Michael fell sick & our night ended very early).
I have actually put long pants on several times. (It is, afterall, winter.) But mostly I'm in shorts or a skirt and short sleeves. Really the only time I need a sweater is at Safeway (which is cold enough to hang meat in - and I mean the whole store, not just the cheese aisle). As I write this, 9:30 PM, my thermometer says is 72. It's lovely, if a bit cool.
I do actually have a complaint. It's rather shocking, really. They don't recycle here. Well, that is to say, they don't curbside recycle. Well, actually, they don't have residential recycling as a part of regular trash pick up. You can apparently contract with a recycler to come pick up your stuff (for something like $24/month. What!) But then there are all these restrictions - one pile for magazines, one pile for newspaper, one pile for office paper, one pile for #1 plastic, one pile for #2 plastic - everything rinsed, no caps - one pile for flattened cardboard.... (what the heck am I paying $24 for?) Or, in the alternative, you can take all of your recycling to a recycling and reclammation center and drop it off (for free). But that, of course, means you have a place to store enough stuff to make the trip to the center worthwhile. (Let's face it, around here if you are piling up and saving stuff like that somehwhere, it very soon becomes a Cockroach Condo. No thanks.) So I guess what I'm saying, is they don't make it easy for ex-Californians like me to throw all my recycling in a big blue bin and have it taken away by the recycling fairies weekly who will sort it for me. Sheesh.
The last time I had on a "real" pair of shoes other than flip flops (or slippers, as they are often called here) was New Year's Eve (and even then only for about an hour - remember, Michael fell sick & our night ended very early).
I have actually put long pants on several times. (It is, afterall, winter.) But mostly I'm in shorts or a skirt and short sleeves. Really the only time I need a sweater is at Safeway (which is cold enough to hang meat in - and I mean the whole store, not just the cheese aisle). As I write this, 9:30 PM, my thermometer says is 72. It's lovely, if a bit cool.
I do actually have a complaint. It's rather shocking, really. They don't recycle here. Well, that is to say, they don't curbside recycle. Well, actually, they don't have residential recycling as a part of regular trash pick up. You can apparently contract with a recycler to come pick up your stuff (for something like $24/month. What!) But then there are all these restrictions - one pile for magazines, one pile for newspaper, one pile for office paper, one pile for #1 plastic, one pile for #2 plastic - everything rinsed, no caps - one pile for flattened cardboard.... (what the heck am I paying $24 for?) Or, in the alternative, you can take all of your recycling to a recycling and reclammation center and drop it off (for free). But that, of course, means you have a place to store enough stuff to make the trip to the center worthwhile. (Let's face it, around here if you are piling up and saving stuff like that somehwhere, it very soon becomes a Cockroach Condo. No thanks.) So I guess what I'm saying, is they don't make it easy for ex-Californians like me to throw all my recycling in a big blue bin and have it taken away by the recycling fairies weekly who will sort it for me. Sheesh.
Kona Blues
Poor Kona.
As many of you may know, Kona had developed a chronic limp whenever she would run at the park, which was at least once, mostly two times a week back in Petaluma. Then she'd spend the other 5 days of the week pretty much laying around the house and playing with Ami. Since we've been here in Maui, we've been getting out to the beach 5 or 6 times a week. Lots of running, ball chasing, surf crashing... and her limp just got worse and worse.
We finally got her to a vet here. After hearing our saga, performing an osteopathic examination which allowed him to zero in with a very specific x-ray, he was able to identify the problem and provide a treatment option.
Apparently, in her front left leg, her ulnar bone is slightly longer than the radius, which is causing pressure and pain on the elbow joint. All the exercise has exacerbated the condition, inflaming the joint. So she was given some heavy duty anti-inflammatory meds and has to start a new Rx (and, needless to say, expensive) food. But the hardest part (so far) is that she is on what we are calling "bed rest." We're supposed to keep her off her leg as much as we can - no running, no jumping, very little walking. Ideally, confined to a small area where she can pretty much only stand up, turn around and lay down and then out for potty breaks, but always on a leash and not more than 20-30 feet of walking. "No free roaming."
Poor Kona!
Even tho we are constantly telling her what a good girl she is, we think she thinks she's being punished for something. We keep telling her to lie down & stay. We go out for pee brakes, she's on leash and Ami is not. Ami, as you can perhaps imagine, needs to go out and do something every day. So one of us leaves with her, the other stays home with Kona, who cries and doesn't understand. It's kind of heartbreaking. And this is only day 3. The initial recommendation from the vet was 4-6 weeks of this kind of restriction.
Poor, poor Kona!
Apparently with this kind of condition there is a good chance that rest and time may solve the problem. If not, there is a surgical intervention -cutting a small section out of the ulna to shorten it. But that has lots of other daunting ramifications - even longer recovery time (8-12 weeks of strictly limited activity), risk of infections or mis-healing - not to mention the cost. We're not at all sure this would be a viable option for us.
Yikes.
So we are trying to do this right now, as hard as it is on Kona (and Ami, and us). Hoping this is one of those short-term pain things that will pay off in the long run.
Poor Kona. Please send soothing, healing thoughts her way.....
As many of you may know, Kona had developed a chronic limp whenever she would run at the park, which was at least once, mostly two times a week back in Petaluma. Then she'd spend the other 5 days of the week pretty much laying around the house and playing with Ami. Since we've been here in Maui, we've been getting out to the beach 5 or 6 times a week. Lots of running, ball chasing, surf crashing... and her limp just got worse and worse.
We finally got her to a vet here. After hearing our saga, performing an osteopathic examination which allowed him to zero in with a very specific x-ray, he was able to identify the problem and provide a treatment option.
Apparently, in her front left leg, her ulnar bone is slightly longer than the radius, which is causing pressure and pain on the elbow joint. All the exercise has exacerbated the condition, inflaming the joint. So she was given some heavy duty anti-inflammatory meds and has to start a new Rx (and, needless to say, expensive) food. But the hardest part (so far) is that she is on what we are calling "bed rest." We're supposed to keep her off her leg as much as we can - no running, no jumping, very little walking. Ideally, confined to a small area where she can pretty much only stand up, turn around and lay down and then out for potty breaks, but always on a leash and not more than 20-30 feet of walking. "No free roaming."
Poor Kona!
Even tho we are constantly telling her what a good girl she is, we think she thinks she's being punished for something. We keep telling her to lie down & stay. We go out for pee brakes, she's on leash and Ami is not. Ami, as you can perhaps imagine, needs to go out and do something every day. So one of us leaves with her, the other stays home with Kona, who cries and doesn't understand. It's kind of heartbreaking. And this is only day 3. The initial recommendation from the vet was 4-6 weeks of this kind of restriction.
Poor, poor Kona!
Apparently with this kind of condition there is a good chance that rest and time may solve the problem. If not, there is a surgical intervention -cutting a small section out of the ulna to shorten it. But that has lots of other daunting ramifications - even longer recovery time (8-12 weeks of strictly limited activity), risk of infections or mis-healing - not to mention the cost. We're not at all sure this would be a viable option for us.
Yikes.
So we are trying to do this right now, as hard as it is on Kona (and Ami, and us). Hoping this is one of those short-term pain things that will pay off in the long run.
Poor Kona. Please send soothing, healing thoughts her way.....
Sunday, January 15, 2012
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