Tag Archives: Scout

On This Day

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WordPress has begun giving me a rundown of my own posts from this day in history and it has been a real hoot to look back through the vault. Not everything has held up as some of it doesn’t really matter anymore but some of it is stuff I would still recommend.

Here are a few stories from this day that I thought you might enjoy revisiting.

Hillbilly Hot Dog is a West Virginia landmark and practically an institution at this point. It’s one I’ve those places you have to see to believe. Click here to read about it.

Speaking of institutions, the Wright Brothers are an institution unto themselves. We can argue all we want about whether aviation began in Ohio or North Carolina (it was Ohio, by the way) but Orville Wright chose to preserve his legacy and his brother’s in Dayton. THIS is a cool place to visit.

On the bookstore front, Hudson, Ohio has a delightful local bookstore called The Learned Owl. Hudson is a neat town too so plan to stay for a few hours. Read about the Learned Owl here.

I did some philosophizing about having something to look forward to on this day last year. It still applies.

And back in 2020, amidst the sickness, closures and supply chain issues, I was yearning for another time. Oh, to go back to this old store’s glory days.

Have a great Sunday, friends.

PS – today’s feature image exists solely to show off my house panther. He already knows he’s handsome but I’ll be sure to let him know the internet agrees.

Silent Sunday: Judgement

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This Face

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This is the face of an extremely upset little boy. We made an unplanned trip to the vet yesterday because Scout was relapsing from bladder issues he had last month.

The folks at his vet’s office are extremely kind and he seems to like them ok. At least he behaves like a little prince when he’s there. Notice the dagger eyes I get when they leave the room?

For the next two weeks, every morning and every evening he has to take a liquid medication as well as two pills.

And then for another week, he will take just one pill per day.

That’s 35 pills and 28 syringes of medicine I have to get into him.

He recently had to take a different liquid medicine and we perfected that process without any blood shed or lost claws. But pills are next level insanity when dealing with a cat.

He ran when he saw me coming last night and I honestly didn’t blame him. They provided this little plastic thing to shoot pills into his throat but it was not made for the small mouth of a cat and was truly awful for him.

After a couple of failed attempts with that tool, I surrendered and found better success with just prying open his mouth and tossing them down his throat.

Poor guy.

He also has to transition onto some special food, can no longer have treats, and isn’t allowed any people food at all. I am pescatarian but lean toward vegetarian. It looks like I’ll need to transition myself to full on vegetarian at home because he is a persistently persuasive little son-of-a-gun when there’s a piece of salmon involved.

Last night I ate a tuna sandwich on the porch. He could smell it on me when I went back in and I felt like a criminal.

He is no longer shooting daggers from his eyes but is very confused about why I’m such a crappy mom right now.

I’m not sure if it’s for me or for him but …. Send help!

Still Here

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Greetings, friends. I just wanted to pop in and say I’m still around even if I haven’t been present here for some time. My days are currently more mentally taxing than normal and the thought of writing even one more paragraph feels like too much most of the time.

This is a season and not a permanent way of life even though it does feel like it will never end.

My No Spend Challenge kept me mostly at home, resting, reading and turning inward this winter. That’s officially done now but I unofficially haven’t changed much. It’s an act of self preservation at this point but Adventure Season will start in about six weeks and I’m looking forward to it. There are several day trips I would like to take, some new-to-me bookstores and diners and maybe some longer adventures too.

Life will eventually return to normal and I’ll get back on some kind of writing schedule here too. I actually have a ton of travel stories to tell you from last fall but simply haven’t had the mental energy to do it.

Last November I announced that I wanted to hike as much as possible this winter. I had big plans for hitting the local trails.

And then reality set in.

The weekends were too harsh for hiking with frigid temperatures, icy trails and hazardous road conditions that kept us away. Then the snow melted into mud and ice. And then the wind moved in, making it unsafe to be under trees where a falling limb could land on your head at anytime. And then the rain came, ushering in a period of flooding.

Such is life in Ohio.

I did get to walk the Moonville Rail Trail a few weekends ago and then made it to a nearby trail at Old Man’s Cave in the Hocking Hills yesterday.

Fresh air and a good stretch of the legs will change your outlook on life.

The wind is back today but it’s about 65 degrees right now so I turned off the heat and opened a few windows to air out the house.

Sunday is always a reset day for me. Laundry, a little food preps and some small chores help to make the week go more smoothly. Some rest, reading and lots of hydration will help me feel like facing it.

I like habit and routine to keep me honest. I like adventure days for keeping me happy and fulfilled. I also believe in listening to my body and mind and in giving them what they need especially when in a season of challenges.

Through it all Scout has remained my steadfast companion and perhaps the only one in my life with no demands other than dinner and no judgement of me except when dinner is late.

We all need someone like that in our lives!

Go forth and adventure when you can. Dream of better days when you can’t and remember that rest is importantly to feeling well enough to face your day.

I’ll be here taking it easy and gearing up for better days!

A Good Supervisor

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Life here has been exhausting lately so I really didn’t welcome the time change and the lost hour that came with it this weekend.

Since I was already tired, yesterday was not the ideal time to rearrange my living room. After all, I had been procrastinating this project for some time. It clearly could have waited one more week but I decided that this was the day.

You don’t realize how much is packed into a room until you have to move it all.

But I wasn’t alone! This guy supervised the entire operation. He kept a watchful eye as I pushed a 150 year old steamer trunk that I use as a coffee table and tugged the couch across the room. He wasn’t sure what was happening at first but quickly discovered there was great fun to be had.

In fact, it is possibly that Scout rode on every single piece of furniture and rolled up area rug as they were dragged, pushed and otherwise forced into position.

He weighs seventeen pounds. I didn’t need the extra weight but who can say no to that face?

He’s a good little supervisor.

Around Here- February Edition

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Around here, we are solidly in winter and it’s a real winter unlike some recent ones where there’s been little snow. It’s cold AND snowy right now. I like the snow but dislike waking up on these subzero nights to run water so it doesn’t freeze. Keeping the bird feeders full has been something of a project as well. My feathered friends are desperate for nourishment in our frozen world.

Around here, work is keeping me occupied and is occupying my thoughts outside of work hours too. It’s that time of year and I have to remind myself that this too shall pass. Consequently, I’m throwing all my energy into protecting my own mental health.

To that end, I’m spending a lot of time curled up with a blanket and a book. In fact, I’m about six books ahead toward meeting this year’s reading goal. Don’t be impressed though. I’ll soon start falling behind. When the weather warms up, I’ll be out adventuring instead of home reading. I’m savoring every word and every page right now, grateful there are so many smart people out there who write good books.

I am thoroughly enjoying my reading and quiet as I chip away at the book stack that’s now occupying a good chunk of my dining room table. It’s a visual reminder of all the amazing books awaiting my attention and a reminder of how much I enjoy the written word.

Around here, I’m also enjoying the sixth season of All Creatures Great and Small. This is not a reboot of the original tv show but a reimagining of the amazing stories written by author James Herriot. Set in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales in the years leading up to (and now at the end of) World War II, this show is quite literally the only thing I look forward to seeing. It is a tragically short season of just seven episodes. It’s one of those shows that I will watch and rewatch because it’s simply that well done. I once heard a critic refer to it as slow tv, an annoying but apt description as the show focuses on the people and animals rather than explosive one-upmanship like so many other modern tv shows.

Around here, slow tv is a welcome part of my attempts at slow living. Those slow living efforts are made easier by the continuation of my No Spend Challenge. This continues to go well and be fun but I’m suddenly very tired of deciding what to cook and feeling like doing dishes is my full time job. I know this is just a phase but I sometimes think how delightful it would be to just order pizza.

Around here, Scout has been cozying up in the strangest places, finding warmth and comfort wherever he can. He’s a funny guy and a good little companion who is thrilled to have me home more this winter.

Around here, I’m snug and happy in my snow globe world, thankful for my job and all the comforts it brings to my life -even if I’m in the midst of a rough patch.

And as always, I believe that having things to look forward to is a key to happiness so I’m working on making sure that I have plenty to anticipate including a weekend away with my Pittsburgh pal this spring.

Around here, life is pretty good.