Temporarily Out of Full Retirement

Late afternoon light on Sequim Bay beaches...

I used to joke with my other retired friends that if we ever needed - or wanted - a job, we could go and become greeters at the local Whereyoufindeverything Store... but that really is not something I enjoy, where writing and editing truly is.

Since May I have been caring, on a part-time basis, for an elderly lady who has become a dear friend. Cooking and keeping up with her household affairs was an enjoyable duty and starting a routine for the two of us to have tea at 4 p.m. was something we both came to enjoy. Sadly, several weeks ago her family decided to place her in an assisted living facility. Although I was paid to spend afternoons with her during a transitional time, it is clear that her level of awareness and ability to move around has been degrading daily.

Last cutting for the fall hay season is done.

The joy of conversation and laughter is disappearing as well. She sleeps a lot, is in a tremendous amount of pain from spinal stenosis and arthritis, and her motivation to get up dwindles like the afternoon sunshine in fall. She mused aloud recently, "I wonder when I will get out of this place." What could I say? At 92, with her ailments, she doesn't have the motivation or physical resources to do necessary therapies to maintain muscle tone and strength. The inevitable slide downward is hard to watch.

As we age, it becomes more and more important to stay active, and to drink water that is 'good,' not just  processed. One month of not doing certain physical exercises will have a negative effect. Strength training, walking, and eating fresh foods are essential. I tried to get Mrs. R to walk with me, but every step was painful. I encouraged her to do some weight lifting but she soon tired of the effort. I cooked fresh foods every day, but with less and less activity there was less and less appetite. Clearly everything NOT done was affecting everything else. And when I had to leave for several weeks to close out my affairs in Colombia, I was pretty certain no one else would push her to make some effort. When I returned, I could see that I had been right.

I'm not a mushroom specialist, but the shape of this one
was intriguing. The Elks Lodge had a show this weekend.

Someone piled up stones on Rialto
Beach, like the Tibetans prayer piles.

While this end-of-life process is sad, there is a certain hopefulness in my friend's eyes as she tells me she is looking forward to being reunited with her beloved husband.

And as her cognitive life wanes, she cares less and less about the world around her, resulting in a sort of peaceful place where napping means no pain and no concerns. She awoke from just such a nap the other day and said to me, "It gives me such pleasure to wake up and see you sitting there, being here for me." I am grateful I can do that much for her now.

But I recently learned of a part-time job on a newspaper, and like the aging dalmatian fire dog who is accustomed to jumping up at the ringing of the fire bell, I was drawn to apply.

My part-time job will still allow me to have some time with Mrs. R, but more importantly I will be continuing to keep my own mind active as well as affording time for the gym and weekend journeys. If I have a couple of decades ahead of me, I certainly want them to be healthy ones.

Me voy a mudar = I am moving = chaos

The nice thing about LaLoma was the proliferation of birds....

By the time you read this, I hope the move will be done and all will be settled without incident. My new landlord, a retired history professor, has done a lot to make my new little space more appealing, and if I have to move again into anything smaller, it will probably be a coffin! My friends here don't like my sense of humor about that, but seriously, folks, in two years....

The nice thing about the center of town location was being
able to hear the church bells every time they rang...
which is about every hour in this village. It was like being
IN the bell tower.... very energizing.

Move # 1 - one year in a three-bedroom house out in the country (LaLoma) - it doesn't matter that I could only use two of the three bedrooms because of the serious mold issue in #3, or that the swimming pool was a breeding ground for mosquitoes, or that the brother-in-law refused to share the costs of the electricity and water even though he was living there in a small cottage with his dog (and sometimes a girlfriend).

What I will miss most about the small casita is the many
surprises of animals that have been tied to a variety of
things - lampposts, cartons, bicycles, motos, etc. while
their owners have a 'quick one' at the bar on the corner.

Move # 2 - supposed to be one year in the oldest (or nearly oldest) house in Barichara right on the park, central to everything. Huge space, but only two tiny bedrooms with 18-ft ceilings and peculiar bathrooms. But clearly the landlady was unwilling to address the serious roof problems and after four months of damaging leaks, I gave notice and found something else right away. Must have been a move during a Mercury Retrograde because...

Sombrita (little shadow) is in and out of all the boxes.

Ultimo is a real cool cat; nothing gets him worked up.

Move # 3 - was also supposed to be for a year, to a cute (smaller) three-bedroom 'cottage' really, but adorable... and I loved being there/here, but while I was away helping with the arrival of the twins, the landlady was telling everyone in Barichara she was hoping I would find something else so she could have her house back. I will miss the grape arbor... made my first batch of grape jam here.

Legally she could have been obligated to me for two months rent, but since I was persuaded that my 'last move' was a good financial deal, I got her to end the contract with no cost to her and I am now - on Wednesday morning/Halloween day - onto

Move # 4 - into two bedrooms (one of which is normal size), two tiny bathrooms, a kitchenette and an open space for dining and sitting around looking at the 180-degree view, up a narrow flight of stairs... should be interesting tomorrow. I have no idea how the cats are going to take all of this... because now we are re-introducing a - dawg. Stay tuned.

Sombrita gets into the middle of all the packing materials, naps there,
and any sound right now sends her scampering... very hyper!!!

Fotos of Feria XXXV- Day Two

Cathedral de Barichara

Day Two started earlier (!!!) than 5 a.m. when someone set off fireworks that sounded like cannons. This was followed by the band marching past my house on toward the central park. Groan.... I had slept through most of the downpour and heard very little of the music from the fairgrounds. No going back to sleep now.

This fellow is selling all  he can carry.
I love the bright colors in the serape.

The schedule for today includes going to help again with the float, probably about 3 p.m. And I am definitely going to go up and hear the music for awhile tonight.

An acquaintance, Patty, someone I met while taking art lessons from Shayo, has a wonderfully calm and very large yellow Labrador called Lucas. On most days, it is likely you will see Patty, her mother and Lucas there. It is one of his favorite outings to be allowed off leash to wander around the city's central park smelling all the 'messages' left by friends - the somewhat mangy black and tan mix, the tiny tawny terrier, and the aggressive Chihuahua-Pinscher mix to name a few - and then, after checking almost all of the trees, he comes and collapses underneath the bench where Patty is sitting. I think Lucas is smiling most of the time; it certainly seems so in this photo. Whatever the stories are, he doesn't seem to find anything upsetting.

Lucas - front and center

Lucas - tucked  under the bench

Looks good enough to eat, don't you think?

Today I tried to find the animal exhibition hall, but the only animals there were the Chino Santanderiano vacas, which you can see here. The baby is really cute, but his 'aunties' didn't seem to like him much and he was getting head-butted by everyone. The owner said the meat from these cows is really delicious and when I asked him how I could buy some, he misunderstood and was ready to sell me the whole cow. I said I lived in an apartment and I wanted the cow in pieces... he looked shocked at first, and then realized what I was asking. He said there is a place in VillaNueva - the next village over - where he sells the meat. Apparently I have to call him first and then he lets me know when a cow has been butchered and I then have to hightail it over to VillaNueva to buy it, before everyone else does. Sounds like a lot of work for me right now.

About 100 children with parents, older siblings or grandparents (or all of
them!) arrived at the Parque Cemetario to do some painting. (Note to E:
Two of the four girls sitting at the first table are the twins who said hi!)

After the cow exchange I went over to the Parque Cemetario to watch about 100 kids painting - and competing for prizes - until someone started playing reggae music which caused most of the kids to quite painting and start dancing. I wonder which of the 100 will take their art skills on to make it their business thinking that a bucket of candy is a great reward for one's creativity.

This is "Ventana" (2010) taken from my view in La Loma.

It didn't take me long to realize that I had forgotten to go to the art exhibition in the Casa di Cultura so I headed there next. It is a display of art by local artists, of which I am happily considered to be one. And there in a corner was my canvas "Ventana" (window) hanging for all to see along with some of my classmates' work. This makes exhibition #2 for this painting - and me - so I feel as if I can truly say, when asked, "What do you do?" that "I am a painter, an artist."

Kids were asked to wear hats and were given the horse and
the 'ruana' (shawl). A nice memory for some to have.

Since I had missed the Cabelgata with the grown-ups, I determined that I wasn't going to miss the one for the children. About 1:45 p.m. the kids and their parents began lining up and it looked to me like several stables of horses were going to be required, and even at that, it was going to take hours for each child to have his or her walk on the pony. Who else, besides me, was disappointed when they began  handing out nicely made horse's heads on sticks? I wanted the real thing... and from conversations I overheard, there were several youngster who agreed with me.

Pedro (#21) looks like he's frustrated at this point. It was
getting dark, and the concept was not coming together.

I headed home for a cup of tea after that huge let-down... still have to do the float and gear myself up for a night of music. From where I am sitting right now - about 3:30 p.m. - I can hear the highly magnified music from the fairgrounds, as well as someone's car radio at max volume, a smaller band in the city park, and a Andean flute wafting its notes like a ribbon through clouds, making such a wierd jumble of 'music' that I want to turn it all oFF!

The daughter of one of the adults
 working on the float got right in the
 middle of it and helped a lot!

Got the call to come and help with the float and at first I wondered how much good I could do, but I went along and did a few things. Then the Organizer decided to change things and everything I had done was really wasted, except the learning experience.

One of the things I learned is that these women here in Barichara know how to make something out of nothing and make it look lovely! Wait until you see the float tomorrow!

So I came home and made myself some dinner and ended up walking back into town with a neighbor to listen to the ‘Serenade’ concert. Colombians and the Spaniards have long traditions of serenading - for love, for disappointment, for fun. And tonight’s concert was very special with a variety of guitarists, including Tiple, performing for the 14 candidates on balconies all around the city park.

As I sat on a curb I could smell the sweet night air, perfumed with the night flowers, mixed with the freshness of a village washed clean from the rain the night before. And I appreciated this rare event, where people gathered and listened to the music, wandered around with dogs and children and all combinations of family. I told my neighbor that this probably could not ever happen in the U.S. because of the culture, because of the lack of a village like this where the park is central to everything, and because of course, it isn’t Barichara.

e

Serenading some of the Queen candidates at Feria XXXV in Barichara.

(NOTE: I wanted to post this last night, but because everyone was  using their cellphones, there was no bandwidth for my modem to operate... sorry for the delay.)

A remarkable bird!

I wish I could tell you the name of this bird, but I have been unable to
get it identified. It makes a 'chuck-chuck' noise, no chirping or singing,
and as you can see it is eating a very large grasshopper or cicada.

This bird was seen regularly in my yard up until a few days ago. I can only assume it has moved on to other areas, perhaps after having cleaned out all the cicadas from my backyard. It was large. Easily measured eight inches from top of its head to the end of its body, before including the tail.

I miss hearing it's 'chuck-chuck' call from the trees nearby. Perhaps it is a female and is nesting after gorging on grasshoppers. What I'm hoping for is that someone reading this blog will be able to find out more about it and give me a name for it. But isn't it a lovely creature?

Dogs of Barichara

This dog is often seen following its owner around much
of Barichara and is a common type of dog for the area;
medium size, mixed breed, longer hair.

The Colombian treatment of dogs is an interesting study in the difference between this country and the United States and how Colombia is changing. While this subject is about dogs, it really does relate to all aspects of both pets and agricultural animals in the two countries.

For many years, a dog in Colombia was just something that ate the scraps of food thrown down (to help deal with the issues of garbage) and were used to keep property guarded, but their scrawny, dull-hair appearance confirmed the struggle the domestic dog had (and still has in many locales) here. However the increase in rabies and mange caused some people to take a more active role in vaccinations and gradually some of the health issues for dogs are reducing.

I was invited by the owner to view the ledge
on which this dog is perched in order to keep
track of city activities, dog and otherwise.

However, the overall attitude about animals in Colombia is still very different from that of U.S. animal owners. A butcher was seen to take his extra-sharp carving knife and lay into a hungry dog that was hanging around his meats and probably snatching some when it thought the time was right. That dog still is seen in the streets, with a very nasty, hairless gash across its back. Dogs are kicked, beaten, starved, and left for dead. Neutering still seems to be a rarity.

Horses, cows, cats, dogs, really all the animals in Colombia have a tougher time than those same creatures elsewhere, except perhaps India. Just a few days ago I saw a horse tied up in a field. It had eaten everything within reach and could not get to the green grass beyond its tether. Cows, donkeys, mules, horses, goats and chickens are left on the side of the road to graze and the roads are narrow enough in some places for the creature to be at serious risk of injury or death, not to mention the hazard to the driver who hits one.

Recently the yellow Labrador at Corasoma got pregnant by a Santanderano mutt and she dropped a litter of 10 puppies. All very cute, and clearly the early ones down the chute were the biggest and best of the litter. It is not a judgment against owners with female dogs who are faced with unwanted litters or dealing with the cost of neutering. Although the cost is considerably less than in the U.S., it is still equal to - for some - a week of groceries and so it is postponed or never done, letting the female - and the owner - deal with the consequences.

One of the 10 puppies from Corasoma's Moosie, a yellow
Labrador who got mixed up with a "Santandereano."
They were all irresistably cute like this one!

I agreed to help my friends at Corasoma by making a poster for the town bulletin board showing what the puppies looked like, as it is a good two kilometer walk to the finca. There were six males and four females and within a day of putting up the poster, all the male dogs were spoken for. Easy to see why since neutering males is seldom an option in this macho culture.

The other aspect of whelping puppies is that many owners may not feed the female any specialized lactating-mother-foods, so the pups could be without sufficient nutrition to even make it to 6-8 weeks before weaning, leaving them with less-than-ideal immune systems. So the cycle of disease gets a foothold in the next generation. Fleas on dogs are a huge problem, flea collars are expensive, and most of the natural remedies don't work all that well.

There is a veterinarian in Barichara, but she doesn't get much business on a daily basis, it seems, so she started baking bread for sale. The next nearest vet is in San Gil, 24 kilometers away and taking pets on the bus is frowned upon. That means a taxi to and from the vets plus whatever the visit costs are - so for those with reduced incomes, having a pet and caring for it the way people do in the U.S. is an expensive option.

But by the same token, having a dog in Barichara is the norm. There are fewer restrictions about casa rentals allowing dogs and dogs often walk with their owners around town without leashes, running up to dog buddies and chasing each other around the park while the owners have a tinto and chat with each other. Dogs are better behaved here (they seem to know they are d-o-g-s), fewer situations of dogs attacking other dogs, and less issues about people, including children, being bothered in some way by the dogs.

When I first arrived in Barichara, I was quite surprised at the number of dogs who would accompany their owners to work, often arriving well before the worker did. It is also likely you will see on the back roads a moto with a family of three on it, or a pair of workers, and the dog(s) running along behind it to the next destination.The dog(s) who lived at the finca seemed to understand that these were dog visitors, not incoming residents to be challenged... quite fascinating.

Dogs and their owners are regular attendees in the various churches, too. It is not uncommon for the family dog to sit in the aisle during the entire service, following the owner up to the communion rail and then trotting back to the place where the family was sitting. A friend of mine takes her large Lab-type dog to all the outdoor concerts she goes to, another owner takes all four of her dogs to town whenever she goes shopping.

Dogs often lie outside the home casa simply watching the
goings-on. This one didn't move at all as the crowds of
Palm Sunday parade watchers walked past it.

The most common recognizable breeds found here are Labrador Retrievers in the colors of yellow, black or brown, along with the Rottweiler. There are just two Weimeraners here, one of whom I cared for and wrote about in another blog in January. The longer haired types like the German Shepherd, setter breeds and the Golden Retriever are either not as popular or just not found here.  I have not seen any Dobermans, either. But there are increasing numbers of Chihuahuas and Miniature Pinschers of all colors.

Some restaurants or cafes - not all - allow their guests to bring canine companions in to lie under the table while dining. Well-behaved creatures are welcomed back. I suppose if you were not, your dog could return and you would have to go someplace else.

I think the biggest challenge is that if you have a dog and want to travel around Colombia with it, the busses are not dog-friendly and I don't know how you would get from place to place without a car. But with the changing attitudes about caring for animals, albeit slow, perhaps some of the same businesses that flourish in the U.S. will be accepted here: kennels for pet care for owners going away, grooming, training-the-owner camps and more affordable neutering programs.

I had a job - and a dog - for a week!

(Or did I have a dog and a job?) It all started because the original dog nanny, whom I shall call the Brunhilde of Barichara, decided she could not keep the dog at her house after all. This left the owner with few options and I received a call from my doctor friend asking if I could “take care of two small dogs for a week or so.”

Scott, the dog, lives in the little casita (you can see the roof
of it behind him) on my rental property with his artist owner.

Well, I already have a dog living here. Scott, who belongs to an artist fellow, lives with his owner in the casita here on the property. Scott was here first. And he comes up every morning around 7 a.m. to check on me, get a few pats and then he leaves and shortly thereafter he heads off with his owner to the space where his owner works until lunchtime.

I discussed it with the artist and we agreed that if the small dogs of unknown sex could get along with Scott it might work. I called the doctor back and she said the local vet had my number and would be getting in contact with me. Really no time at all elapsed before the vet was calling me to say she was at the gate with the dog. As my readers know, my Spanish is not great and I thought I heard her say, “dog,” not “dogs,” but she hung up before I could ask her to repeat herself.

Imagine my surprise when something the size of a pony (Who was it on one of the blogs that was recently looking for one?) bounded through the gate and like Marmaduke planted two enormous - and dirty - paws on my chest. Since it appeared that Scott and this new creature, named Arena (means ‘sand’ in Spanish), were getting on, we agreed she should stay.

Arena is listening to some sound coming from outside and probably
getting ready to bark She is loud enough that you might be able to hear her!

And so began my first job in Colombia... as a dog nanny charged out at the going rate for Colombia day workers, $20,000 CP (Colombian Pesos) which is the equivalent of about $9-10 USD. My task was to feed this lovely Wiemeraner twice a day, clean up poops the size a small horse might leave and occasionally walk her.

It gradually came to light that Arena is rather mal-adjusted. She is exceptionally needy and anxious, so this means she must put her huge head in your lap several times a day, no matter what you might be doing, and often this is accompanied by drool which dampens the area like a cup of water being spilled on you. And she follows you everywhere... and I mean, EVERYWHERE. No matter where I went, she was there by my side, like a really annoying boyfriend who only wants to please you by anticipating your every whim or need and being there to provide it.

Unless we were going for a walk... then she was like quicksilver and disappeared over the top of the hill before I even knew she was going. Her other ill adaptation is that if another dog approaches, then she is quick to circle around me and make sure that the other dog does not get near enough for a pat - just like a jealous boyfriend who wants to be sure that no one else gets close to you.

Scott, who is an average Joe kind of dog, is well-adjusted and knows he is a dog. He tried to get Arena to play with him, and was put off by her jealousy and neediness. After several attempts he simply walked off to his own casita leaving her to drool on me.

Arena really does not think she should be a dog on the
floor! I think she believes she is a princess trapped in a
dog's body for an indefinite length of time.

I had to take a day away and ended up leaving her in Scott’s custodial care. I returned to find her lying exhausted on the sofa - NO! No! Bad Dog! - and while she skulked off aware of her misdemeanor, she did not act particularly sorry about what she had done. And judging from Scott’s happy dog smile, he had had a good day playing chase, nip and tuck, and other doggie games with her.

So the week has progressed, and Arena has been more dog-like and less anxious, learning to lie down someplace near me instead of on my feet or trying to drool on my sketch pad. She is still, however, basically jealous and demanding, a creature that is probably too old at 8 to do much changing. And her owner doesn’t see the problems because they only really show up when Arena is farmed out because the owner is away.

She is also smart, but like another Weimeraner I knew named “Jake,” she is inclined to be stubborn and when I won’t let her into the kitchen while I am cooking, she sulks and growls on her mat within view of me. At night she groans and complains in a rather deep voice about how she should really be on the bed and I guess she thinks I should be on the floor on her mat.

It has been an interesting week and pretty well reaffirmed for me that I am not ready to take on any kind of permanent dog partner. Partly because I am not fully settled in with my pensioner visa yet and have to do too much traveling back to the U.S. until that is settled, and partly because I don’t really know what kind of dog companion I would like, except that large dogs are definitely O-U-T. If I have to clean up the effluence of a four-legged creature that leaves huge dumps, I might as well have a horse... or a pony.

Do, Re, Mi on a marble floor - what fun!

Long ago, I set myself the goal that I would learn to tap dance and when I was good enough I wanted to do a tap routine (to music) on the marble steps inside the Idaho statehouse in Boise. I did actually achieve that goal back in 1982, just before I moved away. And when I see something that reminds me of that particular goal, I can't help smiling. Here is a charming little video that I hope has that same effect on you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg and if you don't smile, perhaps you had to be there - I wish I had been!

We've had a lot of rain recently and some flooding of the local rivers is progressing. To the left is a shot off my porch as the rain pours off the roof.

I've been a little preoccupied the past week or so... my life has done a complete 180 and I've got some major activities relating to re-arranging it so I haven't been blogging or surfing at all. It's all good and looks like I am going to get to do a lot of things I want to do because of it.

Also, I had some houseguests last night and they brought their little 'dustmop' Yorkie by the name of "Puffy," and I just had to include his picture in here! 

He's a cute little creature, and was all the more amusing for thinking he could be menacing, trying to growl enough to scare a 6'4" child of mine who was also here to visit.