Life Adventures

We arrived home the afternoon of Friday December 23 rd .   I’ve always noticed that my appreciation for home increases ten-fold after I’ve been away on a long trip.   When I pull up to the drive and see the house it’s like looking at a painting of the sea after a storm, when things have calmed and are in order.    I get this wave of emotion every time.   The dogs, in their own way, show excitement too, rushing inside to rub their bodies all over the furniture.   I used to correct them for that, but realize that this is part of their expression of joy.   Logan was especially happy to be home and therefore was the strongest participator in the furniture body rubbing jollies. We took about a mile and ½ walk in the woods behind the house.   The trails are full of hardwoods and there’s not another house in sight when back there.   The only sounds are those of nature and I know when I am out there that this is what serenity sounds like.   We pass acres of wetlands along the way and  

Why were we considering adopting Frye?  Well, I told Jen never say never greyhounds  that I was interested in rescuing a Greyhound and she found her as a potential for us.  In April 2016 she had Frye transferred from FL to GA to make initial assessments.  Interestingly, Frye's trip to GA coincided exactly with our trip to GA for the Perry agility trial.  Frye was definitely one of the prettiest greyhounds we've ever seen However, those initial assessments didn't look favorable for Frye, and we opted out of seeing her while we were in GA.  Basically, Jen and I determined to pass on her.   Jen said that Frye likes to lay on her back But in May, we got a call from Jen saying she was reconsidering and felt Frye might work out for us.  We discussed a trial period of adoption from June-August.  So we made a plan to meet Jen in North Carolina to bring her home. Frye immediately made herself at home on the favorite snuggle ball We compare Frye's journey

I wonder how we evolved our minds to focus on the lies we tell ourselves as opposed to the facts of our stark reality.   Logan has a cancer that has metastasized.   That is a fact.   Yet, when I look at him and see such life still in him, I tell myself a different story.   I tell myself that I can control this, and that through these actions to help I can give us more time.   I’m at war with myself, wanting to believe and scared to believe.   After the homeopathic treatment, I started the milk thistle, 250mg divided over breakfast and lunch.   I was concerned I’d get the same result again.   When one repeats the same experiment in science, it is what you hope for.   That’s called reliability and it’s a critical component of demonstrating scientific rigor.   Yet in this case, in Chinese Medicine, the results are not to be so predictable.   It’s such a different way of thinking than I am accustomed to.   Yet, amazingly, as I repeated the milk thistle experiment on Logan, this time, t

The commencement of treatment felt like an experiment, and that’s a humbling feeling.   Any scientist knows all too well that an experiment is conducted because you don’t know the answer.   You don’t have a solution to the problem.   If you knew the solution, you wouldn’t have a need to conduct the experiment.   In the experiment, you surrender control and your next moves are guided by the outcomes of the test.   It’s turning over the wheel of the car.   It’s a realization that every day, we all turn over the wheel of the car in one way or another. I started Logan’s   treatment with the materials I had in hand, which were the 3 day of tick homeopathic remedy and the Boswellia carterii.   Amazingly, he perked up over those 3 days.   He had more energy, and with each burst of excitement he showed my hope grew that perhaps this path could fend off the inevitable, for just a while longer.   Then the milk thistle and melatonin arrived.   After the first dose of melatonin, Logan seemed

On December 1 st I traveled the 3 hours to Maryland for Logan to see Patti.   She did an acupuncture treatment specifically targeting 5 points to get energy moving.   She also gave me a protocol of supplements that would vary depending on Logan’s status and length of time on a particular supplement. Supplement 1 is Boswellia carterii to help with different aspect of controlling cellular behavior.   Logan gets 2 a day.   Supplement 2 is melatonin 5mg, and Logan gets 1 at night.   Melatonin is also an anti-cancer supplement.   Supplement 3 was 250mg of Milk Thistle 1 per day for liver support.   Finally, supplement 4 is SamE and Logan gets 1 per day for liver support.  (Note:  the brand names and additional information can be found in a later blog  treatment details ).  She also recommended a 3 day homeopathic for tick disease to take the place of the doxycycline.   When I left Maryland that day, I apprehensively committed to going all in, 100%, to the homeopathic Chinese Medicine

I call the diagnosis Logan’s death letter.   On November 22 nd I took him in for an ultrasound.   When we returned from the Specialty we started him on treatment for the tick disease, and he showed improvement.   He was playful again, eating well, but something was still nagging at me.   I knew something just wasn’t right. Yet, the morning of the ultrasound, we took the dogs to the park and watched Logan run ahead to take the lead.   I said to Russ, “You know, I feel pretty confident we aren’t going to get terrible news today.   He’s looking so good.”   And Russ responded, “Yeah, I’m not really expecting to hear anything negative either.”   I responded back, “It scares me though, to say that, because I’m not prepared to hear anything different.” The ultrasound took longer than I had hoped so I had to take the call at work.    How difficult it was to sit there and listen to the diagnosis that I was not prepared to hear.   Each line described our universal heritage, that

Perfection is like the air coming off the waves of the ocean.   All your senses tell you that it’s there, right in front of your nose, but you fail to see it.   I suffer from this blindness from time to time.   Like many of us, I take for granted that things in my life are perfect.   I’m in reasonably good health, have a well-paying job, enjoy hobbies, I’m surrounded by a good friends, and most of all, I have my dogs.   But on October 4 th , 2016, I saw the initial signs that life would offer the fullness of opportunities, and as part of that, the struggles that awake us from the denial that all things must end. I got the call that something was wrong at home.   The oldest dog, Logan, had accidents all throughout the house.   He was also nauseated and didn’t want to eat.   We always joked that the day Logan didn’t eat was the day he went down.   He’s a Ridgeback after-all, and food is what they live for. I immediately called our vet, who was in surgery that day.  

Reedy Creek Park We've traveled to Concord about twice a year over the past few years to attend the dog show.  The closest park to the trial site (at Cabbarus Arena and Event Center) is Frank Liske Park.  There's a lake to walk around and a nice trail that runs the perimeter of the park.  Great for strollers, easy walking, and running.  There are also picnic areas, playgrounds, and ball fields.  It's a large park.  Opens at 8am though, not before.  A couple years ago we found this alternative park, Reedy Creek.  All wooded trails and not too crowded. There is also a couple lake/ponds to walk around.  We take the Sassafrass Loop to the Sierra Loop Trial.  From there we take the South Fork Trail towards the Nature Center.  From there we take Dragonfly and go around the pond, and then circle back to Sassafrass.  Takes about an hour and a half walking with dogs.  We backtrack around the pond sometimes and then back to Sassafrass to make it a 2 hour walk.  One can also take

Sometimes it takes a little nudge to get you to try an experience you've forgotten you enjoyed so much.  That nudge was an invite to a big shindig for my friend Jenna's 40th birthday. It gave us the opportunity to plan a RV trip to Camp Hatteras, and I haven't visited there in over 13 years. Jenna's husband rented a 28 bedroom house in Corolla, NC.  Russ and I hadn't even been through that area for about 6 years.  Good thing didn't know the distance we'd have to travel when I made the plan or else I might have thought twice about it. Hatteras Island looked how I remembered.  The untamed Pea Island refuge area still carries that feeling of complete isolation from the rest of the world.  Just you and the beach.  It's here where I used to take Phinny and Noel to the beach so they could run off lead, chase the frisbee, and play in the water.  Only memories now.  They are never with us long enough. We pulled into Camp Hatteras campground abo

We took the 95 N route to Bar Harbor KOA from NH. Weather was much cooler in Maine. We arrived at the KOA Bar Harbor Oceanside, site 272 the best site in the campground.  Right on the water. I would say the campground in total has a typical KOA campground feel to it.  But, if you luck out to get a nice site on the water, the campground takes on a completely different feel.  The campground is not far from the town of Bar Harbor.  The cost of the campground is really for that water view and the proximity to Bar Harbor.  We headed into town and mom and dad got crabcake and lobster roll sandwiches from our favorite fresh seafood place Peekytoe Provisions. Russ and I got fresh Scottish salmon to put into a salad. On our next trip to Peekytoes we ate the amazing crab cakes and crab bisque for lunch. The bisque was amazing and we recommend paying the $2 extra for more crab meat in the bisque. We were here last fall and had a cafe we loved for popovers and blueberry pies (Cottag

River Rock Gorge Left Hershey on Friday at 6am.  Traveled I81 N to I84 east and then to Saco River Campground. We chose Saco River as its near hiking on Kancamagus highway.  Also, it's an easy in and out, good place for walking dogs, and organized campground. Lots of rules though and I have never seen a speed limit sign that says 5 1/2 miles an hour. Also charges $4 a day/dog. Yet, we will stay there again when up this way.  Don't need to state preference for sites because all are pretty good. We stayed in site 43. We met up with my parents who we haven't seen since last summer. It's their first time in New England. Kancamagus Highlights: We think it's nicer than the Blueridge parkway for a couple reasons; 1) easier scenic points to access on foot, and 2) lots of interesting topography with rivers, gorges, ledges. The places to see are: 1) Sabbaday falls - easy .6 mile hike to spectacular falls, 2) River Rock gorge - easy short hike to gorge view,

The Hershey Thousand Trails Campground was the first stop on the long trip to Maine.  It's the second time we've taken the trip to Maine in the RV. The first trip was September 2015. With a road trip of this magnitude, and going into some heavily populated areas, I did my research and followed the sage advice to avoid NY and I-95 north. I made a plan to go through Hershey PA and continue on I81 N to I84 E from there. Loop B The Hershey Campground is good for a few nights. We prefer loop C, but have also stayed in loop B. Loop A is up on a big hill. It's usually full, but not sure why people prefer it up there....perhaps satellite which we don't care about.  We usually seek a level site, easy in and out, and some decent space between sites. Older picture from our first trip to Hershey Campground There's a nearby restaurant in Elizabethtown we like called Maja Maja's, a nice local place. Decent prices and food. It's a BYOB place for those interes