Old Lady is Fourteen!

Pepper, our fur child, is fourteen! 

She has been working through various health problems (severe skin allergies requiring prednisone, and resulting cataracts/corneal ulcers) in the last couple of years. More recently, she has struggled with "old lady" afflictions including constipation, arthritis (sliding around on our floor and having difficulty navigating steps), and needing to go out more often, but is still hanging in there.  She still is eager to snack and snuggle.

This weekend, our friend and trusty dog-sitter Kelly helped me out with Pepper as K and the kids are in OC and I was on call, and Pep reminded us that she is beloved by many!

The average life expectancy for shih tzus is approximately 13 years (10-16), so she's exceeded that! Here's to another year under her (and our) belt! 

(Kelvin asked me to amend this post with a post-haircut, handsomer photo!)

    

Noble VIII

I realized when August was approaching that our summertime weekends were dwindling rapidly!  Every year since 2016 (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023, excepting pandemic 2020), we have gone to Fieldbrook's Noble Blueberry Farm with Kellie, Mark, and their kids. We usually go in July but they were able to join us, and the blueberries were excellent on Saturday on this first weekend in August (the season is expected to last later into the fall this year). 

 Our photos were apparently very sparing, though. Our friend Peggy also came (no photo evidence), abut we did at least catch a classic one of the similarly-aged kids on the farm scale. 

Until next year! 

Yes, We Kam!

 

I haven't been super vocal politically on FB or this blog  in the last four years, sooooo content to have Biden securely in the Oval Office.  There was lots of shock and despair after 2016 and lots of (anxiety before but) hope after 2020.

We found out while on vacation last week that, after a dismal debate earlier in the summer raised serious concerns about his viability of candidacy, President Joe Biden decided to step down and out of the 2024 presidential race, endorsing VP Kamala Harris to run in his place.  While I would have happily voted for another Biden term, he isn't super *exciting* as a prospect to continue lead the Democratic Party and this country, in part because of his age, even though I think he's qualified and experienced (and has great people around him helping).  I even suggested a few weeks back that he should appoint Kamala to run, but didn't think he'd actually do it.

Imagine how amazing this country would be if other leaders could humbly put country over personal ambition (could anyone picture Donald Trump, a narcissistic monster and felon, stepping down from running for president?!). 

The change in candidate is prompting a whirlwind of a summer (which even included a possible assassination attempt on Trump, which I certainly don't condone) and a very high-pressure timeline with fewer than 100 days until the November election. There has been a historic groundswell, record-breaking fundraising, and again enthusiasm and a sense that America is on the verge of a historic breakthrough -- electing its first female president provided that enough reasonable people (including the "beautiful Christians" Trump courts as part of his coalition he can continue to curtail democratic voting rights) come out and vote for the far more moral and qualified candidate. I remember lots of similar excitement before 2016 during Hillary's candidacy, as well as before Obama's historic election in 2008 which prompted rejoicing in me and my friends, as well as all around the world.

I liked Kamala in the 2020 primaries, along with Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg (ultimately voting for Biden, of course), and still had this bumper sticker that I dug out, along with her children's book.

I recall, as a half-Indian woman myself, being extremely choked up at watching her Inauguration (and watching my [and other] kids watch her).

T-shirts purchased soon after the election and the Jan 2021 Republican insurrection are very appropriate to wear again now. 

Some funny internet memes-- (good) foreshadowing?? 

We are not sure (yet) who her VP pick will be, but she probably needs some Midwestern or Southern white guy to balance the ticket to give some of the people (mainly men) hesitant to cast a ballot for an intelligent, progressive, black & brown woman from California some reassurance that the bleeding hearts won’t totally socialize the country overnight…

In any case, the world is watching.  I urge you to vote for Kamala-- for the values of empathy and humanity, for global peace, for climate protection, for women, children, and families, for "the least of these."  I pray and hope that she will not only be the "First woman in this office, but not the last." 

Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

If you're wanting to donate or pitch in to support and elect Kamala, please visit: 

Votesaveamerica.com/2024

ActBlue

Pantsuit Nation FB group (started under Hillary's candidacy and now resurrected).

Canadian Rockies, Part 6: Trail Ride and Farewell, Lovely Lake Louise

On our last day in Lake Louise, we took a three-hour trail ride with Timberline Tours up the Lake Agnes Trail. It was Niall's first time on a horse (Iver, who has been on but not ridden far, thinks he's now an "intermediate" rider :)), and the boys did really well! 

Riding up the trail was much easier for little legs than hiking!  We felt a bit bad for the hikers we passed (we've been there!).

The scenery was spectacular, especially as we got higher up and could see the glaciers. (We only had tiny glimpses of Lake Louise, though, although we passed lovely Mirror Lake).

We stopped for a snack (which we carried in the horses' saddle bags) and pictures near the Lake Agnes Tea House, a historic stopping point for mountain climbers.

Trying to stay warm by Lake Agnes (it was windy and very COLD!)

Iver noticed on the way up that he had a wiggly molar tooth...

... and it promptly fell out, ten minutes later.

My horse, Annie, was being pretty naughty on the trip, sometimes turning 180 degrees the wrong way on the trail and nipping the butts of the horse in front, but I did my best to keep her in line:)

The stables were just a short walk from the shore of Lake Louise, and since we got totally rained out the day before, we popped over (thankful we had parking, which is a nightmare unless you're a Fairmont guest) for some quick photos.

We could definitely see the turquoise water today.

After a warm lunch (I drank basically a pot of tea!), we headed over to our last Lake Louise attraction, the summer gondola.

The area around the gondola is apparently a very popular area for grizzly bears, due to berry foraging!  We heard from some employees at the base that they had to close a trail at the top due to grizzly activity today... so the kids (and we) were really excited to head up! (Of note: Kelvin and I were behind in the "animal spotting" points game, and we hadn't yet seen any bears this trip).

Just before we reached the top of the gondola, I spotted a grizzly in the meadow to the north side of the gondola (20 points!!!)! The zoomed in, blurry iPhone picture through the gondola glass is trash but it was definitely a grazing bear, which excited us all!  Glad we didn't encounter one on a trail.

The views from the "Top of the World" were spectacular (the backdrop is real!!)!

(Lake Louise seen, turquoise, in the center)

Panorama

We walked to the Wildlife interpretative center.

We took the open chairlift (not the gondola) down the mountain, with hopes of spotting that grizzly bear again, but, alas, it had moved on.  I had my secondary thrill trying to keep Niall from moving and sliding under the lap bar.

(only one person had his "L" (for "Lake Louise") backwards! 

Despite all of these smiling photos, there was definitely plenty of crying (kids), fighting (my kids do not do well on long car rides), annoying behavior, yelling (I may have told my kids to stop making the vacation miserable for us adults when they were being especially whiny and difficult, mostly early on in the trip), and hiccups on this trip. Nevertheless, we had an incredible week in Canada, full of adventures (including the wildfire evacuation), seeing some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen anywhere in the world, and much restorative time in nature. The grizzly bear sighting at the end was icing on the cake.... and when I asked the kids what they enjoyed the most, they responded...

THE HOTEL POOL!  Of course.