We have taken to a short walk about dusk most evenings. The little loop is about a half-mile long and gives The Girl an opportunity to purge a little energy and mark her usual spots along the path.
I usually carry a camera because I like this time of the day and often the light offers something. It did a few nights ago.
Life is good.
We are hiking up near Spooner Summit on USFS lands these days. The heat, ticks, and other hikers drove us from our routine at Silver Saddle Ranch to elevation. Well, mostly it was the ticks that made me move higher.
Ticks are exceptionally bad this year. In fact, it is the worst that I recall. I am not sure exactly why this is the case nor do I know if this is an anomaly, a periodic occurrence, or a trend. I just know that I removed more ticks from her (and me) this year than any other I recall.
The hikes up near Spooner are better for me anyway. I thought that she needed to walk on the flat as she still favors the injured leg. But, her vet assures me that her surgery is healed. So, her favoring of that leg must be residual soreness or psychosomatic. She hurt for so long that it might have become habit.
She loves the Spooner hike. There are abundant chipmunks to entertain her. I am still reluctant to let her chase hard and I am also reluctant to let her get more than about 30 meters from me. The last year and change of rattlesnake and coyote encounters has me gun shy.
I am carrying my milsurp Patrol Pack II. I have two canteen pouches affixed to the sides. Each of these will hold a 1 liter Nalgene bottle nicely. I keep a few emergency items in the pack as well, just because.
I am carrying the little Olympus TG-7 on these walks now. I want to familiarize myself with the camera (learn to use its features). That means practice. I have field work coming up and that will mean putting this equipment to work. That is the reason I bought it.
On this particular outing she asked for water at our turn-around. I always pause at this location for a water break anyway. She loves to roll around in the DG and gave me the look in the header image. I was ready and made the capture.
The little Olympus makes better images than I expected. They are far superior to the Panasonic ZS-40 that I used to use. That camera, while handy, is not well-suited to field work and does not make very good images.
I love the look The Girl gave me. Well, I love The Girl.
I am grateful. Life is good.
I made this capture of Sera hunting last summer. There was something moving about in the weeds/irrigation ditch that caught her attention. I do not recall what it was, but it was probably some California Quail, which frequent the area.
This capture was made a [sarcasm] few minutes ago [/sarcasm]. I actually made the capture about a year ago. I was playing with a Russian lens, my copy of the Industar 55mm f/2.8, which is a copy of a Zeiss lens.
There are a number of these inexpensive Russian lenses that produce very nice/interesting images. Therefore, I have a few in my inventory.
We are having a few sunny days after the wintry weekend. I do not mind the cold when the Sun is shining and it was shining yesterday afternoon.
One of the things I love about my apartment is the afternoon winter Sun on the side of my place. It warms my workroom and bedroom nicely and makes for a warm and sleepy afternoon. One of my favorite things is a winter afternoon nap with The Girl. So, I had one yesterday.
She also gave me a lovely portrait, looking over her shoulder at me with the Sun on her. I made the capture with the Fujifilm X-E4 and a Voigtländer 27mm f/2 at f/4. I used the in-camera Reggie’s Portra 400 film simulation and made a slight adjustment to exposure with Snapseed in my iPhone.
It was a good day. Life is good.
The Girl is recovering from knee surgery. She ruptured her CCL (ACL in humans) on Thanksgiving Day in an encounter with a coyote. Although I did not see the animal, that is the only likely possibility given the nature of her wounds and that I saw no humans or heard no ruckus that would have accompanied a domestic canine encounter.
The vet at the emergency clinic in Reno indicated that she either had a broken leg or a ruptured CCL. Based on my observation from a couple of days earlier, I believed her to have soft tissue damage.
A subsequent visit and workup with her regular vet confirmed the diagnosis. The treatment is a surgical repair. The complication came from which procedure to use.
The traditional approach is to tie the joint together with grafted tissue and suture material and then allow scar tissue to reinforce the repair. The alternative is to cut the bone and reset the tibia plateau angle. That seems awful to me, so I elected for the simpler, less invasive approach.
So now we wait. She is moving around the house and starting to put her toe down and sometimes a little weight on the affected foot. She is recovering.
Now I am taking care of her and praying for a full recovery. I will have to manage her differently, I think. She has now had two rattlesnake and one coyote encounter. None went well. She is just one of those individuals who finds trouble. So, she will not be permitted to range out like she has. I also will not want her stressing that knee for months. I want it it have plenty of time for recovery.
She will need exercise and plenty of it. But her days or running out more far from me and getting into trouble are over, so I hope.
I am grateful for her. Life is good.
Yesterday was too warm for the time of year. We just passed the Winter Solstice and the temperature has been in the mid to upper 50F’s. The wind was from the south at ground level, but I noticed a couple of wave clouds forming. Weather is coming. I pray for the holiday travelers who will be crossing the Sierra Crest today and tomorrow. There will probably be wind and maybe even enough snow to make travel treacherous for the inattentive.
The Girl and I walked our route at Silver Saddle Ranch. Even with a bum knee, she needs exercise to manage her energy and keep her muscle mass. A couple of times she wanted to zoomie, but I restrained that. She does not need to put that kind of stress on her knee, as much as watching her run would give me joy.
So, she is confined to her harness. It gives me a lot more control than the collar and permits me to assist her getting in and out of the rig.
As we walked, the Sun broke through a gap in the clouds for a few minutes, giving me this image of Mount Scott. I expect it will have more snow over the next couple-three weeks. That will give some variety to my captures, I think. It will be fun.
I decided to keep the little Fujifilm X-E2. It is a tiny camera that has an EVF as well as the LCD screen on the back of the body. The screen does not pivot, but that is OK by me. The camera produces nice images and pairs very well with the little f/2 Fujinon prime lenses, to which the Fujinon 35mm f/2 belongs.
I made a small kit that fits into a Domke F6 bag. I was using that bag for the Sony A7iii, but found it to be a little too small. So I moved the Sony to a Domke F2 bag that can carry some of my vintage glass. I think both kits will work fine.
We headed home after our walk, she limping a bit. I know her knee hurts. I hate this for her and it makes my heart hurt. We will get it fixed soon and then start the recovery phase.
I am grateful for many things, but certainly for The Girl. Life is good.
After working part of the morning, The Girl and I got out for walkies here in Carson City. I had stuff to do and a meeting at 1300h, so I did not want to drive up to Spooner for a hike. So, we walked in town.
The weather broke this weekend and it was about 50ºF outdoors. (And it was cool in the house as well.) I wore a cover and took just the Sony A7Sii fitted with a legacy Fujinon 55mm f/3.5 macro lens. It is a new to me lens, but Fujinon glass has always been good. So, I had high expectations.
The light was mediocre, but we did get a little sunlight mixed in with the overcast. The Girl really wanted to chase the plethora of ground squirrels near the rose hedge at the old flume. But I was afraid to let her go as there are sometimes other dogs and poorly mannered handlers.
When we got close to the hedge, I could tell it was clear (of dogs and poor handlers), so I let her sniff about for the dreaded bushytail.
I made a few images of the roses, mostly to test the lens until I saw a yellow jacket working one of the flowers.
“There it is!” I thought. I made a couple captures and the one above is the best.
The remainder of the walk was good and uneventful. My 1300h meeting was cancelled. I worked a bit until mid-afternoon, then The Girl and I took a nap.
She is doing much better. In fact, I think she is back to 100%. This is good. It makes me happy.
It was a good day. I am grateful. Life is good. Really, it is.
The ongoing story of The Girl’s second encounter with Jacob-No-Shoulders continues. After a turn for the worse last weekend, which likely caused me the loss of several years of life expectancy, she is being treated with an antihistamine and steroid. The cause was a reaction to the antivenin administered to counter the effects of the rattlesnake bite she got ten-days ago now.
That was after a few days home from hospital from the initial treatment. She was improving until she was not. That prompted two more visits to the clinic to identify and treat the problem.
Yesterday was the third day after her retreatment for the symptoms that developed. From what I can determine, the serum sickness that resulted from her body’s reaction to the antivenin is not life threatening. However, the symptoms were dramatic and concerning (for me). I feared that I was losing my Girl and was unprepared for that.
Yesterday morning she seemed a little more interactive, giving me a bit more energetic wag when I greeted her after rising. I carried on with my morning routine, making my coffee, going through my morning ablutions, and giving her the prescribed medications and her food.
I left to take the 4Runner to the Toyota House for service around 1000h. She was sleeping on her mat under my worktable. I got the rig checked-in and then walked home, looking for an image on the way. After attending to some work, a call came from the dealership that my rig was ready to be picked up.
I gathered up my things to walk back and retrieve the rig. As I was about to step out the door, she walked into the living room and asked to along. She did not know where I was going, but she wanted to be part of the going.
So, I picked up her leash, affixed it to her collar, and out the door we went. Although not particularly energetic, she was more her normal self — sniffing at most every blade of grass, marking territory, and finally eliminating (which I policed up).
The Sun was a little warm on us, so she panted a bit. But it was only a mile to the shop and I had water in the rig if she needed it.
After clearing my bill, we found the rig and loaded up. After sitting in the Sun for however long, it was hot inside… the kind of hot that emanates from the rig’s body. It needed fuel anyway, so we headed to the Shell station to refuel and run it through the wash bay.
The wash really cooled off the rig and also The Girl (although the air conditioner helped). We headed back to the house and indoors so I could finish my day.
She was tired (of course) and retired to her mat. However, my heart was lifted because she is more herself now. She is not yet 100 percent, but she is on the mend. I am encouraged and grateful. I gave a little thanks to God for looking after us.
Life is good.
NB: Yes, it is 11 September. I remember. I will not forget. I will not forgive.
While recovering my friends’ Jeep on Bald Mountain, The Girl was doing her usual puttering around the area. She managed to find, and engage, a small rattlesnake. She was bitten twice on the muzzle, both bites hitting chin and upper lip.
One of our party told me that she heard “buzzing” in the distance about the time Sera came to me, shaking her head and pawing at her face.
“Let me see” I told her. She patiently allowed me to check her face. At first, the marks seemed too far apart to be a snakebite. But, as I processed what happened, I realized that the snake’s bite must not have been horizontal when it struck her, but turned about 90º.
I headed in the direction of the buzzing, although I could not hear it.
“Be careful!” my friend called out. The other member of our party caught and restrained Sera as I searched for the snake. When I headed that way to investigate, Sera wanted to accompany me (or course).
When I got closer, I could hear the snake. I found it under some brush and it looked like a small (juvenile) Great Basin Rattlesnake.
It was a bit more than a year ago that The Girl had her first encounter with a rattlesnake. I did not think her life was in danger, but I also knew this was serious. I needed to get her out of there and in medical care.
After a bit of wrangling, with me not wanting to leave my friends stranded on the trail, I elected to leave them to finish reloading the Jeep and I headed down the mountain with The Girl. I paused when I noticed my iPhone indicated it had a decent signal and looked for a vet clinic in Yerington. But after a couple of minutes decided I could spend time sitting and searching or just call the clinic in Gardnerville and move that way. So, I called, gave my report, and the clerk told me she would advise the team I was on my way.
It was difficult to keep my speed down on the rough trail down the mountain. But, I knew it would take a lot longer if I broke a tire and did my best. Once off the trail and back on high-speed dirt roads, I moved. After all those years living on the county roads of Phelps County, Missouri, I know how to drive fast on gravel.
When we hit Wellington, the clinic called and I advised them I was about an hour out. She asked me again where I was, “I’m just passing the post office in Wellington,” I replied. “I will call when I’m five-minutes out.”
The highway was pretty clear and what traffic the was moved reasonably quickly. I noticed some swelling that started near the bite site was moving along Sera’s jaw line toward her throat. This gave me some concern that she might suffer from a restricted airway, but there was nothing in my kit to treat this kind of need.
We pressed on.
I called when we were about five-minutes out and advised my ETA. “Do you need assistance bringing her in?” I was asked.
“She is awake and responsive, so only maybe.”
In a few minutes I pulled into the emergency parking spot and an attendant brought out a gurney, but Sera was ambulatory so she just picked Sera up, chest hugged her, and carried her in. I followed with the gurney.
Then the situation was out of my hands and in the care of the medical team. I handled the check-in and chatted with the clerks.
They put me in a room and the vet came in to talk to me about the treatment plan. Then a technician came in to give me an estimate of the cost and take my deposit. Yes, the clinic now requires a deposit before they will treat.
Then there was nothing for me to do, so I headed home. I dropped off the broken tire at my friends’ place and went home, concerned about The Girl.
My friends called a bit later to see if I still wanted supper. “Yes!” So we had supper together and discussed the weekend. Our experience is a fact-of-life if one is going to spend time outdoors on the trail. There will be broken bits of equipment. There can be/will be medical emergencies.
I was called Monday morning by the clinic and Sera’s blood work was normal and she was ready to be retrieved. So, I finished my walk downtown (in Carson), returned home, cleaned up, and headed down to Gardnerville to pick her up.
When I got there, she was her normal self — ready to be out of the clinic and to go home with me. Her neck was really swollen and she looked like a toad about to croak. But I was glad to have her back.
Tuesday morning I offered her a walk and we headed out from the house to walk a little in town. After a quarter-mile, I could tell she was tiring. So, we reversed and returned home. She got back on her mat on the sofa and went to sleep.
I had a field walk scheduled for Wednesday and we headed out towards Truckee, California to the site about 0800h. She nibble a bite of my breakfast sandwich and looked excited to be out and about. I kept an eye on her and she seemed normal. But, I called her in regularly because I did not want her to overdo the exercise.
Thursday we walked one of our regular trails up near Spooner Summit and then returned home. I noticed a couple patches of mottled or spider-webbed skin on her chest. But she seemed alright otherwise.
Friday morning, late, she was not feeling well. So I called the clinic and they scrambled to get us an appointment, but got us a slot at 1920h. I was very concerned about The Girl because she was just not doing well. The swelling was down, but there was something else going on. Her blood work checked out OK and the vet looked at her skin. They sent me home with an antibiotic and direction to watch her. It was a late night and we did not get home until 2200h.
Saturday morning I could not get her to eat much, take her medicine, or drink much. I immediately called the vet and they got me an appointment for 1430h. Sera did not seem well at all and I was afraid that she was seriously ill.
When we arrived, they put us in an examination room and after a few minutes the vet came in (same one we had seen Friday). She checked Sera’s vitals and then took her for a blood test, which was normal. She returned a few minutes later with the news that Sera was most likely reacting to the antivenin with inflammation. She checked for anaphylactic shock, but there were no indications thereof.
So, the treatment plan was hydration (subcutaneous), antihistamine, and a steroid. They treated Sera and released her to me with direction for administering the medication.
By the time we got home (about a half-hour), Sera was feeling much better. The antihistamine/steroid was already working to relieve her system. She went to her water bowl and drank well. She nibbled at some chicken and kibbles. Then she got another drink and went to her favorite place — her mat under my worktable.
As I write this, I believe that Sera has turned the corner. She is on the mend, I think. But, I also think that she cannot afford another rattlesnake encounter. I am making plans for her to do an aversion training and located a trainer. I will be very careful with her where there can be rattlesnakes until the cold comes and they hibernate. Our walks will need to be in areas where she is highly unlikely to encounter a snake or on-lead.
I hope I am right about her recovery. She is still young, only about five-years old. I will know in a few more days if this treatment will work. In the meantime, I will continue to care for her, love her, and enjoy her company.
There was not much besides caring for her and work the last few days. There was not much of anything else, including photography or radio play.
Yet, I remain grateful. As hard as this was for me, emotionally, I am grateful for God’s gifts. These include The Girl, who is the love of my life. Life is good.
