Monday, January 2, 2017

can't sleep...almost 4 am

 hit the beach with friends today.  it was surprisingly warm on the beach..of course, warm is a relative term, but the sun was beating down and there was no wind.  it was beautiful.  i could have stayed for hours....and worn these guys out. haha.
 more from all the lanterns at the dog park last night.

 just a pretty sight that is unusual so i wanted to take it in.

 the dogs didn't seem as worn out today.  we did some extra training at home post walk.  Tusker was in pull mode and Ivy in leap mode.  crazy pups some days.
 at some point on the return trip up the hill Tusker spotted a little bird flying into the brush.  i saw the bird at the same time and i knew i hadn't reacted fast enough. i  think i was focused on how to deal with this, ended up releasing the beasts and then tripped over my feet and went down.
 not much sleep last night really so ended up taking a nice long nap this evening.
 first i drove out Turnigan a ways.  as it turns out the fog was back in all over there so not the big views i was hoping for so i eventually just turned around and headed home.

 woke up bright and alert and haven't been able to drop back to sleep since then.  got some of the usual household stuff done i guess.  could do more, but figured i'd toss in a few pictures and see if that altered my brain a bit.
 sometimes my brain starts imagining horrible deaths for the puppies. a person i know lost a dog apparently a few years back.  it went into a lake or river in a hole in the ice and got sucked under and never found.  had debated going to Portage Lake today but then thoughts of there being some open hole out there kept going through my brain.
 is it Blossoms loss that has made me feel more overly protective and paranoid some times.
 was at my friends for New Years and she has an old dog.  as i watched her old dog i felt a bit sad that Blossom never got the chance to get old.  i guess i should be focusing on the fact that she never suffered the effects of being an old dog and that she was pretty vibrant up until the end.
 it's still just a tough loss for me.  adored her and my heart still aches that i wasn't there with her to comfort her as she passed.  just hung a great photo on canvas that my brother and his family had made for me.  thanks!!  it's one of my favorites and it's now up in the office here.

 more lights from the park
 pups keep following me around the house then crashing.  i'm sure they wonder why i'm still awake.
 will want to enjoy the parade in the morning.  try to watch it.  so many of my New Years growing up were tied in with the big parade in Pasadena.  as a kid we sold Rose Parade programs as a fund raiser for our ward. we did that for several years.  as a little kid...and i mean little, i would go door to door selling programs.  then we would hang out outside these big buildings where they were doing the finishing touches on the floats.
 folks would be streaming through,tourists, to check them out.  we'd sell programs.  i remember also running through and checking out the floats being decked out with flowers and such.
 a few times we went to the parade route itself and sold programs as well.  we'd watch the parade from the sidelines.  i was pretty young really.  i'm sure this would never happen now.
 in the wee hours a float would cruise by down Huntington Blvd by my house on the way towards the start of the route.  i never worked on the actual floats.  i should have.  so many things we just never took advantage of growing up.  different times.
 in my 20's i spent the night before the parade out on the parade route with friends. it was the thing to do....a 5+ mile block party.  other friends cruised by in their cars and stopped to chat.  no sleep that night.  at midnight you would move forward to the line in the street, marking your spots.  place was packed, but really, it always felt safe and just a happy and big party.
 most the time i stayed and watched the parade.  a few times i would take off as i worked in a cat hospital a few blocks from the route and i'd block the parking lot(with the vets permission) and then sell those parking spots in the morning.  after that i'd head in and take care of all the resident cats.  by the time i finished that the parade would be over and i could make my way home.
 i joke now that the Rose Parade spoiled me.  no other parade could ever compete with the beauty of the Rose Parade.  i do remember one summer we were in Utah visiting relatives and no doubt dropping someone off on a mission or BYU or something.  anyway, Springville was having a parade.  i was pretty young but i remember being so totally unimpressed and almost horrified watching that parade.  it really seemed like crap.  how could they even call that a parade.
 loved this picture below...just cool light.

 i still just avoid parades now i think.  i know they will suck. once you have seen the mastery of the Rose Parade, none others could possibly impress.
 Scarlet was looking good in her double winter coats and booties...the booties are newer...she seemed to really like it.  loved the sound of the dogs punching through the crusted over snow.  pop, pop, pop.
 so many New Years i think of my old gang of friends from my 20's. so many of us debating our views on the Mormon church.  oddly, we rarely spoke of religion.  we just had our rebellions together.
 one friend, Greg, has passed.  i heard about his passing several years after he died.  Aids....back before medicines had made inroads into the disease.  as i said we really never spoke to each other about our feelings about wanting to leave the church.  we'd all presumed he was gay i think, but none of us spoke of it. so many things you wish you would have said.  wish i could have let him know that he was loved and accepted...but i guess he knew that really.  why else would he hang out with us?  we all accepted each other.
 Ivy photo bombed the one below...cracks me up...and frustrates me at times, but man does she have the sweetest spirit.  she is just love, love, love! i get frustrated but in truth she has won me over completely with her enthusiasm and energy.  we will get there with the jumping i know.  the best thing is just turning your back on her.  as i drove today i was thinking i should try to get a few willing friends and just go out on a big field where we excitedly call her and have her come towards us and just turn our backs until she sits and awaits affection.  it's really been the best way to deal with her jumping.
 sadly, my failure is that i am often to frustrated to do this simple thing and i have to remind myself at times of how to best deal with her excited energy.  ultimately she wants your attention.  just have to make sure she learns if she sits patiently she will get it
 some play time of course.
 just beautiful scenes.
 Scarlet is very tolerant of her oversized puppy friends.  Ivy occasionally just body slams the poor dog.
 liked the shadows.

 handed my camera over to SH so she could take some family pics.  looked like the perfect ice berg to sit on for photo's

 thought they came out nicely.
 worked on my new calendars for the year.  transferring birthdays over to them.  i still have a few Christmas cards to write up and get sent off.
 need to also start really planning summer treks.  pic dates and plan Iceland.  need to get that trip done.  also want to start working towards a kitchen remodel.

 playing on a hill in the sunshine.  so bright.

 a few ice climbers on turnigan
 always looks kinda cool

 just ice.
 guess i'll try to get some sleep again.  not sure i am as tired as i need to be.  may have to try a bit of benedryl or something.
thankful for:  A.  beach days and sunshine  B.  traditions C.  so many aspects of childhood in  a much simpler era.  grateful the computers and stuff did not exist in my childhood.  grateful that we had so much freedom from fear.  freedom to wander around and just be kids.

1 comment:

  1. "2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,
    'Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?,
    I don't love him. Winter just wasn't my season' "

    Your entry title reminded me of us playing pool in your garage while this song played on your little CD player... made me miss you.

    Hope you got some sleep and saw the parade.

    ReplyDelete