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Not a “real” hike today. But we did have a lovely walk through town to one of the local parks. There were lots of squirrels out and about, and quite bold too. Zella did not have any luck willing them out of the trees. We’re right on the cusp of spring and the only thing that could have possibly made today’s walk better would have been if it was less muddy.

#dogs #ranger and zella #squirrels #walkies #not hiking

Half Dome cable hike, Yosemite National Park, California

Been an absolute slob today; did a few useful things like getting a library card, FINALLY going to the grocery store (haven't had a proper hot meal since Friday what with Easter), got credit for my mobile. And then.... I... hung out in bed and watched The Hunger Games and Atonement. A tonal shift. Finished a book yesterday, met up with two other people and had dinner out in a restaurant. Sat in the sun and walked from one side of town to the other. Shared a bottle of wine and dinner and woke up feeling off. Was planning on heading out to hike but dicidwd against it. Hiking tomorrow instead, and on Thursday and Friday. This Easter break is flying by. Left Santiago feeling kind of down. Not for any discernible reason, just negative. Period problems probably. Indecisive and mildly anxious. Felt like all my decisions were the wrong ones. Haven't really been able to shake the feeling since arriving in Bilbao. Every decision is the wrong one. Just trying to make the most of not working for a while. And in June I'll go back to Santiago to finish the walks I want to do.

#life etc #Spain #hiking #not hiking

So I know I haven't been on here in a hot minute (or five billion years, you know, whatever), but I've had this overwhelming feeling for the past few days, and this seems the most appropriate place to put it. With that said, this might be a little long. Brace yourselves. Go on, make a cup of tea or something. Grab some Tim Tams. I'll wait. ... Okay. As I'm writing this, I'm lying in bed after a fairly long shift at work, cuddled up next to Kaya. I got home, took her out to potty, and then we had a pretty good play session. She was wicked hyper when I got home. But as I'm lying here, her cuddled up next to me, I can't help but think, for the dozenth time this weekend alone, how fortunate I am to have her. Even though she's panting and burning up (while I'm slowly freezing to death because I don't want to turn on the heater because then she'd only be hotter), she's still cuddled up next to me. I know lying next to me isn't doing anything to cool her down, but she's still here beside me. And yes, she's getting pets, but does that outweigh the fact that I'm casually pulling out fur clumps as I go? She hates when I do that, haha. But she's blowing her coat and they need to come out! ...tangent. Main point. Focus. I read some post in passing about pets and the gist of it went — Kaya just got up and left, haha; back to the bone in the floor — the gist of it went: How cool is it that we have this living, breathing creature that just follows us around our houses? They eat with us, sleep with us, etc. In Kaya's case she even creepily watches me go to the bathroom. But even though I read that post in passing, it has deeply resonated with me. I couldn't tell you how long ago I read it, but it's been there in the back of my mind ever since. I often think of how Kaya is a living creature. Dogs, and pets in general, aren't just things that people own. They have their own minds and their own lives, a part of ours and wholly separate at the same time. With this in mind, I always feel so fortunate in thinking of Kaya. I honestly feel like we connect on a level that I never have with another creature, human or otherwise. I have such a deep love for her and I cherish those fleeting moments where she does something like chooses to lie down with me even though she's hot and I know being in such close proximity to me won't help. I cherish the times that we get to play. Tonight she was doing demon circles through the house and I would grab her as she ran by and that would only fuel her craziness even more. She wasn't even playing with anything- just me. We were just enjoying being together. I look at her so often and wonder what's going through her mind. One of my favorite pastimes while we're just lounging on the bed together is to muse about what she could be thinking of. I know I'm thinking of things like work, job applications, money, my car, literally anything and everything. What does she think about? What is she thinking about in this moment, as she's lying in the floor? "Wow, it's really hot"? Or "I can hear that cat downstairs"? Maybe it's even, "How can I get to that loaf of bread on the shelf?" Which leads me to a whole other point. Even when she's a complete asshole, I still love her with everything I have. I've always been terrible at punishing my animals when they do something bad, but I'm particularly bad at it with Kaya. She loves to get into my loaves of bread for some reason, and even more than that she loves to bury uneaten yeasty remains under my pillow. Jerk. But for all of the packets of oatmeal, loaves of bread, or bags of dog treats this mischievous devil manages to find and get into, she gives me that guilty face and licks me and I can't stay mad. I brush away crumbs —Oop, Kaya's back lying down with me— and forget about it. The only time I've been genuinely mad at her right after Easter when she ate 18, EIGHT-FREAKING-TEEN, of the Ferrero Roche's that my mom got for me. How she didn't throw up I have no clue, and how she got them from the box they were in I also have no clue. Crafty jerk. Even for that all she got was fifteen minutes of time out on the bed in the guest bedroom and a firm scolding, haha. Anyway, main point. Trailing off. I could talk about this butt all day. No matter what she does, I love her. It IS amazing that I have this loving creature to join me in all of my escapades and life adventures, and I'm so glad out of all the fluffbutts, I can call this one my companion. It's not often enough that I express my gratitude for, well, anything in life really, but I've been particularly stuck on my gratitude at having Kaya in my life for the past little while. That's pretty much all I wanted to say, but you can hang out for a minute more and get an update on her health if you'd like. I'm just gonna go turn on the heater real quick before I become a Popsicle. ... Kaya had her annual check up back in February and got all of her shots and whatnot. That was all good and well. That's not what I'm going to discuss, though. Kaya inadvertently did me the real big frighten a couple of weeks ago. It was a Saturday night, much like tonight, after I had gotten off work, and as per our usual routine, we were kickin' it in bed. I was watching TV and she was probably chewing a bone, just getting scratchies when I noticed it. A lump. On her side. Okay. Don't panic. Fur clump? I felt around on it before deciding, no, this was not the run of the mill collection of floof I could just pull out. This was definitely a lump. Okay. It's cool. No need to panic. It could literally be anything. Maybe she ran into something and has a bump from it. Gonna text my friend. "Probably just a fatty lump." Yeah. Fatty lump. No big deal. Just gonna check some stuff online. Probably nothing. (Pro-tip: Never search medical issues online.) Oh my god, she probably has cancer. Or a tumor. Or whatever it can't be good. Commence slight panic. Friend provides reassurance and offers financial assistance if need be because God knows radiation therapy or surgery to remove it or whatever they have to do would not be cheap. Which granted, was another point of panic. Don't get me wrong- if need be, I'd sell my soul and my best kidney to pay this dog's vet bills if need be, but it's stressful nonetheless. The night goes on. I'm resolved to make a vet appointment first thing Monday morning. I won't say Sunday didn't go by without a tear or two just at the thought of anything being wrong with my dog-child. You did read that long spiel at the beginning about how much I love her, right? Monday morning. Vet appointment made for Thursday morning. All will be well. She doesn't have any of the symptoms for the Big C: lethargy, weight loss, etc. Tuesday morning. She'll be fine. Wednesday morning. Fatty tumor. Thursday morning. We get to the vet. First off, Kaya is doing so, so well for the vet. I am one proud pup momma. (Her annual visit didn't go so great. She was real done with all the shots and the fondling by funny smelling strangers.) She lets both the vet tech and the vet feel her squish ball. The vet tells me it is really squishy and mobile, so there probably isn't anything to worry about, but they can't be certain without a biopsy. I told her the same thing I told her from the time I had to get ointment to put on her crotch (but that's another story for another day): her health is more important to me than money will ever be. So a shot, and a well behaved Kaya, later, we have the results. Nothing to be worried about. Fatty tumor. Keep an eye on it and if anything changes, bring her back in. Proud to say my pupper is just a fatty chunker and nothing is wrong with her! :D But she did do me the real big frighten. We need to start running again. We've both put on about five pounds, haha.

#Kaya #my love #rant #health update #not hiking #silly dog #unrelated video #she was just being a silly roly poly #long post #Husky #Siberian Husky #wooly Siberian Husky #wooly Husky

Okay, so I’ve been crap about posting on here lately, but I’ve got a ton of pictures, it’s just a pain to upload them all from mobile and I’ve been too lazy to move them over to my computer, haha. But! I promise more are coming soon, starting tomorrow, as I’ve actually finally started up my laptop once again. :D

#not Kaya #update #on my crappy posting habits #lol #not hiking