The Changing Seasons: July 2020
It’s not just about pictures anymore. It’s about energy … finding enough of it to actually take pictures which look exactly like the pictures you took last month because you are still at home, so the plants may be a bit bigger and the woods greener, but essentially you are taking the same pictures. Again. I’m also suffering from a bad case of the blahs. It’s like a bummer, but without the enthusiasm.
Duke the First
Duke is now “the dog.” it’s very strange to have just one dog. We’ve always had at least two and I feel that Duke needs a pal. I’m sure he misses the terriers. We certainly do. I’ve done a little investigating, but adopting a dog these days costs more that buying Bonnie from a breeder! I understand that adoption groups have big expenses, but basically, this puts getting pets out of the reach of many people, including us.
That has been some month. With the exception of a short visit to Tom and Ellin, life has been much the same — not counting filling out mountains of papers to get a refinance and dealing with the boiler — yes, we STILL need a boiler — and the back of the house because it’s still a mess back there. And for those of you that live in pot-friendly states? Get rid of it before the appraiser comes. Because federally speaking? It’s STILL ILLEGAL.
Don’t ask. My brain is totally fuddled. Not be-fuddled. Just fuddled.
I keep thinking one day the world will be normal, but I no longer am sure what normal actually means. We weren’t really normal before we got this abnormal. We thought we were normal, or, more to the point, most of us were paying very little attention to the base realities of life in this country. Some of us are at an age when we feel we have done as much as we could do and we don’t really want to do a lot more. I was thinking last night about writing a book because for the first time in some years, I had an idea for a story about how somehow, in 2020, we wound up on an alternative earth where things look like they used to look, but they really aren’t the same things.
On a positive note, we still have a house to live in and we still have whatever money we used to have arriving on schedule. It may not be enough money, but compared to so many other people, we’re downright wealthy. Not rich enough to do what we need to do, but at least we have a home and with a little luck, we get to keep living in it.
About The Changing Seasons
The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge where bloggers around the world share what’s been happening in their month.
If you would like to join in, here are the guidelines:
The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):
- Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
- Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
- Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them.
The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):
- Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
- Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
- Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.
If you do a ping-back to this post, so Su Leslie can update it with your link.
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Categories: #gallery, #Photography, Blackstone Valley, climate, climate change, Wildlife
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
I can’t help but agree with you and Tish; and being a bit younger (born in the 60s) I can’t even claim I was paying attention then. 😦
Hope the re-financing gets sorted soon and you have at least one less thing to worry about.
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What will be will be. I’m just beat. Either this works or it doesn’t, but I’m out of options. I hope for the best. And some cooler weather to go with it.
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I totally get how how weather makes everything seem harder.
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I can identify with pretty much everything you say here (though these days dogless). You are right about us thinking things were normal before they got abnormal. We have NOT been paying attention. It’s also occurring to me that much as we despise our respective heads of state, they themselves are only symptoms of some really weird manoeuvring that has taken place during our long inattention phase. I’m trying to think when it really started rolling – back in the Thatcher-Reagan era? But maybe already in play by then.Most of us here now definitely weren’t paying much attention back in the ’60s, though we noticed Kennedy being shot.
As to replacing a loved dog, here in the UK it seems horrible things are happening. For one thing the price of puppies (of any kind) is so astronomical, sometimes thousands of pounds, it has fuelled a whole new brand of criminal gangism, stealing dogs from homes and kennels. People are coming back from holiday to find the dog they thought being safely cared for in kennels has been napped during a break-in. Gangs send out scouts around neighbourhoods. They mark the gates of dog-owning properties. Just when you think humanity can’t think of any more nasty things to do to one other.
I think you should write that book.
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I think when times seem to be okay, we tend to ignore what’s going on. We paid attention — or thought we did — in the 60s — but I think we were paying attention to small things when there were much bigger things happening. We were young, we were busy, we were having fun. But skulduggery in government is hardly new. You’ve got a much longer history than we do and some of your kings were downright horrible. Cruel. I think the big difference is we know so much more now about what’s happening … and we don’t have the time to wait for things to work themselves out. We need to get our act together or the stage is going to collapse.
Dog stealing goes on here, too, but generally not out here because the population is so thinned out. I think the adoption people are going about this wrong. They are making it impossible for normal people to even afford a dog that’s desperate for a home. It’s bad for families and it’s worse for the dogs, many of whom die alone in cages when they would easily have been adopted if they were affordable.
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A good outlook even in the midst of your ennui. I was shocked at how much it cost for my boys after Huny passed away. They were on the cheap end too, and a two-fer because they needed to be adopted together; but still. Quite a wallop to the pocket-book. I’m with the other blogger who said it might be wise to think twice about getting Duke a companion. I thought, as you do, that my girl chihuahua (prior to Hunydog, her name was Chica), needed a buddy after Beni (her soulmate) passed away. Chica was 13 and had been my mother’s dog before the Beni and Chica love affair that lasted over a decade. We got Nikki-Pee (well hubby did. I wasn’t enthusiastic). Nikki was a sweet-heart, but it did something odd to Chica and she began to act out, peeing in corners, not coming when called and in general acting out. I ended up having to give her back to my mother because she wouldn’t obey me nor hubby. She died within six months of that too. Dogs grieve. As much as humans IMHO. Let Duke have his time with you guys, solo. It might be the wisest decision, and it’s certainly the most budget-friendly option. He’s a grand dog!
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I think that’s the way we are leaning. Unless a dog comes to us, I think I’ll let it be. Duke’s a good boy. A little nuts, but a good one and bringing another one home always changes something — and not always in a good way. And then, there’s the money.
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I am happy to hear your re-financing is sorted out, Marilyn. That is good news. I am sorry life is monotonous. I’ve had a very bad few work weeks with very little time for anything, even reading blogs or books, for that matter. I am taking two weeks leave from today and I am very happy about that.
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We are NOT quite sorted out, but I think we are close. Regardless, we need to do what we need to do and I’m emotionally frazzled. I need a LONG vacation … which for many obvious reasons isn’t going to happen. Oh well. This is going to be a good year to forget.
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I feel a lot like that too, but am trying to make the most of it. I have to keep my boys spirits up. They are missing school and their friends.
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Wonderful bunch of photos; love those chipmunks!
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The chipmunks are the best part of my year along with the birds and the flying squirrels. Everything else has been a real bummer.
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Good there are some bright spots!
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Duke must be grieving too, but I’d think twice before getting a companion for him.
Leslie
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We are thinking twice and maybe three or four times. So far, we just aren’t going there. The money is ridiculous and getting a second dog always changes things.
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Yes, you still have your home and a roof over your heads. It really is of upmost importance to see even the smallest ‘good’ in our lives. If not, we would despair. But we won’t. I hope you get your refinance done alright!!
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Me too. I’m totally wasted at this point.
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