One thing I've been meaning to do is a moonlight kayak on the lake with Paul. A hot, steamy night where we could find a spot to perhaps do a little sporting skinny dipping in the dark. I've been waiting for the August full moon, because August is usually the hottest month. Not this year. I'm actually sitting here this morning feeling a little chilly. I should be complaining about the heat, for pete's sake.
It feels very different paddling on the surface of the water in the daylight than at night. We have an innate ability and historic experience that makes kayaking in the daylight familiar...gauging distances and depths is comfortable. Without light, the surroundings feel very close and solid. Although my brain knows I'm on water, it also draws on an experience which includes light, a very different perception of my surroundings. It feels disconcerting and exciting in one breath.
This is the chilliest August I can ever remember. I'm surprised, because it was so hot in July that I thought August would be dreadful. Gabe is coming the second weekend in September...I hope it will be warm enough to enjoy the lake.
I haven't talked with Heather recently and I miss her. She has been very very busy with a sick father and all the family angst that creates. And with the kids, spending time with them this summer then sending them off to a new year at school and all the angst THAT creates for her. And nursing school...gearing up for what will most likely prove to be one of the most challenging times of her life. I'm so proud of her.
Sean is still working. That is a good thing. He is not exactly settled yet, progress is slow but it is still progress. There are good days and bad. He seems to live in the swirling vortex of a dramanado. Never mind the big things. The little things too, like being told he needs to get a tie clip because the other day at work while going through the automatic closing/locking door his tie got shut in the door and he nearly hung himself. If it was a night shift where he was the only one on...
Nikko has a vet appointment this afternoon. We'll see if we can't get that front foot taken care of. She is doing amazingly well. Earlier this summer she seemed depressed, probably from the physical limitations of having a bum front foot and not being able to sprint around like the wind. The last few weeks have shown a wonderfully spry and happy old girl, very much like her usual self, following me around with her distinctive three-legged pattering.
I haven't seen this vet before. I stopped in to see Dr. Gay at Pachaug Veterinary Hospital, the vet she has been seeing for the last seven years, to get her a quick appointment for her foot since I was driving by. I was told at the desk that Fridays were half days for him and he was on his last patient. I could call Monday which is the day of the week where they keep 'same day appointments' open. I couldn't make the appointment for Monday until Monday, however. And "since you haven't been here for a couple years"...the woman directed at me, not finishing her statement.
Since we've moved here, every early summer we've brought all three animals in for check-ups and vaccinations. Usually to the tune of $500 plus. We got every vaccination and the checkups resulted in the comment "Great. Whatever you're doing, keep on doing it." After the last checkup a couple years ago, Nikko had a severely negative reaction to the vaccinations. When I called the clinic, I was told to call the emergency vet, Pachaug didn't do after hours emergencies. I had to bring her to a RI emergency veterinarian, at no small expense, and was told that at her age, Nikko not only did not need vaccinations, having years of boosters her immune system was well boosted, but that amount of vaccinations would cause undo stress on her. She was hydrated and we brought her home where she slowly recovered her natural vigor. Since her rabies vaccination was a three year concoction, no reason presented itself to return to Pachaug Veterinarian Hospital the following year.
Nikko had a bout with something awful, a couple years back, we suspect a stroke perhaps? At the time I thought she was dying, since she was completely unresponsive and opted to let the old girl die comfortably in my arms rather than stress her out at the vets, and besides, I thought, I suspected Pachaug wouldn't be able to see her. I called out from work, Paul came home to be with us and Crystal drove over to say her good-byes. Very dramatic and more so because as the day progressed into afternoon she slowly started twitching her ears, moving her eyes to follow us, and by evening she could stand with some help. Quite weird, but after a few days she was at about 80%, and slowly returned to normal.
What confuses me is this:
For years I dropped several hundreds of dollars at the Pachaug Hospital for healthy pets. When I had a sick pet, they couldn't see her.
Since all my pets are geriatric, they have no need for vaccinations, and since they have been healthy, they had no needs for checkups for the last few years. Now that my pet needs treatment, I get a song and dance trying to make an appointment.
And lastly, how can one ethically justify running a business this way??!! The way I figure, the Pachaug Hospital is not a registered charity, they are a business that provides a service, and quite frankly, I no longer like the terms of the service they supply. It reeks of mercenary bottom line ethics.
Not what I intended to go on about, but it's out there now. Time to clean the bathroom, kitchen and finish the laundry. Comforting familiar tasks.
Sincerely,
Elfscooter
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