In loving memory, Oskar O'Naturel de Guerande

Oskar died today.  He bloated after dinner, and at the vet I chose to put him to sleep rather than subject him to invasive treatments that had low chances of helping.  I'd been putting this video together for a while now.  I was still working on it.  You might need a tissue.

Oskar was a great dog.  If you've been reading this blog, you know many stories about his 12-3/4 years.  So right now I'm just going to tell you how today, his last day, was really good.

Like the rest of the country we've had a lot of bad weather here lately.  Today, however, turned sunny and warm.  I got home from work and we had our typical weeknight routine.  Check the chickens, make supper for everyone.  By 6:30 Oskar was outside in the yard and I watched the evening news.  Between 7 and 8 I went outside with the dogs.  Ulani and I played frisbee, and Oskar did his tricks for treats.  The birds sang and all was happy.

Ulani and I came inside to watch Dancing with the Stars, but Oskar stayed in the backyard as he loved to do.  The evening was sunny and about 75 degrees -- just perfect.

A couple of times at commercial breaks I looked over to see Oskar in the grass by the gate, watching over all the activity in the yard.  This was his favorite thing.  Then about ten 'til 9 when I looked he wasn't there.  Not unusual because sometimes he'd go off to make rounds.

As DWTS wrapped up I looked out and he still wasn't there.  Looking a little more carefully I saw he had shifted to a different place in the grass, and was surrounded by what looked like strips of white paper.  Ulani and I went outside to check and I discovered that the white was foamy spit-up.  Any owner of a large, deep-chested dog should know the signs of bloat.  I had him stand up and thought his chest seemed a bit extended but certainly not that basketball appearance you fear.  His gums, however, were grayish.  Not a good sign.  And he was panting.

I quickly called Dr. Mike and arranged to meet at the hospital in 20 minutes.  Oskar carefully put his front legs into the backseat and I boosted him in.  Then I drove faster on country roads than I ever have.  Dr. Mike examined him then took him for an xray.  I paced.  When they returned I was given the bad news.  Oskar was bloating.  I already knew that I would not opt for surgery on a dog his age.  There was only one other option.

And so I sat on the floor with my big boy, sang the Puppy School song with him, had him shake hands and do a quiet bark, while the drugs took effect and he left me.  It was very peaceful and I was so grateful to be able to end his suffering.

I'll have more to write in a day or two.

Morning has Broken, 10

There's a war going on at Busy Solitude Farm.  (No, not that war in the barn.  That's a different conflict.)  It's the Sugar Water War, fought each year by the male hummingbirds whose territoriality is legendary.

This little guy is currently "King of the Mountain."

He perches on the hook, looking all around for the challengers.  Currently there are two challengers.  Three beautiful boys fighting mid-air, screeching and zipping, to control the sugar water and win the ladies' hummingbird hearts.

You can watch a little bit of the zipping here. 

Every once in a while they pause and all refresh themselves with sugar water.  Which makes it appear to be more of a collegial exercise rather than blood sport.

I hope the ladies are impressed.

More storm damage...

This is one of about four evergreens knocked over in the big storm Wednesday night.  One particular road bore the brunt of the wind's fury.

Trees knocked over...

Branches and entire tree trunks cracked...

But wouldn't you just know...

This old barn is still standing!

Mother Nature

There'd been no warning of severe storms.  But suddenly they developed at the south end of Lake Michigan and began moving north-east.  I'd been outside with the dogs and cats and watched the clouds on the horizon.  Finally when it began to sprinkle I said "ok, everybody in the house!"

In we went.  The dogs panted hard, a dependable precursor to a storm.  Sure enough, the rain came down hard.  And the lightening was constant, with thunder rolling in the distance.  We sat on the bed watching westward out the closed window; hail hammered the glass.  I popped on the television in time to hear the weatherman say "there's rotation in these clouds between Three Oaks and Galien."  That's EXACTLY where I live!

So I told the dogs "we're getting away from these windows!"  We moved into the living room, on the couch.  That's when I discovered that Luke had opened the screen after we all came in, and apparently gone back outside.  Now he was in the middle of a huge storm.  But there was nothing I could do at that point.

The storm raged on.  At one point I swear I heard that whoosh like a train that people always say they hear when a tornado races past.  The winds were massive.

And then a weird thing happened.  The power flashed and went out.  I live in the country and this is not so unusual, but it almost always comes right back on.  This time it stayed out.  And the weird thing was I heard a noise.  An electrical noise, right outside the living room window.  "Expletive deleted," I thought.  Now I'm really screwed.

It was pitch black in the house.  I felt my way around the dogs, past the dining table to the washing machine.  My rechargeable flashlight hangs in a plug next to the washer.  And it was not there.  So I felt my way back to the kitchen, found a candle and a match, then discovered the flashlight on the kitchen table.  Phew.  I immediately took the flashlight to the front door, and as soon as I called, Luke came racing inside.

Everything is a chore in the dark.  I searched around to find my cell phone, then searched to find an electric bill for the outage phone number.  Expected a message saying "we are aware of outages in your area" but no such luck.  Once that was finished, there was nothing to do but go to bed.

We all piled into the bedroom and snuggled up.  The dogs still panted loudly, and the cats were pretty clingy in the hot air.  Still, within half an hour we all dozed off.  Until midnight when there were voices outside.  The dogs set off the bark alarm.  I looked out the window and saw search lights coming up the road.

So out I went to the street to find the electric company guys shining their light on the electric pole across the street.  I figured they had things in hand and would have our power back on in a matter of minutes, so back to bed.  Where I awoke this morning still out of power.  And got the message that it was expected back on by 11 am.

Out with the dogs in the morning light, I finally figured out what had happened.  As you see in the photo, the lines on that electric pole snapped.  That must have caused the weird sound I heard, and definitely is the reason no power is reaching my house.  That's a corn field that pole is in -- no trees nearby.  Those lines snapped from wind.

Mother Nature is awesome!

Spring Storm!

What a storm we had! No one forecast such a sudden onslaught --the dogs started panting half an hour before, and I put it up to the heat.  But they knew what was coming.  No doubt.