My Dog and the Local Wildlife

I have been working all night (web design job) and for the last hour my border collie, Mairi, has been very restless. I think something's out there, if you know what I mean. It could be Bigfoot or aliens, but I doubt it.

Almost as scary, it could be a cougar. We've had one circling around through our neighborhood for months now. A few nights ago it was spotted taking a midnight stroll through the Bear Cove Cabins just downhill.

I saw it on our porch one night a few months ago - we don't leave cat food out there any more.

We've heard its call many times, but I've never actually seen one except for that one night it was on the porch. I turned on the light then opened the door as it was leaving. I am happy I only saw the back end of it... in hasty retreat.

My Mairi chased it down the driveway - brave doggie... or foolhardy. Probably the latter. She's really into protecting her family. I won't go outside at night without her... we know if anything's out there she'll be the first to react.

The Case of the Shaking Cabin

I woke up in the middle of the night - and couldn't sleep so I got up to get some work done on a website I maintain. Now I'm feeling so sick!

My dog just got up and scratched or shook herself, and it made the whole house vibrate. I didn't know she could do that. Hopefully it was just the dog and not an earthquake. We live in a cabin-like house in the woods, but it really isn't that flimsy.

Cherokees, Noise, and Pets

Today while websurfing I came upon the Cherokee website for Western Cherokees.. which my grandmother was... her father was Cherokee. Its a beautiful website and there's some great downloads including free music, screensaver, and language help. I never have been able to find my great-grandfather's name on the census, as I've never been able to find the census. Any leads? His name is Samuel Miller and he was from Talequah, Oklahoma.

Wow.. this house is too noisy! Keith is practicing electric guitar. My children are watching TV. Does anyone think about noise levels besides me? I'm listening to MP3's with my headphones on to try to block out some of the other sounds. Right now I'm listening to the Minarets of the West CD - The City of Love - they sing so beautifully. Too bad they're not singing together anymore.

We have a border collie - Mairi - she's so sweet. I'm the only person here who doesn't really play with her... but she seems to prefer me. She is constantly coming to my side. First I feel her hot breath on my leg... then I look down and she's looking up with a dog smile, big brown eyes full of adoration... and if she wants to sleep, it is often under my desk that she retreats to. Dogs are great - they make you feel so loved.

Cats are another story. So far since the weather got warmer the girl cats have disappeared into the woods and only the boy cats are still hanging around the house.

We saw Sabrina yesterday when we drove up the hill at sunset, but when my daughter and I got out of the car and went to greet her, she avoided our attempts at affection and ran quickly back to the woods, turning from a safe distance to look at us in horror at the thought we might touch her. What got into her? All winter long my bedroom was her sleeping spot. Now she wants nothing to do with me?

I haven't seen Aretha at all in about a week, but that's not unusual for her and I know she can take care of herself. She has her own house out in the middle of a blackberry patch and I'm sure she's very safe there.

Kids and Cats

Well...... I've been having a great week. We went to Eureka on the 23rd. My daughter's birthday was the 20th and Joshua's was on the 24th. My daughter had friends over this weekend (Sarah and M.). I'm still doing the Artist's Way morning pages every day - usually sitting out in the south meadow enjoying the sunshine. The cats play in the tall grasses nearby and Mairi, our border collie, comes close to guard me.

Today I saw Sabrina trying to quietly get some rest in a bed she made for herself in the grass, and along came Mocha and spied on her, then took a flying leap at her from a distance of about four feet. I was surprised at his pouncing skill. Sabrina let him know that his sudden appearance in her territory was unwelcome.

Watching the cats is like a microcosm of human adult life. I identify so much with my two female cats, Sabrina and Aretha. They are also the oldest cats - we brought them with us from the Bay Area. Neither of them wants much to do with the boy cats. Sabrina has mellowed very slightly in the last two years. Aretha has become more independent while Sabrina wants to spend a lot of time indoors.... sleeping.

Okay, enough cat talk. I took some great pictures of the kids on our Eureka trip. One is of my daughter playing in the fountain there. The fountain was one of my best memories of the trip, because my daughter became like a little girl again, she had so much fun playing there. Sad to say, I'm losing her to teenage years (she just turned 13 and has an attitude to match) and now am trying to relate to her in ways we are unaccustomed to.

I took a photo of Aaron a few days ago in our south meadow. Lately he has been asking me to take photo shoots of him. This time he was getting me to snap pictures as he rode his bike. At the end he put down his bike to pet the cat and I got the best picture of all.