When this blog began, Bailey Tuckerman Kent was an 8-week-old Bernese Mountain Dog living in the western mountains of Maine with his writer dad, Rich. These are their stories.... and don't forget, click on most photos to enlarge.
Bailey may be on drugs from the vet, but that didn't slow him down. He and I hammered Whitecap Mountain in just under 2 hours. I wasn't even pushing; in fact, we stopped and chatted leisurely with a couple from southern Maine between the 2nd and 3rd granite slabs on the Yellow Trail. I also took a slew of photos. Can't wait for the colors to fully turn.
My friend, Jeff Arsenault, explored Mystery Mountain and found another cliff not quite a mile beyond the second cliff. It's a gentle hike on which he and his wife Shirley have stacked more than a few cairns. This addition will make Mystery more than just a quick, "at-least-I-did-something" hike. Thanks, Shirley and Jeff.
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| Enjoying the sunshine on Cliff 3, Mystery-Plus |
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| On Whitecap Mountain, a cartoon of Bailey Tuckerman (2022) |
I schedule an appointment and bring Bailey to the Rumford Animal Hospital for a wellness visit and a check on his lumps.
"I know he means a lot to you," says Terry, Bailey's veterinarian.
"Don't they all?" I ask, immediately.
"No, not to everyone," she says and then talks about an owner and their dog. But my attention fades as I drift back to her initial words. This seemed to be the beginning of an end-of-life talk.
To every thing there is a season.
Terry did a full blood workup reserved for geriatric dogs. The results today: Bailey has a liver ailment. Enzymes and blood work are elevated. He's a on a medication for 30 days that we hope will clean and calm his liver. After the visit to Terry, I call up Fred to check on the food I feed Bailey to make sure I'm not killing him with carrots, peanut butter, Lean Treats, and dry food for geriatric dogs.
"It's probably his age," Fred says.
I imagine how many times over a 40-year career Fred's given "the talk." A former assistant of his called just the other day. Her 8-year-old golden dropped dead in her yard. Fred talked to her about his own dog Zellie who, one night, had an attack and died on the living room floor.
"Nothing I could do," he explains to her. "Nothing you could have done either."
To every thing there is a season.
So, I'll keep on doing what we do until one day he says, I'd rather not. I'm good with that. Honestly, I'd much rather he go to sleep on a mountain trail or on one of his several beds at home than in an examination room. Usually, we don't have a choice about such things. I guess I'm good with that, too.
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| From The London Sunday Times |
Our country wouldn't tolerate a king or a queen, though I suspect a lot of right-leaning Americans felt that Hilary Clinton filled the role of queen and a number of left-leaning folks felt the Bush family were well on their way to becoming a royal family.
Thing is, I like the pomp and circumstance in England. The Royal Guards and the Horse Guards and the Yeoman Warders and those Army fellows who lug around the canons... all of them reflect a long history and a level of civility that is lacking in America right now. OK–OK, I understand that Charles and Diana and Carmilla and Prince Andrew and "the boys" supposed spat open up the door to criticism, but that's life.
I admire the Queen's long life of service and her steadiness throughout her lifetime.She may well be remembered for carrying on her work until two days before her death. Looking frail, she met with the new Prime Minister and asked her to set up a new government.
This morning on the radio I heard a Scottish broadcaster say that when the Queen arrived at Balmoral Castle, her summer place (like camps in Maine but bigger), she hung her crown on the gate and kicked back. She drove her own car and chummed (as chummy as a queen could be) with the staff and enjoyed hillside walks.
This morning, I heard the story of the Queen walking with an aide through the countryside and running into an American couple. The Queen wore high rubber boots and typical Scottish cold weather outerwear. The Americans' question? "Have you ever met the Queen?" She answered no, but the aide said, "Yes, several times." The Americans wanted their picture taken with him and then, as an aside, took pictures with Her Royal Highness. She chuckled with the aide about them returning home with those pictures and wondering if their friends would clue them in.
Of course, the real plus from my side? QEII loved her corgis. That makes her just fine in my book.
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| The big old guy on the summit. |
We haven't hiked Glassface for a long time. We picked up so many ticks last year that the trail made me uncomfortable. Today, we were treated to a well trimmed trail. What a fabulous day and Bailey, though huffing and puffing on the steep section, hiked like a pro. There's a new section at the top that hits a higher ledge but without a clear view. Still fun to add a few more feet of elevation, however.
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| Summit Carin |
We took a day off from the mountains and wandered through the Mahoosuc Land Trust Valentine Farm learning about pollination, butterflies, and bees. It's worth the trip to Bethel (just off Route 2 and across from the airport).
I learned a lot about butterfly habitats and their role in the environment. We also wandered through the mosquito forest where staff members, visitors, and school kids built houses for mosquitos. They must provide feed for birds, right?
We ventured out on our 132nd hike on a wet Tuesday. We'd had 36 hours of steady rain the previous day and a half; this afternoon we had a small mist. I ran into one friend on the Orange Trail, Jeff Arsenault, who spends part of most every day taking care of the trails around Rumford. What a good and generous way to spend one's retirement. Jeff's two kids worked at my home during summers mowing, painting, and putzing at this or that.
