Hello Old Friend

 Well, I guess the nothing of a Pandemic has made me miss writing!  Gosh so much has changed since I last posted...and so much is the same. 

I'm a dang school teacher, fully credentialed as of this year! Something I never wanted to be but... hey, there's health insurance and a pension. I love the kids but I've been so disillusioned about how little of teaching is about the kids! It's a business that rarely accounts of the kids involved. 

I had been teaching a behavior based program... which I loved but...I had a principal that was a "box-checker." Behavior programs do not check boxes... we are soooo outside the box! I spent an entire year teaching with my back to a student. We had a whole checklist of what that student had to do to earn my attention. If attention was paid for the wrong things...we were off and running toward a very bad day! I loved working that program...save for the crazy boss. I had to leave the district to get away from her. 

Loved the next job (High school algebra! Ha! I haven't used algebra in 37 years and why the state of California makes us torture special needs kids with it...UGH!) ...until Covid sent all teacher specialists back to the classroom, bumping newbies like me. 

So, I'm jobless and awaiting a re-entry interview at my old district. I'm honestly so exhausted from the last four years, I really don't mind the lack of work. 

My goodness... I started working on a credential in July 2016 not understanding that I would be a classroom teacher by late August! (Thought I could do that and just sub.) 10 days into my new job, Mom's house flooded with 38" of water. Spent the year flying back and forth dealing with FEMA and contractors all while trying to get Mom to leave the house so the work could be done. (She won that argument!)  So much craziness at work...constant meetings about my students, data tracking and reports to be written. I took NO time off, working every holiday. Worked all summer on salary points. 

Mom in the boat when the Cajun Navy finally got her to leave her flooded house after 3 days! 

Mom's house after we tore out the walls and tossed the furniture.

Fall of 2017 brought crazy fires. One side of the mountains would catch on fire and I would pack a car with clothes, dog food, hard drives and vital papers and drop it off on the opposite mountain. Weeks later, the other mountain was on fire! Lather, rinse repeat. The morning the Creek Fire took off, even though it was close to me, the smoke was at my school. Of course, my school was the only one that didn't close! By midday, I was getting texts that I need to get home and get Macy Blue. It was a harrowing drive home with fires breaking out and taking multiple back roads to get into our valley. The next morning, my school still open, I took surface streets as the freeway was jammed. I noticed police blocking the way back toward home. I stopped and asked what was up... I could leave but I could not come home! NO WAY was I leaving Macy Blue in that fire ridden valley when I couldn't get home to her! 

Creek Fire as seen from space. 

Our pal, Osa, days before Creek Fire

(Front to back) Osa, Riley, Aria, Macy Blue - same spot as above - after Creek Fire

And  after the fires, you know it, came the flood! I got home on January 9th to 10" of mud surrounding my house and in my pool! 

It took months of shoveling to get all the mud out! 

Backyard and pool

Spring was spent trying to dig out and repair the pool. It was ready for summer, thank goodness. Especially during COVID, the pool has been my sanity. I swim about 90 -120 minutes a day! 

All better! 

June  brought coyote drama. Macy Blue and I were hiking the dark side. We had just emerged from the swimming spot when I heard Macy growl...totally out of the norm. Ten feet away, she was on her hind legs in an embrace with a small coyote. He must have noticed her limp and took her for an easy target. She was NOT! Plus, her momma is part rottweiler... I screamed so loud, I terrified them both! The coyote took off and Macy ran to me. I thought she was fine but took her in anyway... it was a severe bite! My poor baby! 

Fall was more craziness, dealing with Mom's dementia. January, I was part of the one of the largest teacher strikes in history. It poured rain the whole time we were on strike. In the end, I feel special education lost out...our numbers actually INCREASED. 

And then came February. Macy Blue had been on a weird eating streak for months. I kept wondering if she had pica! She ate most of a letter. She ate beads... glass ones. She passed those. But in early February, she ate most of two different dish towels.  And here's where I was stupid: When I lived in my previous house, I was friends with a hair dresser and her rottweiler. He loved to get his lips on any towel she had used to do hair! Seriously, this dog would eat and entire towel. When he would pass it, she would don gloves and pull! DON'T DO THIS! Rags can get impacted. 

Macy had a helluva week...overnight at the hospital, radio active beads confirmed nothing was moving. Day at her vets. I would have to pick her up when the overnight place closed at 7 am, drive her home so I could get to work by 7:40. I would leave her in my dog car and the bestie would drive  her to the vet at 8:15. Back and forth for days...finally, my vet operated, found the rags and I was SO hopeful (and broke! $4K+). I took her for what I hoped would be her last overnight, begging her to live. Just after midnight on Valentine's Day, she crashed. I knew she could take no more. Her limp exhausted her and her heart murmur...it was too much! I told them to leave her in peace. 

The last photo of Macy Blue.

And that brings me to the ray of sunshine at the top of this blog. Maizy... The first time I kept the M name a dog arrived here with. It just fit her and it was so weird. I really wanted to name Macy Maizy...but there were a number of bloggers with that name. So Macy it was... and Blue because she was so sad. Maizy's family wanted to name her Macy because the mom loved to shop there but she made them change it.  And I kept thinking of the dream I had of Mabel...where she left me a pot of gold. 

Maizy was rehomed. She was such a high energy pup, I wondered what the hell I was going to do with her. But big hikes have tamed her! She often hikes right by my side. She is the happiest, smartest little thing ever! She reminds me of Mabel... capable of understanding conversations and reasoning... but without the arguments and disagreements! I'm over the moon with her!  Middle name: True (short for Truelove - but that would embarrass her so please don't mention it!)

Day nine - Maizy True giving me a run for my money!

My job at the high school was really demanding... I had a huge case load (26!) and saw 80 students throughout the day. But Maizy was kinda thrilled with lockdown. Long walks twice a day and Mom always at home. 

Not sure what's next... but I have a great pup by my side! 

If Not for Bad Luck

You know, I stole a line from Velvet several years ago (2009)...summing up a year as "spectacular for its suckitude."And I've labeled nearly every year since as such.  It has been a bloody horrible run of suckitude!

• 2009 - Economic downturn and financial woes, Station Fire, loss of our trails in the rains that followed.  I posted on the very same day that I longed for better days. 
• 2010 - a spider nearly killed me and a 23 year friendship bit the dust and the pain still reverberates -  even though I know I'm better off without someone who simply doesn't value me and is so comfortable lying. 
• 2011 - My dear sister started her third and final battle with cancer. 
• 2012 - More trips back home to be with my sister. By the holidays, we knew her battle was almost over. 
• 2013 - My sister passed and I spent the year adjusting to her loss...still am really. I got mad at myself just the other day for not calling her in so long! 
• 2014 - Mabel died way too quickly.  Torn labrum and impending surgery on my shoulder. A new career teaching... I don't love it  but I don't hate it any more - most days.  Oh, and a fire! Or two! 

I've already told you about the local bakery that burned. I can't tell you loss I felt...from losing a selling venue to no where for a quick outing with friends.  As I've watched the building sitting there all burnt and sad, I've thought a lot about the loss from a fire. But that didn't mean I wanted to experience it first hand...

Almost two weeks ago, the tenants that live in my townhouse - my first home of my own - called to tell me it was on fire! We think it started in their dryer... clean your lint filters people! Luckily, it was confined to the garage.

And to add insult to injury, neither of us have insurance. I had to make some rough choices back in '09... health insurance or my interior townhouse policy. I chose health knowing it was a  calculated gamble. My homeowner's association has an exterior policy that will return the home to four walls and a roof. The rest is up to me. But I'm on the hook for the ginormous deductible... about 1/3 of my last year's below poverty wages!  OY! Some part of me is so scared, I don't know what to do. And some part of me knows there is nothing to do...yet.

 

I just know that I am fed up with negative. I'm tired of dealing with BS. Negative people exhaust me (and I have one I must talk to every single day). I am going to focus on the positive if it kills me! Oddly enough the things I have to pay for in my own unit were on my to-do list anyway: the water heater was old, the laundry cabinets were saggy, the patio door didn't close. The only extra is a garage door opener. Not too bad...

Maybe this gets my perpetually late renters out of my house. Maybe this is about shutting one door to open another. Maybe it's to teach me to never gamble with insurance.  I don't know... but I will rise from these ashes!

Her Life in Pictures: Eight

Those of you who have human children can relate to this... I've seen little kids do this many times. You are someplace...visiting family, a fair, a park... out of your norm. Your kid is running around and in the middle of lots of excitement, the kid stops and comes up to you and says, "Mom, I'm SOOOOO HAPPY!!!" and then runs back to the exciting thing they were doing.

I've had this happen with both Maggie and with Mabel. Maggie did it to me the first time I took her to visit a house with other dogs. She stopped playing, ran up and just stared into my eyes as her whole body shook with glee. And she ran back to play. I was lucky enough to be holding a camera when Mabel did this to me in the summer of 09. This is a happy dog!

Mabel Lou was in demand socially! We would regularly have "Bone Parties" with the Rhodesians. It was quite comical. Every dog was given a frozen marrow bone... they would all curl up on a favorite chair or sofa. In Mabel's case, she would stand on the the front porch and whine at her Auntie until the "company rug" was placed just so for her. They would all chew a bit and then as if some voice only understood by dogs said, "SWITCH!!" they would all change bones. Mabel would get her pick but there was always some quibbling between the Rhodies as to who would get Mabel's bone. Mabel's bone was highly coveted!

I have always treated my dog to vanilla ice cream. Actually this habit was started by my mother when we used to take Maggie to Balboa park. She would always buy Mags a cup of vanilla. And if I go to an ice cream shop and my pup is with me, they get a scoop of vanilla. Mabel got her last scoop about 10 days before she passed.

At home, Mabel would always start in the kitchen with a cup but would pick it up and go to the den. Then she'd pick it up and take it outside.

Late summer, the national forest that feeds our favorite playground would catch on fire and burn for nearly month. For several breathtaking nights, members of the Creekerati would join us on our porch as we watch the mountainsides around us glowing. We would hike Alpine trail only once more after the fire.

 

 The mountain across from Mabel used to be lush and green...

 
The first rain after the fire brought down so much soot and ash. It was a muddy mess to hike in...not that any of us minded. Rain would heal our forest and our creek...eventually. Not yet, but eventually!

And it was this next photo, taken by a friend as we were treating the dogs to cream at a coffee outing, that made me realize my girl was getting older. Where did all that gray come from?

Mabel got her favorite for Christmas...as always! And was happy about it...as always!

She loved hiking with friends...

All of my friends have always made fun of me for the shear number of dog beds I have for ONE dog!  I'm not about to explain myself again in a memorial post but, Mabel adored when it was bed washing day! All the beds would end up in the living room as I recovered them for whatever season we were headed into. She would frequently try to fit on several at once.

If I have to think of all of hikes we've ever had and pick only one to say was my favorite, it took place on New Year's Day of 2010. The wash above the Rose Bowl is an amazing hike, especially on that holiday. There's the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game to provide a distant roar of a crowd. There were flyovers back then by the B2 Stealth Bombers. They would often organize their positions above us as we hiked... As a flight geek, I can only liken it to being backstage at a performance by your favorite singer. It was awesome!

Couple in the cool weather and water flowing... it was just the happiest day! And Mabel Lou was in fine comedic form! The stream was a bit too deep for the tiny dogs we were hiking with to cross on their own, so we would place a fallen tree at periodic spots to allow the small dogs to cross. Mabel would have none of this... as all trees and sticks were hers! ( I just remembered I've been saving pics for a Tree Saving 101 post for over a year!)

Every time we tried to place this tree trunk, Mabel would make off with it! I would go get it and place it where the little ones could cross and yet the tree would not affect the flow of the stream. And Mabel would steal it again. This went on so long... about 30 minutes of the 3 hour hike was spent dealing with the tree and the thief! I normally don't post photos of myself... so you'll have to understand how very happy I was "fighting" with my dog to be willing to show you this:


Just look at her go!

My 2nd favorite hike took place on February 9th of that year. It was another three hour hike. The Rottrovers were with us for part of it and I wrote about it in three separate parts beginning here. Part Two is about Mabel's boyfriend...her only one ever! His name was Maxi and they dated for almost a year, before he moved away. She would still go by his house and look for him for years!

But Part Three of this story was the best... Mabel decided to try her hand at being a teenaged girl! It was hilarious to watch and one of the most exciting days ever in our creek!

This year was SO exciting... I've barely touched on anything! Our friends from Minnesota came to visit... If Mabel had a human boyfriend, it was my pal Becky's hubby.

And Mabel's pal Ruby joined our pack. What a year!!!

Springs Fire

Today's post subject was supposed to be Mexican. But the only idea I had for that involved driving and the jeep has been in the shop, I thought it better to post on a more timely subject of the Springs fire. These photos were taken Friday night.

Sunsets during a fire are always mesmerizing

On Thursday, the skies were blue but there was a distinct smoke trail some 40 miles west. I had hoped to take some pics of it Friday but, the wind had changed. It was so smoky at the creek, I got an instant headache hiking.

This is the smoke line coming from 40 miles away!

There was also another fire much closer 8 miles or so down Chevy Chase Canyon. But the fire department made quick work of that and except for a freeway closure, there wasn't much of an issue with that one.

Smoke traveling up the canyon

Above is Mt. Lukens - tallest point in Los Angeles County. The "clouds" to the left is actually smoke from the Springs Fire. The right side is smoke from the Canyons fire as they were calling the Chevy Chase Canyon fire.

Better Days

January 1st of this year, I wrote this hopeful post. At the time, I had several new hiking trails and was feeling very excited that new and good things were coming. Here is the photo of the spot that I visit often in my mind's eye:

And here it is today:


All the lovely rocks and boulders we climbed on, rested on, conversed and frolicked on have been washed away or buried by silt from the Station Fire. The stream has changed courses into a foreign direction. And the smell. I told Kat, "I don't think I will ever get over the smell of charred creek."

Those trails I had such high hopes for? All taken from me for one reason or another. Whiting Woods? Mountain Lions. Alpine? Mabel discovered a horse barn at the base of the mountain and disappears. Angeles Base? Mabel realized the horse barn is nearby, runs into the highway, gets distracted by all the dogs in cars and wanders in the road. And then the Arroyo burned...

And that pretty much sums up my 2009. I'm poorer than I have ever been in my adult life....including my supposed lean and hungry years. And I feel as though most of my life as I knew it has been completely ravaged by this year


Like life stabbed me in a critical placeOn closer examination, I see that maybe all is not lost


Maybe it's just a little charred
There are parts of me that are willing to fight to stay the course

There are places inside where hope still lives

And somehow I know that even if I run a ragged course with no clear cut path, even if my journey is unpleasant, I will find my way.

And so, I want to leave 2009 and my 61 days of consecutive blogging (!!!!!!!!!) with the lyrics to one of my favorite holiday songs. These words often get me through the tumultuous days when I visit my family and they've been ringing in my ears lately.

Better Days

by The Goo Goo Dolls

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

And it's someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And that's faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And the one poor child that saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

So my friends, I wish us all Better Days in 2010. I'll see you sometime next year. Happy New Year!

Sneaky Sad Adventure

Yesterday, I was overcome with the feeling I HAD to see the arroyo that I fell so in love with this time last year... the one that burned in the Station Fire. Kat and I have hiked up the trail a few times since the fire but the trail has "no entry" signs posted just where the trail gets good and interesting. From that vantage, we knew the ranger homes had been saved but that meant the trail with it's rocky vantage points along the stream bed had surely burned.

I left Mabel Lou at home thinking that if I were alone, maybe I could slip past the ranger homes and onto the trail. I planned to ask Kat and Linguini to wait there for me to slip in and take some photos. But, as we approached the trail closure, we encountered a quarter of caballeros coming out of the trail and we could see more hikers up ahead.

So off we all went. We barely made it to the ranger houses before we found fire damage. Downstream, we had noticed flood damage - sections of fence missing; the creek bed moved - but we didn't give it much thought.

Upstream, it was clear that all the flood damage had been caused by the fire. There is a ravine just before the ranger homes that, prior to the fire, was barely noticeable. But now with the mountain up above burned, there was nothing left to prevent dirt and debris from washing down, completely washing out the ravine and revealing the underground pipes put in place to prevent just such a flood. And just as quickly, a new trail, trod by many was revealed and on we went.

The road beside the homes was covered in debris and just beyond, the road WAS the stream. The stream bed had shifted at good 30 feet to the east, probably due to all the ash, soot and burnt logs that had settled in the original stream. We had to hug the mountain base to maneuver around the new stream.


And finally we were at our destination. It was almost like attending a funeral for an old friend. While it only burnt in spots, so much junk has washed down from the fire raped mountains that all our lovely rocks were buried. Many of the trees that rested across the stream were...gone. And the canyon, so dark, it was hard to imagine it will ever be the same.

Snow!!!

That storm on Monday dumped the most snow I've seen since I moved here in the winter of 2000-01! And snow on the mountain means...more water in the creek.

This is the view from my front yard:

The southern part of Mt. Lukens got a light dusting too:

We were so happy to see sunshine after days and days of gray, we raced to the creek. We ran into one of the rottie-boy twins that we adore.

He and Mabel had a nice frolic in the water.

I've always said Mabel Lou was part pig because she loves to wallow in mud...this just proves my point! Look how happy she is!
We hiked down to the falls and the deer carcass had washed away down the stream. There was much more water than yesterday. I love seeing it flowing all the way down to the freeway.

Just had to add this one of the sweet boy! I just wanna kiss that "rotten" face! Note the eye goobers - every dog we know has had them since the fires! Poor babies!!!

With all this snow in the neighboring mountains, it's COLD! At 5:30 Tuesday night, it's 38 degrees on my covered back porch!