Monday, June 30, 2008

Piute Fire


We're still in Las Vegas, but understand that the Kern River Valley has been cloaked in smoke from a couple of fires. Last night, our friend Tysun shot these incredible photographs of the Piute Fire. In the first shot, Lake Isabella is in the foreground, the town on the left is Mount Mesa and on the right is Isabella. Tysun's house is high in the hills of Woffard Heights, which shows in the second shot.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Ed Gordon, 1925-2008

Ed Gordon passed away in his sleep on the evening of June 23. It would have been Ed and Norma's 62nd anniversary.



Sunday, June 15, 2008

A Birthday Surprise



Our friend Marty Kreloff surprised Josh with this marvelous sketch of he and Fritzi.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Suddenly She's Bigger!

We've had Fritzi for four weeks on Saturday. And what a long four weeks it has been! Let's see:
  1. Splitting the job of waking up at the crank of dawn every day. Oh, also, at least once in the middle of the night. (Calculate the dog's age in month plus one is the number of hours they can hold their tiny bladders.)
  2. Every day is an exercise in making the house puppy-safe. We've resorted to the not particularly unpleasant practice of spending most of the day out on the patio. (Life can be rough.)
  3. Second week in, Fritzi has a reaction to either her vaccination or to a dose of Amoxicillin, and spends most of Memorial Day weekend totally lethargic. We of course were quite worrried. Off the amoxicillin, and she's just fine by Tuesday. (There's a reason we don't have children).
  4. The evening we get home, Fritzi is exploring the new house, and discovers a possible Tasty Treat on the balcony floor. Oops, it's a bee. Oops, she has a hyperallergic reaction, and her face and muzzle swell all up. Hello, Benedryl; hello Las Vegas Emergency Veterinarian, who are very very good and efficient and give her some more Benedryl and a bit of steroid. We were quite worried. (There's a reason we don't have children.)
  5. Then four days later, Roberta sprains her ankle. Remember that part about splitting the job of waking up in the middle of the night? (There's a reason we don't have children.)
  6. Doggie Oasis, a local doggy day-care place with a very good reputation, quite reasonably won't accept her until she's old enough to have he rabies shot. That's very understandable, but we'd been hoping for a way to get a break. (I need a nap.)

I fell down!


Last Sunday we went to one of our favorite events, "Best in Show", a fundraiser for the Animal Foundation, which supports the Lied Animal Shelter in Las Vegas, but as we were walking to our table an uneven riser caused me to fall, badly spraining my ankle.

Paramedics were called, and ultimately I was wheeled out the door in a wheelchair and swept off to the emergency room. Now I am hobbling around with a walking cast, and we had to miss Dance Camp.

Baby Horses!



On our way out of Kernville, we stopped at our friend Keith Pringle's place to see his trio of foals. Cute! (Blame Keith for Josh's ukulele fixation.)

Pringle's Place
(click this photo for a slide show!)