Vivian recently turned one year old. In observance of her birthday there was no cat themed attire, no new toys, no cat birthday portrait taken, no indulging in a cat birthday cake, no cat drinks, no pin the tail on the cat, nor cat nip favors for the guests (not that there were any other guests). All Vivie received was a single candle in her canned food and a photograph.
Vivian has been a challenging cat, not at all what Lisa expected. Lisa hoped for a loving, affectionate, and playful cat. Vivian has turned out to be aloof, unfriendly, and antisocial. She bites when she does not want to be touched, and hides when company comes for a visit (maybe this is normal cat behavior). I think it is time for Vivian to find another home. Lisa is hoping Vivian will grow out of her bad behavior, and is willing to give her a little leeway and addition time in our home to see if there is improvement. For the time being, I guess Vivian is staying.
Daughter Sasha, her husband James, and their boys Elijah, Ezra, and Gideon live in Orem, Utah, but they always seem to find time, at least yearly, to come to Anacortes and spend a week with us. Lisa and I always enjoy their visits and we try to find different activities to involve the boys in to keep their interest level high. Below are pictures taken during their visit.
Ian and Kaylene suggested we visit the Gordon Farms Autumn Market, located in the farmland near Burlington. During the fall season you will find pumpkins, squash, and gourds, in all shapes and sizes. We purchased carving pumpkins for Elijah and Ezra. Ian and Kaylene also bought pumpkins for their family. The Farm also has a corn maze which we all spent time in, but we did not get lost.
Pumpkin carving on the back deck.
Somewhere, at sometime in my life, I learned the number one accident in the home involves falling from a ladder. And, like most accidents, you never think it will happen to you, until it does. What’s the old saying? It’s as easy as falling off a ladder. Yes, it is.
On Thursday morning, while James and I were getting the kayaks down from the ceiling of the garage, the kayak suddenly let lose from the support bracket, pushing me back off the ladder to the concrete floor below. My feet were at about a 5 foot height, and I remember thinking to myself as I was falling backwards, “Crap, this is going to hurt!”
Sure enough. It did hurt. A lot. I landed on my back, my right shoulder and arm (yes, my bad shoulder). It knocked the wind out of me and it felt like I had broken my back or a few ribs. Howling in pain, James ran and got Lisa who was soon at my side. Kaylene called 911 thinking I would need an ambulance to take me to the hospital. Sasha looked on wondering what she might do to help. Within a few minutes the pain began to subside and I began to breathe more normal. I told Lisa not to send an ambulance until I could do a self diagnosis of my condition. In time I was able to sit up and then stand. Yes, I hurt, but I didn’t feel any broken bones. The ambulance was placed on hold.
I remained sore the rest of the day, and night gave me little sleep. On Friday Lisa insisted I was going to the doctor, urgent care or the emergency room. We ended up in the ER. Four hours later we got a summary of my condition. I sprained my wrist and shoulder, and received multiple contusions on my right arm, sternum, breastbone and ribs.
Given the height from which I fell, and the hardness of the concrete floor of which I landed, it could have been a lot worse. I’m simply thankful I wasn’t a statistic, one of the multiple hundreds of people who die every year from ladder falls.
Cranberry Lake is only a few blocks from civilization, but you feel you are hours away. It’s a calm place to paddle with a kayak and that is where we ended up Thursday afternoon.
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