11 Inches... and counting...

"Oh! the snow, the beautiful snow,
Filling the sky and earth below,
Over the housetops, over the street,
Over the heads of the people you meet.
Dancing,
Flirting,
Skimming along."
- J.W. (Joseph Warren) Watson, "Beautiful Snow" (1870)

Eleven inches and counting... that's how much snow we have received from the series of storms that began on the 13th of December. The last two days have been clear and cold (hardly any melting), but we are supposed to get another storm starting late tonight that should last through Wednesday. Maybe another 1 to 6 inches in Seattle. Truly bizarre weather. The dogs and I are having a blast. The Seattle D.O.T. less so. (Perhaps they should try plowing, no?)

And then the temperature is supposed to jump a bit and it looks like we'll get rain or freezing rain through and past Christmas. That, combined with all this snow that hasn't gone anywhere yet, brings to mind one word: flooding. If all this accumulation melts in a relatively short period of time it's going to be chaos. Basements will flood, sewers and and storm drains will back up - we'll be swamped. Reminds me of a time from 1996, the year I moved out here, and another big storm we got that Christmas... I'll have to blog about that at a later time... but it's an ugly story - in the sewer sense of the word.

Glad we live at the top of a hill...

KJT - Seattle (2008)

(That last picture was taken by Stacie.)

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Sorel Weather

"I'm looking California,
And feeling Minnesota."
- Soundgarden, "Outshined" (1991)

With apologies to Soundgarden, I'm feeling Colorado. And I love it.

We've been socked with some unusual winter weather the last week or so up here in Seattle. We hardly get but a few dustings of snow each season, but this year has already been exceptional. Two things I brought with me when I moved here from Colorado in 1996 that I haven't had much use for are the 4-wheel drive option in my pickup, and my Sorel boots. Both have been getting a workout lately.

One thing for sure, it's a good thing it doesn't snow much, because the people out here cannot drive in it. Damn flatlanders. Even those people with 4-wheel or all-wheel drive seem to be creeping along at 2 miles an hour. On the flats.

C'mon people, I realize you bought that big 4x4 SUV as a status symbol, and the closest you've come to driving it off-road is up Queen Anne hill in the summer, but please... at least get the hell out of my way.

Other than that minor annoyance - I love this weather. And the dogs love it too. Been taking them on super long walks through the neighborhood and through the wooded trails in Seward Park on Lake Washington - just a few miles from our house. They go crazy. Here's a brief video of them romping through the park a couple days ago...


And we're getting socked with another storm as I type this. Maybe 3 to 8 inches in Seattle tonight. We've already got almost 2 inches of new powder at our house so far and the dogs are going nuts chasing each other around the backyard.

Definitely makes me feel like Colorado - but sure gives me a warm California smile.
KJT - Seattle (2008)

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Simple Pleasures, part 4

“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event.”
- Unknown

I guess Andrew Sullivan (link) liked the above picture from my back deck too...

Simple Pleasures haiku:

first snowfall this year

brand new backyard for the dogs

romping and chasing

KJT - Seattle (2008)

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Puppy Malaise, Part 4

A dog thinks, "Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, 

provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me. They must be Gods."

A cat thinks, "Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, 

provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me. I must be a God!"

- Unknown

Kaiser continues on the roller coaster of health he's been riding for the last six weeks or so. He hasn't had a fever in over a week now, and even his hind leg seems to be getting much better. He can walk fairly normally on it, and once again jump up on the couches and beds (yes, we spoil the animals rotten...) without too much trouble. You can still tell the leg is weak when he climbs the stairs. The new problem (will this ever end?) seems to be gastro-intestinal. He's been throwing up daily, and what comes out of the other end is, well, let's just say it's the consistency of soft-serve ice cream, at best. We've tried going to a strict diet of white rice and boiled chicken, with little results. Now, per vet instruction, we're attempting to medicate with Pepcid. The saga continues...

I'm not sure I've mentioned the fifth member of the family, the crotchety, old cat "Mick Jagger." He's of indeterminate age, but we're guessing near 18 or 19 years. He's now quite skinny, bitchy, and constantly goes outside, eats grass, comes in and throws up on the carpet. So it's a joyous time in the house, with the cat and dog competing for most spectacular, or appropriately-placed vomit. 

The wonders of 'parenthood'...

KJT - Seattle (2008) Kaiser & Mick Jagger

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Puppy Malaise, Part 3 (Some Good News)

"Can I see another's woe, and not be in sorrow, too?

Can I see another's grief, and not seek for kind relief?"

- William Blake, English poet/painter (1757-1827)

Finally a little good news to report, although it began with high anxiety. On Thursday Stacie had to rush Kaiser to the hospital in the morning. He had a fever over 105° and he couldn't stand up. He hadn't eaten much in three days. On arrival at the hospital he weighed 32lbs. In mid-June he had weighed 43lbs. The hospital put him on intraveneous fluids, and started him on a new drug, Prednisone. I was terrified all day that they were going to call us to come in and put him down. 

Within a few hours his fever was down to 103°, and by the time we picked up him at 7:00pm his fever was right around 101°, which is in the normal range for dogs. He seemed to have some pep and was limping around, but moving under his own power. When we got home he ate a huge bowl of food and a couple cups of whole milk. An hour or so later he ate another big bowl of food, to which we added cottage cheese and roast beef. He also downed another cup of milk. Before we went to bed we took his temperature again and it was still hovering right around 101°.

He slept quite well that night, getting up a couple times to go to the bathroom. The next morning he had two breakfasts (very Hobbit-like, that) and some more milk. His hind leg is still limp and he hobbles on it, but he definitely seems to be responding to the Prednisone. That evening his temp was 100.8°. He doesn't seem to be in distress like he had been.

It's quite a relief to have his fever down and to see him eat again. They think that if it had been cancer, the Prednisone would not have had such an immediate impact - but they still won't rule it out. Now the consensus seems to be some kind of joint inflammation combined with possible auto-immune issues. We'll keep him on the Prednisone for another week and a half, and if his fever stays down and he regains some weight we might be able to finally figure out what really is going on with his leg/joint.

It seems strange to look back on the post from June 14 (Friday Farmer's Market) when we walked down the hill with him, and there were no real red flags.

Happy for small miracles. It was a stressful week.

KJT - Seattle (2008) Photo by Stacie

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Puppy Malaise, continued

"They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free 

so long as there are pestilences."

- Albert Camus, "The Plague" (1947)

Still a mystery as to what ails poor Kaiser. We've taken him in for acupuncture treatments and chiropractic treatments. They seem to make him feel better, but only for a while. He's had several rounds of x-rays and physicals and he's been on one antibiotic or another for over a month and still has a fever. He's even taking pills to help 

his Qi ("Chee") — I shit you not. He can hardly use his left hind leg at all now, it just hangs limp. He doesn't have much interest in eating and he's lost quite a bit of weight. He hobbles around and mostly lies under the coffee table and sighs occasionally. Our doctor is going to consult with a specialist and we will probably then take him to one here in Seattle, or one in Pullman in eastern Washington. Although nothing has shown up so far on the x-rays, we're beginning to worry about cancer. So far the doctors are as baffled as we are.

KJT - Seattle (2008) Kaiser getting acupuncture, notice needles in lower picture

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Puppy Malaise

"To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace."

- Milan Kundera, Czech writer/philosopher (1929—)

Under the weather. Kaiser, our 17-month-old Springer Spaniel is not well. We can't seem to figure out what is wrong with him. We just got word back from the vet that all the tests we had run are negative, which is good, except that we still don't know what the problem is. 

We are hoping he doesn't have canine hip dysplasia, which is a hereditery disease that can cause lameness and arthritis. It seems more common in Spaniels than some dogs, and usually shows up before they are 18 months.

Kaiser seems very lethargic, and he is having trouble going up and down the stairs. He is also very tentative getting on and off the couches and beds, and doesn't seem to want to go for walks - which is a complete 180 degree reversal from his personality even a couple months ago.

We're thinking we may try acupuncture next...

KJT - Seattle (2008)

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El Jefe & the Hounds

"The more people I meet, the more I like my dog."

- Unknown

Stacie, Kramer, and Kaiser, the trinity that keeps me going.

KJT - Seattle (2008)

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