Blue Heron



Walked my dog Maya to the Donut Shop yesterday early early, like 5:30 am, almost that time now!...bought yet another harness that fits tighter, and it seems to work okay...on return yesterday, sighted Blue Heron standing out in the Pond...water most gone, and, and looks just to be about two feet deep...realized Pond even when at its usual depth is only like five feet deep...it can fill up to the fence and street, that would maybe make it like fifteen...didn't have camera with...cameras are languishing in a box while I try to sort out how to make a usefull set of day to day routines...Heron pic is from old post...thought to just randomly see an old post to reminisce, and this is the one that came up...Dec 31 2009...as we walked further on the street past the Pond, Heron took wing and flew by...my sleep cycle is upside down...snoozing during the day, I heard Maya thrashing something on the Porch...she's nearly eaten through one wall, and I diverted her in time before she chewed through the exposed wiring!...too sleepy in the daytime to be sensible about what I'm about trying to repair the Porch, and so back away from committing funds...did yesterday buy a crowbar...want to remove the paneling inside, and the wood outside around the dog door...the price of materials is so high, that even a minor temporary fix is eye brow raising...goal is to make the porch and backyard safe for Maya, insomuch as she wants to chew and eat everything, but I lag behind, and dread she'll find some hazard I haven't anticipated...when I return from a walk, my tenant is puttering in the kitchen, and I wait, keeping Maya on leash...but twice now things have gone awry...once, I went out on the Porch, closing myself and Maya out from the kitchen, and was taking the harness off...but it got caught on the dog tag, and Maya went into a kinda panic with the harness half off and choking her a bit, and my hands paniced trying to untangle things, and by now Maya was chewing on me in earnest...the wounds aren't deep, but blood was streaming down one forearm....I finally just grabbed her up in a bear hug, and pleaded with my tenant through the back door window to let me in...this is difficult as her English isn't good!...but I got in and went to the dog carrier in the living room and shoveled Maya in...then went in the bathroom and cleaned up and sat on the edge of the tub and thought awhile...it's hard to contain one's temper when a dog bites...some very old instinct rises up I suspect, in both of us...I can contain mine in such circumstance, a spank on Maya's fanny with my open hand the most I muster, and that rarely...but I don't know what someone else will do if Maya bites them, and if some strangers reaction would cause an escalation...so that was one time, and then yesterday, when I returned, my tenant wasn't about in the house, so I went about preparing Maya's food and water in the kitchen...I set these out on the Porch, and then close the door, so inside the house is some peace!...but my tenant came out while Maya was on leash, and I asked her to remain in her room until I had Maya out on the porch secure, and Hanh did this, I thought, but after Maya was unleashed, she ran into the house to the front door...Hanh had gone outside and was coming back in, and was about to open the door...I got there just in time to hold it shut, and felt an ogre telling Hanh to wait, stay out, and I closed the door...Hanh doesn't understand, that if Maya get's out, she'll run off...I haven't been able to train Maya to respond and come back when I call...with Maya back out on the porch, I opened the door and let Hanh back in...she went about her morning, and off to work...I sat on the front step a bit, and tried to think things through...it's a dilemma...so long as I've rented to my tenant, I've always been concerned for their safety...but somethings, like when they were using hotplates to cook, having lost somehow the stove I provided years ago, and not replacing it, I just cross my fingers and hope things go okay...when I returned, and had funds, I bought another stove, and that's worked fine...but, once, when the electricity went out (car wrecked a power pole), Hanh surpised me, and brought out a little propane gas hot plate, brand new, from her room, and gestured we could use it to cook with the electricity out...I smiled, and didn't trouble to explain that the stove would be fine as it's gas...and I tried to tell her to never use the hot plate in her room...and I cross my fingers on that...anyway, sitting on the front step yesterday, I admonished myself to keep my temper when Maya, and my tenant, are troubling...so, so, what happens later, I'm in Target, at the cashier, two bags of beggn bits and a package of baloney, and I'm about to swipe my debit card, and the cashier tells me to stick it in the new slot these readers now have for the new cards with chips...my card is new, but I had just come from Home Depot where it didn't work with the chip and I swiped it and used my pin number...I don't like that we use a signature now instead of pin numbers, and I was thinking it's going to not work again, and I said, 'No, I'd like to swipe my card and use my pin numbers (which I know I can still do), but the cashier woofed at me..."You have to put it in the chip slot at the bottom...'...I rose up, and said, 'Good, I'll go somewhere else...' wheeled about and left, my purchase still on the counter, which was rude, I know, but my patience had worn thin earlier with Maya...I went to Vons, mumbling to myself, and brushed off that cashier's asking me if I wanted a vons card, and handed him a hundred dollar bill for payment for beggn bits and a package of salami...cashiers really like big bills--not...so I left two cashiers, and likely my tenant, unhappy with me in my wake yesterday!...and then much later, after eating at Denny's, and just out side, a fellow approaches me with some story...I listen a bit to catch its drift, and said...'no more, don't be asking me for money'...and he woofs at my back, but I hear his buddy laughing at his failed pitch...I tell you, to stay on an even tempered keel through a day is a challenge!...but I may have had one tiny success yesterday, I bought a tiny dog whistle, and at evening feeding time, when Maya harries my ankles while I'm putting food in her dish, I whistled the dog whistle...her eyes got big and she looked and looked, and sat!...I tried again, and she sat again!...will try this more today...don't know if it was a one time occurance, but have my fingers crossed that the whistle will work again like it did!...I need to lighten up, maybe find the Grouchy Old Men dvds at Best Buy...