Dogs and Desert Snow

Goodness but the time has gotten away from me! But I can whine a little and you will understand why I've been silent,

First on November 30, one of our resident canines had laser surgery on his right foreleg. Kaycee is a purebred Australian Cattle Dog or Blue/Queensland Heeler. Like a lot of purebreds he is a bit high strong and given to a few neuroses! He got a wound and would not leave it alone enough to fully heal. He had a couple of light laser treatments but they did not do the job and it kept getting worse so this time they burned the whole area to get rid of the cyst and damaged tissue. It is like a third degree burn and needs serious care and protection. Of course he still wants to lick and gnaw on it so he's been in either a muzzle (when he cannot be under total supervision) or an inflatable ring collar that deters but does not totally prevent his worrying the leg. 24/7 ever since. It's been a challenge and it isn't over yet but he is showing some signs of healing now. Another 4-5 weeks and he may be able to get back to normal. If we cannot get good healing, he could lose the leg, a sad thing for a four year old active dog. So that is one issue.

The same day Kaycee had his surgery, I drove up to Carrizozo, a small town about fifty miles north and 'met' a young female dog who is probably going to be joining our pack to take the vacant place left by Belle. Ginger is a mix of Aussie and Border Collie, twenty months old, red and white, and looks like a real sweetie. Her current mom does not have time to keep her happy and exercised and she jumps a regular yard height fence and gets into mischief and danger. Our five foot chain-link should keep her corraled. I waited a bit for her trial visit so Kaycee could have the spotlight he needed but she will be here on Thursday and stay while her current mom goes on a holiday trip. If it works out, Ginger will be the newest of the canine crew and we'll be back to sixteen feet of dogs! She is very pretty and I think she'll fit in well.

As to desert snow, well, that comes from the photographs I took early last month when I visited the White Sands National Monument with some friends and we all agreed the pure white sand deep in the dune area really does look like snow! So I have used a couple of the photos for my Christmas cards which I have been printing and slowly getting addressed and ready to mail. I miss the old data base program I used to use to do easy labels and have not ever come up with a viable substitute so it is the old fashioned way for me again. And my hand writing is pretty pathetic anymore.  I address a few and then have to rest my hand!

We have had a touch of winter the last two days with hard frost both nights --"ice frisbees" in the bird baths in the mornings and a biting wind out of the north-north west. Highs in the lower edge of the fifties which after the late and very mild fall seem pretty chilly! But when I read it was sixteen degrees, wind and snow in Colorado Springs at noon on Sunday, I felt much better! What a blessing it is to be away from that. We need some moisture and I would even accept some s**w if it comes to that but more than a skiff is not too common here. We had maybe two inches once last winter. Rain, the old fashioned slow day-long drizzles my brother and I recall from our youth in central Arizona, would be very welcome but may not come in this drought ridden era. But  some showers over the weekend may be possible. Desert dwellers are always on the lookout for any precipitation. We don't do rain dances but more from lack of real knowledge of how to make this work than reluctance!

More pretty sunsets too, with some clouds, which were all the 'weather' we saw from a storm that socked the more northern regions with snow, ice, bad roads and all the wintry issues. So I'm sharing some pictures with you all!

More soon, I promise. My Christmas preparations are going to be done soon and I'll have perhaps a bit more time and maybe some Ginger adventures to share as well. Meanwhile go in peace and harmony with mild temps and gentle rain! And visit tuatha-de-brighid.org, the developing website of my on-line Druid group that is a very special circle of friends. That phrase is not grammatically correct in old Gaelic but translates as the Folk or People of the Goddess Brighid, which we strive to be, a clann or family of sorts although from many different ethnic and genetic roots.