Hello Cantina, I'm back! The house didn't burn down, the town didn't burn down, our ski resort apparently only half burned down... Miracles (and a whole heaping pile of extraordinary firefighters) all around!!
We did get the go ahead to come back a while ago, but considering the air quality was still hovering somewhere around Bangladesh and the word was limited supplies of groceries and gas, we decided to extend Evacu-cation and fly Back East to see my parents. I hadn't seen them since our wedding over two years ago because freaking Covid and such things
and this seemed like the opportunity to take. I am sooooooo glad we did. It was so comforting and relaxing to hang out with them (for me at least; parents' homes are not particularly my husband's speed, but he played along quite graciously because he knew how important it was to me). I hadn't realized quite how much I needed to hug my mom.
But now we're home, and it seems actual life must start moving on again. Husband went back to work already, and it turns out people are just as difficult to deal with as they've ever been. I have a Sisyphus story which steadfastly refuses to progress past the last page I rewrote. And the house is overrun with boxes, bags and suitcases I have not felt like dealing with yet. I gave myself the lofty goal of unpacking two things per day, and have therefore gotten my computer set up again, and art back on the walls. Think I'll tackle the books today; because yes, while being forced to flee, I managed to pack two boxes of books... I'm setting up a virtual work session with a friend later this week, which usually manages to keep me focused and productive, so I do have visions of Sisyphus progress, at least.
Very true. I live in a rural-ish area and for a long time people were bad about dumping animals out here. Not specifically on our porch, but in the general area, just driving out here and dumping them off. Better than what they could have done... sort of, given that they could just as easily get hit by cars as find a new family, but at least they had a chance. As more people move out here it seems to have lessened, but when it was still happening, that's actually how we got two of my childhood pets. One kitten (old enough to eat solid foods, but still very small) who had been living in the woods until we lured him onto the porch and caught him with a humane trap and one dog who showed up on the front porch for shelter from an ice storm. Cats still roam around here, but given their *cough* round bellies, I think they have homes and are just allowed to wander.
Man, I cannot state quite how angry people who "set their pet free" make me.
In what universe is that ok? If you can't take care of an animal properly, don't have an animal to begin with, or be responsible enough to find them an alternative home. Seems pretty freaking simple to me. It's not the animal's fault you're an unequipped piece of... something I found in a public restroom at a bus station. So don't just assume that they'll be able to fend for themselves in the wild. A domesticated animal has about the same ability for that as you do for navigating yourself from here to Jupiter without a spacesuit. Just don't.
That is exactly how we got our pup too. Friend of a friend found him wandering their neighborhood, almost literally skin and bones (and muscle, I suppose; he's always been able to pull me down the street). We have a theory that some people got him for their kids as a Christmas present (because Oh My God he must have been just the absolute CUTEST thing in existence as a little bitty puppy, and I'm forever going to be a bit sad I missed that phase) then realized he was a hell of a lot of work and they weren't cut out for it. Which - fair. But the correct response to that is not simply out of sight, out of mind. There were times that first summer with him that I worried we'd made a terrible mistake too and I couldn't handle it. But we put in the work and, while he's still a monster, he's gotten a lot better, and I love him soooooo much.
Sigh. Ok, rant over, because now I'm just thinking of the pup asleep spread-eagle all the way across the spare bed in the next room with all his feet up in the air twitching...