Linear thinking

This is a test, this is only a test....

I have shoulder pain.  Pick the appropriate answer:

• a.  Make an appointment with my primary care provider.
  
• b.  Go to the ER.
  
• c.  Go to the ER over and over again to get pain medication and pay 5 times the price of a primary care provider, all because you don't have enough money to pay for your cigarettes and go to the doctor and you are too busy to make an appointment. 
  

Yep you guessed it!  The answer is c.  

What...  You have concerns about this test?    Answer c is not logical or practical?  Welcome to my world!!!

Hiking alone

So last night I decided to go for a hike and take poor Skye out with me.  Skye loves to run and swim and smell everything there is to smell.  Unfortunately with my schedule and Salt Lake Cities leash laws, I am often unable to get her out to do some real running and exploring.  In Cache Valley, Utah where I live half the week, there is no such things as leash laws and there are some great trails only 5-10 minutes from my house.  I have been exploring them slowly.  I am strolling hiker not a "reach your goal at all cost" hiker.

Yesterday we went up Green Canyon.  It is in the Cache Forrest just East of North Logan.  It is a pretty canyon that, as I found out after Skye and I were nearly run over a couple of times, is used fairly heavily by mountain bikers.  It was beautiful though, and between the whir of Mtn bike tires was peaceful and quiet.  The temperature was perfect as we walked up the trail and the old campfires gave it just the slight whiff of campfire smell that made you feel like you were 50 miles into the forested wilderness instead of 10 minutes from the city.   I sat contemplating life and its mysteries for a good 5 minutes at the apex of my strenuous outing, then started back down the canyon.  On the way down, I strolled along the trail appreciating natures beauties.  I even turned off my ipod to listen to the crickets chirp in their near-dusk rhythm.  Ok,  I will admit it really was to listen for the mtn bike tires so that I could jump out of the way quickly to avoid tire marks across my back. 

Skye is a little to be desired as a hiking companion.  She likes to run ahead and sniff the trail leaving me in the dust behind.  Occasionally she runs back to check on her slower companion and make sure I haven't been playing with any other dogs (she is very possessive).  So, as Skye is 30 yards ahead, I hike alone thinking a great deal.  My thoughts wander, wondering when the next mtn bike will come by, how I might stop one of them if I fall and break an ankle, how I can exercise Skye without putting on hiking shoes, etc.  

Skye

Ode to the best dog ever!!

As a child raised in a dogless world, I was unaware that there existed a force of nature that could raise the most intractable of dark moods, soften the hardest of hearts and melt the coldest of natures.  How a being considered and "animal" can become so ingrained in the heart of a human is beyond my understanding.  But, I do know that in my life, my dog has become my friend, my companion, and my family.   Skye became part of my life almost as a whim.  She was a incredibly cute, yellow fuzzball that Denice (my sister) and I stopped to see in Meadow, Utah on the way back from a funeral.  Her mother was an old yellow hunting Lab and her dad was a black wirey hunting Labrador as well.  No papers for this family of farm dogs.  I got the distinct impression that it was beneath them.  Skye had 2 sisters bounding around the farm with her, tumbling over a clump in the grass and chasing a chicken or two.  These were not pampered indoor pets but good old country dogs.  Skye's blaze on her nose and paw made her distinctive and she permanently stole my heart!  As a life long cat person, it took some time and a few frustrating

 months to figure out the dog persona.  Now that I have some understanding of the loyalty and love that one of these 4 legged canines can give, I am forever converted.  Don't get me wrong, I will always love my cats and will value their unique personalities and the traits that make them cats.  But, there is just something about coming home after a long hard day and witnessing the joy that a dog can express just because you walked in the door.  How can you not but love something that makes you feel so completely wanted and needed?

I'm trying this out!

So...  I thought I would finally join the technologic main stream and start a blog.  I have tried to decide if anything I might write would be at all interesting or useful to someone reading it.  I concluded that no, probably not.  However,  then I decided that,  so  what!  How many people actually blog in a completely altruistic and self-less state.  The vast majority of writing on the internet is purely self interested rhetoric, put out into cyber space in an attempt to either self-inflate or self-promote, or trash on others self promotion.  With that said, I am joining the self promoters  and trashers!

Recently returned from a great birthday trip with friends and family.   It was expensive, a lot of work but very fun!  Lake Powell is one of those places on Earth where you just have to stand there for a minute and go.... "wow."   There are few places that are so awe inspiring that you can't take it all in and I feel that I under appreciate this rare beauty.   Occasionally, I feel discouraged about the way this world runs and then, when I have an experience like I had recently at Lake Powell, I am refreshed and my faith in the world is renewed.  I can't imagine that a political speech or even a religious talk or speech could ever inspire me like a few hours appreciating the beauty of the natural environment!

Well...  I look back at what I have written and I can't find any profound information but, as they say in UTAH, "what the heck!"  I am doing it anyway!!