Unprepared Camping

 I went camping yesterday.  It was a last minute thing.

I was gifted a spot someone reserved but couldn't use, due to other obligations.

Sure, I thought.   The neighbors were gone.   I needed to get away.  The campground isn't far from where I live.

But was I last minute prepared to throw stuff in my personal car and go?  No.

I hadn't rigged the back for sleeping.  No board.

Without a board in there, the flat solid space is about four feet long.   That is not long enough for me to sleep in.  I didn't think about this, figured I could jam something in there, between the end of the laid down seats and the passenger seat, to create another 18 inches of solid space.   Wrong.  I had nothing along  to fit the bill.

So I suffered through last night without much sleep and convinced this would set back my back rehab by months.

 I'd taken a walk along the S. Santiam river and was not happy to learn how weak my right leg/knee are.  But I toughed out half a mile.  I took off my socks and sandals and waded out to a rock near the shore.  I like to look at the water bugs and larvae down in the water.

In the 2nd video, I'm trying to follow a Mayfly's progress up one of those thin branches but you can't see it unless you look closely.

This is the molt of a Mayfly

Then I set up my lawn chair and my little stove, made tea, laid out and read my book.  It's a good book.  I started it awhile back, then tucked it under the front seat of the car and forgot it was there.  I was delighted to find it yesterday.

It's a recreated account of the Karluk arctic expedition ship disaster of 1913.  The account tells the story from the personal journals of seamen and scientists along.  Endurance has always been a favorite story of extreme survival/captain dedication of mine.  That was antarctica.   This is the arctic.

I took a break from reading to heat up some canned soup.  It was quite delicious I thought.  I'm not a fan of canned soup.  But with gas prices the way they are, I have turned to pantry (from the food box I get), canned items.  I had some toasted tortillas (store bought) and had a couple of those as dippers.

I'd thrown in some wood.  It was all arborvita from when the neighbors had one cut down.  I'd asked for it, knowing how well it burns when dried.  I started a campfire but it burned very fast, and I had no wood that might last longer.  I burned through the bigger logs I'd brought within two hours.

A couple came by and spoke to me, then came over.  She loaned me her car phone charger.  I'd forgotten to move mine to the personal car from the cat carrier car.   They told me to come for breakfast this morning.

I couldn't forget the book, and began to read it in my car, after the campfire died down and it was dark.  First the rechargable headlamp went dead.   I tried the lantern I'd brought.  It's batteries were dead.  Fortunately I had two other flashlights along.  I burned through the batteries on both reading and finished the book.  Yeah, I couldn't put it down.

I couldn't believe the hardships the crew went through, after the Karluk became locked in the ice, drifting, lost.  Finally, the ship was crushed in the ice. They'd moved most of their supplies to the ice before the Karluk went under.  They had also created ice houses to live in, once the inevitible happened.  They called it Shipwreck Camp.  Their expedition commander had deserted them, once the ship became ice locked and made his way to Barrow, then on, leaving the captan and crew, along with the scientists, on their own.

The ship captain, last name Bartlett, was heroic in attempts to save them from their dire predicament.  There were two eskimo men, one with his wife and two daughters along.  These were the hunters and Auntie, the wife, the sewer, since the expedition commander had not equiped the rather derelict ship properly to begin with, not even with winter skin clothing, to ward off the cold and wet.

So now these things had to be sewn up or they would not survive.  The ice kept carrying them to the southwest.   They were existing on pemmican and biscuits in tins and whatever they could hunt.  They finally spotted Wrangel Island, 100 miles or so off the coast of Siberia and determined to send a scouting crew with supplies to the island to leave supplies there and slowly they all would move to the island.  Land at last.  But their first attempts were perilous and resulted in the presumed deaths of four seamen.  Three of the useless complaining scientists struck out on their own, taking one crew member with them, and they too succombed to the cold, starvation and ice.  The ice was brutal, with massive pressure ridges, cracks and open leads developing suddenly.  

Finally Bartlett led them all on a desperate attempt to reach the island.  They had to chip out and build roads for the sleds and dogs through the gigantic pressure ridges until they finally were on land ice and then land.  There they set up two or three camps with some crew and scientists in each and Bartlett took one eskimo and headed across the ice for Siberia, then south.  He and his eskimo companion travelled by sled and foot hundreds of miles over ice to get help.

The crewmen left on Wrangel Island were unruly and starving, injured and sick, fighting amongst themselves.  There were only some with character enough a person reading could root for to live, among them the young brave Mamon, who finally died, of beriberi and bad pemmican.  The rest were lazy or vile or trouble makers, complainers, all except the scientist Mckinley, who along with an older man, Hadley, and the eskimo family, held things together.  

Eventually in September of 1914 the Wrangel Island survivors were rescued.   

Anyhow.....after I quit reading, by then the rain was pounding on the metal roof of the car.  I couldn't believe it, when we were to have such nice weather.   It was just thunderstorms. Today is clouded over.  

I had breakfast with the couple who had invited me---two eggs.  Somehow the hashbrowns and bacon had been forgotten, which put them at each other in a friendly way, on who forgot.   I got home around 10:00 this morning and will be napping the afternoon away.   

I wish I had another good book but then I might not get that needed nap.

The Ice Master, is the book I read, in case anyone interested.

Gone

 The neighbors are gone.   

Yesterday they were again scrambling.   Both were exhausted.  J was back over from her place to help with cleaning the house.  E was trying to get the Uhaul car haul trailer hooked up.  Their helpers were burning trash in the fire pit in the backyard.

I gave them kitty litter for the oil spot in the garage.  I ran my hose across the driveway for them to use my water to wash something, since theirs is shut off.

I had to return the carrier Fat Boy was contained in, to the lady who loaned it to his feeder.  Fat Boy, now named Little Guy, is doing great in his new home.   He's come out of his shell and is quite tame, she reports.   

I took one bag of dry and some stray cans of wet food to a lady at the trailer park.  My nonprofit is now supplying almost $100 in cat food to that park every three weeks.  It is not sustainable but I don't know what to do.

Part of the reason--one feeder lady my age was buying cat food, until her medicaid was yanked, due to Trump's changes.  She had cost sharing medicaid, that paid her monthly medicare premiums.  So now she $200 is being taken from her SS check for medicare.  She lives in a camp trailer. The site rent there is over $800 a month.  That isn't much compared to renting an apartment, but when you are low income, it is a lot.   Seniors are losing a lot through Trump policies.  But also through democrats who are trying to raise gas taxes here in Oregon, which is so dumb, at a time when everything is being yanked from the poor and gas prices are sky high due to Trumps wars.  I'm fed up with both parties.

Yesterday I also had someone from a different trailer park wanting me to come solve the cat problem there (over 30 cats).  I left a message stating I am about to take a break, but they can do it themselves easy enough and gave the website for the FCCO.   Why wait, I wonder, till everyone is pregnant or there are kittens, to get that many cats fixed?   People know exactly what will happen in spring and still they sit on their hands.  Then when the worst does happen, they want someone else to come clean up the mess and suffering they've created.

I can't handle another trailer park.  

When I got back home yesterday evening from chores, I saw E, pulled to the curb on 30th st., a block away with the RV, car he was pulling and his helper parked behind the towed car.  I don't know if something broke down or they were just saying their goodbyes.   The house was empty, closed up.   A freezer (that I know smells of mold) sits on sidewalk, free sign on it.  A mattress was leaned against the closed garage.

Off he goes, headed to Georgia.  Good luck in your travels.

They left a rolling desk chair on my front walkway.   It's a nice chair.  My cats already love it.

I went out later when I smelled smoke.  The fire pit in their backyard was smoldering, sporting open flames.   I drug a couple big buckets of water through the gate to the back and put the fire out.

Move Out Almost

 I took Fat Boy, the one eyed cat, up to meet his new lady close to Portland today.   I chose her because she has outdoor safe space for her cats and Fat Boy will want to be outside again.   It was tough on me, since he was here two weeks and I know he wants to go back to roaming and fighting in his familiar neighborhood but he wouldn't make it, being unable to see well or fight back due to depth issues with one eye, and no canines.

I was tired, and wanted to cry over it while driving up.  But I wiped the sorrow away, tucked it back inside, did the hand over, came home and slept.

I woke up to the neighbor lady asking if I wanted to ride to Sweet Home with her.  I was still groggy, said yes, locked the door and went over.  Besides I was curious why she'd be going to Sweet Home.  Turns out her house keeper had a cleaning job up there, drove the old Alante, the roommate sold her for $600 and it failed to start again after she went into 7-11 up there, to get a drink.

I thought we were just going to pick her up.  But we had to wait there in the parking lot at 7-11 an hour for AAA to arrive.  I was a bit nervous since this was the store I got banned from that horrid night, by the new owners, when I was out back trying to catch three more cats for an open SCR barn home placement.  

The tow truck man came.   He had a flatbed for it.  The house keeper rode with the tow truck.  My neighbor drove me home.  Her housekeeper is really homeless, a couch surfer, doesn't work full time anywhere, or own a car.  I didn't know any of that.  She had referred to someone in Sweet Home as her roommate and told me she lived there. My former neighbor said the house keeper doesn't want to work full time or be tied down by responsibilities like rent etc.  Where she's going to store and work on the Alante I don't know but my neighbor told her she could have it towed for now, to her new place, but it could only be there a few days max. 

The broken down roommate car is now going to be broken down at the neighbor's new place, instead of inside the garage next door here.

Meanwhile the roommate is leaving tomorrow if all goes well. All the chaos will be over.  I know its really stressful to move.  There's always more to do, seems like, just when you think you're done with it.

There needs to be a song about moving.   "Don't do it.  It's hell.  Don't move.  Stay put."  I'm too blitzed to come up with some lyrics this morning.

Four Cats Fixed Yesterday

 

Here's the mom who had five kittens in a trap.  She was caught at a work site, to be fixed, then go to the trapper's aunt, who has space, barns, etc, and is taking all the cats her niece traps at the business, because they are unwanted their.

This mom cat is now set up in the trapper's walk in closet in a nice large nursery cage.

The other three she trapped at the business were fixed yesterday in Salem, along with a huge boy she caught at her residence.

Brutus, now fixed

I drove them up yesterday morning.   I  gave the clinic three carriers too.  They had agreed to transfer them to my carriers after surgery, since the woman taking them lives out quite a distance.   I didn't want to meet her and hand them off in my traps, since I use those so much.   

I picked up the four cats later that afternoon, and headed to the designated meet up spot, to hand the three business caught ones off.   It was about a 38 minute drive to that spot, but then only about 15 minutes home.

It was roadside honey stand.  Honor system payment.   Since I was there 20 minutes I finally got out and looked at the jars of locally produced honey and couldn't resist.   I bought one, tucking the cash down into the lock box mounted on the table.

I had driven down the hill from Salem to just south of Independence to get to the honey stand on highway 99, the meet up spot.  

The hill road is extremely steep and curvy.  I know it well.  A long long time ago I was at an FCCO mobile clinic in Salem and got a call, or someone did and asked me to go to Independence to catch an injured cat. I went the hill route.  I had an old car, as usual and the brakes failed going down that steep windy hill. They also caught fire.   It was terrifying.  There's a stop sign at the bottom, where it  intersects with another road.  Across from the stop sign is a large pullout and fortunately at that time, a gravel pile too.   I lucked out and no one was coming when I plowed through the the intersection and across into the pull out and gravel.,   I'd slowed myself down using the emergency brake.

It was interesting to see that same intersection again, how steep it is coming down to the stop sign.  I thought yesterday I was so lucky to survive that years and years ago.

But I wondered if I would yesterday.  Just as I was turning to head to the hill route, a spider peeked out at me from my hanging hands free phone holder.  It hangs from the rear view mirror almost to dash level.   It was a jumping spider.   Shoot, I thought, he could jump right on my face while I'm driving.

I tried to prepare mentally for that possibility so I wouldn't jump if it happened suddenly and go off the road.  This is a road that needs eyes on it constantly.  All roads are like that, but....curvy and steep, a sudden distraction isn't good.  Jumping spiders are not scary unless they inadvertantly jump on your face when you are driving.  

I ignored the spider, who moved constantly, trying to hide.  I imagine it entered my car after I'd picked up the cats, day before, and left them in the car with the back up and windows open.  The spider did not seem comfortable in my car, so I don't think it had been in it long.  There aren't bugs to hunt inside my car.

When I got to the honey stand to wait for the barn cat lady, the spider crawled out onto the inside of the windshield.  I put a paper bowl over him then slid paper under that and he or she now resides elsewhere.

I wanted to add a memory of a long dead friend, from that same day.  I was sleeping in my car in the parking lot at the then Willamette Humane Society shelter where the mobile FCCO clinic was being held.   I was awakened by someone yelling.  It was Vicki.  Vicki and Doris had brought a lot of cats to the clinic from Sweet HOme to be fixed and also had been dozing in their truck.   I looked over and saw that Vicki had ripped off her FCCO volunteer tag (so nobody would give the FCCO crap over her behavior) and was having it out with some folks taking a load of cats into the humane society.  One was telling some other adults they'd all find homes really fast.  Vicki had come out of her truck, fed up with the march of death we had witnessed all day, and let the lady have it, telling her those cats would all be dead before she even got home, and what world of delusion did she live in, since the shelter was overloaded always with the sheer numbers of unfixed dogs and cats being marched in by people constantly.   She couldn't take it anymore.  I couldn't either, sitting there watching that go on all fricking day.  

Sunday

 I only got four cats for today's five spots at OHSS.  The spots are not in my name, but rather under two caregivers.

The business cat trapper, trapping at her workplace, caught four last week.  One promptly had five kittens in the trap.   She quickly assembled a nursery space cage for mom and five newborns.   She's pretty awesome, works two jobs, as does hubby, cares for her kids, well, you get the picture.

The Lebanon lady didn't catch her second big boy around her place.  She's moving too.  

I went and picked up the four cats at the Albany workplace trappers' place.  Yes, four, because she caught a big hormonal male entering her house, spray marking, but might be tame.  The other one she was after showed up at a house a block away, where's he's also fed, injured however, and they took him to a vet and now plan on getting him to Safehaven.  So big win in her neighborhood to get these two big stray boys taken care of.  

Her aunt will take the workplace three cats, as they are not wanted there, after they are fixed, for her barn out in Kings Valley.   She already has the two girl kittens caught there whom Rad fixed, over a week ago.

I will meet her on 99 after she gets off work this evening, with the three.

Anyway, after I picked up those cats, I loaded up six traps and headed to Sweet HOme to loan to a teenage rescuer there working a big colony on Berlin Road.  Yes, Berlin Road.  Where the Lebanon lady also feeds.

She has FCCO spots Wednesday for more from that colony.   I wished her success, then headed up to Foster Reservoir, just to look, longingly.  I knew it would be very low.  They can't fill it until mid May due to the fish lawsuit.

The reservoir level is at 614 feet.  Full is anywhere from 636 to 641.

Boat ramp at Calkins is high and dry

Nice day yesterday

I stopped  by the Lebanon lady's house, just to see about that male she was after and instead she drove me out to the place they've bought.  They already sold the house she's in now and I think they have to be out by middle of May and are hoping the people will be out of the place they then bought with the money from her mom's house sale.  

Even though there's a ton of stuff there, in the barn and around the place, it's pretty cool with a large amount of land, like 3 acres.   She likes privacy and I think it will be perfect for her and her nephew.  

Seems like the move out next door is settling down.   The neighbor lady is officially out, but there's still stuff there at the house, like in the kitchen.  I saw her car there and went over but she wasn't there.  Her house keeper had driven it over and was making trips back and forth plus the two young guys were helping.  The roommate was worn out, trying to load the RV.  I went and got them a pizza.

Anyhow, I better get moving and get these four cats up to the clinic.  I'll add photos later.

Kitties

 How about a few kitty photos?

It was in the 60's yesterday so I weed eated the cat yard and backyard.  Only took half hour or so. I haven't raked it yet.

Trouble

Tickle

Tickle climbs a cat run

Little Dragon

Doogie. That's his sisters tail behind him.

Jack

Today its supposed to be 66 degrees.  Monday and Tuesday low 60's.  Wednesday and Thursday, once forecast as mid 70's, now mid 60's for Wednesday and 70 Thursday.  Then back to low 60's and cloudy.   The forecast changes fast.  I hope we get some warmth soon.  At least we're not already into wildfire season like parts of the southeast.

I Want to Run Away

 The chaos next door has reached supreme heights as they attempt the move out.

Today finally she rented a Uhaul but had no one lined up to help load up her stuff.  Her roommate promptly backed the truck up and hit the truck bumper on the garage.   About right.  He's the truck driver who had at least three wrecks in his very brief trucking career.  And her inspection, to get deposit back, was also today.  She cancelled that, thank goodness.

She's only had one young woman helpng her out, who is now exhausted to the point of collapse.

That young woman is now off trying to find a friend to help her out.

I've never seen such dysfunction with a move.  No planning, just relying on one person to do it all.

Meanwhile the guy sits around doing nothing and complaining that no one is helping him.

I'm staying away.   Nothing I can do.  I don't want my back messed up further.

The lady trapping cats at her workplace caught four night before last.  She can't trap weekends there, so traps Wednesday and Thursday nights.  She planned on holding the cats til their appointments Monday.  But now one is having kittens in the trap.   As I write this.   I had warned her about the problems this time of year holding cats in traps.  I didn't think one would have kittens in a trap but certainly that one could already have had kittens who would die in that length of time away from mom.  Its better she had kittens in the trap though than before she trapped her as the cats are unwanted there and going to live at a relatives barn after being fixed.  We do the best we can.

I'd like to run away.   I think I will this weekend.   Why not.

I'm taking Fat Boy back to his people.   They can give him eye meds better than I can, when he's in the cage.  Its hard to put eye meds in a cats eye that is in a cage, due to the shape of their heads.  Their heads have to be tilted upwards to get it in and they have to hold still.  Gosh darn, its not that easy on a super tame cat.

This morning someone messaged me, despite it being quite clear on my page that I don't take in cats, wanting me to come take over 25 cats and kittens.   No, I said, I don't take in cats.  I gave her the website for the FCCO and advised her to get appointments and get them fixed.  Doesn't sound like someone who will do that, who would ask a non rescue to come get over 25 cats asap.

Running away is sounding great.