Dog Drugs and Travel Update

[liveonearth]

There's an older husky living here who is on 3 meds. She's on metacam/meloxicam which is an NSAID, for her arthritis. She's on levothyroxine (synthetic T4). And she's on DES (diethyl stilbestrol), yes, the same one that they used to give pregnant women that ended up causing all sorts of malformations in their offspring. DES is used in canines

Comments

[neptunia67]

The burn has had a huge impact on the community, especially those people who live in Timberline, up against the mountain. Not so much for those on the lower areas, although they may get a lot of slurry. Lots of impact yet to come.

While it is true that Ponderosa pine forests are designed to burn, they are not designed to withstand or easily recover from a crowning fire like the one we had. 100 years of poor forest management and overgrazing put our forest into an incredibly vulnerable position. There are still areas where the ponderosa forest is how it should be, and burns occur naturally and move slowly through the native grasses, fertilizing the soil and burning out the saplings that would cause overcrowding of the forest. That is not what happened here, and people who aren't concerned are ignorant of the facts.

I know a couple of experts who would probably be happy to share if you are interested in learning more.

[liveonearth]

We're in Timberline right now, kind of near the top of Campbell. Got two truckloads of sandbags placed this evening. I have studied fire and been witness to it in several places now, and am not as clueless as one might expect an easterner to be....I get it. I hiked the aftermath of the pumpkin fire, where there were fewer people to see. I studied fire with the USFS planning to work on a fire crew, then never did it. I understand the damages better than your average white girl. And I see that life goes on, people take the lessons and the losses and move forward. Or they don't. We are a blip in the great scheme, so we might as well enjoy the flowers that still bloom as to mourn the ones that are gone. ..... The more I write the deeper I feel my hole getting. Talking to you on the phone tonight tells me that my words may not sink in. Just know that even though humans are a blight on the planet, the planet will continue. Evolution will continue. Life will continue. We will not destroy everything. We are not that powerful.

[neptunia67]

Oh, I completely agree. I know the forest will recover. I also know it will not happen in our lifetime. On my side, I still look at a beautiful green mountain.

The point I am trying to make is that the fires that we have been experiencing in the past 40 years are not the fires that nature intended. WE caused the situation that allows the fires to be devastating rather than nurturing. A lot of factors contribute.

I see the situation from all perspectives. I feel for my friends who worship the mountain and have to look at its charred remains every day, while they sit on property that will continue to lose value over time.

I'm not in a deep well of depression. A little down, yes, but not devastated. I've got other things going on that contributed to my flatness last night. I'm actually doing pretty good, in the scheme of things. :)

[neptunia67]

T, I don't think I'm going to be up for a hike tomorrow. It's going to be my heavy-flow day of my period; I feel pretty crummy today. Would you be interested in doing something besides hiking (or maybe doing a short hike like fatman's loop), and having a hike day next week or weekend?