Category Archives: friendship

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Sweet hike

I had a sweet hike on Sunday and met some of the locals.

I met bun and another small mammal who moved too fast for a photograph.

I haven’t quite sorted out my local lizards.

My! Some of the locals are SO colorful! I like the yellow feet!

And here is part of the trail that gets it the name Corkscrew.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: syrup.

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On the road

My friend is still on the road, but moving closer to the end. Referral to hospice, now, though nothing is imminent. She is not home yet, though we hope to get her there. Yesterday another friend and I took her to see her cat. The cat is being cared for and is more social with everyone.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: end of the road.

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Seat in the sun

For XingfuMamaโ€™s Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge 2024: Week 16.

Yesterday was gorgeous. I took a friend to her second round of radiation therapy. It takes about two and a half hours, since we have to drive to another town. She was very tired and wanted to sleep when she got back. I went to lunch, seating overlooking Port Townsend Bay, in the sun. It was one of those days that makes people want to move here, not realizing that low clouds are more frequent than this glorious warm sun.

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Old camera

The first camera I had was a hand me down from my grandfather. I don’t have it any more. The viewfinder would open and you looked down into it to frame the photograph. The pictures were square. It became difficult to find film for it quite quickly and small cheap 110 cameras were becoming plentiful.

I had a 110 cheap camera and did not like it much. My parents got a Minolta 110 in the mid 1970s with a built in zoom. I was hooked! It was much more fun to be able to frame my shot and I took many of the family photographs. That hooked my father in turn and I inherited electronic cameras with built in zooms from him: a Panasonic, a Canon and a Nikon. I think he was trying to find one with an image steadier that could stand up to him, but he had a bad resting tremor. He moved to a tripod and that worked much better.

I took the photograph at my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding in 2022. K is in his teens and we were both playing with cameras. This was the day before the wedding at a brewpub and before the rehearsal. I love that the photograph is off center and the circle behind him mimics the camera lens. I have permission to post!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: camera.

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Rumor

Oh, kindness. I think one huge kindness is not to listen to rumors and not to assume that they are correct. Whew. Though if you are ever the victim of a rumor, it will tell you who your real friends are. They will stay present, stay in touch, stay with you. Some will ask about it, others won’t, but they will stay. And you may be amazed by how many people disappear into the woodwork. They are staying “neutral”, they’ll say, but they don’t call, answer calls, or include you any more. Then they may show back up in the future. You will not trust them again. Ok, if they were going through some trauma of their own, but otherwise, no.

Sol Duc is keeping an eye on the neighborhood. She never tells me rumors, ever.

Here are three versions of Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out. I like the Bessie Smith one best. The John Lennon tune is different.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: kindness.

And another:

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Lily wins

I have been cat sitting Lily, for my friend who is in a nursing home.

Lily is worried about her human and I am only in for about an hour and I don’t know her habits. And I am not her person. However, we have finally figured out how to play. Lily has a tent, a small one. I started scritching it one day and Lily reveals her tendencies: she is a bag stomper. She played with the tent until I get the picture above, with her sitting on it.

Next I bring a stick with line and various things tied on, including a toy mouse. Lily and I play and I don’t leave with large hand scratches. I could grit my teeth, but it was not that fun. Lily wants me to pet her now too.

Lily wins and I do too.

We hope her person will be home soon.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: grit.

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Driving Lily

I was driven yesterday. I have an ill friend. She is currently in a “rehab”, aka “nursing home”, in Sequim. I drive 40 minutes to be with her at an hour appointment. Afterwards we check in at the nursing home and then I drive her back to her house, 40 minutes again. That is where Lily is. Lily is her cat. My friend was in the hospital for six days and now the “rehab” for two weeks. My friend wants to go home. Lily is miserable. She misses her person and hisses and swipes at me. I was driven to take my friend to see her cat.

Lily let me pet her yesterday because I brought her person home. However, the whole thing was a near disaster. My friend has been trying to get stronger, but she is not stronger. She is weaker. She has three steps into her house. We were there for about three hours. She sat to wash the cat’s bowl in the kitchen sink and Lily was very very happy to be near her. My friend was then tired enough that we had real difficulty getting her out of the house and back in the car. I used a bath stool to let her stop and sit about every four feet. She was using a walker, but could barely walk. She sat in the doorway of the house and talked about crawling. However, those muscles in your upper legs? Those are some of the biggest muscles in the body, and if you can barely walk, scooting or crawling is not feasible either.

We made it to the car without having to call an ambulance. I’m pretty strong for my age and size, but I’m not strong enough to carry her alone.

Poor Lily. I don’t think I dare try to get her in a cat carrier and she’d probably cry all the way driving and anyhow, the nursing home would need a shot record.

Lily will have to put up with my care for now.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: driven.

I am not my friend’s doctor, I am just a friend.

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Goosesit

I goose sat last week, for friends going out of town. The geese knew I was a stranger and they were unenthused. I sang “Go tell Aunt Rhody”, but they didn’t like it. I tried “Molly Malone” on the second visit, but this was not received with joy either. I gave them fresh water and food anyhow.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: goose.

I didn’t think they would appreciate “The Fox” either.