Paradise ponders...

Paradise ponders...  I was so busy with various little things yesterday that I never had a chance to sit down at my computer and write a blog post.  And retirement was supposed to be relaxing!

Little Cabo, our female field spaniel puppy, is still all-too-frequently wetting her crate.  This is odd behavior for any dog.  We figured she just needed some time to outgrow this, but it doesn't seem to be happening.  I have two theories on the “why” at the moment: either she has a UTI or being in the crate makes her anxious (instead of secure, as is usually the case).  We're going to get her to the vet to check out the UTI possibility.  If that turns out to be the case, I'm really going to feel bad about leaving it untreated so long...

One of the things we did yesterday was to go to Debbie's second physical therapy.  This place has a fascinating machine: an anti-gravity treadmill.  You can see Debbie in it at right.  It's quite a clever invention.  It works by using a compressed air “bubble” to lift part of your body weight off of your feet, letting you walk on the treadmill as though you weighed much less.  How much of your body's weight is on your feet is adjustable.

We got a good laugh about one aspect of this machine: the shorts.  There's a movie we enjoy, part of the Wallace & Grommit series of claymation, called The Wrong Trousers.  The “trousers” involved can be seen in the still at left.  The anti-gravity treadmill works by strapping you into a pair of rubbery shorts that look very much like those wrong trousers!  Those shorts are what allow your legs and feet to penetrate the compressed air bubble to reach the treadmill.

We had a beautiful sunrise here yesterday morning.

Today is the culmination of Trout & Berry Days in Paradise – and that means it's time for the dinner.  The dinner features trout from a local trout farm, and berries for dessert from a local berry farm.  The best part, though, is that it's held like a giant picnic – outdoors in the beautiful late summer weather, with hundreds of neighbors and friends all around.  We're going this year with my brother Scott (who has never been before), and our tickets are courtesy of a “Mormon herd” of the family Nelson: our realtors, now friends, and who have made taking us to this event a sort of tradition.  Despite being an introverted hermit, I'm looking forward to this!