I moved to the mountains about three weeks ago, after selling my house in Orange County, and am awaiting my escrow close on a new house up here. In the meantime, I am renting a nice older cabin which backs up to the national forest. I was walking Winston this evening when some neighbors stopped by. I learned that, about a half hour before, a bear had walked into the neighbor’s house ( the next one up the road) through an open front door. He had apparently rummaged through the garbage and then decided to seek more nourishment from the source. The home owner jumped up and yelled at the bear, which beat a retreat.
Life in the forest. I got so interested in the story that I forgot Winston’s liver which was cooking on the stove. It looks a bit burned but I am sure he will not mind. His usual daily ration is about a pound of liver or ground beef, mixed with two hands full of dry food. He is a very big Bassett, probably related to his diet.
He didn’t seem to mind. It was eaten in 30 seconds.
Here he is with a nationally known blogger.
I am sure he smells the bears and the coyote pack as he will not go out after dark without me close by. In the morning, he also waits for me to go out with him. The rest of the day, he will potter about the cabin but doesn’t go far. About two weeks ago, I was serenaded by a pack of coyotes about dawn. I have not heard them since Winston has been here. He did chase one a week ago but I managed to call him back. That is an old trick of coyotes. One will appear and tempt a dog to follow or chase. Around the corner is the pack. Coyotes will even send a female in heat to entice a male dog to follow her.
I’ve had a couple of experiences with this in human females and so know better.
Heh.
I have cocker spaniels and they make Bassets look like Einstein. I doubt they would last long in the woods.
Congratulations on your move. I think it was a good decision.
Winston was pottering around outside an hour ago when I looked up and a coyote was ten feet from him and five feet from my window. Once again, Winston started to chase it but not with too much enthusiasm. He came in when I called him and I now have the child gate across the front door.
In two or three weeks, he will have a fenced yard at the new house. It has a level yard of about 1/3 acre.
Good luck with the move Dr Kennedy. I hope your new locale with its fresh air, gorgeous vistas and furry bears will do you well. As a fellow mountainista I’m sure you’ll love this new chapter in your life. I’ve rarely regretted moving out to the bergs – notwithstanding the dodgy internet connection, and love the tranquillity of country living. Like you, I’m but a hop-step-and-jump to the big city with its beaches and excitement.
I look forward to many years of your blogging. I’m impressed to see just how big Winston has grown, I recall when he was a mere pup sleeping with his daddy on the couch. It is good that he has you around to keep him on the straight and narrow, especially with all those wily coyotes around. We have neither bear nor coyote, but the regular baboon Olympics that takes place all too often on our roof more than makes up for it.
Point of correction, regarding your second photo, you are not a nationally known blogger you’re internationally renowned.
Charlotte,
On a mountaintop in the south-western corner of Africa.
Such a nice photo of your new abode, Dr. K. Also, a good photo of Bradley Fikes!
Add to it a note from the very much missed Charlotte!
Hope you are continuing to do well.
Charlotte, it is nice to hear from you. I will accept the rebuke as deserved. Bradley is undoubtedly internationally renowned. The little cabin is a temporary spot and I will post some snaps of the new place once it is cleaned up a bit. Right now, it is torn apart in places to deal with a mold problem (A toilet was cracked and leaking for a long time) so we are awaiting an insurance company approval to repair.
Lake Arrowhead is both isolated and cosmopolitan as the temptations and delights of Los Angeles are less than an hour away. The bear, which seems to be rather passive, walked into another home last night about 7 PM. It was about 100 yards from me but it left when scolded by the lady who was “feeding her infant.” I don’t know how she was feeding it but I do know that women who are menstruating have been advised to avoid grizzly bear habitat. I don’t know if nursing has the same effect.
Right now, we are awaiting the afternoon thunder shower. Winston is asleep and I am thinking about a nap, as well.
I added a page of photos of the new house. This is the appearance as of now. I plan to replace the roof and paint the house. I have other plans, such as a garage, and will keep at it as long as the money holds out.
Howdy Eric, I am keeping well if a bit frostbitten – it is winter down here after all.
I’m a regular lurker here and at Patterico and enjoy your contributions. I was in contact with Cathy’s daughter, Maia, who is thinking of re-launching her mom’s blog.
Hope all is well.
Doctor K, good luck with the renovations. We’ve been busy with our old pile for the last several years. It’s lovely in summer but rather chilly at the moment what with gapping holes and missing windows…
Oops, I sent my first missive before the photos had loaded completely. Damn dial-up.
It was only after the comment had been sent that I saw it was of Mr Fikes. Apologies all around.
The house is 1974 vintage and requires some upgrading but the site and the big family room are the attractions. I’ve had some trouble with the seller who is refusing to honor some obligations so, for a while, I started looking around again. I found one beautiful house in a nearby canyon. It has a garage and a good roof so it would save me $30,000 right there. The trouble is that it has no yard.
Anyway, we are trying to get this sale closed and get moved in. The grass on the other side of the fence always has some weeds.
“I, I, I, I, I, me, me, me, me, me.” Nary a “we” nor an “us.” Divorce #3, fo’ rizzle?
If so, terribly pathetic but not remotely unexpected.
Isn’t it sad to see such bitterness in someone ? It’s kind of interesting to do a bit of traffic analysis on this stalker. He obviously has some reason to dislike me.
Maybe I forced him into bankruptcy when he owed me $120,000. I know somebody like that who has wrecked his life several times over with dishonesty and unethical behavior. About a year ago, I got a call from a lawyer in Corpus Christi, Texas about a lawsuit this individual was trying to pursue against a hospital that had sponsored him in practice on the condition he stay there two years (Maybe it was three). These arrangements are not unusual, especially as surgeons become so scarce that even a marginal one is in demand.
Imagine that ! The hospital had sponsored him with an office and clerical help and he had not fulfilled his part of the agreement. Now, HE was suing them !
He wouldn’t know more about my personal matters than appears on the blog. He or she is very interested, though. I wonder why ?
Failures try to see failure in others, even when it isn’t there. Fantasy life is not nearly as satisfying as accomplishing something with your life.
So you’re not getting divorced? Cindy’s living with you?
“In law,” or Craig, or whoever you are, you need healthy outlets for your mind. I would suggest exercise, reading and, if necessary, masturbation. There is a lot of poison in there to be let out.
Dr. K., it’s your blog, but I would urge you to delete this kind of person’s posts. If someone has a beef with you, they can discuss it with you directly. When you respond to a person like that (your choice, again), I think it just plays their game.
My opinion only.
He gets three posts, then, if he doesn’t shape up, he is in the spam filter. I’ve done that before.
I must confess to a bit of curiosity about identity because I have very few enemies. A couple of weeks before I moved, a neighbor, from whom I’d always felt a bit of coolness, came over to the house to confess that he had wrongly blamed me for a dog pooping on his lawn 15 years ago. He was ashamed that he hadn’t said anything before this but he felt sheepish admitting that he’d been rather nasty about it at the time.
That was amazing. I know some people don’t like doctors. I remembered the incident but told him I’d forgotten. He had done a couple of other minor annoyances, like calling the city code enforcement office when I left a small boat in my driveway more than allowed. I attributed it to some bad experience with a doctor and left it at that. It was amazing to see that he had stewed about this all those years and felt obliged to confess.
He’s actually a nice guy, a retired Marine and he volunteers at the Marine base. We wound up donating a lot of books and furniture to the base as we cleaned out the house and packed.
I had my car keyed twice at a local hospital years ago. After that, I didn’t park in the doctors’ lot. It goes with the territory. This fellow really seems obsessed and so there must be a story. I wonder what it is.
Dr. K., it’s impossible to predict why some people are as mean-spirited as they are. But they do tend to feed upon the reaction their nastiness elicits.
Who knows who this person is, or why they are doing what they are doing. All anyone can do is wish them well and happiness, far away from the rest of us.
GREAT looking dog.
What do you feed him? 🙂
I feed him liver and ground beef. I used to put the ground beef on top of a couple of handfuls of dry food but now he won’t eat the dry food. I even had to take the ground beef off the dry food yesterday morning and reheat it. Then he would eat it from a plate. I buy the 27% fat hamburger and give him about a half pound or I’ll cook a half pound of beef liver for him, as I am just about to do.
He also gets some sliced chicken chicken in the morning, maybe five or six slices. He is spoiled rotten, of course.