Owls seem to be intertwined in my life here. It was raining lightly here this morning. I went out with the doggies, as I always do. To keep them safe. Per usual, glad I did. I watched an owl fly over the garage roof. Both dogs were finding there poop spots, so they weren't paying any attention. Now I have researched owls deeply, their feathers are made different, the researchers write that they don't fly well in rain. Well apparently they can and do. I have seen proof. Heavy rain will bog down their flying some. If they are hungry enough they will fly. I also know this time of year the parents of most all of the animals and birds are teaching their babies to hunt to survive in this life. I am always on alert, especially in the predawn light for owls, and other animals out there looking for food. It is the cycle of life and survival. I just don't want my little doggies to be their meal, if I can help it.

Oh, I could also hear a raccoon in the backyard this morning, chattering away. Sadie's hearing isn't as great as it used to be, so I don't think she heard it. Malcolm on the other hand, heard it and wanted to go to the backyard. Nope, wasn't going to happen. I didn't have my gun. It was raining lightly out there. I wasn't in the mood to have to super clean the gun after being out there with it in the rain. So the raccoon got a pass this morning. I have seen this huge raccoon in the trail cam many times this Summer. There will come a time when I will have a clear, clean one shot at it. That is the only way I can shoot a creature. I always feel bad doing it, though sometimes the safety and protection of my little doggies is first. I can say in the 26 years I have lived here, I have only had to kill for protection an animal 4 times. I also had to use a gun to protect us from an intruder 2 times.

Yesterday I started working on the debris cleanup outside in front at 5:15 am before it got way to hot and humid. I worked off and on all day until 4:15 pm. I got another full trailer full of pine boughs and some of the logs that Randy had chainsawed from the fallen pine tree. I also have to be there especially for Sadie. I can't believe sometime in August she will turn 15 years old. That means 105 years old in doggie years. No wonder some days aren't as good as other days. Her loving soul and spirit are still there. She is still eating and drinking. She takes more deep sleep naps now. We built her a ramp 2 months ago and she uses it all the time to go up and down the front deck steps. Malcolm now is using it to only come up the steps, so for him that is progress. He is 11 years old. I must be doing something right taking and loving my little doggies.

Well, you know the drill, I have to, I need to shower and wash my hair real soon. I have been trying to get motivated to do that now for 3 days. It takes so much effort and will power to convince me to get that fuckin' task done. I do think part of it is, the hair part. My hair is almost down to my waist again. For being 63 years old, it is still darn thick. When I braid it in one braid, it used to be about 3 inches thick at the base start of the braid, now it is about 2 inches thick. I have the thickness, texture, and color of my grandmother's hair. When I was a child, I used to love to brush out her hair from the braid. She said that if I took her braid out, brushed her hair, that I would have to re-braid her hair. That is how I learned to braid. She said in Polish, "if you undo, you must redo what you undo." Something like that. I learned to speak Polish, because that was her main language. I can still speak a lot of Polish. I talk Polish frequently to my dogs. Sometimes I will talk to my dad on the phone in Polish. As a kid, when we would go visit his mom and dad, who lived in Warsaw, ND, you had to answer the phone in Polish and use the Polish pronounciation of our last name. My dad took out a lot of letters in our name so that other people people could pronouce it. Sorry about the misspelling. You get what I mean. Oh those wonderful and warm memories.

Well, not much else today. I need to rest because my feet and back hurt a bit. I am thinking that I will take today off, not expecting myself to do too many tasks. Hahahahahahaha. Right. Peace.