Animal Love – Chasing Simple Dreams

Writing for animals and an RV surprise!

December 13, 2020December 13, 2020Terri

Writing for Animals!

Writing for Animals — It’s a course!! It’s a book!! It’s — it’s — it’s what I want to do!!!

If you read my last post, you know that something I have been thinking about doing, off and on, for a while now, has been to go on the road and write about animals. Visit a lot of animal sanctuaries and rehab facilities and then write about my experiences there. In the process, the goal is to educate myself and others to the myriad of species out there — both wildlife and domestic. Visit state and national parks along the way and see how climate change is affecting them both in terms of their wildlife and plants/trees. Again, write about them and educate myself and others in the process. Who knows? Maybe it could eventually become a book someday.

So when Ashland Creek Press, whose email list I subscribe to, informed me that they were going to be offering a four-week writing course in January entitled Writing for Animals, using a book by the same name as one of its texts, I jumped at the chance! I’ve already received the book and started reading through it and am excited for the course. The course is already full, but because there was such a good response to the inaugural session, they will be holding at least one more. You can sign up for their mailing list here and learn about the course’s leaders here (Midge Raymond and John Yunker).

Reading through the text, I am reminded of some of the lessons from the courses I took through the Institute for Humane Education, or IHE as it’s known. Always be very aware of your audience and be extremely aware of the language and terminology you use. For example, what’s the difference in referring to an animal as he, she, or it? It makes a difference and can sometimes show some insight into the upbringing or experiences of the writer. for example, using the term “it” can demonstrate speciesism, intentional or not. Even my choice of image below conveys certain ideas about how I view animals and desire others to view them. I can’t wait for this course!

RV Surprise!

Image by Siggy Nowak from Pixabay (This is what a Class C RV looks like.)

My brother and sister-in-law have been traveling through Latin America and South America for a couple years now, in a truck and camper. You can read more about their adventures at It’s Not a Slow Car, It’s a Fast House. (I highly suggest you do, as Geneva is a really good writer and you can learn a lot about so many different topics from reading her posts.) Before the truck camper, they traveled throughout the US and Canada with a Vanagon named Alta. They know I tried out RV living a few years ago when I was in Utah, working for Best Friends Animal Society, when I had a 30 foot fifth wheel set up in a mobile home/trailer park. That wasn’t the right fit for me for many reasons: remote location, stationary location for the RV (and my inability to tow it on my own).

My brother sent me a link to a Cruise America video and said “this would be the perfect size for you.” It’s a Class C motor home, 19 feet in length. (If you don’t know what the different classes of motorhomes are, think of the ones that have a bunk over the cab. Not a van-type body (those are Class Bs) or as long as a bus (those are Class As). Now, I am familiar with Cruise Americas from my time working in Page, Arizona at the Wahweap RV and Campground at the Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas. And if you click on that link and are wondering, does it really look like that? Um, YES!! It really is a gorgeous area located near the Navajo Nation’s Reservation. But I’ve never driven a motorhome myself, even though I’ve been in many a travel trailer and motorhome during my life.

So, I decided I would start saving to rent one in the spring and take my animals along for the ride; see how my fur family and I handle being together in such a space as i am considering buying one when my lease is up in July. Geneva and Mike mentioned to me that they have a friend who rented one of theirs once as part of a transport for the company, and got a good deal on the price of the rental and many free miles. You can learn more about that by clicking here. So that’s what I am doing! I am flying to Boston on Christmas Day. My flight was $37!! On Jet Blue!! How insane is that?? And then I will drive it back to Florida!

I am taking Snuggles with me for a few reasons. First, Jet Blue limits you to flying with a pet and carrier that combined are only 20 pounds. My Sophie girl alone is 23 pounds, so I can’t take her, plus she might be a bit too long or tall for flying under the seat. Second, Snuggles and Sophie are both my early warning systems when there is danger (or what they perceive to be danger or just a human being, or animal) nearby. And third, I know he gets very depressed when I am not around. When I went to my nephew’s wedding in Arizona in March 2019, my friend Sarita said he moped the entire time I was gone and didn’t want to come out the bedroom. Sophie is a bit more independent and happy go lucky, so while she will miss me and I will really miss her, I know she can handle the separation better than he can.

Upon arriving back in Florida, I will be hooking up to the electric (and water if there is an outside connection) to the guest house where my brother is staying (I got permission from him and his in-laws whose guest house he is staying in) for a few days. That will be my opportunity to get Sophie and the cats and see how they all do in such a space, or to find out if the next size up might be a bit better. There are Class Cs that are 22, 23, and 24 feet as well as much longer, and Cruise America has a 23 footer. It’s my thinking a Class C might be good because the cabover bed may be a great way for the cats to have their safe sanctuary away from the dogs when needed. So you could say this is my TEST run! Maybe it will be too small. Maybe it will be too big. But maybe, it may be just right. 🙂

Cruise America and Cruise Canada do sell their units, refurbished, after they are about 3 to 4 years old. The mileage is on the higher side but on the other hand, you will know the maintenance history and they are also upgraded in ways to withstand the wear and tear of rental use. For my trip, it will cost me $39 per night and I get 2500 free miles, more than enough to make the trip from Boston to the Orlando area. (Actually down to Naples and then back up to turn in the RV.)

This will be the first time I make this drive between Mass and Florida without it being in my small Mazda2 crammed in with all The Herd and my stuff! Whatever will I do with all this space???

But aren’t you worried about Covid?

So you may be aware that I have already had Covid. While it is extremely rare, I know you can get it more than once. So I am being very careful on my end, as my friend in MA with whom I will be staying for a couple days is pregnant and in her second trimester. I will be getting a Covid test within 72 hours of my flight.

People see the news and think that everyone in Florida is partying on the beach without a care in the world and basically inviting Covid into their life. Don’t believe everything you see. Stores pretty much require masks. Restaurants require them until you are seated at your table, and restaurants practice social distancing with less than full capacity — I think they are allowed 50 percent capacity at most. Last couple of months, I have been running outside or going to the beach to walk or run, for my exercise. Wear a mask when in public around others. Honestly, I’m home a lot. And a great number of people down here take social distancing and the advice of wearing masks to heart. We are just lucky in that we have good weather all year round so we can be outside and social distance more easily than in cold climates. Rest assured, the idea of going through that experience of Covid again is not at all appealing to me. I will be careful both before, during and after my trip.

So anyway, that’s my news!! The trip begins December 28th! For safety reasons, I won’t be posting real-time photos, but will let some folks know my itinerary once I figure it out and where I am.

For now, I am off to research cat harnesses and to attempt to find a second hand winter coat for my trip. Wish me luck — the odds of finding one in southwest Florida are somewhere between slim and none!

Thanks for reading!

“Just a thought” in my mind becomes a new dream

November 27, 2020November 27, 2020Terri

Great blue heron seen recently on a jetty along Naples Beach. Just looked so majestic, standing there for the longest time

So here is something I have thought about doing over the years. If I ever get my big girl pants on and decide to travel in an RV or some other form around the US, I would like to see a bunch of national parks. BUT what I ALSO want to do is visit a ton of animal sanctuaries, especially wildlife sanctuaries/rehab facilities. I really enjoyed the time i spent with the Peace River Wildlife Center, and one of the things that i have really liked about living in Florida is the wildlife. It is freaking amazing!!

One of my favorite things to do here at the beach is to watch the pelicans dive bomb for their food from the sky, or fly so low and close to the water that I’m amazed that they don’t get their wings wet while doing it. If you have ever seen a pelican dive, or even if you haven’t, then you will want to check out this video on YouTube: Pelicans Dive Bombing Once they enter the water, they open up their throat pouch, which can hold as much as three GALLONS of water, and catch fish, which they then turn around in their pouch, if need be, to swallow the fish whole, face first.

I watch the sandpipers run up and down the sand, in and out of the path of the waves. I watch the willets near the shoreline. If I’m lucky, I get to see a great egret or snowy egret stalk some prey (ahem, fish). And on the really awesome days, i get to see dolphins. Of all the days I have spent mornings or sunsets at the beach, I have only been lucky to see some jumping out of the water. (I used to think they were playing but have since found out that they do that to be able to see the fish better, or to cover more “ground” than just by swimming.)

The pelicans closest to me (the camera) are juveniles, which you can tell by their coloring on their heads and necks (gray). Toward the middle of the photo and at the back, you will see two with white necks. Those are adults. They don’t get their adult coloring until they reach the age of three.

Anyway, I digress. Anyone who has worked in animal welfare knows it doesn’t pay well. It is a true “labor of love.” One of the last things those folks do have is time to market themselves or publicize their work. Many depend on volunteer labor to get everything done. What I would like to do is travel to these sanctuaries, volunteer if possible, talk to the folks who work there or run them, and then write about them or get their good deeds known to others. Still brainstorming the best ways to do that. TRANSLATION: Anyone have any good ideas about that? (Instagram, YouTube, podcast?) Please comment below!

Hand in hand with this idea is another one that occurred to me while on a recent run. There don’t seem to be a searchable database of these types of organizations/wildlife sanctuaries. I can find some for animal shelters but not wildlife rehabilitation centers or sanctuaries.

The librarian in me will never die — I would love to create something like that for others like me who care about the animals of the world and how we can protect them, donate to help them, or volunteer our labor as well. While I do think I am adept at learning new things, a software engineer or database creator I am not. However I am sure there is someone out there who could help or at least point me in the right direction to get this idea cracking. So if you are reading this blog and know of someone who can assist, even in some small way, with info, ideas etc., PLEASE share this post with them! I know I can create a web page that organizes that info in possibly a table format, etc., but there has to be a better way!

Information I’d like to include about the sanctuaries/rehab facilities would be:

Name of sanctuary
Location
Populations/Species of animals cared for
Information on donating to the sanctuary (via links, posssibly)
Information on volunteering at the sanctuary (via links, possibly)
Information on the mission or vision statement of that sanctuary
Thoughts on the sanctuaries that I do visit as well as links to my writeup/podcast/video, etc., on that sanctuary

Any other ideas any of you might have out there? I know I am not the only person in the world who loves and appreciates wildlife and wants to do whatever they can to help them in these times of climate change and shrinking habitats. I would like to use my talents and skills to do my part. And, I feel like this suits my me more than pursuing a marine biology degree because science and math are truly not my strong suits. I felt like for those few months of school just recently, I was pounding my head against a wall, trying to do something which I am just not naturally suited for. Writing, educating, organizing and speaking are where I excel much more.

Photo of recent sunset along Naples Beach, just because.

What do you think? A worthwhile idea, or am I just crazy??

Clearly, it would take time to develop but over time, little things add up. My thinking is that this adventure of traveling to the sanctuaries could start late 2021.

RIP, HoneyBun (2004?-2020) and Callie (2005-2020)

November 21, 2020November 21, 2020Terri

Baby Girl Callie. Just look at those eyes and that face.

Baby Girl HoneyBun during one of her good days at the end.

This isn’t the post I imagined I would be writing last week when I said I wanted to start writing more often but it is one that needs to be written.

If you read my last post before this, you’ll know that I lost Callie this summer, the end of July. Well, last weekend, I lost my HoneyBun also. Two of the sweetest baby girls a fur mom could ever ask for. Each definitely each had their own personalities. As I always say to potential adopters, all animals are unique and have their own personality and quirks. Just like us.

Both of my girls had been with me through multiple cross-countries moves. From Boston to Utah, to Arizona, to Albuquerque in New Mexico, to Naples, to Boston, and then back to Florida via Cape Coral and then Naples once again. Seriously experienced in the moving game.

Callie loved water and by water, i mean ICE WATER. She loved that ice, boy. Every time you walked into the kitchen, there she was, with her little cry of “Rah rah. Rah rah” She would keep it up until you put some ice cubes in her mug of water. (Princesses drink out of mugs, not bowls, don’t you know??) She would start purring as soon as she put her head over the mug. She sometimes had the cutest little trill of a purr. A coworker of mine out in ABQ called her Velcro because when she would pick her up in the treatment area, Callie would hold onto her for dear life, like velcro. Hard to believe that when my ex-hb and I first adopted her, she didn’t like being picked up and held. She soon learned to love it.

When I first met HoneyBun in the shelter, she didn’t like you reaching over her head, so I learned to do what i called “drive-by petting.” You put your hand out to the side of your pet and start petting them on their side or their back and then slowly work your way up to their head. Get it? Drive by. 🙂 Worked like a charm for her and many others.When I first met HoneyBun in the shelter, she didn’t like you reaching over her head, so I learned to do what i called “drive-by petting.” You put your hand out to the side of your pet and start petting them on their side or their back and then slowly work your way up to their head. Get it? Drive by. 🙂 Worked like a charm for her and many others.

It was especially hard for me to lose Callie. She was the one tie I had in my (single) life that was also there when I was married. We adopted Callie in 2006 from the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, MA, when she was only one year old. A young girl who had fostered her wrote a letter about her to potential adopters and after reading it, I knew Callie was the right baby girl for us. So that’s how I knew Callie was 15 this year when she passed. She was such a beautiful little girl. So dainty. So talkative when she wanted her ice water. ❤

You’ll note two pics have both Snuggles and HoneyBun. On the round papasan chair, I can just imagine HoneyBun saying, “What the….dude, I was here first!” Note that both of my girls liked to drink out of their own individual glass/mug, given a choice.

With HoneyBun, I’ve never know her true age. I adopted her from the Animal Rescue League of Boston, whose vet had determined she was about 5. I took her to my own vet who said, “mmmm I think she might be older, like 8 or 9.” Older was fine with me. I’ve had a fond spot in my heart for seniors (the underdogs in the pet adoption world) for a long time. I’ve always been Team Animal Underdog. So I’ve always hoped that she was on that younger end of the age range, but it started to be more clear this year that she was more likely on the later end. She developed some cloudiness in her right eye, as you may see from one of the pictures of her. I had my vet here in Naples check her out. It wasn’t an ulcer, and it didn’t seem to be hurting her or like it was affecting her vision. We used some ointment for her eye, which she very sweetly tolerated (followed by a treat, of course). That was back in August.

Both of my baby girls lost weight at the end. We think Callie essentially had renal failure which is very common in cats as they get older, and possibly cancer as well. With HoneyBun, it was determined from blood tests and urinalysis, that she had liver failure and quite possibly cancer. Earlier in the week that she died, she had very high white blood cell counts, but no fever, very high liver numbers and gall bladder numbers. And she was dehydrated. So she got fluids and a long-acting antibiotic by injection and some other stuff as well as a stay overnight with my vet. Tuesday, she came home and she seemed to be doing much better. We scheduled an ultrasound for her the following day with a vet that would come from out of town, hoping to figure out if she had a mass on her liver or just more of an idea of what was going on. That was also when Tropical Storm/Eta was heading toward and made landfall on the Gulf Coast, right around the same time that out of town vet was trying to get to Naples, so her appointment was postponed to the following week.

Unlike with Callie who crashed at the end and crashed hard, HoneyBun seemed to bounce back for a few days. Even without an appetite stimulant, she was excited to eat food and actively engage with me. That Saturday, I volunteered at DAS (Domestic Animal Services, i.e. city/county pound) and when I came home, i had some work to do. HoneyBun was sleeping which didn’t seem out of the norm. After I finished my work, I looked and saw her bowl still had a lot of food left in it. And I noticed that she seemed lethargic and didn’t even want to drink too much water. She would sit by the water fountain or bowl but not actually drink from it. And then I saw her looking at the wall with a kind of blank look on her face. None of that was good.

Whereas HoneyBun had been only slightly anemic on Monday, her blood cell count on Saturday was down to 12 percent. The emergency animal hospital vet agreed with me that to let her go would be the kindest thing I could do for her. So I said goodbye. She and Callie’s ashes are right next to each other in my bedroom. I have all of my animals privately cremated these days so they can always travel with me and be with me, no matter where I may find myself. (For those of you not familiar with the term, “private cremation,” there are two types of animal cremations. Private means you get their ashes back. Group cremations means you don’t get the ashes back.”

So the Herd is getting smaller here on earth, but the Herd is growing up over the Rainbow Bridge. I hope that when my time comes to leave this earth, all my babies will be there to greet me and I will have to watch carefully to not trip over all of them if they all come running to see me. Until then, I have their pictures and their memories in my heart and in my mind.

If I could speak for all the animals that have been personally in my life and with whom I have interacted at the end of their life, I would like to make a plea on their behalf. Yes, I know it’s hard for us humans to say good bye to them in the end. Sometimes humans keep them alive longer than they should, when they are in pain or uncomfortable. And sometimes humans decide they can’t handle being with their furball when they close their eyes for the last time. But please, PLEASE find it in your heart to be with them at the end. They have loved you their entire lives, and it is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to them to be there for them in return. It’s an act of love. Being comforted by someone at the animal hospital just isn’t the same.

So, if you have a furry one in your life, hold them tight after you read this post and tell them you love them and let them lick your face or your hand. Thank you, from me and from them.

And I will close this post with a picture of my teeny-tiny Callie drinking out of a giant bowl of water containing LOTS of ice cubes.

Because water just tastes better when it’s cold. 🙂

All About Animals: Birds Edition

February 23, 2020Terri

I mentioned in a recent post that one of my happy places is the Peace River Wildlife Center where I volunteer on the weekend as a tour guide. I love that I get to be around beautiful animals but cannot be tempted to bring them home with me because well, it’s illegal to have wildlife in your home as a pet. And if you’ve taken a look at The Herd page, well, you know I really don’t have room for more!! Nor can I afford to take care of any more!

PRWC is a small wildlife rehab center and sanctuary that does amazing work for the budget that it has. It is run on private donations and most of the folks that greet visitors are volunteers such as myself but there are some paid staff such as the wildlife rehabilitator and techs and an office manager/volunteer coordinator/she of many hats! I find that as I am learning more about the animals and the organization, my time at PRWC is becoming more and more important to me each week. I truly look forward to the hours I spend there, and have now joined their outreach team. (The photos below that were taken with humans around were from an outreach event about a week ago.)

If you’d like to help PRWC’s cause (or any one of a number non-profits like them), then when you shop on Amazon, go instead to Amazon Smile and pick the charitable organization of your choice. At no extra cost to you, that charity will get a small percentage of the cost of your items donated to them. It may only be pennies at a time but over time, believe me, it can add up.

Down here in Florida, I am fortunate to see a lot of wildlife so I am sharing some in this post that I have seen since I’ve moved here along with some photos of ambassador animals from PRWC. The ambassadors go to outreach events to let people know about the center and serve as great sources of education and inspiration for anyone who is able to see them up close.

By the way, these brown pelicans shown below were waiting for a fisherman who was cleaning off some fish, to throw them scraps. PSA: fisherman should not throw them parts of fish. If there are any bones sticking out, it can really do a number on ripping up their throat when they eat it. It’s best for a pelican to eat a fish whole.

Two adult brown pelicans as seen in Naples last year. You know they are adults because their necks are white. They don’t get their adult colors until they turn three. The one appearing closest to me as the photographer appears to have a chestnut colored neck. That means he or she was in mating/nesting mode. They don’t get this dark chestnut color until they turn at least three. After nesting season is over, that color will molt off and they will return to their full white necks. We have many of these pelicans at PRWC!

Black crowned night heron – this one was seen at the Seaside Bird Sanctuary, Indian Shores, Florida. This one was not a resident of the sanctuary but seemed unfazed by all the humans walking right by him/her.

Okay, it’s not a bird but a gopher tortoise. We have one named Legoless (a few amputations on her foot due to being attacked by a dog) at our sanctuary.

Saw these flamingos at Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, Florida. I’ve been told that, similar to the roseate spoonbill, they have pink feathers due to their diet. My sanctuary does have a roseatte spoonbill named Spork. He was almost dead from starvation when found, as he couldn’t fly. He has had a wing amputation and is one of my favorites at PRWC.

Cruiser is an American Kestrel. Smallest type of falcon in North America. One of the types of birds where the male is more brightly colored than the female (his wings have some blue to them.) Named Cruiser because he was hit by a car and found by a biker who picked him up, put him in his saddlebags and brought him to PRWC. That was about two years ago. He is estimated to be about three years old.

Here is a close up of Cruiser’s beautiful face!

Luna is a very rare Eastern Screech Owl if not the only one that is totally white! Eastern screech owls are the smallest owl to be found in Florida. Usually they blend into the background of a tree where they may be hanging out. Luna does not have the pigment needed to help him protect himself in the wild. Eastern screech owls usually live about three years in the wild. Luna turns 7 on April Fools Day! (No joke!)

Isn’t Orion majestic?? He is a three year old barred owl that imprinted on humans at a very young age. The story about him is that as a baby, he tried to fly. Didn’t go so well and he found himself on the ground. A lady found him and called the Fish and Wildlife folks who put him back in the tree. But she had become enamored with him and would go out and talk to him and sometimes feed him. So he never learned to hunt for food on his own. So now he, along with Luna and Cruiser are just a few of the ambassador animals found at PRWC.

Here is another photo of Orion. Owls have many more vertebrae in their neck than humans, which is what allows them to turn 270 degrees!! I believe at the time I took this photo, he might have been giving a dog the stink-eye!

So that’s it for this post. I plan on adding more information to the Animal Rights and Welfare Groups page and have some thoughts about adding an Educational Resources/Tools page to this blog. (You really can take the girl out of the library but not the library out of the girl.) Let me know what you think about that, and I hope that you enjoy these photos and the little bits of information I was able to share!

So. Much. Sleeping.

February 12, 2020Terri

Oh, I wish I was talking about me!! Today is Wednesday. Hump Day. So, I thought you might like an overdose of cuteness to get you through the day. You can thank The Herd, aka the laziest supervisors ever, for their willingness to work so hard at sleeping and relaxing. It’s a hard job but someone has to do it, right?

I’ve been wanting to write for the past couple days and this is a faster one to get up here for you to remind you that no, I’m not dead. 🙂 My hardest decision about this post is which picture to make as The Designated Picture!

So without further adieu, here are some photos of The Herd, doing what they do best, other than pooping and eating. (And yes, Steel, the German Shepherd, who is an honorary member of the Herd until May 2020, when his dad (my roommate) and I will go our separate ways, has even joined in on the fun.) Many were taken from my office. While I slave away to make enough money to put food in their bowls on the floor (dogs) or on the dresser (cats, in order to keep it away from the dogs), they all work soooo hard. #notesarcasm

But yes….they really are my reason for existing and for living.

What is your reason for living and for working so hard? Drop me a comment below and share, if you can, pictures of your babies!!

Sigh…I hope this thing still works

January 26, 2020Terri

Once again, many moons or months have passed since my last post. I’ve started quite a few since then, only to never finish them. I start writing and then I think, who even cares to read my drivel anymore? And is there anyone even out there still reading anything I write? It’s not like I’ve been consistent lately. (Understatement of the year.)

Since I’ve been doing transcription full-time, it is hard for me to rationalize writing on here and then typing about 70 pages a day. I know I should start the writing before the transcribing, because sometimes my fingers literally hurt at the end of the day. So maybe write posts on the days that I am mainly just audio proofing and therefore not typing so much? Anyway, it’s hard to believe I’ve been self-employed now for over a year. 15 months as of February to be exact.

Well, The Herd has grown by one since my last writing. Her name is Babs and she is a gorgeous calico cat whose previous fur mom died. Her human sister and I had a mutual friend who posted her picture and story on Facebook and one thing led to another. And well, Babs traveled across the country from LA to Jacksonville, Florida, where I picked her up and drove her back down to the Ft. Myers area. You know how I love my senior furballs.

How could I resist bringing this cutie into my home??

As I mentioned in my last post, I am looking to move in May sometime as our lease is up at the end of that month. Thinking very seriously about the St. Pete/Clearwater area and its environs. Cheaper to live, more liberal and more people around my age. Down here there are a lot of 20-somethings and then there are a bunch of much older folks, like those who have been able to retire and live off of their savings or pensions or what have you. Really hard to make friends when you work at home and aren’t into the bar scene. I do volunteer at a wildlife center on the weekends when I am in town and I love it. But it’s not really a great way to make lasting friends since the volunteers change a lot on the weekends.

I have been dating someone now for the past few months. Yay! He’s about 5 yrs older than me and is very positive with his mindset. Also into fitness. Another yay! He lives north of Orlando. Boo! But he has two sons in the St. Pete/Clearwater area, so many times we meet halfway for both of us, around St. Pete. Or, I go up his way for a weekend, since I can take my work with me and he usually works 6 days a week due to staff shortages. (He works as a fitness director.) Oh, and he’s liberally minded and open to eating vegan or vegetarian food when he’s with me. Yay! Neither one of us makes a lot of money so it’s good that we like to spend time in parks, going for walks/visiting the beach, etc. We plan to go indoor rock climbing together in Tampa the next time we are up there.

Waiting for sunset near the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda, Florida

The finances — eh, they’re there. Still working on improving them and increasing my income. Working with several different companies is helping in that I never have a shortage of work. I also learn about different types of proceedings and how they need to be transcribed, as well as from different jurisdictions. I won’t bore you with the details, but it does make my work more interesting as well.

So that’s about all that has changed. I have realized that being a nomad is just too difficult when you have as many furballs as me. I can’t afford nor would I want to drive around a huge Class A at this point. A Class C might work, but I would always be terrified about any of them getting out or being unhappy, and that is no way to live. Plus, living the RV life isn’t always that cheap, and I really do love being near the water. Even if you live somewhere inland like where my boyfriend lives, you are still just an hour away from a huge body of water like the Atlantic. To do the RV thing more cheaply means you live in the desert southwest or where there is a lot of BLM land, and I really need the greenery that I have around me here. I have come to realize that. I do miss the wide open spaces of the southwest though.

There are always compromises, aren’t there?

Anyway, I wanted to write this post while I had the ambition to do so, and while my hands weren’t hurting from typing 15-20,000 words in a day. Yes, you read that right. Not a typo.

Thank you to Dawn from Change is Hard for inspiring me to write this evening, after dropping a comment on my blog letting me know she was thinking about me. I admire her ability to blog so consistently. And if you haven’t read her blog or seen her pictures, well, you’re really missing something.

Again, I do want to write more. It’s just hard when you feel like you don’t have much to say, or you do feel like you have something to say but feel the need to earn an income for your furballs and put a bowl of food on the floor for them. Life, right? I’m not complaining. I love working from home and watching my babies sleep (seemingly all day, lol.)

Steel (roommate’s dog) next to my baby boy, Snuggles. Look at the size difference!

See what I mean? Lots of sleeping going on in this photo.

Sooo much sleeping goes on during the day here. Sometimes I even join them. It cracks me up to go lay down on my bed and then hear the pitter patter of little feet as they wake up from their naps, only to realize that Mom has moved. So they pick their bodies up, stretch, and then come in and lay back down next to me. Sometimes, the bed is very crowded… LOL.

Anyway, I feel like I sound like a broken record when I say that I am sorry for the long lengths of time between posts. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. At least some of the photos were cute, right?

I’m Back – Still Finding My Way

August 3, 2018

I got a text message from my friend Heather back in ABQ yesterday, saying “Terri, we miss your blog!” And I wrote her back saying I did too. I have missed writing here. So, I am back. I’m not sure how often I will write in the future – I was writing twice a week at one point, maybe once a week is more realistic. That will be my goal anyway.

As with all big changes in life, there has been a bit of an adjustment period, and it’s still ongoing now. The drive from ABQ to southwest Florida took 4 days and 3 nights. There is a limit as to how many hours I can drive in a day, and how many hours my cats could stay in their carriers before we would all collectively start to lose it.

I have started numerous drafts over the past three months, always intending to finish them, but something else came up, or I just wasn’t “feeling” like the post was really “me.” I need to stop always searching for the perfect words, or the perfect tone, and just put it out there.

It was freeing to move with only what I could fit into my car and the car-top carrier. I miss Morgan though, a whole lot. I know she is happy with my old roommate, and he sends me pictures of her. She is getting along better with other dogs, and his new living situation includes another dog and they have become best friends. I am glad to hear all that, and I know she wouldn’t be happy here in this small apartment, but still, I miss her and all of her goofiness.

I see pictures that friends post of ABQ, and I remember how beautiful the surrounding areas were. I see pictures friends have posted of Lake Powell and the awe-dropping, inspiring beauty of the expansive vistas in that part of Arizona and Utah. I miss those scenes but I think back and remember how when I was living there, I just didn’t feel completely like I belonged there. So, I remind myself, I can always visit.

I have been busy doing lots of side transcription jobs, partly out of necessity. It’s expensive to live in this part of Florida. Just a few miles away from me, there is a Bentley dealership. Right next to the Maserati dealership. Yes, you heard me right. A Maserati dealership. On my way to work, I pass by the Porsche dealership. There are lots of people in this town with LOTS of money. Many are retired.

Food is more expensive here, for sure. But some things are free, or close to free. I have an annual pass to the state parks, and once I change my license and tags over to Florida, I will be able to get a free beach parking permit. (Until then, I pay for the meters close to the beaches, but since the sun is so strong, I only go for a couple hours at a time anyway, and even then, I seek out shade whenever possible.)

My credit card balance has risen more than I would like it to have. That’s another reason for the extra transcription jobs. At some times, I feel hopeless about getting them back to zero. But I remind myself that they were before, I can do it again. It will just take hard work and discipline. But then there is that little voice in my brain that reminds me, I can’t live to work. It’s better to just live, so sometimes on my days off, I push the work aside and go to the beach or just take time off to hold Snuggles in my lap and love on him, or do the same with my kitties. Because I can’t control the future. No one can, and I don’t want to spend every moment of every day working. If something were to happen to me and today were to be my last, I don’t want my epitaph to say, “Well, she worked really hard.”

You may be wondering if I am going to continue school. For this fall semester at least, no. I need time to really adjust to my new life here, and I honestly don’t think I can stomach taking out more student loans. I have read through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and think I may actually qualify. (I think I misread some of the details in the past.) So, I’m in the process of filling out the paperwork and figuring out how to contact my past non-profit employers such as Harvard and Best Friends so I can determine how many payments I have made toward that 120 payment requirement since 2007. (Payments made during times of forbearance or deferment don’t count.) I believe my present employer also qualifies. Pray for me that my federal loan nightmare will end soon!!!

I promise to not wait another three months before posting again, I really do. And for those of you whose blogs I have subscribed to through email, I’ve been getting the updates and reading them. Sorry for not commenting. Just, some nights, I have been so exhausted when I get home, I fall asleep on the couch, wake up around midnight, take Snuggles out, and then crash into bed for the next few hours. (Oh and my couch was free, as was a lot of the stuff you see in my new apartment, thanks to some very generous folks.)

I know it’s all a matter of balance. I just have to continue looking for it. Thanks for your patience, if you’re still a faithful reader. I do appreciate the support.

Moving to Florida!!

April 26, 2018

That’s right, I’m moving again!!

My last day at work will be May 15th, and my plan is to start driving eastward on May 17th. I am so excited to be near a large body of water again, you have no idea!

I won’t keep you in suspense — I am going to be working at a humane society in southern Florida, on the Gulf side, or as they call it there, the “West Coast.” I’m going to be providing animal care to the animals directly, which includes bunnies!! I am also going to be working in adoption, which I have really missed doing since my time with the Animal Rescue League of Boston when I volunteered in cat adoption.

No, I don’t have experience living through hurricanes, but I’ve seen my fair share of blizzards, and well, at least you don’t have to shovel rain. 🙂

Why move back east? Well, I have now fulfilled a bucket list item of mine, which is to have lived in the west. I used to think I had to live on the west coast, California, to be exact. That didn’t happen but I have lived in the southwest now for just under three years. The landscapes out here are amazing. Such a feeling of openness. I have met some AMAZING people everywhere I have lived in the past three years, people that I will always call my friends, and thanks to Facebook, I can keep up with them and what’s happening in their lives.

Living in the desert or very arid climates takes some getting used to. I have found I really miss cloudy days and days of rain, because you appreciate the good weather days all the more. I also really miss green. It’s part of the reason why I have tried to go to the Bosque so often while living in ABQ. The woods reminded me of back east. And of course, there was the Rio Grande, the only large body of water around.

School is finishing up over the next few weeks, and there is no shortage of transcribing work, so I’ve had some long days over the past few weeks. While the new humane society is giving me a stipend to move, I won’t get it until I receive my first paycheck, so I’ve been trying to save as much as I can, and work as much as I can right now. The animal hospital is quite busy (it’s parvo season in an area of the country where it doesn’t get cold enough for that nasty virus to freeze and die.)

Once again, I plan on moving with just my car and the car top carrier. While you look online and see smart cars towing trailers, etc., they’re really not meant for that. A Mazda2, technically speaking, could have a trailer put on it, but I don’t want to pay for a hitch and trailer and then have something happen to my car as a result. While it is a stick shift, it’s a 4-cylinder car and you can tell when it’s loaded down with possessions or lots of people. It slows down. And nothing I own really has much monetary value. My most important items I want to move with are my pets and the urns from my pets who have already gone to heaven. And pictures of my grandmother.

Morgan is going to stay with my roommate, who she adores. When he’s around, I cease to have so much importance in her life, and she follows him around like, well, a lovesick puppy. It’s actually very sweet to see. And he clearly loves her. I know it’s for the best where she is concerned — he can give her so much more attention than I can. And they are calming influences on each other, but still I’m going to really miss her.

So it will be me and the cats and Snuggles making the 4 to 5 day trip. I suspect Snuggles will spend most of the trip on my lap as Osito did a few years ago. (Now if only he didn’t weigh about four times as much as she did!)

I’m excited at the idea of living in the same state again as my best friend and her husband, my “movie theatre husband.” 🙂 In August, they are moving to the eastern side of Florida but will only be about 120 miles away from me. An easy drive!

I’m excited to start fresh again. To purge what I don’t need and move with only the essentials. I suspect all my sweaters will not be making the trip with me, as will many other items.

So, I will do my best to keep blogging over the next few weeks, but during the move, I suspect this blog will stay pretty quiet. Driving by myself, I can only handle 400 miles a day or so. Anything more, and I start to get very sleepy while driving and that’s not safe. I’ve built in a cushion of time for me to arrive in Florida and get what little furniture I need from neighboring thrift stores.

In case you are wondering, the photos above are from one of the beaches only a few miles from where I will be living. On the day I was there, the water temperature was like bath water. 🙂

More updates to come! Until then, thanks, as always, for reading!

Indecision . . . questioning . . . what is the “most good?”

March 24, 2018

Hi everyone!!

In case you didn’t know, I was out of town for about 11 days, from March 1st to the 11th. Went to Boston for my dad’s memorial on March 3, and then went to Florida for a conference and to spend some time there on my own. Since returning home, I’ve been pretty busy!!

Florida:

I LOVED Florida!! I met a lot of really nice people (one guy even gave me a big piece of finger coral which I now have sitting on my desk to remind me of my time there.) I visited two animal sanctuaries while I was there and individual posts will be forthcoming about those. One was Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary in Punta Gorda, Florida (Gulf Coast side), and the other was Journey’s End Animal Sanctuary in Deland, Florida (Atlantic Coast side). I met friends in Sarasota who I first met online via Twitter so many years ago! They were super supportive to me during my going through a divorce, so it was so nice to finally meet them and give them big hugs, and meet their kids and their dogs.

Always value the friends you make online. For me, I think I have made some lifelong friendships that way.

I also went to a humane education conference, which was enlightening for me. Many of the traditional humane education positions include working at an animal shelter, and with groups of kids, running things like camps and birthday parties. I think I’ve been pretty honest on here before about my wanting to work with kids, as in, not so much. So I need to rethink what I want to do with my humane education part of my life, going forward. There are so many ways to use a humane education background so I’m not worried that it won’t get put to good use.

Indecision:

Many of you know I took a HUGE pay cut when I left Harvard Law Library. HUGE. 60K HUGE. In addition to taking that cut, I can no longer put as much into retirement (of course, I no longer will need as much since my priorities as to what I need to be comfortable have changed). I also get much less time off, and the health benefits through my current company are not great.

I’ve been struggling with the notion of discontinuing the formal schooling of humane education and trying to get positions just based on what I already know and my background of experiences. I’ve been told by a few people that I don’t need to do anymore school. So, most likely, this semester is my last.

No education is ever wasted. I have learned so much during these past two semesters, especially regarding how I communicate about certain issues, and my word choices. My teachers have asked us to respond to tough questions, and they are so supportive. I wish I had had them earlier on in my life, because I think my career path would have taken a much different path. But….you can’t change or shape the past, only your future, so onward and forward!!

You can’t change or shape the past, only your future, so onward and forward!

Determining “most good”

I’ve been struggling with the idea of how I can do the most good for animals. Is it by working with them directly? Or by working at a job that pays more but might not be necessarily working with them in a hands-on manner, or with an organization specifically dedicated to improving the rights and lives of animals? I know, only I can know the answer to these questions.

I have seen law library jobs posted (including one at my former employer, Harvard) which I know I am qualified for. Obviously, they pay more than one that has me working directly with animals. Working at a job like that again would help to engage the intellectual part of my brain during those hours when I am working for my paycheck and can make a positive impact on my bank account balance. I could help to donate more money to causes about which I care. All of those details are positives.

I think you know when you are doing the “most good” when you are excited to do something every day. A lot of people say that you don’t have to change the world for all animals, as long as you change the world of a few. Well, I think I’ve done that for some, but I also don’t feel like I’m way near the completion of improving the lives of many, many animals.

Quandaries:

There is this difficult psychological hurdle to get over when considering returning to a former type of career. While I know that all life experiences are learning opportunities, a small part of me thinks that by returning to such a life, I’m giving up on my dreams. Admitting defeat.

The rational side of my brain knows that if I were to go back to being a librarian, I’m not giving up on my dreams. I’m just making a trade-off. I might be able to help a larger number of animals if I can donate more, financially, to the cause of animal welfare. And I will still be able to volunteer on my days off.

But, will I be happy? Read on, below. 🙂

Trusting my Intuition and Making Decisions:

I have spent some time talking to good friends and a trusted teacher. She asked me a question that really helped me think. She told me to imagine that I had interviewed for my old job, gotten it, and was getting ready to return to Boston. How did I feel?

I hesitated for a bit. My intuition knew the answer. My brain just felt hesitant in saying it. But once I said my answer aloud, it was like I was giving myself permission to say good bye to a portion of my life. The answer was “I feel like I have a pit in my stomach. That’s how it makes me feel.”

I also told my professor that as I see jobs listed for animal sanctuaries or shelters, I get excited about applying and the possibilities that are out there for me to explore. And that tells me something about myself. I just can’t go back to a job that I once held, without knowing I have exhausted all avenues of finding the right place for me, first. Does that make any sense?

The long and short of it is that I will never be a rich person, not in the monetary sense. And I think I have finally made peace with that. I just spent the past 6 1/2 hours today volunteering at a spay and neuter clinic along with so many other people who had given up their free time to provide a much-needed service in New Mexico and so many other places. It felt amazing.

You know something else? I didn’t feel like what I did today at the spay and neuter clinic was work. The time flew. To me, that’s how I know I was doing what I needed to be doing and what I am meant to be doing.

I didn’t want to leave but knew I had to, as I have homework and freelance work to do today, and maybe get a visit in at the gym or a run at the Bosque. (I’ve begun work with another transcription company as a legal transcriptionist. It’s a small company, which I like. The CEO even called me last week to welcome me aboard as a contractor and in his words, to collaborate on projects.) I like that when I am working on a new transcription project, I’m always learning about a new topic.

Looking forward:

I have an interview this week via Skype for a position I think I am well suited for, and for an organization that is rapidly growing, so I like the idea of the potential growth something like that can include. I’m not one of those people who needs to feel like they are always moving upward in a job to feel like they are successful. But I do like the idea of being able to contribute a lot. So WISH ME LUCK! (And if it doesn’t come through, then I know the right place and job is still out there, waiting. The right place is out there. I just have to have hope that we will find each other.)

And thanks for reading as always, and being patient these past few weeks since I last posted. Now that I am back in ABQ, for now, anyway, I will try to get back on track with more regular posting.

Have you ever had to make a decision between taking the safe route or finding your way to a destination unknown?

Florida, here I come!

March 4, 2018

Writing for Animals!

RV Surprise!

But aren’t you worried about Covid?

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