A Year of Changes

This year is turning out to be a year of changes.

First the negative change. My 2-year-old golden retriever, Jett, died suddenly just two days after getting sick. I will always wonder whether his life could have been saved had his veterinarian detected the massive infection ravaging his body, and ultimately, his brain. He died of meningitis.

Another change is happening as a result of Jett's death. I am leaving the veterinary practice I have used for the past 14 years. There are a couple of reasons for my decision, both related to Jett's death. I no longer will entrust my dogs to that practice, so I'm moving on.

Earlier this year I traded in an SUV I didn't like and replaced it with an almost new, smaller, hybrid SUV. I like the newer car a lot.

I'm also changing cell phone carriers, leaving the one I have used for some 20 years. Two things prompted this change. AT&T has had not one, but two, so-called 'data breaches' this year. In other words, the company's customer information was hacked ... twice. The thing that put me over the top in deciding to leave was the monthly increase of more than $10. An extra $125 per year for cell phone service is something I will not tolerate. So goodbye, AT&T. I am tired of constant rate increases that far exceed my paltry 3 percent cost of living increase last year.

Another change under consideration is dropping DirecTV and switching to streaming services. I need to do some research first to figure out which streaming services I want.

So that's it. Change is always a bit unnerving, but it's not a bad thing (except in Jett's case). I think adapting to change is especially helpful to us older folks. Change can help us grow.

So let the change begin!

The Power of Words

I love words. They can be so powerful and so descriptive.

I got my thesaurus out to help augment my initial list of words. 

Here are a few to start. Do you know about whom I am speaking?  One guess.

disgusting

despicable 

immoral.

greedy

deranged

egotistical

boorish 

lying 

negative

vindictive

nasty 

traitorous. 

vile

hateful

spiteful

vengeful

foul

cruel

repulsive

contemptible

revolting

vulgar

pompous

deplorable

loathsome

selfish

dangerous

racist

misogynist

classless

unprofessional

This is a start. Which words would you add to the list?

Inspiring Words

 And still I rise.

These words are the title of the third volume of poetry by renowned American poet Maya Angelou. These words are also tattooed on the collarbone of the best female gymnast ever, Simone Biles.

And rise she has. After withdrawing from the 2020 Olympics because of the 'twisties,' after which she was called a coward and a quitter, Simone Biles came roaring back. She won three gold medals and one silver medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In total, she has won 11 Olympic medals. Adding her 30 world championship medals makes her the most decorated gymnast of all time.    

The twisties is a dangerous phenomenon experienced by some gymnasts in which they lose their perception of where their bodies are while flying through the air. The twisties can result in serious injury or even death. Imagine, if you can, flying through the air, several feet off the ground, and having no idea where you are in relation to the floor. How soon will your feet hit the ground? At what point do you get your feet and legs in position to make a safe landing?

Simone has risen above so much. Born to a drug-addicted mother unable to care for her and her three siblings, Simone spent years in the foster care system before being adopted with one of her sisters by her grandparents.

How inspiring her achievements, indeed her life, have been. Keep rising, Simone. Whether you decide to retire from competitive gymnastics or keep going, you are an inspiration to the world, especially to the young girls who watch you train and dream about their own Olympic chances.

Remembering Pete

On August 25, 2023, the world lost a great man. 

He wasn’t famous. He wasn’t infamous, but he had friends both online and in real life who miss him terribly. 

His name was Pete. He loved all animals, especially his beloved cat ScOOter and golden retrievers. He loved nature. He was an awesome nature photographer. He loved hiking, and he loved bicycling. Pete had a great sense of humor, and he had the ability to find humor and joy in most everything. He quickly became friends with everyone he met. He was kind and generous. In return, some of his female friends showered him with gifts of homemade preserves, funny socks and a variety of tasty treats.

And then on that August 25, Pete left his car in the parking lot of a local Ohio park, hiked to an old barn, got comfortable, and took his life. His last post ended with the words “I’m home now.” This wasn’t the typical, witty, humorous post that Pete made. It left a lot of people wondering what was going on. Sadly, we soon found out. 

To say his friends were stunned is a huge understatement. Nobody knew he was depressed. Nobody knew he was suffering. If he had reached out to someone, anyone, people would have done anything to help him. Like comedian Robin Williams, who was the funniest man I’ve ever heard, Pete’s humor masked his pain. He suffered in silence until he couldn’t take it anymore.

I am told that there were several reasons -- all speculation -- why Pete decided to take his life. The isolation of Covid. The death of his beloved cat ScOOter. And finally, being forced to vacate the apartment where he had lived for many years so it could be renovated by the management company. Were there other things weighing on Pete’s mind? We will never know.

All of his friends questioned why. Why didn’t he reach out to somebody? Why did none of his friends have the slightest hint that he was suffering? I never met Pete in person. I never spoke to him on the phone. But we were Facebook friends. He always sent me a card and a photo of whichever of my dogs had died. But looking back to when my heart dog Benny, a golden retriever/corgi mix, died in late June, just a couple of months before Pete's passing, I realize Pete didn't send me a condolence card. Was that a subtle indication of what was going on in Pete's mind? 

Because I knew he loved coffee, I would always bring a bag of coffee beans back for Pete when I visited a coffee producing country. Tanzania, Nicaragua, Brazil and other countries I visited provided bags of coffee beans for Pete.

And of course, we shared a love of photography, nature, animals and especially golden retrievers. We both shot with Canon cameras. It was rather unusual to find a fellow Canon enthusiast in a world of Nikon shooters.

Every year for the past several years I have made photo wall calendars and offered them for sale to raise funds for an African charity that works to save African elephants. Pete always ordered six calendars, with different photographic themes, that he would give to some of his friends as Christmas gifts. Last year another friend of his decided to keep this tradition going by ordering six calendars and distributing them for Christmas gifts to some of Pete’s friends. I don’t know whether this tradition will continue this year or not.

Pete and I shared a great love of nature photography, but I was nevertheless stunned to find after his death that he had left one of his Canon lenses to me. I had to purchase an adapter so that it would fit my mirrorless camera, but I took it with me earlier this year on a photography trip to Yosemite National Park. 

The person who handled the distribution of Pete’s personal property also sent me Pete’s large camera bag, along with a variety of filters and other equipment. The filters would not fit any of my cameras, so I mailed them to a mutual friend who could use them. A camera body that I also wasn’t expecting I sent to another friend of Pete’s, as I have all the cameras I need.

It’s so difficult and so very sobering to think that we lost Pete one year ago today. I hope he has been reunited with his beloved ScOOter cat, and that he has found the peace that eluded him during his life on this planet.

Go Someplace You've Never Been Before

Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. -- Dalai Lama

I think this is wonderful advice. I used to travel a lot, but now with the price of the trips and the sky high price of airfare, I have had to cut back on my travels considerably.

This year's travel schedule is very light, thanks to the incompetence of American Airlines management that made it impossible to get to a scheduled trip to South Africa with European friends. But next year should be better, with trips to southern Africa, Yellowstone National Park, Banff (Canada) and Switzerland on the schedule. 

It's always great fun to visit a new locale, even when I discover the place isn't one to which I want to return. There are only a few countries I have no desire to revisit: Nicaragua, Iceland, Ethiopia, Brazil, Russia and Namibia immediately come to mind. I have been to Costa Rica and Botswana twice, and to Kenya and Tanzania multiple  times. The latter two keep drawing me back for their wonderful wildlife photography opportunities. My favorite domestic destination is Yellowstone National Park, which I have visited close to 10 times, and which I will visit again next year.

The Olympics were more personal whenever the television coverage showed the Eiffel Tower, because I had visited this iconic landmark when I was in Paris a few years ago. The same goes for the Arc de Triomphe, which was only a block or so from my hotel. I got to see and photograph it any time I wanted to by simply walking a short distance from my hotel.

Everything is so expensive and so uncertain these days, but I hope to keep checking countries off my bucket list for as long as I am able to travel and my money lasts.

I used to work with a guy in Houston who was proud of the fact he had never left the state of Texas, where he was born. I feel sorry for anyone with such a limited view of not only the world, but of the United States.

My advice? Go somewhere you have never been before, whether it's another state, some place within the state where you live, or another country. Expand  your horizons, spread your wings, and go explore the world!

Ready For 2024 To End

Every December I hope the new year will be better than the previous one.

And every year I am disappointed.

This has not been a good year for me. Here are some examples.

I was unable to meet my friends from the UK in South Africa for a long-planned photo safari. American Airlines kept canceling my flight to Denver, from where I was to connect to the other side of the planet. There was a huge storm in Dallas, but American seemed incapable of rerouting me to another destination that wasn't impacted by the storm. Airport staff were not kept informed of delays until a few minutes before they were announced. After two days after delay after delay, accompanied by repeated trips home and then back to the airport, I had enough. Landing in Johannesburg was just the first part of the trip. From there I had to catch a flight on a small plane to Nelspruit, from where I would be driven to our camp in the middle of nowhere. So I cancelled the trip, which cost me some $7,000 in lost expenses even after trip insurance.

Then in late June, my 2-year-old golden retriever got sick and died just two days later. The necropsy showed that he died of meningitis arising from a large abscess behind his eye. No one knows why the abscess developed. Losing him so suddenly and at such a young age was, and still is, devastating.

I am now searching for another golden retriever, a breed that is extremely rare in the state where I live. Most rescues refuse to adopt out of state, so that isn't an option.

The latest bit of bad news involves my brother-in-law, a great guy, father of two, and a retired attorney. He is hospitalized with an abscess on his liver. He wasn't feeling well for several weeks, and he lost a lot of weight.

And I just was informed by my dog's health insurer that I won't get any money back for his examinations, tests and treatments because rather than including both invoices I submitted, it included only one. I'm told to expect a response to my e-mail questioning the decision in "5 to 7 business days."

This has been my year so far. I could use some good news for a change.