Chaotic Adventure

That's my camping luggage, as I call them, packed full of carefully selected items that will last me until Sunday afternoon. I am soooo excited!

So this morning my sister and I had an interesting few minutes. The pool guy came and cleaned the pool and obviously thought that closing the backyard gate was too much trouble. I let Chaos and Dublin out, my Rottweiler and Basset Hound. Can you see where this is going?
Dublin s scared of the rain, and it was pouring this morning, so he stayed inside, but Chaos decided it was time to explore.
I went about my morning tasks until I realized, hey I don't have a black nose sticking itself everywhere I go. I looked everywhere, but of course he was gone.
My sister and I set out in different directions through our neighborhood, to see where the hell he was. Fortunately, after walking a block I caught sight of him. I called his name, but he looked terrified, he didn't recognize me until I got a few feet in front of him. He was soaked to the bone and very frightened. He had been hanging out on someone's driveway, hoping it was his house.
Let me show you what he looks like:



Now picture him wet and scared. He looked truly miserable.
He was so happy to see me and our house. It's incredible to me that he was only a block away and had no clue where he was. He could have been in Timbuktu. I was and am quite relieved. From now on, I'm going to have to check the gate every time the pool guy comes. I know it was raining, but buddy, come one, it's not acid, take two seconds and close the door!

Apocalypse NOW

It is looking really ugly down here. I've checked the clock repeatedly because I can't believe it's only 5:30. It looks so dark outside.
Of course, our basset hound Dublin, is in the middle of a panic attack, and Chaos is patiently working on ignoring him.
When I took Topkapi out this morning I put her on the kitchen table while I put some dishes away. She started slithering around, flicking out her tongue, nothing out of the ordinary. I kept going with the dishes and when I turn back around she was on the floor. How did she get there that fast? I didn't hear a clunking sound, so she didn't fall. She must have acquired superpowers while I wans't paying attention, OR she is the world's fastest snake. Either way I have a famous snake in my hands.

I was planning on taking Barbossa outside today but the apocalyptic look of the sky otside does not bode well. I'm sure that as soon as I put him outside and sit to start reading we'll both get soaked. Miami weather, ugh.

Moria

Something quite amusing happened a couple of days ago. I came down in the morning and sat at the computer to check my email. I started noticing that my rottweiler, Chaos (and there's never been a more appropriate name in the history of dog ownership) was trying very hard to get my attention. He tends to do this often though, for any reason whatsoever, like a little child wanting to show you something interesting. So, I tried to ignore him. He really kept insisting, though.
Finally, I followed him to see what the hell was so important. Well, our basset hound, Dublin had one of the tortoises in his mouth.
This tortoise is one of my mom's favorites. Her name is Moria and she is a box turtle. Way too cute for mere words.
Well, anyway, she has a habit of crawling out of her cage. She lifts the grate covering it and just walks out. She did just that and Dublin decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up.
The poor reptile was scared out of her mind but otherwise uninjured. I guess that teaches me to pay more attention to Chaos's warnings.
Moria now has some heavy clay items weighing the top of her cage down.

Serial Killer Wind

It looks like the apocalypse is a wee bit early. I am sitting by a window and the sky looks black. It is pouring outside (well, it wouldn't really be pouring inside) and there is a very strong wind. Of course, since we have satellite TV, it stopped working about 20 minutes ago, so all I hear is one really frightened Basset Hound upstairs. That dog is a coward. It started off as him being only scared of loud noises, thunder, fireworks (my house around the fourth of July or New Year's is a bit like a mental ward) but now he's progressed to being afraid of the wind. Yes that's right, just like in "The Happening", that gem of a movie, (that was said caustically for those who have not seen it) our poor little Dublin thinks the wind is out to get him. We've tried different things to see if anything helps him relax, and no, nothing works. He starts trembling and pacing the room. He stops as soon as the wind, thunder, or fireworks stop.

This week I am leaving for a pagan gathering. I leave on Thursday and I return Sunday. It is a primitive camp site so I will not be posting anything during those days unless I do it by carrier pigeon, and even in a pagan festival it's not looking likely. We are celebrating Beltane, the coming of spring. This festival is where the May pole comes from in all it's phallic glory. The theme for this year's festival in this particular camp is a Native American one, which will be really interesting. We will be learning different dances and chants. Throughout the four days, we get to go to varied lectures and workshops, with many famous pagan authors and performers. One I am really interested in seeing this year is a workshop on past life regressions. We will be doing some meditations to see if we can pick up any memories from previous lifetimes. It sounds so exciting. The main ritual is on Saturday night, followed by hours of drumming (primitive drums, not electric or modern). Then we have a final ritual on Sunday morning before we leave to send us off with good energies and recharged until the next one.
This camp does these kinds of festival twice a year, at Beltane and at Samhain (pronounced Sow-in, with emphasis on the first syllable). This is the first time I go to this one so we'll see how everything works out. If the posts stop it's because I was mauled by bears, so no worries.