There have been so many major changes in my life these last couple years, it's not going to be easy to catch up ... if I had a better memory, I might consider chronological order, but the 1960's took care of that !
fortunately, I took great care to document the details of my developing situation, so I will use those notes to help estimate my timing of events a little more accurately ...
from this Blog, I know my last entries were made while typically camping in the Arizona desert during the winter of 2014-2015 ... as was usual in those days, I returned to northern Kalifornia to spend my Spring/Summer of 2015 ...
my hideaway in the Feather River Canyon has long been my favorite spot by far, to the point I consider myself a resident, (although, not legally), and the few legitimate local residents (6) are still regarded as good friends ... one neighbor lady has passed away, her husband is quite old and in failing health, and four others have moved away, leaving their homes up for sale ...
the little General Store & campground (the only business for miles) sold to a nice couple, that have enjoyed their first year in business, they are nice folks, a welcome addition to the whole area ...
Sybil, as always, thoroughly enjoyed our summer camp, everybody there knew her, and she had bears, mountain lions, wild turkeys, fox, and squirrels by the boatloads, to keep her on constant vigil ... well, awake, anyway ... sometimes ...
John, a local friend of Sybil & I, a gentleman in his late 80s, was one of the only residents still left ... John would ride his Yamaha ATV (quad) to the Post Office every day to check his mail ...
yes, we even had a Post Office, an old, tired, singlewide mobile office sort of affair - doesn't even have a restroom ... the Postmistress has to walk across the street to the General Store to use theirs ... and, these days, the Post Office is only open a couple hours a day ...
with a population so tiny, you might wonder why there is even a Post Office at all, but it just happens to be the only Postal facility for quite a few miles up & down the Feather River Canyon ... so, it stays, and we're lucky to have it !
Sybil would watch old John ride by every day, and very soon, John and Sybil grew close - he would take her for miles up on the mountain, and she would return thoroughly tuckered out, and grinning from ear to ear ! ... she dearly loved John & his Quad (Sybil knew it as her 'putt-putt') ... every morning, she would lay in front of our trailer, eyes fixated towards John's cabin ...
while she couldn't see John's cabin for the trees, she evidently could hear him walk out to his garage to get on the Quad ... she would get all agitated and jump up & down long before you would hear the Quad start up ... pretty damned good hearing, considering the garage is almost 1/2 mile away from us, with dense forest all around ... I couldn't hear a thing, even when the engine was running ... but then, I don't have wolf-ears !
my friend John's wife died the following year, and he moved back east to be with family, as he was 88, and suffering the usual ravages of old age ... we often swapped stories debating the best arthritis remedies, etc. ... John wanted Sybil to have the Quad, as he knew how much she loved to run alongside, and I was usually too crippled up to walk with her ...
we struck a fair deal, and I, for the first time in years, was able to take Sybil on the long runs she needed & deserved ...
while I never did get too enthused about owning a Quad (I'm a motorcycle guy, Quads are for geezers - too many wheels) I was really looking forward to a winter in the desert where I could go exploring with Sybil ... it would have been GREAT not be stuck sitting in the trailer while the occasional friend would stop by, and take Sybil for a walk ... as happy as I was to see Sybil running off to play for a little while, it hurt at the same time ... it was sad watching her go off like that, made me feel pretty useless ...
then, those damned 'changes' started rearing their ugly little heads ... not 'changes', like the Socialist liar Obama promised, but real changes, changes that affect lives ... well, mine, anyway ...
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