1 February 2020 Out and About in Florida

We actually arrived the day before and were hoping to be out enjoying the sights.  The weather had other plans.  For the most part we've been luck on Florida visits.  Our Friday arrival was one big washout.  We were ready for a full day of fun followed by a family visit in the afternoon.

Our first stop was at the Blackburn Canal which is also known as Curry creek.  We enjoyed a couple short walks with some nice birding at the first stop.  I missed a great blue heron image early on, but it was waiting for us by a small pond a little later.

We walked out for a cache on our second short walk.  The cache was close to the canal and near a large shed snake skin.

Ali spotted a number of birds she thought were blue grey knatcatchers on the walk out.  On the walk back I was able to capture an image to confirm her trusty sighting.

We had parked across the street in a retail area for this first walk.  as we were returning we spotted our first eagle of the day.  A juvenile that landed on top of a utility pole near the drive for parking.

After stopping in the store grocery store for water, we made our way to Curry Creek Preserve for a short walk at the preserve.

It had been three years since we last visited Oscar Sherer State Park.  The park was much wetter today and had few visitors.

We retraced some of our prior visit before heading off for new adventures and a few geocaches.  Our caching adventures were peppered with some very nice bird watching including a pair of scrub jays who appeared to be working their way to nesting.

Mottled Ducks

Rather calm for an osprey...

We ended up at a more familiar location for a few final caches and a chance to spot more eagles.

We were aware there was a nest in the area.  I spotted it while we were signing a log at a cache.

We weren't expecting to see up close aerial battles between a juvenile and an adult.

Whatever was happening was resolved decisively by the adult.

26 January 2020 Two Days

This was Phineas' first consecutive days outings since he injured his neck.  It was a cold and grey day, but we were smiles as Phin did well on the trail.  We stopped at Lake Metroparks Penitentiary Glen to walk a less known trail to hunt a geocache.  It was great to see Phin successfully out on back-to-back days.

The paw prints show we were not alone.

25 January 2020 Phineas at Acacia

Phineas had recently completed his fourth planned accupuncture treatment and seemed to be fully back to his normal self.  We wanted to give him trail time on back-to-back days to see how well he responded.  We were thrilled that he was again baying and showed his normal activity levels. As an old golf course, Acacia was a perfect place for him to hava a longer walk on a fairly level path.

Phin has started to bay again.  He was expressing himself after spotting an orange and white cat near this gazebo.

It wasn't a very cold day in the 40's, but rain arrived during our walk.  Luckily we were able to wait it out under the cover of an old structure from the golf course days.  Phin was great on the walk.

23 January 2020 Dix Park

With early sunsets walking options are still minimal. Today I was able to leave work on time and take a walk at Portage Park's Dix Park. The park was empty this afternoon as I took a quiet, cold walk.

The trail is an out-and-back.  It was a good way to spend the late afternoon.

20 January 2020 Fresh Snow

Snow has been sparse this winter.  This morning's gave the world a quiet blanket.

11 January 2020 Lawnfield

Typical January days in northeast Ohio are cold and grey and often accompanied by some snow.  Lately winters appear to be more mild with less snow, but still a generous portion of grey.  Today's weather described that perfectly.  It was a first visit to a piece of history that has always been not far from home.

The family home

In the current world of a president who spends his days and nights rambling incoherently on Twitter and election campaigns are run by huge machines, it is hard to imagine that an election campaign was managed by mail and telegraph from this diminutive building in 1880.

The windmill on site was designed to provide water to the Garfield home.

8 January 2020 Half Days

Ali is spending time out-of-state with family issues. That means I spend half days working from home to be with the dogs and half days at the office. My time at home includes walk-in visits by one or both looking for rubs and maybe reassurances as they adjust to a new normal.

5 January 2020 South Chagrin

Phineas is a few days past his second accupunture treatment.  He is starting to behave like his old self.  This afternoon we stretched his distance a bit with an extended walk at South Chagrin.  He did very well.

1 January 2020 Phineas on the Trail Again

Phin was six days past his first accupuncture session.  He was showing improvement, but was still quiet and tentative.  His second session was scheduled for the next day.  We wanted to report back to the medical team any progress so we cautiously decided to take him to a nearby park for a short, flat walk on a paved trail.

He was less boisterous than usual, but he handled the single loop well.  We now have him leashed with a harness and a collar.  The harness is a four-foot lead to take strain from his neck while the six foot lead is a back-up in case he manages to slip the catch on his shorter leash.  He is a beagle afterall. 😀

We dropped Phineas at home to rest from his walk and continued our day with Lizzie at a couple Lake Metroparks.  She was surprisingly calm and inquisitive when encountering a deer at one of the parks.  We didn't let her get too close since deer can carry disease.

The sun sets on the first day of the new year.  Hopefully it is better than 2019...

27 December 2019 Phineas

We both agreed that Phineas was not improving from the neck injury he had suffered. We also agreed medicating him with pain pills was not improving his comfort. We were left with three options. The first was unthinkable at this point. The second was surgery with no real assurances of success or comfort for him and a long period of rehab. The third option offered by our vet was accupuncture. She indicated she had past efforts with other dogs where the procedures helped greatly. Last evening was his first procedure. He was a brave boy with multiple needles in him as part of the process. His friendly nature helped too. It is too early to see if this has been successful, but he has one of his four treatments completed. As of today, he is still on the pain meds and clearly in discomfort.

24 December 2019 At The Zoo

We spent the afternoon together at the Cleveland Zoo.  It's a Christmas Eve tradition.  We needed a tradition as this year raced to an uncertain end.  Phineas was still in great pain, and we were approaching a big decision.  Ali would be leaving for a couple of days with an uncertain outcome for her mom.  It was a long year winding down.  It was good to be together.

It's a warm December day when the elphants and flamingos are out.

22 December 2019 Affelder Falls

There was a new cache hidden in Geauga Parks West Woods.  Rather than walk the trails at West Woods to reach the cache, we made a visit to the smaller, less visited Affelder Falls Park.  The two parks are joined by a common trail.  It was a pleasant visit on a cold day starting with a stop by the frozen Affelder Falls.

21 December 2019 Russell Uplands Preserve

We had not visited here since Geauga Parks assumed management.  The trails were much the same.  A small scenic pond greets visitors as they start on the trail.  The woods were a great place to relax as the holiday neared.

A female downy woodpecker

15 December 2019 Walking North Chagrin

We needed a break from nursing Phineas as he struggled with a neck injury.  He was resting quietly so took a short drive to North Chagrin for a walk.  Despite the blue skies, the weather was bitter cold.  We hoped to find the four caches on our walk but gave up on the last hide.  It was either well hidden or we were too cold to hunt long.

Now if we can just help Phineas with his pain...