Ithaca: Sights and Sounds

Maybe not sounds, but captions will follow once I figure out how to get rid of the underlining!



Look! A non-native, a coyote from Morgan Hill at the center for biodiversity!--





Since I flew into Ithaca/Tompkins airport for my winter visit, I had no idea how rural Ithaca really is until I drove in and back from Syracuse this weekend. It is rural. Even more rural than where I went to school in Western Massachusetts, which is fine because I like rural. And who needs to go to Boston or a city when one has a veterinary library waiting?




Apparently California cows are not the only happy cows (stupid commercial...)

Have Air Bed, Will Travel

I'm in Ithaca. This is my room for the summer. My traveling companion, Coyote, is taking the bed for the night so I'm on my handy air mattress, which usually lives in my car's trunk in case of emergencies, but packed neatly into my hiking backpack that got checked.

To my right is a large stack of books that I purchased courtesy of the awesome Cornell list serve and graduating seniors-- they are mainly anatomy books, a histology book, immunology, cell biology, microbiology, a veterinary dictionary and one whopping vegetarian cookbook (one has to eat, right?)

Simon doesn't approve of his new digs as much as the screen porch he inhabited this morning, but he is happy to get some attention and love and is now curled up next to me while I write this.

Lest you get the vastly mistaken impression that all has been smooth sailing, I will admit I had a near meltdown earlier this evening. This event was precipitated by my lack of sleep (all week leading up to the move and then getting about three hours sleep on the five hour flight from San Jose to JFK), my lack of food (I had two square meals in the previous thirty plus hours), my inability to navigate Ithaca (I drove for almost forty-five minutes to find downtown, let alone a parking space, since so many streets were blocked off for the Ithaca Festival), my sense of being overwhelmed by the number of veterinary books in my room (most are textbooks and binders belonging to the student from whom I am subletting) and a general feeling that I am completely inadequate to be going to vet school at Cornell. There, I said it.

This situation was ameliorated by a meal at the world famous Moosewood restaurant. On the way from the parking lot to the restaurant, I asked Coyote if we should note the cross streets in order to find the car again. She said it wouldn't be a problem so I didn't look.

Coyote then proceeded to drink a Screwy Moose (don't ask me, I don't drink).

We checked out the Ithaca festival, but when we were ready to leave we couldn't find the car.

The parking garage had mysteriously disappeared. It wasn't where we left it.

Coyote hypothesized that someone changed the map posted at the entrance to the Ithaca Commons and moved the garage all while we were busy eating dinner.

I laughed.

She then said, "We're screwed."

I laughed again.

She then said, "In reality, we don't know where the car is."

I soberly let this fact sink in.

I think it was only her presence and humor that prevented sheer panic from setting in.

We wandered around some more, lamenting the missing parking garage.

And then, somehow, we stumbled upon it. (Coyote would like to take full credit for this fortuitous event, but I think it was somewhat luck).

Of course, once we had located the parking garage, we still had to locate the car, which being a rental, was only vaguely recognizable to either of us.

On the stairs up to the parking deck, I said gleefully, my stressed mind racing ahead, "So tomorrow our plan is to find a blue jay and I'm going to look at two houses."

Coyote replied, "Wait, first let's find the car. Keep it simple!"

Right, when will I learn to live in the moment and not borrow trouble?

I've Arrived In New York

I'm here. I've made it to the other side. My new life begins today.

Right now I'm relaxing in Syracuse at EB's parents' house while en route to Ithaca.

Her parents are amazing-- they have a passion for nature, wildlife, native plants, bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, sustainable living, regenerative living, entymology and all things wonderful in my world. Here's a photo of the backyard-- there are many ponds, a recirculating stream, frogs, toads and they have a plot where they grow a significant amount of their own food. It's recognized both by the National Wildlife Federation as a certified backyard habitat and by Monarch Watch as a Monarch way station.




Simon is relieved to be out of his carrier after ten hours, mostly on planes. Thankfully, he and Lindy traveled remarkably well. I am pleased to discover that my cats are so portable. That certainly makes contemplating future summer jobs much easier.

After being cooped up inside all year, Simon just loved the screen porch-- all the smells, sounds and new sights.
The red-eye flight was not too bad. One nice thing about being petite is that I can curl up and sleep just about anywhere. Even though the flight was almost completely full, I was lucky enough to have the seat next to me empty and I slept well on the two seats in a semi-fetal position. After my years of emergency work, I honestly don't think there is anywhere I couldn't fall asleep, from the floor of the surgery suite to cement floors to wooden floors. So in the grand scheme of things this was quite comfortable by my standards.

And here I am in San Jose at the airport, waiting to take off. Me, my two cats, and my weighty tome on bat ecology:)

Last Trip To Menlo Park, Last Trip To San Martin

Today I had to say what I feared would be my hardest goodbye. It was my last drive for a long time on the beautiful contours of southbound 280. I remember so clearly the time this winter when I saw two great egrets on the sign to my exit-- it was around the time that they gather in large numbers at a rookery in the nearby Palo Alto Baylands. To put those pictures here now seems so fitting. Egrets, they symbolize everything I love about nature-- beauty, grace, mystery (something beyond human reach) and now they also symbolize an inner peace.


Goodbye to my favorite goblin, PK:



Goodbye to Percy, Phoenix, Mocha and the herd of goats:



Goodbye to the Muscovy ducklings who just entered the world a few weeks ago:

Proposition 8: Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart Now, Baby

I wrote quite a bit about Proposition 8 in the fall, on my old blog (one piece by the same title as this, and some others like this one and this one). It was an eye-opening and frightening experience to see how much ignorance and prejudice still exists, especially in the Bay area, of all places!

It was a huge disappointment when Proposition 8 passed this fall. But it wasn't unexpected, given the polls and the plethora of Yes On 8 signs that I saw around my neighborhood.

It was another huge disappointment when the Supreme Court upheld Prop 8 this morning, but again, not a surprise. I don't know all the intricacies of the law, but given that this is the same group of people that ruled that same-sex marriage should be allowed and invoked strict scrutiny as one of their key arguments, I imagine there must be some pretty compelling legal reasons why they ruled the way they did, and I suspect some (many?) of them did so reluctantly, with a heavy heart. At least I like to think so.

The good news is that the 18,000 marriages that took place before the November election last year will continue to be recognized. I'm thrilled about this on a personal level-- it means DashingBoiSuperTech and her wife, GorgeousEmergencyNurse, will remain legally married. They are trying to start a family, so it is important that their relationship be legally recognized as it will make things much easier for them. I don't know anyone else who married during that time period, but I'm glad those marriages were not revoked nonetheless.

On an even more personal level, I am moving to the more liberal Northeast, where opportunities for gay marriage abound. I am optimistic that New York will allow gay marriages during my stay there.

However, I can't imagine marrying again. In fact, ironically, I was in the family courthouse in Santa Clara as the Supreme Court's ruling was being announced, getting a certified copy of the judgment for my divorce and changing my name from my married name back to my maiden name. Given that I consider my marriage to be the biggest mistake of my life, it is not something I will undertake lightly again, if at all.

Despite my cynical view of marriage, today's ruling and the election this fall were heartbreaking. The wound is still raw for me. I liken politics to relationships-- every time I get emotionally invested, I get my heart broken. Hence, I try not to get emotionally involved with politics. This time I couldn't keep my distance. And this time I got my heart broken yet again.

Carnival In The Mission: Goodbye SF

When I got off BART I was greeted by quite a commotion at Mission and 24th:




The guys on stilts were amazing-- can you imagine doing that for several hours?

The buildings and costumes combined were quite breathtaking:

The dogs were also all dressed up:



And there is the mission trademark dog, the white chihuahua (I don't know why there are so many white chihuahuas in the mission-- some kind of founder effect?-- but I know from my brief shelter experience that the mission breeds white chihuahuas)

If you've never spent time wandering around the mission you are missing some great murals and artwork:




And here I am with my friend J, enjoying the day, though given a choice I'd rather be hiking Mount Rainier with her like we did last summer (I'm just not a city girl...)

Trick Question-- How Many Trips To The Vet Can You Make In One Week?

OK, Ok, it's not really a trick question.

Answer: As many as you like...

So I have six days till I leave. I'm stressed!!! And I have now made three trips to the vet this week, soon to be four!

Trip One: As I wrote about below, Lindy went to see my favorite internal medicine doctor on Monday for a re-check on her bloodwork. This doctor's been following Lindy for two years and didn't find any significant changes in her health.

Trip Two: Yesterday I took both Simon and Lindy in to see Dr. PullMyLeg for rabies vax and a health certificate. She discovered that Simon had a resorptive lesion on one of his carnassial teeth and a possible abscess there too! Oops, I felt a little embarrassed that I had not caught this myself. I'm sure it is painful for Simon, but he eats voraciously nonetheless. He remained in the hospital for a dental prophy with extractions to be done today.

Trip Three: This morning I woke up to the sound of Lindy vomiting. My first thought, "She has a hairball, I hope I can get back to sleep." She then proceeded to vomit SEVEN more times. Yikes. That got me out of bed pretty quickly. I called over to the emergency clinic and asked Dr Superstar if I could bring her in, she said yes. So I did radiographs-- no evidence of a foreign body, slight possibility of pancreatitis but not very likely. I gave her subcutaneous reglan and pepcid and we were on our merry way. Note: Thanks for your help NurseSuperstar (previously UpcomingSuperstar on my last blog but now she has arrived, and is a rock star graveyard nurse)!

Trip Four: I will be going to Palo Alto this afternoon either for Simon's surgery or to pick him up afterwards if I don't make it for the surgery.

I hope that is it. It's not like I don't have enough to do at this point without running to the vet's every two minutes:)

Go Read This Post On The Homeless Parrot

Yes, this post, on the heart of medicine.

I couldn't have said it better.

That's Lindy all snuggled up in a blanket at C's last week, where I spent some time recovering post-op.

Lindy had a check-up with the internal medicine specialist this morning. She's "eeking along" in the doctor's words. So far no dramatic declines. I'm sad to be saying goodbye to this doctor, she's incredible, I admire her so much and she's done such a good job taking care of Lindy. Maybe I'll get to come back and do an externship with her and her colleagues someday. Here's to hoping...

What I Will Miss The Most-- My Favorite Photo From This Year

This is PK (Precocious Kid) running around in her backyard in her fairy outfit-- check out the wings. The kid (just above the wheel of the wheelbarrow in the photo) was a bottle baby and so chased her around as he was imprinted on humans-- pretty darn funny to see the kid chasing the kid, ya know.

This is my idea of heaven. PK, kids, goats, horses, hens, roosters etc. All on a sunny plot of land in the South Bay with the mountains that demarcate the valley in the background.

It's the home of Self-Sufficient Nurse, one of my dear friends. She comes very close to living the life exemplified by my favorite movie "Off The Map" and PK also reminds me a lot of the kid in that movie (I loaned them the DVD last summer and Self-Sufficient Nurse told me that PK kept asking, "What's going to happen next?" but then again she was four! Self-Sufficient Nurse's husband told me that the movie reminded him of his wife too-- especially the trips to the dump-- "What do you think we'll find this time?")

Here are some more pictures of heaven (and goats-- of course there will be goats in heaven!):