Do You Know What Your Pets Want?
Hello!
I hope this finds you happy and healthy. It's been a bit of a tough week for me, so this letter is a tad light today. Last week, my wife had a three-day killer headache. We thought it was stress, but as we started adding up symptoms, realized it could be a breakthrough case of Covid. (We've been fully vaccinated since April 22.) It was gone by Friday and we were greatly relieved. I had a slight sore throat Thursday night, but it was gone the next morning, as well. I chalked my sore throat up to allergies and we went through the weekend feeling fine.
Well, this Tuesday I started feeling sick - stomach problems, aches and pains, and fuzzy thinking. It got worse as the night went on, so much so that I worried that if this was Covid and kept up at the pace it was affecting my body, I could be in the hospital by the next day.
Thank God, and science, by the next morning I felt about 50% better. By yesterday, I felt nearly back to normal. Was it Covid? I don't know. I discovered it was difficult in my area with my insurance to go get a test to find out, but decided it wouldn't change anything. I was going to quarantine anyway and would get medical attention, if necessary. If I did have it, the vaccine worked, and though I felt horrible, that part only lasted less than 24 hours. I feel great now, and am happy to have whatever it was behind me.
This Week
You Know You Talk to Your Cat, Too.
This piece details a conversation I had with our cat, Max, when he was focussed on not letting me see my computer monitor.
Do You Know What Your Pets Want?
The Art of Getting it Wrong 9/10 Times
We often know our pets very well in certain ways, but in others, their behavior is a constantly amusing puzzle.
Behind the Scenes
Since around the beginning of the year, or what could be called, "Nearing Year 2 of Quarantine," my wife has been looking at RVs online. From time to time, I would join her. It was almost like going out shopping but without any actual movement, social interaction, or possibility of eating out. Ugh.
Anyway, over the last few weeks, we actually started shopping for real - like out in the real world, with salespeople and actual RVs we could walk through. It was rough going. RVs are super popular right now, so stock is quite limited, or in some cases, non-existent. I have a story about to be published about the experience that I will share with you next week.
I'll let you in on the outcome now:
We should be picking this beauty up on September 23 if all goes as planned. Before long, I might be penning these letters to you as I sit around a campfire, or maybe a propane fire table, if the burn bans are still in effect. (Can I still claim to be "penning" something if I am really typing on a keyboard?)
Favorite Fun Stuff
This week I have really been enjoying the silicon stretch lids my wife got me for Christmas. They were part of a set that also included reusable food storage bags. The lids come in many sizes and this week I used them to cover half a container of yogurt I ate while I was sick but couldn't finish in one sitting, a can of ginger ale, and a bowl of rice. These handy reusable covers are much better than using plastic wrap or foil that just ends up in a landfill. The bags are great, too! They easily replace zipper storage bags and even other kinds of storage containers.
Next, you need to see this. We all know baby alpacas are cute once they get all fuzzy, but have you ever seen a newborn? They almost don't look real. Check out this baby.
Confession Time
I still enjoy The Macarena.
This week I am giving a shout out to Cathe McCoy for correctly identifying Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day as the source of a line I used in last week's letter. Thanks for participating, Cathe!
Peace and love,
Dakota Duncan
You can support me by sharing this update. If you received this from a friend, go ahead and sign up for a free subscription of your very own here:
| I Want in on the Fun! |
If you want to find about about my graphic novel or children's chapter books, visit my website: dakotaduncan.com
Rising Owl Studios, Inc.
Happy Tails and Inspiring Trails... Greetings and Happy November! I hope your week has been as productive or relaxing as you had hoped. Bonus points to you if you achieved some sort of balance! As a way of saying thank you for allowing me into your inbox each week, I am going to start sharing a short, exclusive essay written just for you. So, here we go! Max is Not Intellectually Gifted As parents, we want to see the best in our kids, be they human or animal. We want to believe they are...
On the Road Again! Me and Kola Hello and happy end of October! Here in the Pacific Northwest (US), we have had a glorious display of fall colors amidst a lot of rain. Everywhere we look, bright yellows, oranges and reds mix with the evergreens and it's truly remarkable. With the winds and rain, I suspect we hit the color peak this past week and soon we'll be looking at bare trees and evergreens. The highlight of my recent life is that last week we went on our first real trip in our new RV. It...
Hello! Me and Kola So, I am testing out the name "Happy Tails and Inspiring Trails" for this newsletter. What do you think? I've been on a roll with writing this week. So far, I've managed one essay per day. I hope to get two more done, but here's a mini-confession. I won't publish these last two until next week while I am on vacation. My wife and I are going to take our new RV out for five nights as a fall getaway to celebrate our 8-year Wedding Anniversary. It's kind of late in the season,...