San Angelo Photo Dump

 

                                                                 N Concho Trailhead

                                                This shot by Susie may be worth framing

                                            Susie was grateful we found this water trough

         So were our ponies, of course - at this point we’d been out for about 5 hrs/15 miles

Those indistinct impressions in the riverbed are the dinosaur tracks - I’m glad we found ‘em. Makes my current financial juggling act seem minor in the big scheme of things… I must keep moving forward, hopefully in a few more months this will all seem like an anxiety dream!

I thought about analyzing my sleep data - I did NOT achieve the restful sleep I usually enjoy in horse camp, no doubt it is All The Things piling up on me, yet here I am hauling off for recreational pursuits.

I was surprised in my brief research to see that San Angelo State Park opened in 1995 - the “ghost camp”sections were not maintained. Of course 1995 is almost 30 years ago - that’s adequate time for many things to fall into disrepair. 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lower-ghost-camp

There are a few others who have claimed paranormal activity in this area -  maybe that’s why I didn’t sleep too well??

en*dur*o*vet

 I claimed this moniker for myself Way Back When I set up my first Hotmail account in the early 2000’s… It wasn’t any stroke of genius on my part - one of my colleagues had dubbed herself Endurodiva (& believe you me, she is a diva!) whereas I decided I was an endurance rider and a veterinarian, both identities seemed equally important.

These past months of health struggles has had me doubting whether I needed to give up one or both: my physical stamina is shot, my mental fog endangers at the very least my business & livelihood if not so much my professional judgment (I still feel competent in my professional skills thanks to my amazing support staff).

If you had told me this holiday weekend that I would ride all four consecutive days, I’d have thought that’s a pipe dream but I actually did it! Fair weather trail riders were dropping out left and right with the threat of rainy weather but we three amigos (myself, Susie and JR) trekked out to San Angelo after years of missed opportunities. I will have to research the history of San Angelo State Park - I know it was threatened with closure for a while and now it has “ghost camps”: abandoned sections which the wilderness is overtaking. Susie wanted a trail preview Friday evening so she & I did a quick survey - the new equestrian sites are widely dispersed, and it was probably half a mile down the camp road to the trail head. We rode about 2.5 mi in a little over half an hour.

Saturday was our Grand Tour: we made a 22-mi circuit of the park, making our way down to the S  gatehouse where are we took a lunch break before looping back around to our N-end campsites. JR had brought a slab of picanha steak which he expertly grilled for us for our Saturday night dinner.

Then Sunday morning Susie & I went out again and found the dinosaur tracks - not as numerous or distinctive as our Glen Rose theropod tracks but worth seeing nonetheless. (A little over 5 mi in about an hour & a half). We achieved Susie’s stated 30-mi quota!

We returned home Sunday night & I was amazed to get another riding offer from Karen: two opportunities to ride with my BFF in two weeks, how amazing! So I hauled out to Trace Trails in Athens (private ranch) and had another pleasant leisurely ride - I had lots of food left over from my campout so we had a late lunch (Sam also brought food - he had planned to come to San Angelo but then his wife got sick)

Karen was telling me about the inter-island Hawaiian cruise she & her husband are going to do in Sept - I was shocked to see Peran actually considering it when I mentioned it to him last night! However when I sent him all the facts and figures, he declared that this would not be a good time. I should’ve known better than to get my hopes up. 

                            Rocky’s “fan club” - swarm of kiddos at the south end playground 

                                                           We Three Amigos

Technology Lies

 My shiny new Fitbit also purportedly tracks sleep quality - y’all can understand I’d be all over that!

But last night it gave me a rating of “Good” for a little over 7 hrs sleep - which does not explain why I feel like hammered sh!t this AM… I retreated to the recliner after my busy workday (the weather remains variable - I’m certainly not complaining about this recent cool spell! but it is certainly SUMMER in regards to scheduling), didn’t pry myself up to do yoga**, stayed up too late indulging in minor escapism watching my PBS travelogues, then the dogs had me up at 12:45 AM - took a long time to get back to sleep & I’d rate what I did get as light & fitful.

But that’s what coffee is for, boys & girls!

** I have found a great short & easy routine targeted towards sciatica which gives me great release in my lower back - my spine creaking when I do a supported leg extension especially to my right. I could just weep with joy - I have spent hundreds of dollars with chiropractors over the years, yet here I can do it better all by myself! But of course that means I actually have to get up there on the mat and do it…

(& now I’m too technically inept to get the link to work, but I’ll try again later)

Karen and her husband have been invited on an Alaskan cruise which I told her is a great experience** -everyone should try a cruise at least once! but now her husband can’t get off one of the required days. I’ve notified Dr. M about my plans to go to New Mexico in July - if she’s unable to cover for me, I’ll just close the clinic. No other immediate travel plans for us as P continues his job search.

** my parents took Zach and I when he was ten years old - it was very pleasant, I hope he has a few faint memories of it

Those 3 dark-blue dips represent the only periods of "deep sleep" I got - 43 minutes ain't quite enough!

Awake: 64 min

Light sleep: 4 hrs 28 min

Deep sleep: 43 min

REM sleep (don't ask me how on earth a wrist monitor can measure REM?): 1 hr 56 min

I contrast that with Sunday night, a fairly decent night's sleep with 1 hr 54 min "deep sleep"

Awake: 1 hr 27 min (I think I had 3 potty breaks that night, ugh!)

Light sleep: 4 hrs 22 min

REM sleep: 1 hr 59 min

A Bust & A Lagniappe

 I’m glad I listened to my maternal instincts - stopping by my son’s house Saturday morning en route to the reptile expo on the northeast side of Fort Worth…

He was “traveling light” - not packing an extensive set-up with habitats & very few animals (only 7 snakes??!!??) so I had driven my little car. Following my own whims, I had decided to bring Izzy the juvenile Sulcata tortoise and the firebellied toad who lost her mate a few months ago. Z had given me the distinct impression that we would be meeting at the facility - I kept on checking his location as I approached and as I said, thank goodness I stopped by! Z was still pacing around in his underwear** while V slept in. We got everything crammed into my little car and got to the expo with about half an hour to spare.

As it turned out, there was no rush because the expo was very sparsely attended and our only sales were that little tortoise and the frog. Zach had rented two tables (we could’ve fit everything easily onto one table) so that put us down for a net loss of $65 for the day. I felt even sorrier for the man across the aisle from us who had a much bigger setup: about eight tables in a horseshoe configuration and also didn’t sell a single snake. The only big win for the day was the fact that Victoria came out later to help out and we got her to handle a couple of snakes. (She is mildly apprehensive; part of the reason Z is downsizing his collection)

At the end of the day, we decided it wouldn’t be worthwhile to also spend our Sunday in another such fruitless endeavor - Zach will go back to online marketing. Obviously the bottom has fallen out of the oversaturated ball python market.

** I joked that I should have just put Z in a sandwich board in those Calvin Klein underwear; we might have drawn a few more customers to our table!

But I got an unexpected text message yesterday from my friend Karen who was ready to ride again - I don’t think I’ve ridden with Karen since last October? We met up with a few other ladies from our trail riding group and had a very pleasant ride - it was an unexpected gift (aka lagniappe ;-)

                                                 Setting up Saturday AM

                             Glad to see Victoria learn that ball pythons are innocuous, gentle creatures

                                                      Very poor attendance Saturday afternoon

                                             Many of the BP breeders employ such puns

Purge & Emerge

 A noteworthy day for this discouraged, deconditioned, disillusioned “veterinarian of a certain age” (which these days feels identical to my 92-year old mom).

A.) went ahead & subjected myself to routine colonoscopy about which my Dr has been nagging me for a while. At 59, while it was certainly “time”, I’ve gotten the niggling sensation that she’s run out of bright ideas for diagnostic tests or therapies for my lingering long Covid symptoms, so she’s falling back on checklists. Yeah, sure, I’m overdue for mammography as well - but let me see how much I get gouged for the Roto-Rooter first!

The prep was no picnic, with the foul osmotic laxative causing uncontrollable diarrhea - I just finished my laundry. (Thank goodness I slept on a towel, but I still befouled half a dozen pairs of underwear - yep, even despite panty liners!) The good news is, no big deal - he found a couple of small polyps and told me to come back in 3 years. I completed my longest fast to date: 39 hrs 46 minutes, which was no challenge at all once I drank my purgative.

B.) After that joyous colonoscopy experience, in the afternoon I returned to UT Arlington and got more good news - that I will be in the interventional part of their exercise study. For the next 12 weeks, I will wear a Fitbit 24/7 and follow a graded exercise program. Right now, even short walks get my heart rate into the low to moderate range - ha ha, I just looked at the app & I’m one minute shy of my 150-minute quota for this week. A short yoga session should do the trick…

And in case anyone questions gurus who assert that we have massive amounts of waste products which need to be expelled - in my case this would amount to 6 lbs, my weight differential between yesterday & today. I know this 185.8 low point won’t last (first thing this AM after my Night of Misery), but it was a hopeful start.

                                          A foul concoction (Plevnu) which tasted as bad as its effects

                                                        A record-setting fast for Yours Truly 

Fresh Start

 I continue my ongoing experiments in How Val Can Get a Decent Night’s Sleep… I have returned to taking half a sertraline as anxiolytic, which leaves me slightly foggy headed in the morning.

I delivered ear medicine for my granddog Tyson to Z & V last night; we were going to meet downtown but there was (another) tremendous traffic jam on eastbound 183 while I had smooth sailing in the westbound lanes - so I called Z & told him to just sit tight, I’d just continue on & meet them at their house.  This allowed me to demonstrate proper application of said medication, very important! & then I took ‘em to dinner… I’ll never miss my chance to spend time with my boy. V will start her new position at Big Baylor next month, while Z’s college career will be extended a little longer, as he learned one of his last prerequisite courses won’t be offered again until next spring. He plans to pick up an internship, all good.

My internal dials & rotors spin for a few moments each morning as I orient myself - but tomorrow shall be my own day of fasting & repentance as I do my colonoscopy prep. I will count this as my own restart for clean(er) living; I return to UTA lab Thursday afternoon to learn which phase of their activity study I will be slotted into.

I was concerned to see my friend, ride manager Kim, looking very thin & haggard. Of course she was covered up in her duties so I had no chance to ask A.) if she has a health problem or B.) if there’s anything I can do to help. It may just be that Kim has figured things out? but OTOH her husband appeared to have gained all the weight she’s lost - he was always a hefty guy, but now he is unmistakably obese.

Can’t solve the world’s problems, gotta get on with my own workday. New plumber came by yesterday & should have estimate for me tomorrow.

Mother’s Daze

 I would have to count Saturday as MY Mother’s Day, since Val got to do exactly as she wanted: hauling out to horse camp Friday night, riding another Intro on good ol’ Bo Saturday… Kim has hosted her Last Hoorah** event on her beautiful 6-0 Ranch near Cleburne intermittently, damned if I was going to miss it even with threatening weather! As it turned out, brief but intense thunderstorms rolled over us between 1 - 3 AM; I didn’t get my much-anticipated Good Night’s Sleep in all the ruckus. Then I presumed it would be the standard “intro” start time of 9 AM when Kim had actually opened our trail at 8 - that meant Bo & I got some premier bonding time as we were all alone all morning. We did the pink “perimeter trail” which takes one around the entire ranch, giving me about 2.5 hrs to reminisce about all the miles I’ve racked up here over the years.

** originally this was going to be a “one-off” event, with Kim somewhat reluctantly shoehorned into ride management. But everyone enjoyed it so much, we’ve been able to convince her to continue hosting us off-and-on over these past 20+ years

I hauled home Saturday afternoon to gird my loins for Sunday, the REAL endurance test… Zach wanted me to join he & Victoria, her dad & grandparents at Sunday morning services in Irving - but Mom had already put in her request for eggs Benedict! She then backtracked, said she didn’t feel like getting out, so I placed a “To Go” order. I’ll give her grandson big props for persistence - he just kept on calling until he nagged her into it! We went to a BBQ joint afterwards, then to the grandparents for Andy’s BD cheesecake.

Phase II

 Bladder + dogs had me up shortly after 5 AM - I unbuckled the ActiGraph from my wrist since my initial 14-day monitoring period is over (I go back to the physio lab at UTA next Thursday to discover whether I’ll continue as control or the interventional group in their study, who will receive a coaching program via text messages). I have tried to adhere to protocol, carrying on more or less as I usually do - my weight has remained stable, my new setpoint seems to be this 190-ish range… 

My doctor seems to have run out of bright new testing ideas, and instead has fallen back on routine like getting me caught up on other screening tests like colonoscopy, mammography, etc. My GI scan is also scheduled for next Thursday - at least I can count it as a fresh start after the purgatives, ha ha.

Z took his last final yesterday, but declined my offer of a celebratory dinner, so I trekked home forlornly after collecting my early MD gifts from J (the young man who’s been mowing the lawn in Mesquite - I’ve helped him out with expenses for car troubles; at this point I should be pre-paid through the summer!). He ordered me cookies which came with a shiny gold necklace. There is a reptile show the weekend of 5/20 which should be our last-ditch effort to rehome pythons, after that we can finish clearing out from Mesquite & get that lil’ bachelor pad sold! (Z had a pipe dream of holding onto it as a rental property, but since he has done so little to help me all spring, that’s out of the question) Once again Val finds herself mildly hamstrung by nostalgia - when I bought that little house I envisioned Z being there for at least 8-10 yrs (it’s only been 4, but thank goodness for the Covid spike in real estate values - it has appreciated significantly).

I’m taking Bo back out to nearby ride in Cleburne for another Intro tomorrow - the plan is for me to enjoy & ride him as much as I want! Catie has put in her request for Ft Stanton in July, but like Scarlett O’Hara, I’ll think about that tomorrow. I went by a neighbor’s to vaccinate a couple of his horses - his daughter is now 12, the perfect age to tag along if her parents let her come ride with me. I do enjoy sponsoring the kiddos.

                              Ajax is a retired Army horse (Ed, my neighbor, is a retired soldier as well)

                                                   A plump lizard basking on her log

                                                    Nice unassuming necklace, just my style!

    Bonnie's new harness (not that I'll be training her to walk on a leash, it's more for easier restraint!)

Life is But a Dream

 I’ve been recycling through the Star Trek movies: I wanted to rewatch ST 3: The Search for Spock last Saturday night**, then it seemed only natural to watch ST 4 Sunday night & ST 5 last night…

** my self-care routine (I snort inwardly whenever I skim such suggestions) consisted of pruning my hideous toenails & putting the lotion on its skin

ST 5: The Final Frontier gets a lot of flak for its esoteric theme & uneven execution  - Spock had a half-brother, Sybok was consumed by ancient Vulcan mysticism; he was exiled to spend decades searching for the mythical Shakaree (aka Eden, the origin of life). It’s not the best Star Trek movie, but I enjoy it nonetheless - it has its moments. One of my favorites is Kirk’s resistance to Sybok’s offer to face & relieve  his pain (as if we all had one singular episode, ha!) - he refuses. “I need my pain!” as he gives a mini-Kirk speech regarding our humanity.

I’ve also run through a series of podcasts which are “deep dives” into The Original Series - didn’t think it was possible for me to have a greater appreciation of Star Trek, but I do; it even gave me insight into some  episodes which (gasp!) I’ve never much cared for (several 3rd season episodes are marred by gaping plot holes & character inconsistencies). Anyway, I must convince myself that there is a “reason” for this terrible period of struggle in my life: career derailment, health issues, marital estrangement…

The plumbers were supposed to get revised estimates together last week, but we’re still waiting. The contractor was giving them “one last chance”, but we will move on to other options this week. I am exhausted from this miserable limbo of “Trailer Park Practice” - I want my damn building, my X-Ray equipment (flawed though it was, at least it was SOMETHING), and a *@#%& FLUSH TOILET. Sheesh!

Teaching Bonnie the tegu to be a lap lizard, watching TV with me. Tegus are smart & adaptable; she was scratching at her cage door last night when she heard my voice.

Tick Tock

 Another week has gone by - sitting here slurping my coffee, mildly bumfuddled as I caffeinate myself for my workday… One of those nights in which dogs & bladder got me up at 5 AM, I managed to fall back into a deep weird-dream episode right before my alarm was scheduled to go off. One of Val’s typical “searching for place and/or person” but in the PNW - I turned into the entrance of a national park, lined with lush vegetation & palm trees (!!!). It’s a shame there wasn’t enough time for my subconscious to explore this territory further.

But I did get to see some beautiful territory for real when my trail riders group went out to Wyatt Ranch at Glen Rose Saturday. Originally we had planned a mini campout, but with a threatening weather forecast we wound up just going for a day ride on Saturday (the thunderstorms rolled through Saturday night). I’ve decided I’m going to ride and enjoy Bo as much as I can - I’m kind of in limbo if Christina and Marty ever decide to take him back for their little girl to ride? Catie texted me last week, asking me if I was gonna bring Bo to Fort Stanton? I said that could be arranged… I mean, I understand if Christina and Marty don’t want the responsibility of Bo potentially having any other kind of health crisis, but it’s a risk you take with living animals! He ain’t a damn motorcycle.

MayDay

 Fortunately not in the sense of “Alarm!” but just a simple statement of fact - and it’s going to be another beautiful one.

I couldn’t have ordered better weather for my rides this weekend, even though Friday night was chilly & breezy - I blanketed the ponies at bedtime bcz Mommy was cold! Horse camp was overflowing, so I parked just outside the gate with several others. No big deal hiking a few extra steps to get to where the action was - fortunately John did not have need of my veterinary services; the threat of bad weather kept people away (we were still having scattered thunderstorms on Friday) so he was fine with 4 other veterinarians…

It’s just been so damn long since I actually accomplished what I set out to do, I’m still adjusting to the novel sensation of “triumph” this morning! I rode Bo on Saturday and Baraq on Sunday, repeating our 11 mile intro loop. On Saturday I fell in with a father/daughter team from OK; his older daughter was riding the 25 miler and lapped us when we were nearing the end of our trek. We took it very slow n’ easy in a little over 3 hrs - Bo did great. Then I was facing the true challenge: taking out my Little Bay Corvette (Baraquinator) Sunday morning with Sam on his first endurance event. Sam had been out of town, facing flight delays & frustration getting home Friday, so he almost opted out. He had originally planned on coming out Friday night as I did, volunteering** on Saturday & riding on Sunday - but he sent his apologies for Saturday, got a little extra rest at home, and came up Saturday afternoon.

**again, John had plenty of volunteers since attendance was sparse. Roughly 55 riders on Saturday, probably only 35-40 on Sunday at an event which in years past has drawn 100+ - partially due to threatening weather, but I’m sure fuel prices are keeping many folks closer to home…

I misunderstood Christina  - thought she was coming Saturday but she actually came for Sunday morning’s ride (she had pledged to ride one of Chris’s ponies). Her hubby brought his mustang, the kids too so Catie got to ride Bo with us. Of course he had no problem toting 75-lb Catie - I’m sure it felt like a vacation after me! Unfortunately, even being in our little group, Baraq still fought me every step of the way, jigging and tossing his head so I got an upper-body workout but I had tears of pride in my eyes when we finished up because Bo looked FABULOUS! We did Day 2 in about 2 hrs 45 minutes - to qualify for endurance pace we would’ve had to complete in 2:15 but I’m not complaining - more important is the fact we got everyone through safely. Christina and Chris were still out on trail when Sam and I packed up to come on home because as usual, I had many things to do. Not a word was spoken about Bo’s future, which is a bit of a head-scratcher but I’m not gonna press the matter - I loaded him up and brought him home with me! Watching him light out into the pasture when I turned them out was gratifying.

                                  I don't think Bo had ever been blanketed, but as always he was a good boy

                                                             Looks like $11K to me ;-) !!!

                          John provided hog noses & medallions to all junior competitors