Sunday, May 24, 2015

Progress in Paradise...

Progress in Paradise...  Looks like we have a cloudy, but dry, morning.  I'll be heading out soon to (I hope!) clean up the last of the brush left behind by the Mormon horde one week ago.  I'll likely be very tired when I get back in, so blogging will be iffy today.

Debbie and I watched more television yesterday than I have in quite a few years now.  We've been intermittently watching a British series called Foyle's War, set in England from WWII through the early Cold War years.  Stuck inside on a rainy day, yesterday we watched the last three episodes of the entire series.  We've quite enjoyed these.  The acting is excellent, the story lines intriguing (especially for anyone who loves British mysteries), and the production quality is very high.  While they took a few liberties with actual history, for the most part the events depicted are completely consistent with reality.  Most of you know that I watch nearly zero television.  For me to watch an entire series, it has to be particularly well done, and on a subject that appeals to me.  Foyle's War hit the mark especially well.  Highly recommended!

We have a bit of Mo'i news, or perhaps more accurately, preliminary Mo'i news.  He's our 16 year old field spaniel, who just a few months ago was struggling and (we thought) near the end of his rope.  In January he developed a strange condition that had no organic cause that our veterinarian could detect: he started compulsively drinking, and as a result, urinating uncontrollably.  We started putting diapers on him, and that cured the problem of urination in the house – but of course that was merely treating the symptoms. 

A few weeks ago, we noticed that his compulsive drinking seemed to be tapering off.  Shortly thereafter, wet diapers started tapering off as well.  Finally, two days ago, he hit a milestone that I was watching for: 3 weeks without a wet diaper.  So yesterday, for the first time in five months, we let him go all day without one.  No “accidents”.  With a little trepidation (as waking up to a urine-soaked kitchen is not high on our list of preferred awakening modalities), we left the diaper off last night.  This morning he woke me up later than usual (at 4:30 am) with his “I have to pee!” bark, and I took him out for his morning walkie.  The kitchen was unsullied. 

So for reasons we have no way to discern, Mo'i's odd thirst and urination issue looks like it might be over – just a strange five month episode in his life.  Meanwhile, he is in much better physical condition now than he was in January, thanks to walks we've been taking with him.  We'll do a mile or so this morning, something he simply could not have done in January.  One theory we have about the odd behavior is that it was some kind of response to the stress of moving to Utah.  If so, it was a stress our other dogs felt none of – they (very obviously) couldn't be happier to be in this land of cool, green grass.  It's harder to tell with Mo'i – at his age, his cavorting days are over.  The stress theory is just a theory, though; really it's just a correlation between his behavior and the timing of the move.  But we have no other theories.

In any case, to have our relatively normal Mo'i back with us is a joy that we're cherishing while we have it.  At this moment he's in much better condition than when we left California, is clearly enjoying his life up here, and has no bizzaro behaviors.  We'll take that!

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