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Blog - The CSR
Log
This Blog
will contains any information, story, life changing
experiences, editorial, observations, delusions
of grandeur, etc. that I want to share with everyone.
Hello folks. Once again it has been a long, long time since I wrote here.
I've been getting a lot of e-mail from you faithful folks the last little bit. Everyone wondering what happended to
me and when I'm going to write again. Yep, one and half years is kinda of a long break!
Well, that's why I'm writing this entry to let you know that I have moved the blog so to speak.
In the 11 1/2 years(!) this site has existed,
technolgy has moved along. When I started this site it was a place to put some photographs, and make a few comments as to what was going on
in my life. Then, a couple of years later, the idea of "blogging" caught on, and I started doing it here too.
Now, blogging is a dying thing,
and everyone in the world is on Facebook (500+ million users), and so am I!
The Webcam, Weather Station, old blog entries, and all my photos will remain here on this site like they have the last 11 years and far into the future. At least until this
whole "web page" idea has been replaced with something better :)
So if you want to check out what's happening in my life and see the latest pics come be my friend over at Facebook.
Click my picture in the badge below, then click "Add Mike Miller as Friend" to the right of my picture in Facebook!
If you don't mind,
when you send
the request to
be my friend, let me know you are a
Cold Springs Ranch fan and I'll approve you! If
you are not yet
on Facebook,
sign up, it's
free.
Hey folks. I know... it's been over a year and a
half! Where have I been? Working my butt
off.
But, the desire to start writing again
has been building. And I thought it was way past
time to break the drought. Maybe this will be the
beginning of many more to come.
I've gotten
e-mails through the months with folks asking how
the dogs and I are doing. We are going good. I'm
just having to work like I've never worked before,
or at least not since college. In my line of work,
developing software, I am literally having to hold
off an army of Indians (as in India), who are fighting
like mad to get my job. I am learning, thinking,
writing, and fighting full blast.
But I saw
something today that just made me smile. I wanted
to share it. I know this is one of those things
that is going to go viral. Depending on when you
read this, this may be old and tired. But today
it made me grin.
I've been in my share of
weddings, college friends, brother, sister, even
my Dad's. I've attended quite a few for friends
and family, and to help my mom who orchestrated
quite a few before she passed away. I've seen first
hand the stress, the disappointment, the crying,
the nervousness, the sheer terror... so when I saw
this video, I just enjoyed the hell out of it.
I don't know how some folks will view this video,
but to me, this couple, and their friends and family,
seem to know the real joy of life!
Note
the shock of the attendees', the confusion, and
then the sheer outbreak of joy that washes over
everyone....
I found this quote about
it on the website I first viewed it on.
"Watch
it. You might cry. You may get up and dance. You
may break into instantaneous giggle fits. You may
even be slightly horrified. But while you’re watching
and tapping your feet, notice the look in the attendees’
eyes. Hear their laughs. Look at the faces of the
bride and everyone else involved."
Man it's rough out tonight. It's
down in the single digits as of now (7 degrees F,
-13.9 C) with the wind up to about 25 mph, and snowing
it's butt off. When I last walked the dogs it looked
like we had about 3 inches, but it's hard to tell
with it blowing and shifting so much. A deadly night
to be out side. The wind is pushing the wind chills
down to -10 F (-23 C), we did not stay outside long!
Anyway, I wanted to make a quick entry tonight/morning.
I wanted to get a page up on the site that I had
pretty much ready back in October! It's just some
random pictures out of the vault. These are just
the tip of the iceberg, but I thought I would dump
some of them on to the site. Here's
Some Of Life's Pictures,
January 1, 2008
I've been getting some e-mails
from folks wanting to know where they can find the
Christmas video I did a few years ago. I guess it's
gotten kind of buried on the web site.
You
can see the page dedicated the video, where you
can read about the video, see the YouTube version,
or download the excellent High Definition versions
by clicking
here.
And for all those who just want to see the video,
here it is below.
No Trick-or-Treaters out my way tonight. Although
I did have some wonderful neighbors come by this
evening to bring Sugar and Bandit some great doggie
treats.
I wanted to make a quick entry tonight. I've been
getting quite a few e-mails from folks wondering
how the fall color is here, and that it appears
not to have arrived at the Ranch yet. Well actually,
the absolutely awesome fall color we had this year
has come and gone.
The color peaked here
at the Ranch back on the weekend of October 20th.
Some of the trees still have a little of their color
left on them, but many have now dropped their
leaves and are now in their Winter browns and grays.
It was a beautiful display this year, except
for the Oaks. The Oaks follow their own clock, which
was not in sync with the rest of the trees this
year. They are only now turning.
Blame
the appearance of no fall color, on my pathetic
web cam. It just refused to display
the
absolutely gorgeous oranges and yellows of the Beech
and Maples trees out at my gate. It skews all the
colors to green, even when there is none in the
view!
During the days before, during, and
after the peak weekend, I had a serious case of
Fall fever. I mean with scenes like the above shining
out your window, how can you stay in? It was very
hard to concentrate on work. I got out and hiked
around the Ranch on both that Saturday the 20th,
and Sunday the 21st. I took hundreds (yes hundreds!)
of photographs and 1 1/2 hours of HD video!
You guys know how I am in getting picture on
to this site. The last year has been pretty sparse.
I'm afraid it's work before pleasure. However, I
do hope to one day get some of the photos and video
up on the site where you can see them. Now that
winter is finally here, with it getting dark so
early, maybe I will have time to work on it. I can
only hope.
Like the Ranch weather in the last
few months, as you folks know, there has been a
long dry spell in my writing. Hopefully this entry
like our recent rains will finally be a break in
the writing drought.
Let's see, what all has happened.... mmm....
way too much has happened to write about it all
now I guess...
Many of you have written me asking about Sugar.
She is doing fine. Other than the fact that the
hair hasn't grown back on her elbow, you would never
know she had cancer. She's as happy, energetic,
and full of life as ever. As I write this,
she and Bandit are down in the living room below
me wrestling and playing.
She is such as wonderful friend and companion
and I'm so lucky to have a creature like her in
my life. Together with Bandit, there is never really
a boring moment here at the Miller household.
Many folks have asked about the Ranch and what's
going on here.
Well, it's been a really nasty Spring and Summer
here at the Ranch. The details are long, and I'll
write a longer entry on it another time, but it
has been one of the roughest years we've had in
a long time. Starting with a brutal freeze in April
and moving on to an extreme drought, everything
here is stressed, man, beasts, and vegetation....
....but like I said I'll write more about that later.
As for other goings on, well life has been running
along busier than I can handle most of the time.
I don't want to get into all the details, but life
has been very hectic... as I guess it is for
everyone living here in the early 21st Century.
But now that the summer is winding down, I hope
to get back into the blogging habit again.
Hello everyone.
Now that corporate tax season is over, I can take
a minute and catch everyone up on how we are doing.
First, let me say that Sugar is well and almost
fully recovered.
After being gone for a full month, we made it back
home on February 19th, the last day of Sugar's treatment.
Everyone was tired and really, really glad to be
home. The Ranch has never looked so good.
Sugar did really well. As the treatments went
on, her skin got more and more burnt. After we passed
the half way mark around treatment 5 and 6, I thought
she was going to be one of those rare dogs that
we were told don't have any reaction to the radiation.
But, after treatment 7, she developed what looked
like a really bad sunburn. At that point, it started
to cause her pain and we put her on pain medications
and an anti-inflammatory.
After treatment 8, it looked like a really bad
sunburn on top of a really bad sunburn. Her skin
was blood red. And yet, she had 3 more treatments
to go. I felt so sorry for her but knew this
was for the best. We came home on the day of her
11th and last treatment. Since she was still groggy
from the sedation, she slept the whole 5 hour trip
home.
A few days after we got home, she developed blisters
all over the area where she had received the radiation.
They would break open and bleed and ooze. I'm sure
it was very painful. At that point I had to finally
put her collar on her to prevent her from licking
the wounds. I felt so sorry for her. The doctor
had warned me that this period was actually one
of the most critical, since infection was the major
complication of the procedure.
After about a week, the blisters started to heal.
As her skin started to heal it started to peel off,
just like a bad sunburn. However, unlike a normal
sunburn, her hair started to come of with the skin.
Now the whole area has healed, except it's smooth
skin with no hair. The doctors had warned me that
this would probably happen. They also warned that
the hair may come back with a different texture,
and/or a different color, or it may never grow back
at all. This, however, is better than not having
a leg at all, which was the alternative. With any
luck it will come back and be normal. She doesn't
seem to mind the hair missing at all, unless I touch
her with cold hands!
It has taken a long time for me to get caught
up on a months worth of work, errands, and just
general life things. After getting moved back in
and everyone reacclimating to being home, I had
to launch into preparing my corporate taxes, which
took up until Wednesday night to finally complete.
So here we are, a last, back on what I hope to be
a normal path...
I did get a chance to takes some pictures of Sugar
and Bandit last week before it snowed again. You
can see them by clicking this link,
Back Home
I finally got time to make a quick
entry today. A lot of you have been writing to ask
how Sugar is. She is doing Ok.
The test of the fluid in the lymph
node closest to where the tumor was, came back negative.
This was very good news in that it indicated the
cancer had most likely not spread out past her shoulder
and into her body. Because of this and the location
of the tumor the CT scan was not necessary.
She is so far handling the radiation
treatments Ok. She has not yet had any of the skin
burns that may show up as the treatments continue.
Since she has to be sedated for every treatment,
she is really groggy and not herself on those days.
The sedation is causing her not to have much of
an appetite on those days too. On the days
in-between treatments, she seems like her normal
playful and loving self.
I also wanted to thank everyone
for all the kind words sent after my last entry.
When I wrote my last entry, I mainly wanted to let
everyone know what had happened and explain why
I hadn't been writing. What happened next was a
little surprising. Within hours of posting the entry
to the site, a flood of e-mails started. Over 300
the last I counted.
I know cerebrally that I have a lot of readers,
but it doesn't seem real most of the time. This
response drove home just how many people do read
this blog.
Thank you all so much. It means a lot to
me.
Timber was very special creature. I will never
forget him. I'm glad this site gives me an
opportunity to share our special relationship.
A lot of people sent me the story of the Rainbow
Bridge. Indeed, my own Veterinarian along with a
great card signed by everyone, sent me the story.
I wanted to share this story with the folks who
have not read it.
Out of all the different variations I received,
I like Len's version the best. It's in the form
of a poem.
Enjoy and I'll write again as time will allow.
The Rainbow Bridge
inspired by a Norse legend
By the edge of a wood, at the
foot of a hill, Is a lush, green meadow where
time stands still. Where the friends of man and
woman do run, When their time on earth is over
and done.
For here, between this world and
the next, Is a place where each beloved creature
finds rest. On this golden land, they wait and
they play, Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross
over one day.
No more do they suffer, in pain
or in sadness, For here they are whole, their
lives filled with gladness. Their limbs are restored,
their health renewed, Their bodies have healed,
with strength imbued.
They romp through the grass, without
even a care, Until one day they start, and sniff
at the air. All ears prick forward, eyes dart
front and back, Then all of a sudden, one breaks
from the pack.
For just at that instant, their
eyes have met; Together again, both person and
pet. So they run to each other, these friends
from long past, The time of their parting is
over at last.
The sadness they felt while they
were apart, Has turned into joy once more in
each heart. They embrace with a love that will
last forever, And then, side-by-side, they cross
over. together.
Man oh man, it seems like a lifetime
ago when I made my last entry. This Winter has been
one of the hardest I've had in a while. So much
has happened since I last wrote. I decided to write
it all down. This entry turned out to be so big,
I went ahead and gave it its own page.
This web site has always been
where I let everyone know what is happening with
me, so bare with me on this one. It is long and
its personal. I wrote the events of the last weeks
as they where revealed to me. Read the entry and
you will understand why its been a
Hard Winter.
Blog - The CSR
Log
the
absolutely gorgeous oranges and yellows of the Beech
and Maples trees out at my gate. It skews all the
colors to green, even when there is none in the
view!
