My Calling

For those of you who are curious about Peter's pig...read the entry below this. For those of you who would rather not read about animal abuse, here are some happy animal photos. I love animals and I always try to take photos of them. Especially my pets.

This is Sienna sticking her tongue out.

But aside from the deer photo I posted last week, I seem to have really bad luck with animal photos. For example, here is a giraffe making out with a pole.

And just in case you were wondering what a giraffe's tongue looks like...


Or here is a horse that needs braces...
I always seem to catch them at that awkward awful moment...

I think my calling in life might be ridiculous animal photos...rather than serious artistic photography.Let's not think about what this bison is trying to do.

PETER'S POST FOLLOWS: DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH!!

Not for the squemish... (or PETA)

Okay, everybody apparently was almost as excited as I was about my adventure last Thursday. We got to save (or kill depending on your viewpoint) pigs. That's right the military was able to spare the $52,000 so that thirty seven of us could practice our techniques on something other than a human. It was a blast. Unfortunately for all of you the first thing they told us was "no picture taking". So, my digital camera remained in my pocket the whole time. I can tell you that we practiced all of our skills. Everything from stitches to chricothyroidotomys to central line placement. Okay, so I'll never really place a central line but, I got to put one in this time. It was awesome. I learned a lot and now I feel 100% better about doing what I have to do. First, they put the pigs down (no they didn't feel a thing the whole day) and had us intubate and place the central line. For those of you who don't know a central line is where they cut your throat and open up a jugular vein and put an IV directly into it. Then we did some stitching. Then we did the cricothyroidotomy's (we will call them cric's from now on because that is way to long to spell out each time). A cric is where you (again) cut the throat open to the adam's apple, cut a membrane their and put a tube into the hole so that there is a definite airway. Then, I turn around and the pigs bowels are spilling out of his side. We got to play with them a little and then put them back inside. Then we moved onto hemorrhage. The instructor cut the pigs thigh and we controlled the bleeding using direct pressure and gauze. Then we moved onto MASSIVE hemorrhage. For a definition of massive hemorrhage versus plain hemorrhage a massive hemorrhage is when you cut a major artery (i.e. the femoral, it's in your thigh). A person can bleed out from a femoral bleed in a minute or so. That's a lot of blood. So, the instructor had us go about fifty feet away and then proceeded to cut open the femoral artery. We used direct pressure initially but, as we are taught direct pressure is not enough to control this type of bleed. We then used a substance called quick-clot. It is a sand like substance and will form a clot in a persons body. Very cool. Also, very hot. The chemical reaction can burn you if you don't wear gloves. Don't worry though it doesn't burn on the inside of the body (crazy). Then, while I'm holding pressure on the quik-clot waiting for the clot to form I hear a loud CRACK and turn to see.... my instructor cutting off the pigs front hoof with some hedge shears. It was crazy. My other teammates jumped on it though and stopped what little bleeding their was and bandaged it up. Anyway, at the end of the day our pig was still alive and I got to see an autopsy of the pig and it was the coolest thing I've ever seen. If you all want to hear more just write me an email or give me a call. The coolest day of my life. Also, I'd like to say that no animals were harmed during the procedure... but, that would be a flat out lie wouldn't it?

O' Beautiful!

Between the new camera Peter bought me for my birthday and the photography course that I am taking this summer, I have taken a lot of photos of Colorado scenery this month. I thought I would post some of them for the benefit of those who don't live in Colorado.

The two tall peaks are Long's Peak and Meeker Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Both the photos above were taken from our friend Meg's cabin. The photo below is another shot of Long's and Meeker, taken from a rock above Meg's cabin.

I love this tree. It nearly died a couple years ago when Meg and Peter sat on it and knocked it off it's precarious perch on the rock. They propped it back up with a boulder and it doesn't seem any the worse for wear.

The next photo was taken at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It's one of my favorite places in the Springs. This photo doesn't do the park justice.

This robin photon was taken at Garden of the Gods too. It's a bit of a relief to see normal American birds that I can identify. In Okinawa, we name the birds ourselves because it is nearly impossible to find their names.

The red rock formation that makes up Garden of the Gods extends the length of the front range between Colorado Springs and Denver. This is another red rock that I discovered north of my house, randomly hanging out on the side of the road. I'm sure other people knew it was there, but it felt like a magnificent discovery to me.

And speaking of hanging out on the side of the road...here's a deer I found:

There's so much wildlife in Colorado! We regularly see deer, fox, and coyotes in my parent's yard, and sometimes we see bears, elk, and porcupines as well.

Colorado has picturesque roadsides...this is another side of the road animal shot:

I love horses. I think they're beautiful, sweet animals. Unfortunately, I never learned to ride, and there is a severe lack of horses in Japan. One day, when I am an internationally best selling author (or when I win the lottery, whichever comes first), I am going to have some pet horses.

My sisters-in-law have moved to a condo in downtown Denver (aka LoDo), so I've spent quite a bit of time there this summer.

There is an amazing variety of things to do there. I even found this crazy bike!

I'm trying to stock up on photos from home so that when I'm back in Japan I have something to look at when I'm homesick. I may even frame some of these and put them on my wall!

PS - NO HARRY POTTER SPOILERS!!! I'm nearly finished with Book 4. It will probably be another week before I'm ready to discuss the new book.

Safe and Sound

Carina is alive and well and having a temper fit in my apartment. After seeing her a few days ago, our friends put a live animal trap out with food and toys in it, and my cat was a sucker and walked right into it. She is not pleased.

This is a picture of her trying to eat Tinker. Or maybe that's an exaggeration. She was just meowing. But now I know exactly how many teeth she has.

Humans ruin all her fun. She was enjoying her freedom, and now she's stuck inside again. But the rodents of Okinawa are happy and so is Kristin!

Deep Breath!

First, a cat update. I have been so upset about Carina getting lost that I haven't been able to find anything positive to blog about. Every time I logged on and saw the photo of her all happy thoughts went flying out of my head. On top of the fact that Rina is an indoor cat living outside, she is lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood and a Category 5 typhoon hit the island two weeks ago. It's been stressing me out to the point where I'm losing sleep. But yesterday I got the news that Carina has survived the typhoon and has taken up residence in my friend's yard, so she seems to be doing well. She's probably eating lots of birds and thoroughly enjoying herself. That makes me relax a little.

In this photo, Carina is relaxed a lot.

Aside from worrying about the cat in the typhoon, I have also been insanely busy. I was the "Matron" of Honor in my best friend's wedding last week. The title made me feel old and frumpy. I have come to the conclusion that being in other people's weddings is much more stressful than being the bride in my own wedding. As a bride, I could delegate all stressful jobs to someone else. As the Matron of Honor, I was the one the stressful jobs got dumped on. I think the only job more stressful is being Mother of the Bride. Rebecca's mom is worthy of sainthood. Luckily, I don't have to worry about that for a looooonnnngggg time. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and I had a blast. Here is a photo of the happy couple.

Okay fine, here is a serious photo of them. Congratulations to Rebecca and Andy.

Yes, he is an Air Force Officer, and No, the Enlisted Navy wife does not approve. But hey, we can't all have my good taste.

I also entertained my friend Megan all last week. She flew in from Utah especially to see me. She brought her 18 month old son with her, and I got to practice parenting skills. At least, I practiced parenting when he was happy and didn't have a smelly diaper. Here is a photo of him trying on my shoes:

Unfortunately, I don't think they go well with his outfit.

It has been a busy few weeks but I will try to update more often now! Have a great day!

Good luck rodents

It finally happened...

Her name is Carina

She has been unleashed upon the world. Small rodents, other cats and dogs across Okinawa, watch out. She's a mean one. Apparently, she clawed her way through a window screen. I must admit, the Marine Corps would probably want this cat because she definitely knows how to improvise, adapt and over come. She also is a master of intimidation. She will hop on the couch in front of the dog, lay down, outstretch her paw... and flex her claws at him. The look of total fear on the dogs face is nothing short of priceless.
At any rate, she is out and roaming free and she has so wanted to be. Unlike when Kristin lets her out, this time she seems determined to stay out. She is somewhere around our friends house and refuses to come near anybody. I can only assume the terrors she has unleashed upon the neighborhood animals. I can picture her sitting on a fence line tormenting some dog that is tied up just out of reach of her or stalking some small animal only to pounce, bop it on the head and run away. So, if you happen to be running around Okinawa and see her, try and pick her up. My wife would appreciate it.

I Just Can't Help It...

It's another spider blog. I know, it seems like my whole life revolves around insects and dogs.

I was totally looking forward to coming home to Colorado where it is too cold and too dry for many bugs to survive. There aren't dinner-plate sized spiders here, invisible mosquitoes, or mutant roaches that just won't die. But! In my absence, the spiders seem to have launched an invasion of my room in my parent's house. I have killed a spider almost every day since I have been home. I have a rule that spiders are not allowed in the vicinity of my bedroom. In Colorado, that means they die if they enter my room, my bathroom, or hover too close in the hallway. In Japan, that rule pretty much extends to the entire apartment. The apartment is small enough and the spiders are big enough that I feel threatened even if they are at the far end of the living room. My rule was justified the other day when I went to say goodnight to my mom and found a spider crawling across her in bed. I rescued her, and then doubled my efforts to keep my own room spider free.

I can't remember if I've mentioned Japanese mosquitoes before. They're tiny little things...so tiny that they're hardly noticable until well after they're gone. But I am apparently much more allergic to their bites than I am to American mosquito bites. I get huge welts and tend to look like a victim of abuse for weeks afterwards. In Colorado, my parents live high enough that there aren't many mosquitoes. I must be tasty though, because at least two of them found me. Now one of them is dead. The other should probably be put on the endangered species list, because I doubt there are more than two living at this altitude.

Speaking of altitude, I spent the weekend up on top of a mountain near Rocky Mountain National Park. Our friend Meg has a cabin up there and I went up to help give it a fresh coat of paint. I felt like I owed the cabin a little TLC since that's the place where Peter proposed. It is a small log cabin that the family built by hand. Here is a photo of the view at the cabin (unfortunately I couldn't find any photos of the cabin itself because I'm always standing on the porch when I take photos - I'll keep looking and update later if I find one):


It is rustic enough that the only bathroom facilities are an outhouse behind it. I have no problems with the outhouse, however Meg likes to tell a story about the time she went to the bathroom and discovered a packrat living behind the toilet. It was dark, and she "discovered" the rat when it startled and came flying out of the outhouse at her. After hearing that story, I always approach the outhouse with caution. Especially at night. I make a lot of noise and bang the side before opening the door. Well Saturday night I made my usual rukus and then opened the door to see legs disappearing under the toilet seat. My first thought was "dinner plate spider!" and my second thought was "mutant cockroach!" Even after I remembered that Colorado bugs are much smaller than Japanese bugs, there was no way I was going to use the facilities with an unknown insect lurking under the toilet seat. So I took the toilet seat off and chased the bug around the outhouse. It was a cricket. I won.

Enough about bugs already!! I'll write more soon!