EXERCISE, THE ELIXIR OF LIFE

As mentioned in my previous post EIGHT DAYS IN THE FLATHEAD Koty and I just returned from eight glorious days in the Flathead. Our summer has been pretty much ruined by my stupid decision to use Home Depot for my kitchen remodel. It was a worse nightmare than I could have ever imagined. Every conceivable thing that could go wrong, went wrong. Things like: 12 of 17 cabinets had to be rejected and re-manufactured; I had no water in my kitchen for two months; a remodel that should have taken a few weeks took four months. I could go on and on and one day I will probably tell the whole bloody tale but that's not what this article is about.

 Because of the above I was in a state of complete flux. I am creature of habit and when my world is turned upside down I get off balance. Unfortunately, what happens to me happens to Koty. Because I was constantly waiting around for people to come about the kitchen I was tied to the house. When I wasn't tied to the house I didn't feel like doing what Koty and I love the most, hiking. Prior to our trip Lakota was really starting to slow down and it pained me greatly to watch. I was worried that he would not even be able to make it in and out of Clementine (our RV). And sure enough when we got set up down in the Flathead he struggled with the steps. It broke my heart.

 My mission for this trip was to get in as much hiking and walking as Koty could handle. So we hiked everyday and took a walk in the evening. Each day I watched as Lakota got seemingly stronger. Until, by the time we left for home, he had actually gotten a little of the spring back in his gait. The effects of getting a good, daily dose of exercise was nothing short of miraculous. I came to realize that I had been literally killing my dog by not keeping to our normal active lifestyle. I hadn't been doing my own health any favors either. I lost weight from the kitchen debacle but it wasn't a healthy loss.

 I continue to give Koty Supraglan and flaxseed hulls daily. I can't say that these remedies are any kind of cure. Koty is still losing his hair. I suspect if he lives long enough he may end up hairless. He still drinks copious amounts of water and piddles in kind. His belly is bloated, his liver enlarged and his appetite insatiable. But, what I think these remedies may be doing is slowing the effects of these symptoms and offering him an extended happy period of time.

The point I would like to make here is how important exercise is not only for your pet but for its owner. Nothing I have tried to help Koty with is Cushing's has had a greater effect on his health than exercise. Whether your dog is sick or not take him/her for a walk everyday. The benefits for your pet as well as for yourself will be immeasurable.  You will most certainly have a longer, happier life together.

Koty will be 13 on October first. The average lifespan of a husky is thought to be 12 to 15 years. Going forward I will consider each day of quality life together as a supreme gift. I will see to it that Koty gets the most effective medicine available every single day, exercise!

Koty exploring Lion Lake Sept. 2012

©Kinsey Barnard

EIGHT DAYS IN THE FLATHEAD

Just got back from eight days in the Flathead. We had a great time. Very relaxing. Koty is a new man when he can hike every day. My welcome home committee was kind of a bummer. Not fifty yards from my gate the Forest Service was putting in culverts on the road. The road is only a single lane so I was stuck for over two hours waiting for them to finish. LOL! the joys of living in a National Forest. It made me kind of antsy to be that close to home and not able to get there but I made the best of it. Prepared some lunch and took a nap. Koty kept watch.

Kinsey Barnard

Procrastination- I Am the Champion!

2-10-2011

Cloudy and gray today, temp hung around 35 for most of it. Sun came out in the afternoon.

I got a very nice surprise this morning, my article "Canyons of the Ancients-Land of Enchantment-Land of Mystery" was nominated for story of the week at JPG Magazine. That really made my day!

It's tax time and I should be getting my stuff together for my CPA but I just hate to do it and will look for any excuse to avoid it. I'll even do housework in an effort to divert myself. I was able to burn up a couple of hours playing with Twitter and Facebook. I still don't have the hang of those places. After doing some housekeeping I went back to work on my photos. Gawd I'm good at being bad!

Here's another photo of the ice falls.



Koty spent the morning out on the deck yodeling his displeasure at not being out hiking.

We did go out after lunch and I found the most wolf tracks I've seen all winter. Looked like a pack of maybe 6 to 8.

Also, ran into a local couple driving the forest service road and passed the time of day, as is the custom in the country. I always learn something from these chats. What I learned today was that there are serious concerns about flooding down in the Flathead due to all the snow they've had. Even the high country up here is loaded. Should be an interesting spring.



©Kinsey Barnard

Eureka to Dillon - The Journey Begins

I must start this with a confession, the photo above was taken this past June in Alberta. I didn't take time to take any photos on the way down. For some reason I managed to burn up 8 hours without stopping for photos. This is cattle country so that's why I chose it. This one's for you Al B in Alberta.

It wasn't that there was a shortage of photo ops. I saw some fabulous things at 60 mph. The drive down along Flathead Lake was a beauty. This is a gorgeous lake. Flathead Lake. Next up was the buffalo herd at the National Bison Range. Normally, you don't see them on the south end along 93 but there they were in all their glory. I weep for their ancestors every time I see them.

The fall colors along the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers were simply stunning. We saw some fly fisherman casting in the afternoon sun. The water sparkled like diamonds. The scene looked like something straight out of "A River Runs Through it" another little welling in the eye over this one.

As everyone knows, lighting in photography is just about everything, that along with knowing where to stand. In the fall, the sun has journeyed so far south that it looks like afternoon all day long here in Montana. The shadows that are cast bring a whole new meaning and beauty to the landscape. I would have loved to photograph it but we have miles to go before we sleep. One day, when we aren't leaving for the winter, we will come down this way just to photograph it.

We left at eight and pulled into the RV park at four. Long bloody day for this old broad. Koty and I stretched our legs for about an hour and called it a day. Since we are in travel mode I dined on Marie Callender's finest. Actually, accompanied by a goblet of Cabernet it wasn't half bad. :)

Ciao for now,
Koty & Kinsey

Clem Gets a Clean Bill - Day 1 at Hungry Horse

After much adieu the Dodge people (Clem has a Dodge Sprinter chassis) said they could find no problem with the electrical and to take her to an RV repair place which I did. After much adieu they too said they could find nothing wrong with the electrical. Whilst I was in no hurry to incur a large repair bill I would have felt more confident if they had found something and fixed it. It seems that our new cars have so much electronic equipment in them that even when you turn the engine off things are still drawing on the battery and can drain it after only a couple of weeks.



So, I decided we should spend a few days exploring Hungry Horse just in case Clem decided to misbehave again. It's not very convenient living 80 miles from the repair place. And, alright, I was hankering to get some fall color in pixels.

The dam was completed in 1953 and is the eleventh largest concrete dam in the U.S. and is situated on the South Fork of the Flathead. It got it's name from a tale about two hungry horses. For those into statics Hungry Horse Dam Stats



By the time we got ourselves situated at an RV Park in Columbia Falls they day was almost done. Days are getting mighty short, mighty fast around these parts. Our first stop was at the Hungry Horse Ranger Station where we picked up some hiking trail maps. The ranger told us Lion Lake was not far and a good spot to stretch our legs and take in a little fall splendor. And, by crackie, he was right!



The above is a lichen rosette growing on an aspen. Probably not of much interest to anyone but me but little natural art works are fascinating to me. It seems Mother Nature can make interesting art out of just about anything.



There certainly was a riot of color reflected on this Lion Lake and we whiled away the afternoon walking the little path that surrounds it. It was a perfect autumn afternoon in the Rockies. More Fall Color Photos


©Kinsey Barnard