Earth Day and diabetic cat

Seven years ago today, I graduated from Brigham Young University. At that time, I thought I was done with homework forever.

But now I have to write five papers in the next two weeks! 

Wednesday was the last day of my class about American history since 1877. That was my easiest class this semester, since the professor is more laid back and there aren't as many assignments. Now I just have to write a historiographical essay for it.

Also on Wednesday, I had my environmental history class. For that class, we watch prerecorded lectures, then talk about them over Zoom. We are graded on participation, and sometimes it can get a bit awkward, so I sometimes ask superficial questions so I can get a good participation grade and so we don't have awkward silences. (There is also one student who is eager to show off how much he knows, even when it's not entirely relevant or helpful.) We have been discussing the twentieth-century shift from conservation to environmentalism, and since it was the day before Earth Day, I asked if the shift in emphasis from Arbor Day to Earth Day is a result of that shift. Arbor Day used to be a much bigger deal; the first Utah legislative session in 1896 declared it one of the state holidays, and it remained so into the 1940s and maybe even into the 1970s. My professor didn't know, but he said it would be an interesting topic for me to research.

Then on Earth Day itself, I wanted to see if the new trail in North Canyon was completed. The last time I went to North Canyon was the day before Thanksgiving, and I met a man who was working on the new improvements, and he made it sound like the new trail (next to the dirt road) would be done soon. Well, it wasn't done, but there were lots of flags and ribbons marking what I presume will be the new trail. Some of it surprises me, because it looks like parts of it will be next to a steep dropoff into the stream.

Of course, I went to North Canyon almost every day last summer and fall, so it was strange to see all the grasses matted down from the winter's snow. It was almost as if the forest had been mowed.

But I didn't get that far up the canyon because there was still a lot of snow, and I knew it would only get worse. It's so unusual, because I don't feel like North Canyon is that far away or that high up, and yet all the other nearby trails are completely dry now.

That same day, I also made veggie burgers, my favorite food. I have several veggie burger recipes, and this particular one uses almonds, oats, onions, chili powder, and egg (so it's not vegan). There are other flavors that I like better, but these are the easiest to make, and my parents both loved them, which isn't always the case.

The saddest part of the week was on Saturday. We took Jimmy to the vet because he has been drinking a ton of water lately. I have been going through so much cat litter! We last took him to the vet on March 8 because he hurt his leg, but we knew we had to take him again. Which is a problem. In order to prepare for the vet trip, I brought in his kennel so he could get used to it. And he spent a lot of time sleeping in it.

On Saturday morning, I had him chase his laser into the kennel. But as I approached, he suspected that something was up, so he darted out and hid under my bed. We went into my room and closed the door, then my mom used my shoes to push him out from under the bed. I grabbed him, and then it took both of us to force him into his kennel, while he unhappily meowed the entire time. I think it would be impossible for just one person to get him in it! 

The vet did a blood test and told us that he is diabetic. He told us that we could give him insulin shots. In the morning, we would have to feed him thirty minutes before his first injection. Then four to six hours later, we would have to make sure he had food available. Then we would have to feed him thirty minutes before his evening injection, which would be exactly twelve hours after the morning one. Phew! Not only would that be difficult and expensive, I don't think Jimmy would tolerate us giving him those shots twice a day, since he doesn't like it when we pick him up. The cure sounded worse than the disease! The vet said that if we couldn't commit to the exact insulin schedule, it would end up being worse for him. So we opted not to do that. We will change his diet to include less fatty foods, but we will just let him live out his life. The vet told us that within six months, his eyes could turn white, and his kidneys could fail within a year. This is all very sad for us, of course. But he is already eleven or twelve years old (the average lifespan of a cat is fifteen years), and who knows what other health problems he inherited from the Humane Society and his previous owners. He already has lost three of his four main teeth. 

One comforting thought was that with our previous cat, Jenny, the vet told us that cats' blood sugar sometimes spikes when they are stressed. And taking Jimmy to the vet certainly stressed him, so maybe that's why he registered as diabetic. But clearly something is not right, since he's drinking so much.

It isn't just the water, though. It used to be that he would jump up on my bed, my chair, or whatever else I was sitting on so he could sit on me. But for the last month or so, he will only jump up on two couches to spend time with us.

It is so endearing to have him rub his head against my face and purr. 💖

He used to spend a lot of time under my bed, but now he spends most of his time in the living room.

My mom had an old red plastic bag in one of her craft boxes from the 70s or 80s. This plastic bag disintegrated into a sort of red confetti. Today I found Jimmy with the red plastic all over his fur. I don't know where he was or what he was doing to get it all over him like that!

I will cherish the time I have left with this mortal cat.

Mostly dull

 It wasn't a super eventful week. Lots of schoolwork and rain prevented a lot of fun things.

On Monday, I had a Zoom meeting because one of my professors wanted to talk to me about the essays I have worked on, because I didn't get great grades on them. I was super nervous about that, because I get intimidated by people in authority. You have so many important things to do, so why should you spend time talking to little old me? One of the things that has surprised me about grad school is the amount of historiography, which is writing about what other people have written. Instead of doing my own historical research, I read books and articles and write about them. Frankly, I kind of find it dull.

I'm in the MS program, which is considered a terminal degree, one meant for people who won't be professional historians. I could have done the MA program, which has a few more requirements and is meant for people who go on to PhDs. The MS sounded right for me, and the director of graduate studies recommended that for me. Sometimes I wonder if I should have done the MA in case someday I want to do a PhD instead. But I don't think that's right for me. I am a much better editor than I am a historian, and I enjoy editing more than I enjoy reading or doing history. 

I will say, though, that I think I have a real knack for reading historical documents. For my side gig right now, I'm reading transcriptions of nineteenth-century journals to make sure they are accurate, and if something doesn't seem quite right, I look at the original to verify it. Both the context and the handwriting have helped me deduce some mistakes, such as when "shift" was transcribed as "shirt" and "suet" was transcribed as "suit." So I am good at some historical things. Historiography, not so much.

Perhaps the biggest thing this week wasn't something I did, but something my parents did. Yesterday they bought a Dodge Ram 1500 truck. It's for pulling the trailer they bought last summer. For the last three and a half years, my car has been the nicest one in the family, but that is no more. The new truck has all the stuff mine has, as well as other things, such as a heated steering wheel (which I have often longed for), a rearview mirror that acts as a camera, and parallel-parking assist. I haven't driven it yet. We have never had a truck before. Honestly, trucks intimidate me on the road. I associate trucks with in-your-face MAGA types. Hopefully the truck will help me quit stereotyping people.

Shot in the Arm

 My week wasn't super interesting. I have so much reading and homework to do that that's how I spend most of my time. I don't know how people work full time and go to school! I have even had to take time off from my editing side gig to finish my assignments.

Probably the most interesting thing was that I got my first COVID vaccine on Thursday! I got the first dose of Moderna. I had been looking for an opening for a week or so before I was able to get one. It's so frustrating that they're easing the restrictions when it's still a little tough to get an appointment, and then you still have to wait weeks for the second dose after that. My second dose will be on May 6, so I should be fully immune on May 20, more than a week before Memorial Day weekend. I was supposed to start back at This Is the Place on May 6, but I pushed my day back until May 7 so I can be sure to get my shot. (Oh, and an important update is that we won't have to work on Sundays there. Phew!)

Since I was busy and it was stormy in the early part of the week, I didn't do much running early in the week. On Friday, I wanted to explore the Hell Canyon trail. I drove to Tunnel Springs Park, then ran down to the desired trail, which is exactly two and a half miles from the park. 

In the actual "canyon," there are lots of switchbacks, and it's pretty steep on the side, which made me a tad uneasy, though I don't think it was dangerous. It looks like you used to be able to go into the canyon, but now there's a gate, probably because it's too close to the gravel pit work. Then the trail winds down a hill to the trailhead on Victory Road. It was just going back and forth on switchbacks on the open face of a hill. That meant it was relatively easy, since it wasn't steep at all, but it also wasn't very interesting, though there was a cool outcropping of red rock.

When I got down to the trailhead, I had gone 4.5 miles, which surprised me. That meant I would be at nine miles when I got back to my car! I was glad I had driven to the park, since that saved me about three total miles.

It's been many months since I've run nine miles, especially on trails, so I was surprised that it wasn't harder. My feet were a little sore (my shoes are getting worn out), but I wasn't exhausted. But then when I got home, I was sore. It was a very satisfying soreness: nine miles combined with a shot in the arm.

That evening, I heard some strange booming noises outside. At 9:45, I was sitting calmly on the couch with Jimmy when the doorbell rang. Who comes to the door that late? The police! A woman officer asked, "Is everything OK?" She said someone had called because they heard lots of yelling and banging. I told her about the booming I had heard, but I told her it wasn't us and thanked them for checking. I really do appreciate police. The idea of quiet old me and my sexagenarian parents creating a disturbance is laughable.

Those April Events

 My parents went to Capitol Reef this week, but I had to stay behind because of school. So I had the house to myself. It did kind of feel sad not to have any kind of human interaction. Jimmy was the only other "person" at home. But lately, he hasn't been coming into my room or on my bed like he used to. I ordered some arthritis food for him, so hopefully he will feel like jumping up more often again.

The beginning of the week was kind of hectic, because I had to finish an essay, and once that was done, I had to catch up on everything else that got pushed aside. I'm not really satisfied with the essay, but it's done. If I'm writing about something that really interests me, I can be a good writer, but when it's an assignment, I'm not great at it.

Thursday was April Fool's Day. My parents came home from Capitol Reef, and I had an idea for a prank. My grandpa loves pie and hates pickles. The Sunglow Cafe in Bicknell, Utah, sells pickle pies, so I asked my parents to pick one up. We took it to my grandparents and served it to them without telling my grandpa what it was. We were all waiting for a reaction as he took a bite. But he liked it! When we told him what it was, he said it was the only kind of pickle he likes. I thought he would like it, but he would never try it if he knew what it was.

I am sad when Easter is over, so I'm sad it was this early this year. But at least it wasn't in March! And next year, it will be April 17. 

Spring seems to be a little later this year; I haven't seen any glacier lilies or springbeauties yet, which are the first wildflowers. About a year ago, I discovered the Hell Canyon Trail near Ensign Peak, which was constructed sometime between 2015 and 2020. I decided to go there on Friday to see what it was like. It was a lot of switchbacks. But I didn't see where it ends, so I'll have to go back sometime to see where it goes. For some reason, running seemed harder this weekend. 

Blogger has added the pictures backwards. AGAIN.

I am also so happy to see apricot blossoms this year. We had, like, two blossoms last year and no apricots. So I'm looking forward to the July harvest.

My first cousin once removed, Adam, asked if he could come to our house for conference/Easter, and he brought his fiancée, Cam. My mom gave them Easter candy in Easter baskets. She gave me edible Easter grass, but then she forgot and told Cam that her grass was edible. So she was putting plastic grass in her mouth! *awkward*

We also colored eggs, and I colored more than my share. I always enjoy coloring them more than I think I will.

Here are some of the thoughts I had from general conference:

• I knew we would have Easter-themed talks, but I didn't expect a bunny-themed talk.
• Elder Palmer was my mission president, and now he's in the presidency of the seventy. I had never heard the stories he told before (at least I don't remember them).
• President Oaks basically said you don't always have to vote Republican, but without actually saying that. Hooray!
• It was odd, however, to have such a US-centric talk after such an international morning session.
• I took notes on my phone, and autocorrect wasn't helping. It changed "Taniela" to "Tanisha," and it changed "Aburto" to "Abortion"!
• I'm sure Elder Teh must get annoyed with autocorrect always changing his name to The.
• Yay, we single people matter! Take that, overbearing YSA leaders!
• Surprising to hear so many Europe temples!

For Easter breakfast, I made carrot-cake pancakes, which I invented last year (using a variation on a very versatile recipe). 

Here it is with cream cheese spread, but I'll be eating the leftovers with cream cheese frosting.

Then for Easter, I made a carrot cake with almond flour. But my mom frosted it and decorated it.

I think my very earliest memory of holiday candy is watching morning cartoons while eating my Peeps Bunnies. When I bit the ears off, I thought it made a snowman. Thus began a lifelong obsession. (It's gotten bigger in recent years, but that's because holiday candy is far more interesting now than it was when I was a kid.)

I was thinking this week that I don't have a great physique. But considering all the garbage I eat, it's not bad at all.