The Life and Death of our Kitten - Tattoo 2011 - 2013

We obtained Tattoo as a small kitten from the Animal Shelter near our home.  Because Sharen and I were at home together and often one of us would be gone for periods of time, Tattoo became a close friend for each of us.  Obviously, you don't own a cat.  They own you.  But Tattoo, learned how to relate with each of us and to ask for and receive what he wanted.  He was a good and loving kitten, and with the exception of his long hair, which he deposited on every surface of our condominium, he was a delight to have in our lives.

Tattoo was an inside kitten, but loved to go out on our deck, all seasons of the year.  In the beginning we were concerned that he would fall off, but after one incident as a small kitten, Tattoo learned the boundaries of the deck.  Sophia was his close friend and Libby, Sophia's dog, learned to tolerate him.

When Sharen came home from Argentina this last Spring, Tattoo was healthy and excited to have his "Mother" home.  After a few months, Tattoo - who at that point weighed about 12 pounds, begin to lose weight and to be disinterested in his food.  We experimented with feeding him different dry foods and wet foods and the timing around when we fed him, but he seemed to just continue to lose weight.

We took Tattoo to the veterinary  a couple of months ago.  They verified that he had lost weight and determined that he was dehydrated.  He appeared to be ill, but the blood and urine tests they did could not specifically diagnose any illness.  They stated at the time that there was the possibility that he had FIP, Feline Infectious Peritonitis. 

They hydrated him, and when we took him home within a couple of days his energy was back and he was eating.  After a few weeks, though, he stopped eating and drinking, continued to lose weight, and clearly was ill.  When we took him back in to the Vet, they repeated the blood and urine tests and could not rule out the FIP.  After several weeks, watching our Kitty continue to deteriorate, and after several discussions with the Vet, it was obvious that Tattoo was fatally ill.  The FIP is a virus that has no known treatment, so the question was whether we would just watch our pet die or whether we would make the decision to take him out of his misery.

We chose to have Tattoo euthanized  by the Vet.  We both said our goodbyes to Tattoo and I took him to the Vet.  I was in the room with him when they gave him a shot of PentaBarbital.  Within 5 - 10 Seconds Tattoo died.

I have had many pets in my life but this loss had the most powerful effect on me.  I drove across the street to a park and sat and cried.

Jazz Vespers 2012 - Led Zepplin

One of the other gifts of being involved in the First Unitarian Church of SLC is their Weekly Jazz Vespers on Sunday evening during November and December each year.  Tonight was the first session for 2012 - Sunday, November 4th, starting at 7:30 PM but in order to get a good place to sit you have to arrive at least 30 minutes early. The group tonight was playing Led Zeppelin music and included four great musicians who have been here in prior sessions of Jazz Vespers.

David Halliday - Saxophone, Courtney Smith - Piano and keyboard, Denson Angulo - electric and stand up bass, and Steve Lyman - Drums.  I invited friends to go with me who I knew liked Jazz - Alex Bustos and Julie Stout and we had seats on the second row, probably 5-6 feet from the performers.

I took a picture of the Saxophonist, David Halliday, an outstanding Jazz musician who is frequently part of our Jazz Vespers sessions.  I also took one video of the group playing and one of Tom Goldsmith telling the history of Led Zeppelin.  Let's hope they will attach to this blog.

Justin Roth - Singer / Songwriter - Home Concert

This is another attempt to download the videos I made of Justin Roth when I attended a home concert in Sugar House.  Sitting 5-6 feet in front of him  as he performed.  Hope it will attach this time.

A Walk Through My Ireland / Scotland Journey - Oct. 2012

I have added a few short blogs about particular parts of my "Walk About" in Ireland and Scotland with Stephen Fallon.  This blog is kind of a walk through of the whole trip.

I left on Saturday, Sept. 29th, 2012.  Because I was dependent on using my American Airlines frequent flyer miles, I ended up with a crazy travel schedule, but I think it just made me appreciate the trip even more.  I flew from SLC to Chicago and had a night layover.  I was able to find a close motel for a short night of sleep.  Sunday AM I flew to London, and again, had a night layover.  There were no reasonable hotels available - $200 for a short 4-5 hour night - so I just slept in the airport.  I was joined with a group of 20 year olds from Italy.  Not a restful night, but an opportunity to act like I was 20 years old again.

Stephen had encouraged me to carry on as opposed to checking any luggage. This was in preparation for flying on Ryan Air to Scotland where the checked baggage charges were astronomical.  That required some thoughtful packing in preparation, but it also meant I was not concerned about what was happening to my suitcase when I had the layovers.  I made the trip with a small suitcase and a backpack.

Monday morning on British Air to Dublin, Ireland

I caught a few images from the plain as we approached Ireland.  Ahhh - my adventure has now truly started.  I was met at the airport by Stephen.  He had flown Delta and had a direct flight, so did not have the nights in the airport that were my opportunity.

Stephen had grown up in Scotland and often spent time in Ireland for holiday with his family, so he knew the area as well as the travel and lodging option and made those arrangements for us for the entire trip..  He had made arrangements at the Charles Stewart Bed and Breakfast in downtown Dublin, so we caught a bus there and checked in.  It was a great choice with an amazing Irish breakfast provided every morning as well as a storage room where I left my suitcase when we walked about and toured, as well as later when we were in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and when I took a 3 day tour to Shannon at the end of my stay.

We had a couple of days to walk around and tour Dublin, as well as evenings to have a Pub meal and listen to some Irish music.

Wednesday, October 3rd to Belfast by bus.  I left my suitcase at the B and B so only have my medium sized back pack which is an easy carry, no matter what we do.  I brought my digital camera as well as my old Olympus 35 mm film camera with it's wide angle lens.  Hopefully, the wide angle lens will do a better job of capturing the countryside, coastline, and clifts of Ireland.  Belfast is an amazing piece of history.  Many of the historical landmarks of the conflict of Northern Ireland are still present.   Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.

There are high concrete walls still in existence that separate out where the Catholic and Protestants live.  These are vestiges of history but still function for small groups of citizens.  The Titanic was built in Belfast, so they have another interesting piece of history at the location where it was constructed.

We traveled the next day to Derry by bus and then another bus ride to the airport where we picked up a rental car to use for two days.  Drove to Inishowan near the North coast of Ireland and stayed at a great B and B that sat on a hill and overlooked Locke Foyle.  We spent some delightful time with Stephen's family, took a ferry across Locke Foyle, went to Antrim where the Moyle Counsel is and also visited the rope Bridge (Carrick-A-Rede) and the Giants's Causeway - unusually formed rocks from the Ice age.

We came back across Locke Foyle, spent time with Stephen's family, returned the car to Derry, took a bus to Belfast, and caught Ryan Air to Prestwick Airport, near Glasgow in Scotland.  Stephen's brother, Vincent, picked us up and we stay at his home for two days and used his car for one day.  Vincent and Eileen were comfortable, gracious hosts and interesting to talk to.

In Glasgow, I was able to meet Stephen's parents.  We spent two days touring Glasgow and going to the Scottish museum of Art.  A great experience.

The picture of me above is at Locke Lomand, near to Lock Ness, where the fabled Monster is supposed to reside.

Train the Edinburgh where I stayed and toured alone for two days, then back to Glasgow,  flight to Dublin, and Stephen returned home.

The picture above was in a window of a Photo shop in Edinburgh.  Interesting to see this picture of the Arch in Moab, Utah as an advertisement in Scotland.

I stayed back at the B and B in Dublin after Stephen returned home and took a three day bus tour that took me to Shannon and the West Coast of Ireland and the North Atlantic Ocean.  I was fortunate to connect up with two young ladies from Lithuania who were on the same tour.  We became traveling companions during the three days  shared meals, tours, and music together.  The west coast was beautiful and included  the Cliffs of Moher.

I am sure I have left off many pictures and much information that would make this blog more understandable, but  this was just an opportunity for me to share a wonderful experience.

I plan to have many more.