I must move on

While I was exceedingly saddened by recent events and having to put my handsome Tuffy-boy Beagle down late Saturday afternoon, February 13, I still had a midnight flight to catch that evening.  Even with the sadness, I was glad I was the one to be with him when he had to cross the Rainbow Bridge.

My handsome Tuffy-boy, over the bridge, Feb. 13.

Maybe the change of scenery would help me to get past my boy getting sick and lasting only six weeks … after first being diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease, then pancreatitis, and then dying due to liver failure.  It was a grueling six weeks, filled with agony, hope and crushing sadness.  It was even more difficult to handle as one of the other furry kids, Jade, has cancer, is on meds and we don’t know how long we’ll have her.  I have to get past it … my friend, Jaz, was waiting in San Francisco, and we would be off on our next adventure.

I boarded the red-eye, and was scheduled to arrive in San Francisco at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, Valentine’s.  Yet all I could do the entire way there was think of Tuffy and what I could have done differently to maybe change the outcome of what had happened.  I’d had him into the vets numerous times, we’d done multiple tests, and put him on special medications and foods.  I don’t know what else we could have done, yet it seems as though it was something that came on too quick, and there should have been something that would have made the difference.  He was only 12.

The flight arrived on time and Jaz was there to pick me up … on time as she always is.  We dropped my bags and headed to Alviso and walked around the bay lands.  It was a great walk but there weren’t many species of birds there that day. 

An egret can always make for a good day.

There weren't that many of them around, though.

He was stalking something.

Then we drove back to Redwood City where her mom lives.  Mom was there, as well as her sister.  I visited for a bit, but was totally exhausted and went to bed.  I slept for four hours, got up for a half hour and then went back to bed, not rising until nearly 8 a.m.  I’d needed some sleep, 16 hours of it.

I got up and felt more rested than I had in some time.  I always sleep well in Redwood City.  It’s a very comfy bed with nice light comforters.  We did more walking near the Golden Gate Bridge.  It’s a lovely place to walk and the tourists were out en masse, just like us. 

Because I liked it.

It's a beautiful city, especially from afar.

We did our usual, taking pictures of everything.  We decided to wander over to Battery Yates to take a few photos. 

Battery Yates was reinforced concrete coastal gun battery named after Capt. George W. Yates, Seventh Cavalry, killed in action by Sioux warriors at the Little Big Horn.   Built in 1903, it had six M1902 3-inch rifles.  Four were removed in 1942 and the remaining two in 1943.  Four were reused, and two were scrapped.

Others were getting into position to take evening photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

By then it was getting late and we decided to stay and photograph the bridge at night.  What a beautiful sight with the lights bouncing off the 746-foot tall towers.  It was worth the wait and suffering the cold as neither of us would put on long sleeves. 

The beautiful Golden Gate Bridge.

Tuesday, Feb. 16, was our last day in California, and we decided to wander over to Stanford University and walk around. 

While it might be a bit early in the year, there were still some pretty plants to see.

There was an area with a lot of statues, with lots of headless ones.  This one had all its heads.

It was a beautiful day and we ended up at the top of the Hoover Tower.  It had an awesome view, and why wouldn’t it?  It was a blue-sky kind of day.

Hoover Tower, 285 feet tall.  It was dedicated in 1941, Stanford's 50th anniversary.  The first nine floors are library and the next three are offices.  Exiled Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Russian novelist, historian and short story writer, lived on the 11th floor for a period of time at the invitation of the university before he moved in 1976. 

The 14th floor of the tower has an observation deck that houses a carillon (a musical instrument) of 48 bells cast in Belgium.  They are played periodically throughout the year.  The largest bell weighs 2.5 tons. 

Then it was time to get back to the house and ready for the next day of flying to Florida.  We’d be up and out of the house by 5 a.m. to return the rental car and wait for our ride in the cattle shuttle they call an airplane.