And Just Like That, It’s November!

A few unrelated jumbles of thought for the beginning of a new month:

Saturday was Halloween. Our town decided not to cancel trick-or-treating this year, but encouraged masks for everyone and the usual social distancing practices. We did have candy to hand out. Yes, I wore a mask- a proper one. Didn’t get many kids but I didn’t expect we would. The old town center is where trick-or-treating is rampant here every year. I did notice some residents did some clever stuff as far as the social distancing goes. Candy separated into “cauldrons” by type, a number of baskets and buckets just set on porches, and one elaborate set-up that required the person handing out the candy to climb a ladder and drop the treats down a chute to the waiting kids. Some folks are plenty clever!

We also had snow last week. Woke up to a (sort of) wintry scene on Friday morning. It was supposed to be just a couple inches, but managed to keep falling into the day and we ended up with maybe four inches or so. Kept off the roads for the most part, which was a good thing because-

I had to take the dog to the vet Friday morning. He has needed his distemper and bortadella vaxes updated this year, but the main reason was the irritation under his back legs. I’d seen it because he was licking at it, and I put him in an inflatable collar to keep him from making it worse, but Thursday morning when I went to check it, he yelped and flinched away. It was really angry red on one side, so I decided we’d better get it looked at. Of course, they are still in pandemic protocols, so I had to wait in the car. He did let the vet do skin scrapings (surprised me). The verdict? Some sort of allergic dematitis. No sign of infection or anything nasty in the scrapings, so he’s still in the collar, gets sponge baths under the legs daily, an antibiotic spray, and pills to damp the allergic itchiness. As of today, the less intense side is better, the worse one is less angry looking, and I can let him out of the cone at times (under supervision) and he has been leaving the area alone. So, all good so far.

Last but not least- tomorrow is Election Day here in the USA. I got my ballot in a couple weeks ago, so I am all set. I will not go into who you should or should not vote for. As far as I am concerned, the choice is pretty clear, but if we differ, we do. But this election is vitally important, whatever your political leanings. This is the time to let your voice be heard. Get out there. Vote if you have not already. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not important or it won’t count. You have both the right and the responsibility to cast a ballot. Do it.

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