Day 76 - Hope of Spring

A couple of years ago, Matt and I decided to do some upgrades in our yard.  These were the plants we bought.  We planted them.  We fed them.  We mulched them.  And watered them. 

And nearly every single thing we planted is now dead. 

We want to have a garden one day - this does not bode well for us.  :)

It was warm today.  It was not yet dark at 6:30 when I left work.  Spring is coming.  Perhaps we will try planting again..

Day 75 - Self-portrait of me and Neema

I'm not exactly sure when this was taken - Neema is not full grown so I'm guessing winter of 2002. This was taken in the guest bedroom of my townhouse apartment here in VA.  She was so used to having a camera taking pictures of her that she looked right at it.

I set up my FILM camera on a tripod, put her on a sit/stay command, focused on her and set the timer.  I sat down next to her and this is what we got!!!  :) 

I think I sent this picture out with a newsletter.......

And I still have that shirt.  :)

Day 74 - Dead Cow - What's Your Guess?

Just returned from the 83rd Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I'm not sure how many vets and vet techs were there - but at least 8,000 I was told.  That's a LOT of like-minded folks in the same place.

Standing in various lines (for lunch, for coffee, for seeing Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs (!), etc.) I had lots of fun conversations with people who work all over the country.  And we all have stories to tell that entertain and educate.  The best stories, hands-down, come from the folks that do large animal medicine.  Cows, horses, sheep, goats, and pigs - AND the PEOPLE that go with them - make for the best stories.  Just because the environment they live in allows for a lot of variables.  Lots of things can go right.  Lots of things can go wrong.  And sometimes, things go really, really wrong.  :)  Once the ordeal is over, we tuck the story in our back pocket - happy that we survived to tell about it. 

My favorite story of the week came from a guy from Idaho who was hilarious.  His best story involved a recently widowed woman in her 70's that needed help with a heifer that was trying to calve in a large field.  He did not have a dart gun and he is not a cowboy who is good with a rope.  He and the 75 year old woman were not having much luck trying to chase the cow into the barn. Her son arrived on the scene to help, and the vet's hopes arose. But alas, he was mentally challenged and proved to not be of much help.  After a very long ordeal and near-death experience, he was able to get her tied to a post in the barn and deliver the calf.

Vets are stubborn folks.  Persistent.

And sometimes we think we are super-heroes that can't get hurt.  And that gets us into trouble.

I met another vet whose entire right side of his face is one giant metal plate because a horse kicked him with a hind leg.  His skull on that side was crushed.  I would never have known it - he looked perfectly normal.

And he still works with horses - everyday.  :)

I enjoyed the conference immensely.  I learned SO much.  Still processing through it all.

This picture above does not have a great story behind it.  But I thought I would share it anyway.  I was called out to take a look at this cow to determine cause of death.

You see, we vets also get to play detective from time to time.  We approach dead things the same way we approach sick living things.  We take in all the information we can and try to make the puzzle pieces fit.

This was a young to middle-aged cow in a herd of about 50 or so adult cattle.  The rest of the herd was completely normal and in good body weight.  No one was thin.  It was summertime and most of the calves were 4-5 months old still nursing their moms or were recently weaned.  Free choice mineral was available at all times.

This cow was seen earlier that morning appearing completely normal.  The farmer found her dead after a storm and called me to come determine what had happened.

The picture does not give as much information as I had in actually looking at her, but here's what I see:  there is a pond to the right of the picture and the water from the pond comes through a gap into a hand-built water trough that the cows can drink from.  She had essentially dropped dead into that trough.  Looking around her feet in the mud, there is no hint of a struggle.  She did not kick around.  It looks as if she was taking a drink from the trough and just died instantly.

There was a very small amount of blood coming from her nostrils and there was what appeared to be a burn mark on the wood near where she fell.  The rest of her appeared completely normal.

What is your guess as to what killed this cow? 

The winner will receive my voice on your home answering machine. 

:)

Day 73 - A Kick in the Neck

I have written about this picture before.  But I have never put story and picture together.  I'm going to borrow from my old blog and edit it a bit.  Sorry if you've read it before.  :)

When I was a senior in vet school, I began looking for a job. The best place to find a job at the time was the classified section of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA.)  Most clinics use it to advertise in when they are looking to hire new vets. I went through every state in the country that had a listing and made a note of any clinics that were of interest to me. For those clinics that had an email address, I emailed my resume. For those that did not, I snail mailed it. I sent resumes to approximately 50-60 clinics. My criteria were as follows: I wanted to work in a mixed animal practice. I wanted to be near the mountains. I wanted to work with licensed veterinary technicians. I wanted to work in a high-quality practice - for I was told repeatedly that the habits you learn the first year of practice stay with you for you lifetime. (The place I chose met all those, BTW.)

So, I had this huge stack of clinics in my "possible job" stack. And over the following weeks I had a ton of phone interviews and even traveled to Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania to do in-person interviews. I talked with vets in Colorado, Idaho, (darn! I really wanted to go to Idaho!) Wyoming, California, and Montana. And all along there was this practice in VA that kept resurfacing in my stack. In my first blitz, I had emailed them my resume - but the email address in the journal was misprinted and it bounced back to me. No prob - to the bottom of the stack it went. More weeks went by. I graduated and I didn't have a job. I was a little stressed about that. I had always thought I would have a job lined up when I graduated.  Most of my classmates had jobs.  In my stressed-out state I thought "perhaps I should give this clinic in VA a call." I had written the phone # down  in my 'possible job' notes.  Incorrectly.  Rargh! I went to JAVMA to look it up and the job was no longer posted so I wasn't sure if they still had an opening and I had no phone number and no email address in order to contact them.  Things were not looking good for VA.  But, my best friends were looking at the same jobs I was and I asked if they had the number. They did! (BTW, I still have the piece of paper that I wrote "Waynesboro" on.) :) I called the clinic and asked to speak to the owner. The phone was handed to a man with such a deep voice on the other end that I was sure he was 6'5" at least.   I asked if I could come visit..... the next day. "I sure wish you would" was the response I got.  :)  I had no idea what I was walking into and I was just so 'over' the interview process that I completely forgot to even bring along a resume! I, a total stranger, just showed up at mid-day, spent the night, worked a little more the next day, then drove home. But before I left, I was told that I really needed to 'send a resume with some references.'  Probably would be the professional way to do things.

Dr. Bowman is not 6'5" in physical stature.  I would guess he is closer to 5'8".  But what he lacks in physical height, he makes up for in personality.  He is large and loud and confident.  He is 10 feet tall and bullet-proof in my eyes.  :)  

He liked my resume and invited me to a three day interview to see how I would fit in with the practice. I was to stay at his home and go everywhere and do everything he did. Cool. Trial by fire. Indeed.

I remember several things about those 3 days. I remember TWO uterine prolapses in one day. I had made it all the way through vet school without seeing one and here I saw TWO in the same day. I remember asking 'is this normal?' (Thank goodness, it is not!) I also remember getting kicked. And how.

I visited the farm it happened on 4 years later. I had not stepped foot nor driven by this farm since the day it happened. Nostalgia swept over me as I turned into the driveway. I remember Dr. Bowman saying as we drove past the old colonial house that it would be great to sit on that porch reading a good book. I remember the corral and the chute. I remember the kick. :)

At this point, I think the story would be better told as I told it originally. Bear with me as I share an email about that 3 day interview.

He had me do all of the drop-off cases (mostly vaccinations) then we
headed out to run some farm calls. He told me that if what he had heard
about me from my references was true, then
he was very interested in getting to know me. :) We ran this one
call, I think it was Thursday, where we castrated some calves using a
clamp - something I had never done before. It was very awkward and
very, very difficult for me to do physically. It took every ounce of
strength I could muster in order to get the job done. But I didn't
quit. Not even after being pooped on on the side of the head
(complete with an ear full and some on my lips - yum!) - not even
after getting wholloped in the neck. This one calf kicked the
absolute crap out of me. (picture is attached of the bruise - it
hurts worse than it looks - I honestly thought I had broken my
collarbone) It was all I could do not to cry - but I was determined
not to. I just kept working. When they asked me if I was okay (they
saw the immediate knot develop) all I could do was nod my head - if I
had tried to say anything, I would have started crying. When all was
said and done I was complimented by both farmer and Dr. Bowman for my
"grit". Bonus points. :) The farmer said that if that had been him
and a calf kicked him that hard, he would have handed off the clamp
and said "that's quite enough for me". Quite possibly one of the
best compliments I've ever been given.


What actually transpired is that the calf the farmer was holding by the tail (so he couldn't kick me) began to lay down. Right as I was about to 'clamp' him, Dr. Bowman advised the farmer to let up a little on the tail. He let up a little much and as I backed away from the calf to get leverage to close the clamp.... WHAM!!! I got blasted with the leg in full extension. I finished the job. Then I was done.  I let Dr. Bowman finish the rest.

My job has never been short of challenges - but I am super thankful that kicks in the neck are not routine.  :)

Day 72 - 50mm bokeh

These are giraffe book-ends made of ebony wood.  I got them in Africa.  I haggled (which is what you are supposed to do) and got them for a good price at a market in Nairobi, Kenya.  I no longer remember what that price was - but I was very excited at the time.  :) 

This is my end-table in the house.  Again, this was a test shot with my my 50mm lens. 

I really like that lens. 

Day 71 - Violet Joy

This picture almost got deleted. I did not like it.  At all.  But on a whim, I made it black and white and cropped it - and this is the result.  I LOVE this picture.  I think it captures her quite well. 

Yay for digital photo editing!  :)

And yay for beautiful little girls. 

Day 70 - Sarah the Vet Student

We get to have students around us on a pretty regular basis. We really enjoy them due to their high energy, positive outlook, and sponge-like minds.  Sarah actually visited with us for 2 years in a row.  On her second visit, she got to go with me to check out a newborn miniature horse and it's mom.  All was well. And by-golly, a mini foal is pretty stinkin cute.  :)

Day 68 and 69 - Elvis

I was not able to blog yesterday - I'm out in Las Vegas at the Western Veterinary Conference (woo hoo!)  and the 3 hour time change is making it a bit difficult for me to stay awake at night to blog. 

This top picture is an x-ray of a dog named Elvis.  Elvis had eaten a bottle of Gorilla Glue and then his breakfast.  What resulted was a stomach-cast of concrete, basically.  Elvis' owners brought him in because he would not eat.  Wonder why?

The x-ray above is a view of him laying on his side.  His head is to the left and he is laying on his right side.  The large round object in the center of the picture is his stomach.  I would say it is a good 4 times larger than it should be.

Gorilla glue + food = mixture, expansion, and then solidification. 

Dr. Bowman was very excited about relieving Elvis' malady.  And he kept the spoils in the fridge for a long time.  I took pictures to submit them to a contest called 'they ate WHAT?' but alas, we did not win.  

Pretty cool, though.  Apparently Gorilla glue is tasty stuff to a dog - as there have been several reports of the exact same thing.  Good to know. 

Day 67 - Pink flowers

These are a few flowers on an azalea bush in the front of our house.  And this is the result of some test shots when I got my 50mm lens.  :) 

Day 66 - The Word According to Gumba

She's partial to Romans.  :)  (LOVE her thumbs!)

Day 65 - Longing

Neema loves her frisbee.  A lot.  Notice the drool on the door.  :) 

Day 64 - Hiking again

This was the first time I went hiking since becoming ill in April of 2008.  This was July of 2009.  It was a lovely warm day (not hot) and amazingly, there were no bugs.  Neema and I went to one of our staple hikes - it's not difficult and there usually is no one else around. 

I was tired.  My legs hurt.  But it was great.  :) 

I'm feeling so much better these days - and I hope to get out in the woods again soon. 

I have a lot of pictures of Neema and I out in the woods.  I put her on a sit/stay command and set the camera up on a tripod and focus on her.  I then set the timer and go join her.  This is not a good example, but usually she looks right at the camera. 

Day 63 - Jason and Eliza

I love this picture.  :)  This is my brother, Jason and his daughter, Eliza.  Her face is too cute! 

This was taken after Candi and Jonathan's wedding in Kingsport, TN. 

Day 62 - Sweet Baby Corbin

Tiny little guy at 2 days old.  Such a trooper. 

His parents were troopers, too!  Good friends of mine - Brandon and Karla - and this is their first child, Corbin.  Look at that face!  Can't you just tell what he's going to look like when he's older? 

I love his tiny little finger against his dad's. 

Doing newborn shots is not easy.  Especially on sleep deprived new parents.  :)  It takes about 4 hours to get all the shots I want - before baby and parents and photographer alike have had enough and need a break. 

Corbin's shoot was pretty uneventful - no one got peed on or pooped on.  :)

He took some breaks to eat and get warm - but we were able to keep him asleep for most of the pictures.  This one is one of my favorites.

Day 61 - Mission: Staunton Before and After

Since I posted a picture of Kipp earlier, thought I would go ahead and do this one.  When he came to our church as the pastor of worship and outreach, one of the events he created was Mission: Staunton.  The whole idea was instead of gathering the church to do a short-term mission trip overseas, we would just have a short-term mission trip right in our own community.  

During the first Mission: Staunton we actually slept at the church, ate at the church, showered at the YMCA, and worked together on the project.  We spent the evenings at the park (where we had Kids Camp) and then de-briefed at the church before going to bed.  It was very much like being on a short-term mission trip except we spoke the language and the food was safe.  :)

During the first one, we worked on a house where the husband had started a lot of home-improvement projects but never finished.  He had fallen very ill and the house was left unattended to.  We had an entire crew who worked some very long and very hard days to finish out those projects.

It was a really, really difficult and powerful week.  The project had been in motion for months.  Just days before we were to arrive to work, the husband's health took a real turn for the worse.  We asked them if they still wanted us to come - they did.  

The wife had not left her husband's side in weeks.  But she, herself, had a doctor's visit and left for just a couple of hours on the first day we were there.  While she was gone, her husband passed away.

We finished our work over the next 3 days at the family's request.  It was really something.

The second year of Mission: Staunton, there were several work projects that we tackled.  The pictures in this blog are from the house that I worked on.  A sweet little widow lives here all alone - and she is quite elderly.  But healthy and active.  Just not healthy or active enough to tackle painting a house.  :)

Our crew put a new roof on her front porch, we scraped and painted the entire house, removed trees and bushes and lots of poison ivy from around the perimeter of the house and did some minor repairs to the gutters and overhangs.

My main project (in addition to scraping and painting) was to remove the weeds and bushes and a very large tree stump from underneath the tank you see in the picture.  I did not do it all by myself, but I did a very large portion of it.  I love the before and after shots.  :)

I loved how Kipp was a visionary that helped us to see that we don't have to travel out of our town in order to do 'missions.'  God has called us to serve where we are, to bloom where we are planted. 

Day 60.5 - Kipp and Keaton

Yesterday was busy.  But I still can't believe I forgot to blog!  Ack.

These are two great guys.  Kipp is the big guy and Keaton is the little guy.  They had just welcomed their newest addition, a baby boy named Beckett, to the family.  And I had just welcomed a 50mm lens to my toolbox.  :)

When I moved to VA, I was leaving a culture where I was surrounded by people my age, people who shared my interests and my beliefs, and people I could hang out with whenever I wanted.   I had spent 7 years being in Bible studies with other girls, being in fellowship, and being taught by great pastors.

It took me a while to find a great church - but I did.  The only thing lacking was people my age!  I tried to get 'plugged in' by going to the women's Bible study -and I certainly enjoyed it and met some great ladies - but it wasn't the same.  I tried getting involved in a small group - but I just didn't click with them.  I volunteered in the nursery - so I met some kids and some parents - but the interactions were brief. 

There was significant heartache in my life those first few years here.  And I did not have anyone to help me shoulder that burden.  At least not in the way I was used to.  I remember getting a phone call from one of the Christian Veterinary Mission guys - Brad Frye - just asking me how I was doing and if  I was still planning on doing overseas missions.  At the end of the call he asked if he could pray for me.  I burst into tears as he did - it was the first time someone had prayed for me in over a year.  It was like a rush of water over a desert-parched heart.

Not too long after that, I read a book called 'Waking the Dead' by John Eldridge.  It touched on the deep deep need we each have of being in a group of friends that will help us, carry us, love us, laugh with us, and cry with us.  Frodo's fellowship of the ring, Jesus' twelve, Neo and his gang in the Matrix, that sort of thing.  I began to pray regularly and earnestly for that kind of group here  in VA.  It took them 3 years to arrive.  :)

Kipp and his wife, Jenny were led to Staunton Alliance Church for Kipp to become our Worship and Outreach Pastor.  I remember seeing them sitting at the front of the church.  I saw that they were my age!

I almost tackled them I was so excited!

It took a while for us to actually start hanging out.  But Jenny and I began meeting for lunch on a weekly basis and we went hiking a time or two.  Soon after that, Jenny invited Rachel to join us on what had become our weekly Tuesday nights at Baskin Robbins date (ice cream for $1!)  We had been talking with Rachel for about an hour when we asked her if she and her husband planned on having kids.  Rachel then dropped the bomb that she had just found out THAT DAY that she was pregnant.  Crazy woman.  Sat there for an entire HOUR with that news churning around in her head.  I doubt she remembers anything we said.  :)

From there, a small group formed.  It has changed much over the years - but Rachel and I are still there.  :)

Kipp and Jenny have moved about 2 hours away to plant a church in Fredericksburg, VA.  I'm so proud of them.  And I'm so lucky to count them as friends.

They are now expecting their third child - due in March.  After two healthy boys, they are welcoming a little girl into the family.  I can't wait to take her pictures.  :)  I've practiced a lot by taking pictures of Kipp and Jenny's boys. 

I have always loved this particular one of Kipp and Keaton, though.

Day 59 - Row Houses in San Fran

Taken with a little point and shoot because my big camera's battery was dead. 

The streets are SO steep!!!!  Who thought to build a city here?  Really? 

But these row houses were pretty cool on this lovely September day. 

Day 58 - Purple Roses

I had a bad day today.  I needed to post a picture that would make me happy.  Purple roses make me happy.  :) 

I have only ever received purple roses from one person.  My sweet husband, Matt.  These particular purple roses were sent to me just after we were engaged - while he was on a business trip to Spain. 

They smelled SO good.  They were so pretty. 

Some days smell like roses and some days smell like poop.  Today smelled like poop.

So, let's all look at the roses and remember how they smell.....

Day 57 - Happy Birthday, Paul!

Bob actually took this picture - I have one very similar but it's not as good, so I'm using his.  :)

This was in the shelter at Cow Camp.  It was raining and we were resting, so Paul checked out the trail log.  Neema went over to say hello.  Neema loves Paul.

:)

Today is Paul's birthday - I hope his day was a great as the one is this picture was.  Happy Birthday, friend.  Hope to see you soon!

Day 56 - The Valley Below

Some days are just stressful and hard.  I feel like I've had more than a few of them back to back and am feeling weary and tired. 

This picture was taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway not too far from my house.  Raven's Roost is the name of the overlook.  It's lovely any time of year, but Fall is my favorite. :)

It makes me think of the Caedmon's Call song that says:

This is the valley that I'm walking through
And it feels like forever since I've been close to you
My friends up above me don't understand why I struggle like I do
My shadow's my only, only companion and at night he leaves, too

Down in the valley, dying of thirst
Down in the valley, it seems that I'm at my worst
My consolation is that you baptize this earth
When I'm down in the valley, valleys fill first

Day 55 - Water Balloon to the Face

This was summer.  Remember summer?  It's warm in summer.  It's cold right now. 

But soon it will be spring - and then it will be summer, again!  Yay!

This was taken at our local park - during what our church did instead of Vacation Bible School - a little something called 'Kids Camp.'  We sent out invitations, but also took in kids who were just at the park hanging out.  Like every VBS, we had food, we had songs, we had Bible stories, and we had games.  This night, it was water games.  Because it was summer.  And it was hot outside.  :)

I think I managed to grab a pretty decent action shot here.  Our former youth pastor, Rick, shares his love by exploding a balloon in a poor gal's face.  :) 

Day 54 - Bubbles in a Bottle

This was just one of those happy little accidents that Bob Ross used to talk about.  I was cleaning out this soap dispenser so I could refill it.  I dumped out the water and all of these pretty little bubbles were left behind. 

I had just gotten my digital camera and saw an opportunity.  I think it turned out kinda cool. 

Day 53 - Sophie Doo

This is the world's most perfect cat.  And she's mine.  You lose. 

Sophie was found in a church parking lot in town, young and pregnant.  She was taken in by a sweet family who found homes for all the kittens and then brought her to me for her vaccinations and to be spayed.  I still remember examining her prior to surgery and how loving she was and how much and how loudly she purred. 

Not long after she was spayed, she was back at the clinic again.  She was hurt.  She had been bitten by another cat and had an infection in her foot.  I gave her antibiotics and sent her home.  Then a few weeks later, she was back!  Again - she had infected bite wounds from being in a fight.

The owners had dropped her off and when I called them to find out what was going on, they said that their son had asthma so they couldn't keep Sophie inside.  But she was not getting along well in the neighborhood as the other outside cats were picking on her.  They wanted to find her a new home and asked me to keep her at the clinic until they or we found her a new family.

My staff all urged me "Dr. BROWN - you LOVE her!  Take her home!"

I wasn't as keen on the idea - Neema was still just a pup and although I knew she loved cats, I wasn't so sure that Sophie would love her back.  And I just wasn't sure about having two pets.

But I took her home to just 'see.'  :)  You 'SEE' what happened. 

She's so wonderful.  Really.

She's the kind of cat that when I sit down, she waits a while before she gets up on my lap.  But then she settles in and stretches out and purrs and purrs.  Occasionally she'll stretch her legs out and touch her paw to my face and just leave it there.  She slept at the foot of the bed for years - though now she sleeps right next to me.  I can move her down to the end if I need to and she'll stay.  She is friendly to everyone.  And when she has to bring up a hairball - she never does it on the carpet.  She always does it on the tile or on a little rug that can be washed.  And when her bladder gets inflamed and she feels to need to pee somewhere other than the litterbox - she pees in the bathtub.  Perfection!  You can't teach a cat that kind of behavior.

She does a 180 when she goes to the clinic, now, though.  She screams bloody murder like she would like to eat your face off - but she never ever tries to bite or scratch.  We just laugh at her because we know she's not going to hurt anyone.  Her only less-than-perfect quirk. 


The oldest cat patients I've ever had were Siamese - living to be 20 years old.  I sure hope Sophie Doo makes it that long.  Don't tell my other cats, but she's my favorite.  :)

Day 52 - Eliza and Maggie

My beautiful niece, Eliza and her sweet dog, Maggie.  :) 

No worries, her snaggle-tooth issues are over now.