Heather July 17 2008 - January 31 2025

Heather oh Heather, I miss you! It’s been only a couple of days since we had you put to sleep. There is definitely a hole where Heather used to be in our family. We feel it, and the other dogs feel it too. Both Harper and Sophie have been extra clingy and Harper has been staring at me a lot. I’m sorry, Harper I know you don’t really understand, but it was time.

When we moved back to the US from Hong Kong and finally got settled in New Hampshire Lee really wanted a dog. I was ready too, but still a little trepidatious because of Marley, our dog in Missouri that was hit by a car. Even though it had been over 6 years I had been traumatized. But I took a leap of faith.

Lee had researched Westies and thought that was what we should get, a little dog that thinks it’s a big dog, smart and feisty, friendly and enthusiastic. He found Diane’s Westie’s online and signed up for one of Diane’s open houses.

Now Diane advertised her open houses as a chance to meet her dogs and see if you thought a Westie was right for you, and that part was true. But the thing I figured out after we got Harper and got to know Diane better, was that she was also checking YOU out, and seeing if you were someone she would trust with one of her dogs.

So we went to her next open house. We sat down in her den with a group of other potential Westie owners and Diane let her dogs come down to meet us, and vice versa. I will always remember my first glimpse of Heather. She came scampering down the stairs on her little legs with a big smile on her face, so happy to meet new people and get some pets! She was just the cutest little thing, and we were smitten.

We put our names on Diane’s waiting list and specified that we wanted one of Heather’s puppies. Heather was only a year and a half old at that point so this would be her first litter. Diane said that it usually took around 6 months to get one of her puppies but strangely enough when Heather had her puppies in December we got a call right away. Did we want one? Yes! So in February of 2010 Harper came to live with us and our Westie journey began.

 

By 2014 Heather had had 5 litters of puppies. She was due to have another in June of that year, but something went wrong. The puppies caught a virus and one by one they all died, except one. Diane kept that one puppy (Faith) and decided not to breed Heather again because she was so upset when the puppies died. 

When Diane’s mamas and papas retire sometimes she keeps them. But she can’t keep them all, so sometimes she gives them away. She asked us if we wanted Heather. By this time we had 2 Westies, Harper and Cosmo. We said we didn’t want a third dog. But Diane had already decided so she just waited us out. Other people wanted Heather but Diane knew where Heather belonged. It took us about 6 months but finally in December of 2014 we caved and Heather was ours.

Poor Heather! She had lived at Diane’s for 6 years and moving to our house was very scary for her at first. It didn’t help that Harper was not at all pleased to have another female dog in residence. She made very sure that Heather knew her place, which was at the bottom of the pack hierarchy. Cosmo was delighted to have another playmate but if Harper caught them playing together she would break it up. She was so mean to poor Heather! Eventually she relented, but it took a long time.

Once Heather was acclimated to living with us she was a lot of fun. Heather was well trained by Diane, and walked beautifully on a leash, unless she managed to get in front. She did NOT want to be the leader and would quickly find a way to get behind us, and if you weren’t careful, right underfoot. In fact right under my feet was Heather’s favorite place to be. The joke always was, where’s Heather? Well just look down and there she is!

Heather was a ball catching maniac. She loved loved loved to chase a ball, bring it back, and drop at your feet. Over and over, until her tongue was practically dragging on the floor and we’d have to make her stop. She continued to chase balls well into her old age, only stopping a year or two ago.

Speaking of tongues Heather had the longest tongue I have ever seen on a dog. In fact it didn’t entirely fit in her mouth and often when she was asleep a little bit of it would protrude between her teeth. I would joke that she looked like road kill! But it was just Heather.

Heather could be very anxious and sensitive. She was so afraid that she might be left behind that the one time she would frantically assert herself was when we were getting ready to do something, go on a walk, go somewhere in the car, get on our boat. Then she would push her way to the front, determined to not be left behind. One time when we were getting ready to go sailing and we were getting everyone into the dinghy, Heather got so worried that she jumped right from the dock on to the dinghy. Only she didn’t quite make it and fell, plop! right into the ocean! 

Fortunately she had on her doggie life vest so I could grab the handle and fish her right out. She was very soaked and bedraggled from that experience, but did she learn from it? No, we still had to watch her like a hawk when we were getting in the dinghy.

Heather loved sailing. I have so many pictures of her with her nose in the air, smelling all the sea smells, or smiling while on someone’s lap in our boat. I’m so glad she got that experience.

Heather was 10 years old when we moved to Minnesota. Changing homes was always really hard on her. When we moved to Waconia she got a bad urinary tract infection, and the same thing happened when we moved into our new house in Shorewood. She just wasn’t someone that handled stress well at all!

At Heather’s checkup when she was 13 her blood work showed that her glucose levels were very low. After more testing we discovered that Heather had an insulinoma, or a tumor on her pancreas. Usually these tumor are cancerous and even with surgery dog’s don’t do very well or live very long. But at 13 we didn’t want to put her through a surgery that might not even help. We decided to manage the tumor with diet and hope for the best.

We put her on small frequent meals (something we already did for Harper and Cosmo) and in another 6 months had her tested again. Although the tumor was still there it hadn’t grown and her blood sugar levels had actually improved. We concluded that Heather was one of the lucky dogs that had a benign tumor! 

What finally killed Heather was just plain old age. She was deaf, she had dementia. She couldn’t go on walks anymore. We bought her a stroller but she didn’t like it much. She started having accidents in the house.

It was harder than I expected to know that it was time to say goodbye. The little changes in her quality of life happened so slowly. We got used to them, sort of, one by one. Until we just had to face that Heather was unhappy. She was walking around with her tail between her legs. She couldn’t get comfortable in bed. She had an accident in the crate and was very upset.

We had the vet from Pet Loss At Home come to the house. It was a kindness that we could do that for Heather, who was always anxious at the vet. We said goodbye, let Sophie and Harper sniff her body once she was gone. We wrapped her in one of our Westie blankets and that was that.

I’m sad, and at the same time I’m kind of glad too. Glad that Diane waited us out and knew that Heather belonged with us. Glad that we had 10 years with her. Glad that she gave us Harper. 

Thank you Heather. Thanks for being part of our family. You will always have a place in our hearts and we will always love you.

Belize Winter 2025 - Part I

A Rastafarian Temple

January 20, 2025

 

A little over 50 years ago a friend and I went to Belize. We were on a grand tour of Mexico and Central America with stops in Tulum, Honduras, San Salvador and Guatemala as well as Belize and other places in Mexico. We were foolish, innocent, naive young women, still living in a haze of hippiedom with a perhaps misplaced faith in the goodness of the world.

Along the way we met fellow Americans, Europeans, and natives of all the countries we visited, including many that were indigenous. We traveled on buses, boats, trains and small planes. We hitched rides, sometimes lucky ones, and in Belize a terrible one where we were raped and were lucky to get out of it mostly unscathed. We were all of 22 years old, almost 23.

Now here are Lee and I going back to Belize. I recently got out my little travel diary from that long ago trip. I remember a surprising amount, but I’d forgotten a lot as well, including how we got from Tulum to Belize City, and where we stopped when we took a boat down the coast.

This trip is of course a far cry from the one back then. We are flying from Minneapolis to Houston and from there to Belize City where the resort where we will be staying will pick us up and take us by car and boat to Caulker Caye where we will stay for a week. We’ll explore, relax, go snorkeling and take one day to go on a guided tour of some Mayan ruins.

I expect things to be unrecognizable. I remember Belize City as quiet, with dusty streets. We stayed at a hostel with a big front porch where we hung out for several days recovering from our harrowing journey. We met an Australian who took us to a restaurant and bade us try something called “sour sop soup”. I’m sure it had coconut in it and beyond that I have no idea.

We eventually found a “rice boat” going down the coast that took us to Placencia Village and then on to Punta Gorda where we took a small motor boat across a bay to Livingston, Honduras.

50 years ago most of the Belize interior was impassable, with roads that only the toughest vehicles could transverse. When we go to the ruins we will travel on a road to the town of Orange Walk and then take a boat up a river from there. I’m sure it will be better but maybe not by a whole lot.

I’m excited for this trip. We are currently on our flight from Minneapolis to Houston. We have a fairly tight connection in Houston but with luck things will go smoothly.

It’s horribly cold in Minnesota, -15F this morning with a wind chill close to -30F, and tomorrow will be worse. It’s even cold in Houston, 30F, so they’re probably freaking out.

It was hard leaving the dogs this time, even though I know that they are in good hands. I just have this sense that Heather is toward the end of her time with us, and it makes me sad. We’ve taken to leaving her in the crate when we are gone for a few hours and a few days ago she pooped in the crate and got it all over herself so she had to have a bath when we got home. It was a mess and I felt terrible. Since then she’s been okay but she’s been coughing more and sometimes it just seems like she doesn’t feel well. Poor Heather. I just don’t want her to suffer. When it’s time I would rather err on the side of one day too early than one day too late.

January 21, 2025

When I left off we were on our first flight. We landed in Houston and had about a 20 minute walk to our next gate and about 40 minutes supposedly until our next flight started boarding. Such a big airport! We get to our next flight and it’s delayed a bit “due to operational changes” whatever that means. A lot of flights for Tuesday (today) are being cancelled because of the bad weather so maybe that was it, anyway they had to get a a different plane. But eventually we boarded and took off.

It wasn’t a very long flight, maybe an hour and a half. We started our descent and approach to the Belize City airport and as we were preparing to land the plane’s engine’s roared and we took off again. Lee and I glanced at each other; we knew that wasn’t normal! We circled around with my mind going to dark places intermittently while I kept telling it to “shut up!”. We descended and landed again without incident. The pilot got on the intercom and apologized. Apparently a Delta jet had decided to taxi on to our runway right when we were preparing to land! But as the pilot said, “we’re all safe now”. Sheesh. New one for me.

Belize airport is little of course, but pretty busy. Another plane landed right around the same time as us so immigration was crowded. But once it was our turn we went through swiftly. Nothing to declare and no one challenging us either. Soon we were out in the arrivals area and there was our driver holding a sign that said Weezies and Conrad Nill. Onward!

He drove us to the Marina where we boarded a little trawler. At first we putt-putted through a canal on our way to the open water. We saw a lot of iguanas. The green ones were the males and the brown ones were the females. We saw nice birds too, and a rainbow!

Then we hit the open water. He opened up the throttle and off we bumped through the somewhat choppy waves. It was a long boat ride it seemed. Bump bump bump. Not my favorite pastime, that’s for sure.

Finally we approached Caye Caulker, a little island and our home for the next week. We’re staying at a small resort called Weezies. Our room is very nice, a suite with a large living room, a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The living room has a balcony overlooking the pool and a little bit of open water. 

We were very tired last night. We ate at the resort’s restaurant. I tried to stay up until a decent hour but I’m sure I was asleep a little after 8. Still I managed to sleep until a little after 6 so well done Lynn! I woke up with a raging headache though, might have had something to do with that “Belizian Cooler” I had with my dinner.

A rainstorm blew through during the night. It’s supposed to rain most of this week off and on but we don’t really mind. I’m still getting over this cold. I have a croupy cough and my ears are stuffed up as well. This warm humid air has got to help.

In the morning we had coffee in our room and then went down to the restaurant for breakfast. I had huevos rancheros and Lee had fry jacks (Belizian beignets) and a fruit plate. The huevos were a little too spicy but I ate some of Lee’s fruit and a fry jack dipped in honey which was great. As we were eating another storm blew through.

After breakfast I took a shower and then we decided to walk into town. We took the road to get there. It was very busy, lots of bicycles and golf carts, some private, some taxis and some delivery vehicles. No cars on this island. The road was packed sand with lots of puddles. It started raining a couple of times and we ducked under awnings or porch overhangs until it let up.

We stopped at a grocery store. We needed more bug spray (sand flies!) and a little something to eat in the morning before the cafe opens, bread, butter and cream for our coffee. We wanted some fruit too but no luck.

We found the ferry which we will need on Friday when we go to see the ruins. Then we walked back along the water. There is a path winding around all the little resorts on this island. A much prettier way to go!

January 22, 2025

After resting back at the resort for a while we walked into town again for lunch. We tried one place but it wasn’t open. We found another, La Cubana, that looked ok and popped in there, sitting in the back room along the beach. We had only been seated for a few minutes and it started pouring again. Good timing!

We had their “snack plates” for lunch. I had their stewed chicken, which was delicious. Lee had grilled chicken and said it was good too. I had a beer and Lee had a coke zero. We struck up a conversation with some people at another table. One of the guys had traveled in Central America a lot, not 50 years ago, but 30 so we reminisced about how things have changed and how some things seem the same. 

While we were sitting there a group of snorkelers came into the restaurant. They were soaked from getting caught in the rain but they said the snorkeling was great.

We were pretty lazy the rest of the day. At one point we walked out to the dock and sat there for a while but the bugs are just terrible. The water is very shallow and you could just walk into it and swim if you wanted. Almost no waves and very clear with a sandy bottom.

We had another quiet night, ate at the hotel restaurant and in bed by 9. One problem; mosquitoes! Lee had turned down the fan and they started bothering us. It kind of disturbed my sleep. I had songs stuck in my head and couldn’t get comfortable. Another problem was a little water running down the wall. Lee put down his towel so the floor didn’t get wet. Eventually it stopped.

In the morning I got up around 6, started the coffee, and then the power went out. Ugh. It came back, went out again, came back again, and seems to have stayed on since then.

After breakfast (banana pancakes, mmm) we decided to make reservations to go snorkeling on Sunday. The weather is supposed to be better by then. AND we decided to take a small plane back to the airport on Monday. It will be a lot less hassle than taking the ferry, and faster and less bumpy than a small boat.

We rented bikes for the day. They are just beach bikes but that’s all you need around here. We cycled all the way up to the northernmost point of the island which is called the Split. There is a small island that you can take a ferry to and bike around there as well. Maybe tomorrow.

Then we cycled down to the airport and watched one of the puddle jumpers land, right over our heads. That was fun! Traversing most of the island  was about 3.5 miles. It’s just not very big.

We went back to the hotel for a little while and then took our bikes out again to lunch at a little middle eastern place. The owner was originally from Honduras. She had married a man from Jordan but they split up.  I joked “but you kept the recipes!” She laughed. 

Then we tried to find an umbrella but no luck. We bought a couple of ponchos instead, just in case, and I bought a strip of bandaids because I’ve now got a blister on one of my toes from walking around yesterday in flip flops. Sigh.

To Be continued.

Happy Birthday Emi

Emi turns one tomorrow! This year has gone really fast. We are at the airport, on our way to California to help celebrate. There will be a big party on Saturday for family and friends. It’s a Hawaiian thing. We wouldn’t miss it!

It snowed overnight in Minnesota and it’s very  cold and getting colder. But we’ll miss most of it, thank goodness. Its still fairly warm in Palo Alto, highs in the 60’s, lows in the 40’s. Better than here!

Thursday Dec 12

Happy Birthday Emi! We’ll have a little party tonight; the big party is on Saturday.

Yesterday afternoon after we landed we picked up Emi from daycare and then went to look at their new house. It’s nice, in the next town over from Palo Alto, Los Altos. The house is big by California standards. Built in the ’60’s it was recently renovated with a big kitchen, living room, dining room and a large back yard; lots of room for Emi and Rossi! And upstairs there are 4 bedrooms, including a very nice master with a walk in closet. It’s on a quiet cul de sac too. We are excited for them. They’ll move in sometime in January so the next time we visit they’ll be in their new home.

We ate dinner at Yayoi, the Japanese katsu restaurant in Palo Alto. Lee loves it and he didn’t get to go there last time we were here so it was time. I like it ok, but the menu overwhelms me and I never know what to order. I was really hungry too. Their menu is online and you order from a screen at the table, which I also find confusing. This time Daniel found me a paper menu and that helped a lot. I got one of their sushi bites, which are like little nori tacos, with spicy tuna or salmon inside. I shared some gyoza with Emi, who chowed down on dumplings and agadashi tofu. That girl can eat! Then I got a pork cutlet curry. After that I wasn’t hungry any more!

I slept ok last night. I had to get up to pee a lot, and I was awake by 4, but managed to fall asleep again for a little while and slept until around 4:45. Tomorrow will be better. I took my time in the morning but I was out the door for a short run by 7. It had rained overnight but it didn’t rain on my run, and the temps were nice too, low 50’s. I ran 3 miles, came back and showered and then watched Emi while Lee showered and did his stretches. 

Emi can walk now, but still prefers to have one hand holding on to something for balance. And she’s starting to talk too! She says oh-oh, mah mah mah (which means feed me!), hi, bye and babbles conversationally. She’s probably saying more things that we don’t understand. And of course she understands a lot of what we say too. She’s a little imp, very smiley, very curious!

We went for a long walk this morning, figuring that we may not get a walk later this afternoon because it’s supposed to rain again. Emi slept for most of the walk and woke up as soon as we got home. We got a burrito bowl for lunch from Piazza that we shared with Emi and in a little while we’re going to go out and do a little shopping and get a coffee, and she’ll probably take another nap then.

Friday Dec 13

Around 1 we piled in the car. Emi fell asleep again within a couple minutes. She’s expending so much energy on walking and talking that she seems to need a lot of sleep right now. First we went to Target so I could buy some tights. When I packed I grabbed a pair of thin socks instead of tights. The Target was not organized like the ones in Minnesota so it took me awhile to find things. Then we went to get a coffee. We tried a different place, Robu Coffee in Mountain View (since that was where we were). It was good! I got a Vienna Latte, yummy. Then we went to Walgreens to get Lee some arthritis cream; his neck has been bothering him. By the time we got home Emi had been asleep for an hour and a half, and she was still asleep. I sat in the car with her crocheting cause we didn’t want to wake her up. Finally Daniel came and got her. She slept for almost 2 hours!

We all pitched in to make Emi’s birthday dinner. Daniel made the chicken (with lemons from their backyard!). Lee made the roasted root vegetables. I made a salad. Jean and one of Kelsey’s cousins came over for dinner. Jean brought a red velvet birthday cake, but Emi didn’t get any; nothing with added sugar for kids nowadays until they are two years old.

Before dinner we let Emi open presents. She quickly got into the swing of things, ripping the paper off of boxes with a little help from Kelsey. She liked the bumblebee scooter we got her, but it’s a little big for her; only her tiptoes touch the ground when she sits on it. She still played with the antenna and used it as a push toy!

After dinner we sang happy birthday. She stared at us all in bemusement, unsure what it was all about but enjoying the attention.

Dan and Kelsey got Emi a toddler tower and after she went to bed Daniel put it together. It was a bit of an ordeal; at first it didn’t want to connect properly but finally the pieces slid into place. Now she can help in the kitchen! Ha.

Today we’re watching her again. In a bit we’ll go for a walk and later this afternoon we’ll go to Stanford Mall and walk around there.

Saturday Dec 14

Today is Harper’s birthday, 15 years old! I think this is the first time we haven’t been with her on her birthday. We’ll just have to wait to celebrate until we get home.

Today is also the day for Emi’s big birthday party. It’s a Hawaiian thing, to have a big party for a one year old. There are relatives coming from as far away as Hawaii and Seattle.

There was a LOT of rain last night, and thunder and lightening too, unusual for California. I decided it was probably better to wait and run tomorrow.

Yesterday we had Pho for lunch from the Vietnamese place nearby. It was good, but very filling. We decided against going to Stanford Mall; instead we just got in the car and drove around, getting coffee, doing errands. Our plan was that Emi would take her nap in the car again but it didn’t work out. We went to the hardware store, drove to their new house again, drove through the Los Altos downtown, which is cute. It’s a little too far to walk to from their house, but it would be very bike-able if they get into that. 

We also drove their car through the car wash and I got them some car wash gift certificates to stick in their stockings.

Then we went back to the house, with Emi still awake. When Dan and Kelsey finished working they needed to go to Target so they took Emi with them. THEN she finally fell asleep!

We went to a new burger place for dinner, near Piazza. It was pretty good, steak burgers basically, like Steak and Shake, with beer, wine, and cocktails. Emi ate a LOT of hamburger. Then Kelsey’s parents came over with one of her aunts and uncles and we watched Emi walk and play for a while. All of a sudden on her birthday Emi’s walking a lot more. It’s like there’s a tipping point where all of a sudden walking becomes a preferable mode of transportation. She still reverts to crawling, but very gradually, less and less.

Sunday Dec 15

Yesterday was a big day, Emi’s big party. Overnight we had a big storm, including thunder and lightening, rare in California. In the morning it was still raining so I decided to put off my run until Sunday. Around 10 AM we loaded everything in the car and headed to the venue to get things set up. The party was in a brewery in Menlo Park, Hapa Brewery. We had half the brewery reserved. We had a photo booth with a nice backdrop and a balloon arch. The theme was wild animals so some of the balloons were animals and there were animal ear headbands for people to wear if they wanted.

We had games for kids to play, a big connect 4, and a giant jenga. The brewery provided food, and they had a drinks tab too.

They had invited around 40 people and I think most of them came. By 12 o’clock people were arriving, taking pictures, admiring Emi in her little white dress, drinking beer, eating cupcakes (thanks Jean!) and talking. The guests were a mix of Dan and Kelsey’s friends and Kelsey’s relatives, some of whom came from as far away as Seattle and Hawaii! Like I said, first birthday=big deal.

Kelsey made a smash cake for Emi, no added sugar (but maple syrup), and a yogurt icing. We placed it in front of Emi and sang happy birthday. Emi wanted nothing to do with the cake at all! It’s funny how all my grandkids have had a different reaction to a smash cake. Leo picked off the blueberries but wasn’t interested in the cake. Kirby was VERY interested in the cake, but had a hard time getting a grip on it, it kept rolling around on his high chair tray. And Emi - nope!

The party was supposed to be over at 2 but people were having so much fun that it didn’t really begin to wrap up until 3. I think it was just a lot of people that like each other and maybe hadn’t seen each other for a while. But by 3:30 we had everything packed up and the party was over.

But not the partying! We stopped at the house long enough to unload some stuff from the car (and for me to change out of my dress). Then we drove over to Craig and Jean’s. Some of Kelsey’s Aunts and Uncles were staying with them so we visited and ate dinner there. We had some of the leftovers from the party, plus some apps, poke, salmon, steak, potato salad. Craig had some whiskey from Japan that we had to sample too. We finally said our goodbyes around 7:30 and headed home.

Emi was exhausted and so were we. Lee and I were in bed by 8:30 and I turned out the lights before 9. I slept well too, really for the first time since we came. I was tired!

In the morning it was cold, but the sun was shining and there wasn’t any wind. I was up around 5:30 and out for a run before 7. It was chilly; I wore both my running shirts, and my gloves, but not my headband.

Around 9:30 we drove over to Stanford Mall. We got coffee and rolls and then walked along a trail in a nearby park. Then we did a little shopping, or at least window shopping. I’ve decided I need a new ski parka. I tried on one in North Face that was pretty close to what I’m looking for but it was a little snug around the hips and maybe a little longer than what I want. Kelsey bought a few Christmas presents. Then we went over to Patagonia. I thought for sure they would have what I was looking for, but no. 

Then we went to the Town and Country shopping center to get Emi new shoes. She’s already grown out of her first pair! She loves her new shoes and wanted to walk everywhere in them!

Now I’m sitting back at their house while everyone else went over to their new house. Lee and Dan want to map out their breakers and maybe install the video doorbell. Kelsey is going to walk around and think about furniture placement and decorating. And Emi will probably have a bottle and take a nap!

We headed home early on Monday. It was a great trip and we'll see them again in a week, when they come to Minnesota for Christmas.