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The Red Dogwood Tree

The Mi-Wuk Indian’s have a saying,  “Winter isn’t over until it snows on the dogwoods.” This Indian proverb has held true every year since we’ve moved to the Sierras.

Our family was tooling around Twain Harte yesterday. The sun was shining brightly, fluffy clouds filled the soft blue hue on the horizon, there was a slight nip in the air that was more refreshing than bothersome.

The Red Flowering Dogwood Trees were in full bloom, a sight to behold. I had intended on snapping up some pictures of the daffodils too, which were in bloom all over town.

It had rained all night long and most of the day, so this brief display of warming sun was very refreshing.

We stopped in to do some shopping at the Twain Harte Pharmacy, when we came out of the store, it began to rain down hail like crazy and me without a camera. I raced home to get a camera and the hail stopped just as abruptly as it had started.

CDF Prescribed Burn

The traffic was light between Twain Harte exits on Highway 108. A CDF fire crew from the Department of Corrections was out, working in the rain trimming the trees and brush from beside the highway, then burning the clippings.

I was beginning to feel a little sorry for them being out in the nasty weather until one of them gave me a one-finger salute, while I was snapping up pictures for this article.

I could tell that my attempts at getting pictures of them working on the clean-up, were making the prison guards nervous, which was not my intent at all. Since visibility was so poor at the time, I gave up. I am not sure which was worse the smoke or the fog.

Today I awoke to a lovely white blanket of snow. Could winter finally be over? You can’t tell by looking outside but this could very well be our last snow of the season. There is no way to know for sure. Last year, or maybe it was the year before, they closed down Tiago Pass in June due to a bad snow storm.  That storm took everyone by surprise.

A winter storm warning is still in effect for the Mother Lode until 6:00 p.m. this evening. When I last checked, chains were required past Pinecrest, but with the new snow, it’s a pretty good bet that chains will be required at all points east of Twain Harte. Drive safe.

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My son came home yesterday and brought me the first daffodil of the season. I just love daffodils they are so bright and cheerful, they just remind me of the hope that springtime brings.

Little Miss Sandy Cat

This year the fleas are worse than I can remember in recents years. I felt so sorry for our cat, she was so miserable that we called the local vets and found a miracle product we had not previously heard of, called CapStar by Novartis. We were amazed to find that it actually works. While it doesn’t kill eggs, it takes about 30-minutes to begin killing any live fleas on your pet. The product is available for both cats and dogs.

We purchased two CapStar tablets recommended by the Alpine Animal Hospital in Sonora, they run about $7.00 a piece. Our precious cat, Sandy was so happy to have them gone but we knew it would provide only temporary relief. We ended up treating the yard and then we fogged the house. With all the fleas gone we could relax a little but we still needed to be mindful of the newly hatching eggs.

We started reading everything we could find online to learn about the life-cycle of fleas, so that we could eradicate them totally. It was during our research that we discovered another Novartis product called Program that works for both cats and dogs. Program is available in both a monthly tablet or an injection that lasts for 6-months. We made an appointment and took Sandy in for an injection today at Sierra Veterinary Care.

I am pleased to report she hasn’t had any adverse reaction to either the CapStar tablets or the injection. She seems to be back to her happy self and I am happy to know that we are well on our way to being rid of the nasty little creatures that have invaded our space.

We’ve had absolutely perfect weather this week. The sun has been shining, the flowers are blooming and Twain Harte is a wonderful place to be — without the fleas. If you are planning a trip to the Twain Harte area and you plan to bring your pets — everyone does — don’t forget the flea collar or some form of protection. Your pet will thank you later for being mindful of his or her well-being.

Keeping up with these blog posts is proving to be quite the challenge. Especially, since I attempt to journal the local happenings for locals and weekenders alike, not an easy task when one rarely leaves the house this time of year.

I take that back; I have been out. I have been receiving allergy treatments at the Sonora Allergy Center; isn’t technology simply amazing? I can still recall connecting to local BBS’s via a 300 baud modem — talk about slow. It would take ten minutes to connect to another telephone line, which scrolled red words on a black screen. We were enthralled by the possibilities.

It also beats the heck out of having allergy shots, inhalers and I believe taking Prednisone was the absolute worst. There are a lot of rules that go along with this type of treatment but the investment is small compared to the results. I’ve had two treatments so far, but I have already noticed a difference. I wonder what fascinating new things we will learn about the body in the next ten years.

As for the weather. It’s been mild, traffic has been light to moderate, we’ve had a few snow flurries in the late to early morning hours but nothing to write home to mother about. We’ve had the pellet stove stoked giving off a peaceful warmth. Call me crazy, but I just love the smell of burning wood in a fireplace, a pellet stove isn’t quite the same but it’s still nice.

Tomorrow the Celtic Festival kicks off — Friday is Family Day. We have plans to get treated again tomorrow, so it appears we may miss it again this year. Darn. If you attend, I would love to hear all about it. Drop me a line.