Saturday, March 28, 2020

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. Mattie was home between treatments and I had no idea Peter snapped this photo of us. But this photo captured the mood in our home. It portrays  what we managed daily, and it was even harder to help Mattie when we were at home versus in the hospital. At home we had no support, and the days and nights were LONG and challenging. What I think this photo also illustrates was that the emotional issues were not only felt by Mattie but by me and Peter as well.


Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• number of people diagnosed with the virus: 119,748
• number of people who died from the virus: 1,991

My zumba instructor does a virtual class THREE times a week. Apparently Peter snapped a photo of me this morning. Notice Sunny was staying close!

For over a week, Sunny has been dealing with a problem with his back right leg. Fortunately he was examined by a vet last week and had xrays. So we know his issue is only muscular. Today, Sunny began limping again, so we reduced the lengths of his walks and put him on his prescribed muscle relaxer. Certainly giving a dog medication is a lot easier than giving it to a cat. Yet this particular medication Sunny detests. I have tried putting the muscle relaxant into his usual favorites. But he landed up eating everything but the pills. Thank goodness for pill pockets (a treat to hide pills in). Fortunately I had a package at home and since Sunny never gets these treats, he seems to like them, pill and all. 

Though Sunny is dealing with muscular pain, he had no problem tracking down this squirrel and barking his head off.

Between our Sunny walks and this long walk in Alexandria today, we walked close to 8 miles today. 

Typically Peter and I walk with Sunny. But today we walked with our friends Ann and Bob. We did as best we could to walk many feet apart. 

Part of our walk took us on the Bluemont Junction Trail. It is a 1.2-mile asphalt-paved rail trail in Arlington County, Virginia, that the Arlington County government constructed along a former branch of the defunct Washington and Old Dominion Railroad.

This path was a first for me!

Bluemont Junction began operation in 1912 as a part of the newly formed Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railway. The station was a busy transfer point for passengers and freight from Alexandria and Georgetown to points west, ending at Bluemont, Virginia - a popular resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains. During the peak years of passenger service, from 1912 and into the 1920s, trains ran between Georgetown and Bluemont Junction every 10-20 minutes. Passenger service ended in 1951, but freight continued until 1968 when the W&OD went out of business. The W&OD Trail from Shirlington to Purcellville follows the former railroad right-of-way.

There were once mail trains, freight trains, milk trains and even passenger trains that once stopped at this station.