Hello friends of our blogs from Ry/Ree and Huxley.

Ashara and I have been posting blogs here (on Kajabi) and on Substack for the past several months. We basically write on one platform, then duplicate on the other platform.

Ashara likes to write in Kajabi and copy to Substack.

Me - just the opposite. I write in Substack and copy to Kajabi. Oh my!

Imagine the amount of time we are using (ok, wasting) by duplicating our efforts.

WHYYYYY are we doing this?

Well, our website is hosted [tech-speak for where it lives] on Kajabi and since there is a way to write blogs there we have been doing just that for a long time. It's fairly easy but takes time to put it all together, plus setting up and scheduling the email that you get in your inbox. 

Bet you didn't know that. You see the email with a short lead-in and a button to click that let's you read the full blog post.

Frankly at this point in life writing blog posts on ONE PLATFORM IS SUFFICIENT, AMPLE, and candidly-speaking, GOOD!

St...

A friend of mine has been playing around with AI and making avatars, and she made one for Ree (who used to be Ry, but people kept calling him a bread. Since we'll continue to spell his name correctly around home and at the vet, in public print his name shall be spelled REE.).

So I want to use one of these avatars as the new face of this blog. I need your help. Which one of these two pictures do you like better?

PICTURE A - IGNORE the background and look at the cat only.

PICTURE B - IGNORE the background, and look at the cat only.

Which on pulls at your heartstrings more? Which one would you like to see on the Blog email?

I have to admit, AI and I are not friends, but when it comes to this sort of thing, well, Ree has come to life in a way I never imagined.

So what do you think?

Picture A? Picture B?

Sometimes they'll involve the dogs (sorry, cats). Sometimes they won't.

Now that we're in an area we don't know much about, it's time to explore!

Last Wednesday, we took the dogs to Kehoe Beach, which is within The Point Reyes National Seashore. We've been landlocked for a long time. It was good to see the Pacific.

Part of the beach you can take dogs. The other part, beware! Dogs stay away!

It's about a half-mile walk to the beach itself, which was fine until we got to the sand dunes, and then it was a tough slog. I'm glad we have an elderly dog, because I can blame our slowness on him (sorry, Niko). We were both panting by the time we got to the beach. Rest ensued.

Niko, the Dad, and Amy (Bernadette was behind me)

It was a glorious day, not too hot, not too sunny, and walking along the beach with the woofs was great fun. And cats, you would have been completely turned off by this place, except that it looked like a huge litter box. Water. Waves. Birds that would fight you for ...

I know it's been quiet. Maybe for you, ha ha ha, but for me, the hubs, the dogs, cats and horses, it's been a whirlwind.

We are finally in California at our new place, and this is what it looks like:

We haven't moved in a while. It's been almost 10 years, and for me, that's practically a lifetime. From the time I was 21, until this last move, I've moved 38 times. Most of those were before I was 40. Then I got together with Glenn and things really slowed down. This is only our 9th move together, and there was, as I said 10 years between the last move and this one. It's a lot of boxes, and of course the older you get the more stuff you have. You should have seen what we sold/gave away!

But enough about that. How did the animals fare?

We downsized considerably, going from 40 acres of wide open spaces to a beautiful 55+ community in Sonoma, California, where we have a large yard all fenced in for the dogs, and the cats have a new house to explore. The cats are waiting patiently (for ...

It’s a typical spring day in Colorado - snow in the morning, sun in the mid-morning, rain squalls in the afternoon and WIND all day long!

You know it’s windy when our bird friends hang out in the trees all day!

How windy was it yesterday?

Let’s just say that no one in our tree was eager to leave the cozy warmth of our nest.

You go first.  No, YOU go first!

Did you know that wind is often seen as a sign of change, and songs have been written about it?

Glenn mentioned that “Dust in the Wind,” a song by Kansas, is a ballad about how life is fleeting and everything eventually turns to dust. The lyrics suggest that everything in life is temporary, and we’re all just “dust in the wind.”

We call this idea impermanence. Everything and everyone is constantly changing, and eventually, we all leave this world.

That’s life!

Another famous song is “Against the Wind” by Bob Seger, which became one of his biggest hits. It tells the story of a journey through life, the challenges of stay...

We're not talking about silence (as in "I asked her a question and got...crickets.").

We're talking about actual crickets.

Did you know some crickets change their "crick" based on the temperature? Neither did I. A physicist called Amos E Dolbear did some research on his neighborhood crickets, and noticed that when the temperature went up, so did their chirps.

Sans down jacket. Photo by Skyler Ewing via Pexels

I wonder if the crickets were lamenting "it's hot, it's hot, it'shot, it'shot, itshotitshotitshotitshot." And when the temperature goes down, before they don their down jackets, they're saying "brrr, brrrr, brrrrr, brrrrrrr, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

Actually crickets are cold-blooded, so it's harder for them to move around when the weather is cooler, despite the down jackets.

Here's a cool article about crickets and their sounds: 

Cricket Story (thanks to Interestingfacts.com)

 Do you have crickets in your neighborhood? Give them a listen. Are they going fast or slow? How does...

Great for snow dogs, okay for squirrels, not so much for cats.

My human friend, Glenn and his family live on the eastern plains of Colorado with a spectacular view of the Rocky Mountains from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak and far off to the west.

The snowiest months in Colorado are:

• December - Often marks the beginning of the snow season with significant snowfall.

• January - Typically the snowiest month, with consistent winter storms.

• February - Continues the trend of heavy snowfall, especially in the mountains.

• March - Can bring substantial snow, particularly in late winter storms.

• April - Often sees spring snowstorms, contributing to total snowfall.

• November - Occasionally experiences early season snow, setting the stage for winter.

This winter season was anything but typical. The total amount of snow for 2025-2026 winter and spring seasons is very low. In fact, snowpack levels across Colorado are currently 37% of normal. Colorado's annual average snowf...

The other day I overheard my human friend Glenn, who by the way says, “How YOU Doin’?”chat with his friend (we’ll call him Earle) about the anxiety Earle has in these emotionally charged and frightening times. As they were talking Earle expressed that he ‘feels like he's holding his breath waiting for the other shoe to drop’.

From an enlightened squirrel’s perspective - that is NO WAY TO LIVE!

My heart ached when I heard that. Even knowing that Earle was struggling so much even after Glenn sat with him late into the night listening and asking questions that only Earle could answer.

• Can you relate to Earle and see what’s happening in the world?

• Can you feel where he’s at right now and do you share his perspective?

• If you could wouldn’t you want to help Earle and anyone else who feels the same?

How you can help.

Humans have great capacity for offering compassion to other humans. There are many stories shared in the forest about humans showing compassion for oth...

Isn’t it funny how nature doesn’t usually like picky eaters? Most animals, except for humans, usually go for the easier, nearby meal instead of the more delicious snack that takes a bit of effort to get. It makes perfect sense when survival is on the line; favorite foods often take a backseat to the more accessible, even if less tasty, options.

HUH!

But guess what? Some new research suggests that at least one species, the fabulous squirrel, is willing to put in the extra effort if it means getting a taste of their favorite dish. In a study recently published in the journal Animal Behavior, researchers at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, where my squirrel cousins bark with an accent, explained that wild gray squirrels will often ignore the food in front of them and climb to reach a highly favored alternative.

“This suggests that in natural decision-making scenarios, it may sometimes be beneficial for animals to wait or work harder for a better outcome,” explained study...

Who's a bird watcher?

Here is Colorado we've got some pretty cool birds. The magpies are so nifty - Heckle and Jeckle in real life. Does anyone remember them? They were a couple of jokers in tuxedos who happened to be birds, and were always wreaking havoc in the cartoons. It wasn't until I moved to Colorado that I realized WHY Heckle and Jeckle were wearing tuxedos.

Magpie in our barn, Heckle looking for Jeckle

There's also the Bluebird of Happiness. Saw one in our cherry tree today. I mean, bright blue. Didn't look real, except it was flapping its wings and flitting around.

 BlueBird in a Cherry Tree - photo by Skyler Ewing (Pexels)

And then there's Meadowlarks. We always know spring has arrived because the Meadowlarks have come back. We've got a lot of them this year, and they're like a chorus of rambunctious teenagers in our fields. They also sit on the power cables and look down at us mere mortals, serenading us all day long.

It's such a wonderful sound. I love the heral...