I've been at a bit of a loss for words lately. I know I go through these silent-spells from time to time, but this one seems to be lasting longer than usual.

Maybe some of it is being busy. The wildlife symposium was in town last week. So I was there most of the day, every day, all week.

Of course there's also been work drama going on (this time not involving me, thank god) which has made this place like some sort of parallel-universe station lately. I think we may all be going a bit loony with the talks of job losses etc. But I suppose that's par for the course.

I took the pup out with me to friends' cabin over the weekend. I was trying to remember when was the last time I got out there... and I think it might have been November. It was nice to just get out of town. I think that's something I will have to remember when life gets irritating in my future-life. When you get antsy, just go for a drive. A drive and a relax, somewhere nice and quiet.

Just don't do it when it's -40.

But the pup loved it. It's amazing how much he's grown up/mellowed out in the past 8 months. Granted, he was still running around outside like his life depended on it... but once inside, he just puttered around like the good little dude that he is.

Now of course I'm freaking out though because since we got home his left eye has been bothering him. He blinks it at least 2-3 times as much as he blinks his right eye... and it looks a bit swollen... aka his left eye looks smaller than his right. Now I'm paranoid because maybe he got some sort of arctic-hare disease when he was out rolling around on the tundra. The whole idea of having a sick pet is just really scary up here. We don't have a vet. Ever. We have a guy who has a bunch of dogs who sometimes gives pets rabies shots. But that's it.

I think he's probably okay. He's got some goopy-ness going on, which my expert medical training tells me means he's got some sort of irritant in there and his eye is trying to expell it so he can go back to normal... but seriously, if his eye swells shut any more I'm putting him on the Skidoo and taking him to Page and John. They'll be able to tell me what to do.