HinesSight

My defense of leaf blowers (we live in the country)

I realize that leaf blowers are controversial. The gas-powered blowers are noisy. If I lived in the city, I'd find them annoying.

But my wife and I live on ten acres in rural south Salem, where a leaf blower is not only unobjectionable for our distant neighbors, but a necessity for what I call the Leaf War I engage in every autumn.

It's a strange sort of war, because I don't have a gripe with the numerous large oaks that surround our house, nor the deciduous trees that grace our large yard. They're just doing their leaf-dropping thing in accord with nature. 

Still, as I wrote about in a November 10, 2010 blog post -- the same time of year -- we have managed to create our own leaf battlefield by virtue of the landscaping decisions we've made during the 29 years we've lived here.

I have, you see, come to a understanding of the Meaning of Leaves after twenty years of dealing with them on our non-easy-care yard out here in rural south Salem (Oregon).

They simply do what nature would have them do. Leaves aren't out to drive me crazy come October and November, though sometimes in my darker leaf disposal moments it seemed that way.

If a James Bond movie featured an evil genius who was out to destroy the sanity of an arch-rival through malevolent leaf-manipulations, he would design a house with landscaping just like ours, arrange to have his enemy move into it, and then wait for him to fall apart.

Quite a few large oaks surround our home.

So no matter which way the wind is blowing, a massive amount of oak leaves will end up in our yard. Different trees also lose their leaves at different times, so just when I figure they're almost all picked up, the oaks do their tag-team thing and one will throw down a fresh bunch of leaves.

To make matters worse -- a lot worse -- our yard is filled with rocks, ground cover, heather, and other features which look great most of the time, yet become leaf magnets in the fall.

In addition, we've planted many deciduous trees over the past couple of decades. So the overall situation I'm faced with can be simply described as a leaf nightmare. At least, that's how I used to look upon it before I became a Taoist leaf-collection sage.

The key to my Taoist sage'ness is a marvelous piece of machinery, a Stihl backpack blower. I love it so much!

Over the years I've developed a leaf blowing routine that works so wonderfully, I'm highly resistant to giving it up on the occasions my wife says, "Are you sure you want to deal with the leaves again this year? We could hire someone."

I say "No way," in part because if we did hire someone, I'd turn into a grumpy old man who follows them around and critiques how they're handling the leaf removal process, because it wouldn't be exactly as how I do it.

This afternoon I set out on the third 2019 battle in my Leaf War. By this time of year most of the oak leaves have fallen. But at our rural house "most" simply means that a heck of a lot still remain. This area featuring native Oregon grape that I planted about five years ago usually is where I start, because it's a prime battlefield for me.

Here's the culprit: a large oak, or actually four oak trees whose trunks have fused into a single massive leaf generating powerhouse. Oak trees grow slowly. However, I'm confident that over the past 29 years this tree cluster has come to produce considerably more leaves than when we moved here in 1990.

Which means, as I said in the previous blog post, there's a divergent trend line between my age and the amount of leaves that fall in our yard.

Along that line, it dawned on me as I was dealing with leaves last weekend that the trees on our property are steadily growing bigger, hence leafier, at the same time my vitality is on a shrinking trajectory. So every year the leaves likely will be more numerous while my ability to handle them diminishes (slowly, I hope; so far my 62 year old body feels just as leaf-collecting capable as it always has).

Well, at the moment I inhabit a 71 year old body, and I was pleased to find that I still could handle a couple of hours of leaf duty just fine. I actually enjoy leaf blowing, since there's a considerable amount of philosophy wrapped up with it. I'll quote myself again. 

Dealing with leaves has taught me a lot about life.

I've learned that I can't control what happens naturally. I'd prefer that all of the trees drop their leaves at the same time, so I could pick them up over the course of a week rather than a month. However, nature doesn't operate in accord with my preferences (if it did, I'd still look like I did when I was twenty).

I've learned that perfection isn't possible. I can't collect every leaf, nor would I want to. Our yard looks better when it has a rustic flavor to it, rather than artificially manicured.

I've learned that slow and steady is better than fast and erratic. I no longer wear myself out trying to extract stuck leaves from bushes, heather, and such at the same time as I'm doing the main leaf-collection deed. There will be time to refine the look of our yard during the (occasional) dry days of winter, when I enjoy picking up those stuck leaves by hand.

I've learned that I'm not the center of the leaf-universe. Though I'll admit that we've cut down a few scrubby oaks in our yard mostly because they were annoying leaf-droppers, I've come to look upon myself as an interloper in the much longer life span of the large oaks.

Some of them, we've been told by arborists, are well over 200 years old. They may have been growing during the Revolutionary War. Certainly during the War of 1812. Those oaks were here long before me, and some or all will be here long after me.

This year we had a crew do a lot of brush and small tree removal around several sides of our house, mostly for wildfire control purposes. A side benefit was that the additional open space gives me more room to blow leaves into areas where they'll decay, with no need to carry them away.

This is the area where the four-trunked oak leaves are blown. Today was a great day for leaf blowing, dry, calm, and not too cold. It's possible to blow damp leaves, but it takes a lot longer. Ditto for when its windy.

This tree produces small delicate leaves that are a pleasant contrast to large crusty oak leaves. I especially enjoy blowing its leaves, though the numerous ferns my wife planted between the tree and the edge of our lawn act as leaf magnets, catching leaves under their lower fronds, which requires me to do my leaf blowing from various directions to extract them.

I do get mildly irritated at the leaves in our yard after a few hours of dealing with them. But mostly my attitude is gratitude that we're able to live in a home with such beautiful surroundings, and that I'm still capable of soldiering on each year in my Leaf War. Here's a final quote from my 2010 post.

My wife and I bought our home when we were about 40. The sellers were a couple in their 60's who said they'd gotten to the point where they couldn't handle the upkeep on the house and property anymore.

For a long time, when someone asked how we ended up here I'd say, "We bought from an elderly couple who'd found the house had become too much trouble to deal with." Now, for obvious reasons related to our birthdates, I change "elderly" to "in their 60s."

I'm grateful that I'm still able and willing to blow, rake, and carry the mountains of leaves that fall in our yard each year. I hope to be able to carry on with my annual leafy get-together for a long time. Yet I realize that one year will be the last year I'm able to do this.

Almost certainly I won't be able to anticipate when that will be. Death and disability usually don't announce their impending arrival with any sort of calendarish precision. So all I can do is continue flowing with the leaf-falling as if this time could be the final time.

There would be worse ways to take a last breath than with a Stihl blower on my back, engaged in dealing with the recurring cycle of tree-life. Way worse ways.

Here's my pitch to be in a Subaru commercial

Hey, Subaru, I'm available. To be in one of your commercials. Here's my pitch. I don't have an agent, yet, so you'll need to contact me directly to take advantage of this oh-so-great offer.

Lincoln has Matthew McConaughey. Subaru can have Brian Hines. Why? Because...

I'm a 70-something baby boomer who, until today, looked upon the Subaru Crosstrek with amusement. Perhaps even with some disdain.

Yeah, I saw them everywhere here in Salem, Oregon, along with Subaru Foresters, Outbacks, and other models with outdoorsy names. Sometimes the Lifesource Natural Foods parking lot has so many Subarus in it, I thought the store had become a used Subaru dealer.

But after my wife and I owned a suitably boring Legacy in the early 1990s, I turned to more exciting cars. Most recently, I spent five happy years with a Mini Cooper S, which turned into three years with my even more pleasurable VW GTI.

Today, though, I drove the GTI to Capitol Subaru to test drive a 2019 Crosstrek Limited. I adore small cars. I'd studied the Crosstrek because I liked its subcompact size and all-wheel-drive (it's just eight inches longer than the decidedly small GTI). 

However, I couldn't get past the reviews that talked about the underpowered Crosstrek engine and lack of driving excitement. A few days ago something changed in my psyche, though.

I began thinking to myself, Maybe at the age of 71 I've had enough of fast cars that handle great. Perhaps it's time for a new phase in my car life. 

So I took out a Crosstrek this afternoon with Capitol Subaru salesman Rafael Vargas in the passenger seat. He was appealingly low-key as I talked about how I'd read so much about the Crosstrek, and watched so many You Tube reviews of the car, I didn't need any convincing about the Crosstrek's many positive features.

What I needed to decide was whether I could make the jump from the quintessential "hot hatchback," my much-beloved GTI, to the decidedly cooler Crosstrek.

Bottom line was: I enjoyed driving the Subaru.

Yes, it won't win any drag races, but it had a decent amount of power. The Crosstrek could use more, so maybe Subaru could emulate the Hyundai Kona and put a turbocharged engine with a dual clutch transmission in an upcoming model.

But like I said, after eight years of driving the Mini Cooper S and VW GTI, there was something appealing about driving a solid, highly safe, comfortable car that offers the best all-wheel-drive system in its price range (and maybe any price range).

Since we live in rural south Salem where our road never gets any attention from the county when it is snowy or icy, a Crosstrek with winter tires would suit me just fine when the extremes of winter weather that will accompany global climate change hit, as they almost certainly will despite several mild recent winters.

Plus, the Crosstrek interior reminded me of my VW GTI in a good way (Crosstrek shown above).

Simple. Clean. Driver-oriented. I liked how the center main screen is set into the dashboard, rather than perching on top of it as in many new cars. That's how the GTI does it also, though in the GTI the screen is angled slightly toward the driver rather than facing straight out.

So I've asked Dan Penick, the Internet sales guy at Capitol Subaru who was my first contact, to let me know when the 2020 Crosstrek Limited is available in a suitable color. My first choice is the weirdly named "Cool Gray Khaki" -- since from what I can tell it is neither gray nor khaki, as shown above in a Reddit post I found.

There aren't many 2019 Crosstreks available, and the 2020 models wlll come with some improvements, so that's why I'm waiting for a 2020.

I also will be waiting to hear from the Subaru ad agency about when they want me to start filming. I'm not greedy. Giving me a 2020 Crosstrek Limited at no charge would be payment enough to start with, Subaru.

Toyota and GM side with Trump on mileage standards. Bad move, carmakers.

Thanks for nothing, Toyota and GM.

It's deeply irritating that you've chosen to join with the Trump administration in challenging the longstanding federal law that has allowed California and 12 other states to require stricter auto emissions than the national standard.

A LA Times opinion piece, "By siding with Trump on emissions, GM, Chrysler and Toyota are asking for industry chaos," describes what's at stake here.

General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota say the reason they’re backing the Trump administration in its assault on California’s decades-old campaign to reduce auto emissions is to avoid fragmenting the industry in search of a single national environmental standard.

Yet by their action, they’re widening a gulf between four other major automakers that have voluntarily agreed to comply with California standards and the rest of the industry.

What’s wrong with this picture?

...For all their talk about wanting a single national emissions standard, GM, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota are fomenting a split within their own industry, since Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen reached agreement with California earlier this year to voluntarily honor the state’s standards. That agreement drew fire from the administration, in the form of an antitrust investigation launched by the Department of Justice.

The risk in the move by GM, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota is that it will harden the positions of both the Trump administration and California, leaving the dispute to remain in the lap of federal courts. That’s a formula for years of uncertainty over emissions and mileage standards, which the industry rightly fears most.

The truth is that what’s happening is a political fight launched by Trump against California, which he sees (rightly) as a progressive bulwark against his retrograde policymaking. The rollback of emissions standards and the attack on California’s authority to set its own rules are merely part of a broader war, which most recently has comprised an attack on the state’s cap-and-trade program and threats to withdraw federal highway funds.

This is a dumb move by GM and Toyota. Fiat Chrysler also, but who buys their vehicles?

My wife and I have bought quite a few Toyotas: several Prius', several Highlanders, a MR2 way back when, and just this year, a RAV4 Hybrid.

And we've leased three Chevy Volts, which had great environmental credentials, being a plug-in hybrid with about 50 miles of all-electric range in its final iteration. (GM has discontinued the Volt, sadly.)

Now, I'm not saying that we'll never buy another Toyota or GM car. But knowing that these carmakers have chosen to side with the Trump administration on allowing higher auto emissions sure doesn't make us more likely to buy one of their vehicles.

On the flip side, I now feel more inclined to buy another Volkswagen to replace my much-beloved GTI -- either the eighth generation GTI, or the upcoming electric crossover, the Crozz.

It's unfortunate that buying a car now has political overtones. But the Trump administration chose to challenge California, and automakers are having to pick sides. 

Here's an interesting Twitter graphic that shows how various automakers have done mileage-wise and emissions-wise. Toyota is going in the wrong direction.

Volkswagen, please sell a plug-in hybrid Mk8 Golf in the U.S.

I'm conflicted. I love my 2017 VW GTI. Yet I also love our one and only planet Earth and want to do my part to reduce the carbon emissions that are fueling dangerous global warming.

Last Thursday I avidly watched streaming video of the rollout of the eighth generation Golf in Wolfsburg, Germany. Externally it looks pleasingly like the seventh generation Golf, with the same clean lines.

But there are lots of improvements that sound really cool. A VW media release provides details. What got my environmental juices flowing was this section of the release.

Five hybrid drives for the new Golf
With the new Golf, Volkswagen has started a hybrid offensive. As the first model of the brand, the eighth Golf will be available in no less than five hybrid drive versions. Its debut also celebrates 48V technology: a belt starter generator, 48V lithium-ion battery and the latest generation of efficient TSI engines form a new mild hybrid drive in the eTSI. Tangible benefits: consumption has been cut by up to 10% (on the basis of WLTP) and the vehicle is extremely agile and comfortable when moving off. Volkswagen will offer the Golf in three eTSI output stages: 81 kW / 110 PS, 96 kW / 130 PS and 110 kW / 150 PS.

The eighth generation of the best-seller will also be available as two plug-in hybrid drive variants. A new efficiency version generates 150 kW / 204 PS while the very sporty GTE delivers 180 kW / 245 PS. Both Golf versions with plug-in hybrid drives will launch with a new 13 kWh lithium-ion battery on board that enables larger electrically powered ranges of approximately 60 kilometres, and temporarily turns the Golf into a zero-emissions vehicle.

My wife and I have leased three Chevy Volts, a plug-in hybrid that had about 50 miles of range in its most recent version. (Chevolet has discontinued the Volt, sadly.)

I didn't like the Volt nearly as much as my wife did, preferring my VW GTI, but the idea of being able to drive on pure electric power around town, then have a limitless gasoline range for occasional longer trips really appealed to both of us.

VW says in the media release that the Golf plug-in hybrids will have a 60 km range, which is 37 miles. I'd buy either an eighth generation regular Golf or a Golf GTI instantly if it was a plug-in hybrid. Problem is, VW has only announced that the GTI and high performance R models will be sold in the United States.

And so far as I know, there's been no announcement of whether any of the five hybrid drives will make it to this country. I sure hope so. The only glimmer of hope I've been able to discern in my Googling of Golf Mk8 is a Green Car Reports story, "VW Golf unveiled: no more EV, more plug-in options, but diesel remains." 

The gas-powered models—a 1.0-liter, 1.5-liter, or 2.0-liter—will be the most popular among buyers around the world, and only the 2.0-liter is slated to reach U.S. shores officially. VW hinted that a plug-in hybrid version of the Golf could make it to the States—potentially a GTE version—but hasn't yet confirmed any plans.

...The plug-in hybrid powertrains pair a 1.4-liter turbo-4 to an electric drive motor and 13-kwh lithium-ion battery. Although a range-focused version will be sold overseas, a performance-minded GTE will be sold alongside those versions—and perhaps the U.S.

Well, at least the story says "potentially" and "perhaps" in regard to a plug-in hybrid Golf being sold in the United States. I sure hope this happens. So much so, yesterday I sent this email to a media relations person in Germany whose name and email address appeared in media releases that popped up in my VW twitter feed.

Mr. Schroeder, I’m a happy owner of a 2017 GTI (Autobahn trim) who lives in the United States and follows the VW Twitter account. I watched the rollout of the Mk8 Golf last Thursday with avid attention.

Of course, no mention was made of the Mk8 GTI. But I loved that VW is making a plug-in hybrid version of the new Golf. Unfortunately, only the GTI and R versions appear to be coming to the United States, and there’s no word as to whether either will be available as a plug-in hybrid.

 

I hope we in the U.S. get a plug-in Golf. I love my GTI, but I also love the environment. I’m 71 and don’t have all that many years left to do my part to slow or stop global warming.

 

I’ve made a deposit on the upcoming Tesla Model Y, which will offer AWD, high performance, and zero emissions. So sometime next year I’ll have to decide between the Model Y and some other vehicle. 

 

Yes, I realize VW has the Crozz coming to the United States. But given Tesla’s proven history with electric cars, and VW’s lack of history, by comparison, it’d be difficult for me to buy the Crozz over the Model Y. However, if VW offered a plug-in hybrid GTI with 30-40 miles of range, I’d buy it instantly.

 

My wife and I have leased three Chevy Volts, so we’re familiar with the advantages of plug-in hybrids. Almost all of our driving can be done on pure electric power, while a gasoline engine takes away the range anxiety of long distance drives. 

 

Anyway, since I noted your name as a media contact (I have a blog where I write about cars occasionally, so I guess I’m “media”), I wanted to express these thoughts to you. The Mk8 Golf looks to be a great car. I just am hoping that it comes to the United States in a plug-in hybrid version. I think you’d sell a lot of them to environmentally conscious people like me.

 

     — Brian Hines

Electric vehicles are the future in Oregon

I walked into today's Salem City Club program, "Charging Ahead: Is Oregon Ready for Electric Vehicles?," feeling positive about electric cars. I walked out feeling super excited about them. 

Which made me pleased that I'd put down a $2,500 deposit on the upcoming Tesla Model Y, a hatchback version of the popular Model 3 that I'm seeing a lot of here in Salem. 

Jessica Reichers got my enthusiasm ramped up with her kick-off presentation. She's with the Oregon Department of Energy. 

She noted that there's a lot of jargon associated with electric vehicles, EVs. ZEVs are zero emission vehicles. They don't emit any exhaust gas, so a fully electric vehicle would be a ZEV. As would a bicycle, of course. Reichers described four types of electric vehicles.

(1) Fuel cell. (no fueling stations exist in Oregon so far)
(2) Battery electric. (no gas engine at all)
(3) Plug-in hybrid. (goes for a while on electricity, then shifts to gas engine/generator)
(4) Hybrid. (doesn't need plugging in)

These are some of the advantages of fully electric vehicles. Plug-in hybrids, such as the Chevy Volt (we've leased three Volts) share the advantages to a large extent. 

The main disadvantage for many people is range anxiety, worrying you will run out of battery power on the road. Plug-in hybrids and hybrids don't have that worry, but they also aren't zero emission. With many more ZEVs expected in Oregon, our state has to keep up with the need for charging stations. 

Currently we have enough, according to Reichers. Tesla owners are especially fortunate, since Tesla has Superchargers on major highways that can charge a vehicle much more rapidly than Level 2 (240 volt) chargers. Many people get by with using regular 120 volt charging overnight at home.

For me, as for most people attracted to electric vehicles, a prime motivation is acting to preserve our one and only planet Earth for human habitation. Global warming produced by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions is real, getting worse, and poses a major threat to civilization. 

This slide showed the environmental benefits of electric vehicles. The transportation sector is the biggest contributor to Oregon's greenhouse gas emissions.

Many electric vehicles qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit. Of course, you have to pay at least that much in federal taxes to benefit from it. Some electric car manufacturers, such as Tesla, have sold so many vehicles, the federal tax credit has gone away wholly or in large part. This example is for an all-electric Hyundai that qualifies for several incentives.

Fuel is another obvious source of savings, since electricity here in Oregon is quite inexpensive compared to some other parts of the country.

Yes, part of the electricity in our state comes from fossil fuel sources, coal and natural gas. This slide shows how PGE, Pacific Power, and Salem Electric (part of COU/BPA) stack up, carbon emission-wise, if used to power an electric vehicle. All are much less carbon-intensive than an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle.

The other City Club presenter was Joe Wachunas, an electric vehicle information consultant with FORTH, a non-profit based in Portland whose web site has a lot of valuable information. FORTH offers test drives of electric vehicles. 

He showed this mildly-depressing slide of electric vehicles as a percentage of new car sales. Just 2% nationally, about 4% in Portland, yet 21% in San Jose, California and a whopping 48% in Norway -- which shows that electric cars work just fine in cold weather.

Lastly, this slide debunked a criticism of electric vehicles that I've heard from skeptics. Namely, that the carbon emissions involved in making the car and its battery outweigh the emissions that aren't produced in operating the car. 

Actually, even with battery manufacturing included, the life-cycle global warming emissions for electric cars are less than half of the emissions for a gasoline car.

After the program, we got to see electric vehicles that City Club members had brought to the meeting. There was a good variety: Jaguar iPace, Chevrolet Spark, Chevy Bolt and Volt, Tesla S, Honda Clarity, others I can't remember, and...

City Councilor Chris Hoy's Tesla X. I'd never seen an actual Tesla X, so this was a thrill for me. I got to sit in the driver's seat and peruse the "romantic" mode (or whatever it's called) that features a relaxing fire on the giant touchscreen. 

Even better, Chris demonstrated how his Model X can dance. If anybody you know says that electric cars are boring, show them this video.

 

It was a good day for our dog to die

Don't get me wrong. I didn't want our beloved older dog, ZuZu, to die. But she did last night, put out of her misery by a dose of morphine at Salem's emergency vet clinic.

What made it a good day -- and now the tears are coming, as I figured they would when I set out to compose this blog post -- was how ZuZu and I got to have a pleasant day together yesterday, since she went downhill really fast, as I'll describe later on.

Monday ZuZu and I had come back from central Oregon a day before my wife and other dog, Mooka. So on Tuesday I didn't want to leave her alone when I went to exercise at the River Road Courthouse athletic club.

In the morning we'd had our usual walk through our rural property, across a creek, and along a community trail here in Spring Lake Estates. ZuZu seemed pretty normal at that point.

She was walking a bit less energetically than usual, which likely was a sign of what was to come. But when she spotted a squirrel, the old ZuZu came to life. Zoom! She raced ahead and excitedly stared into the branches of a tree the squirrel had escaped to.

I'm so happy that ZuZu was able to chase a squirrel on her last day alive. It was one of her favorite things to do. We also ran into some neighbors walking their dogs, so she got to greet them a final time. Nice.

What I'm most glad about is deciding to take ZuZu to the Minto Brown Dog Park after exercising. It was starting to drizzle. I thought about going straight home. But I thought, "ZuZu enjoys the dog park. I've got time. Let's do it."

Yeah, it's a cliche. Live every day as if it were your last. And usually it isn't practical, since we need to plan for future days. 

However, it's also true that we never know. When we will die. When a loved one will die. When a pet will die. I had no idea when I drove the short distance from our athletic club to the dog park that ZuZu would be dead in less than eight hours.

We had a good time at the dog park. ZuZu didn't play with any dogs, but she did a lot of sniffing and tail wagging. Some people patted her. She peed several times. ZuZu wasn't super energetic, and wandered a bit more than usual, but she seemed fairly normal.

I did talk to her as we walked through the large grassy field. ZuZu had been diagnosed with late stage liver disease. Back in June our vet thought she only had days or at most weeks to live. After I took her to the 2019 WillaMutt Strut event I wrote, "Our dog likely is dying, but we had a good time today."

ZuZu and me back in June

Same was true yesterday. Except the likely turned to certainly a few hours later.

At the dog park I patted ZuZu and told her what a great dog she was, how happy I was that she'd come into our life after our previous dog, Serena, had to be put to sleep. (Another way of saying euthanized.) My wife and I had six good years with ZuZu, for which I'm deeply grateful.

It felt good at the time to tell her this, even not knowing what would happen later that day.

I'm also really happy about last weekend during a visit to our co-owned house in Black Butte Ranch. Laurel and I went to the Sisters Harvest Faire on Saturday without ZuZu and our other dog Mooka, figuring it would be distracting and difficult to enjoy the booths with two dogs in tow.

Sunday, Laurel took Mooka for a walk in the early afternoon. I decided to return to Sisters, browse some shops I didn't enter on Saturday, and take ZuZu for a stroll around the Harvest Faire.

Great decision.

I parked by Paulina Springs Books. We walked to an outdoor store, where I tied ZuZu up outside and she got to be admired by passers-by. Then we had a pleasant time strolling around the artsy booths. There were lots of dogs at the Harvest Faire. ZuZu got to greet them and enjoy the many smells.

ZuZu sat next to a chair I tied her to while a woman selling flowers at the adjacent booth patted her as I tried on a fleece jacket that I ended up buying. ZuZu loved attention from strangers. At dog parks she ran up to people as much as dogs.

It's wonderful, really, that ZuZu went downhill so rapidly. We were able to have some very good days with her just before her death, which wasn't unexpected given her liver disease, but shocked us by the suddenness of ZuZu's decline.

Yesterday around noon she threw up her breakfast. I was worried this was related to her disease, but hoped it wasn't. After we went to the dog park I gave her some white rice and canned chicken. She ate a few bites, the last food she'd ever eat.

Then ZuZu started pacing and panting in an agitated fashion. She'd sit for a minute or so, then walk aimlessly around the house, as if looking for some comfort she couldn't find. I noticed she was stumbling at times. By the time Laurel got home with Mooka around 7 pm, it was clear that ZuZu was in bad shape.

She would press her head against a wall, or against my leg. The emergency vet we took her to said ZuZu probably was having severe headaches caused by a build-up of toxins. The vet thought that the last few months was a rally from her end-stage liver disease.

ZuZu had been on antibiotics, cortisone, a diuretic, milk thistle, and CBD. Thankfully, we had about four good months with her before yesterday. 

Our previous dog, Serena, declined gradually before she had to be put to sleep. That made the decision to euthanize tougher, until it became clear how much Serena was suffering. With ZuZu, there was no doubt. She was in extreme distress, though she didn't utter a sound.

The emergency vet said the fluid build-up could be drained, but it would come back right away. We didn't want to put ZuZu through more misery, so last night the morphine was administered. 

I'm sad. I'll probably be sad for quite a while. 

Yet I'm also glad. ZuZu and I had some good days together, including her last day. Death sucks. But it sucks less when the end comes fast, and pleasant recent memories balance out the pain of losing a beloved pet. 

And it's good to have our new Husky mix, Mooka, to pat and talk to. She can't speak in words, but I get a sense that Mooka is missing ZuZu also. 

My new favorite jacket: John Aranda's custom fleece

My wife, Laurel, and I love the Harvest Faire in Sisters, Oregon, an annual October delight that we've gone to for many years.

When we co-owned a cabin in Camp Sherman we made sure to schedule the weekend of the Harvest Faire, and we're still doing this now that we co-own a house in nearby Black Butte Ranch.

This year I went to the Harvest Faire on both Saturday and Sunday, while Laurel went only on Saturday. Good decision on my part, since walking by the booths today with our older dog, ZuZu, I took a longer look at John Aranda's handmade fleece jackets, vests, and hats.

There were only two large men's fleece jackets left. One caught my eye immediately, since I'm attracted to orange and black -- as shown by the fact that I was wearing an orange t-shirt and black pants today. 

When I got back to Black Butte Ranch, Laurel and I went for a bike ride that included a stop in the Big Meadow to say hello to the horses grazing away. This was the test drive for my new jacket. It performed marvelously. I really like what John Aranda has wrought.

He told me that the jacket has some of the features that I like in the Patagonia jackets I own. It is windproof, as evidenced by Aranda having me put my hand in one of the two small "phone" pockets in the chest area while he sprayed some cold compressed air over the pocket.

I felt nothing, just as I didn't feel the considerable chilly wind that accompanied our bike ride. This is now my favorite jacket: warm, good looking, four zippered pockets (two large, two small), windproof and water resistant.

I'm going to email Aranda and ask if he could send me photos of other men's fleece jackets, with various color combinations. That's how impressed I am with this jacket: I don't want to wait for the 2020 Harvest Faire to get another one.

(He lives in Gresham, Oregon. The back of his business card says: "Custom Fleece Hats and Jackets. Specializing in Windproof Fleece. Warm and Comfortable. Protection From Bitter Cold Weather. Made in Oregon.")

Here's my other Sisters purchases, a charming small town that I never get tired of. The mug was bought Saturday at the Harvest Faire. The blue color is appealing, as is the perfect 16 ounce size, with just enough room for the half-and-half I put in my coffee.

Every time I visit Paulina Springs Books in Sisters I walk out with at least one book.

I got Richard Dawkin's new book, "Outgrowing God," yesterday. Today I got a sale book, "No Barriers," which describes a blind man's inspiring adventures (such as kayaking the Grand Canyon), and "The Deep History of Ourselves" which has the subtitle  The Four-Billion Year Story of How We Got Conscious Brains.

Well, my brain is grateful for the dedication and creativity of people like John Aranda, the woman who fashioned my new coffee mug, and everybody who works to make Paulina Springs Books such a great bookstore. It changed hands last year, but the quality has remained as high as ever.

AncestryDNA results have me speaking with a Lithuanian accent

After listening to countless (almost) ads for Ancestry.com on the radio, a few weeks ago I decided to take a plunge into the waters of my DNA.

Well, let's make that watery spit, since my saliva is what got sent off for testing.

I don't know what took me so long to learn what countries my recent ancestors likely came from. Procrastination, I guess, since my rather unusual family history seemingly would make me a natural for an AncestryDNA report.

I know quite a bit about my mother's side of the family.

I know almost nothing about my father's side, since (1) he was adopted as a baby, (2) I only spent one hour with him in my entire life, though we had some telephone conversations, and (3) all he told me about his parents was that they were Polish-speaking Germans who came to the United States in the early 1900s, after which his mother reportedly died in childbirth and his father deserted the baby. Namely, him.

So when Ancestry notified me this morning that my DNA results were ready for examination, I was excited to see what they showed. Here's the Ethnicity Estimate.

This generally fits with what I already knew of my genetic heritage. But I was thrilled to see that Baltic States was my top result, 41%. I've got nothing against Poland or Germany. I just find Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to be cooler, being less populated and more unusual.

So I'm trying to develop a mild Lithuanian accent, though I'm handicapped by not having the faintest idea what a Lithuanian accent sounds like. I'll just have to trust my genes, I guess.

Regarding Norway, I'd forgotten that my maternal grandmother's father was from Norway. So that 15% seems about right, given that my grandmother apparently comprises 25% of my genetic makeup. (Don't trust me on that, since I'm pretty much DNA clueless.)

I signed up for a six month Ancestry U.S. Discovery membership, which entitled me to peruse family trees and contact people who showed up as possibly related to me.

The top "hit" was Patricia Hines, who indeed is a half-sister I only communicated with once, as far as I can recall. My father started phoning me when I was in my early 30's, so about forty years ago. Patricia must have gotten my address from him, since I remember getting a letter from her when I believe she was 16.

Science really is amazing. I spit in a tube, send it off to a testing facility, and soon I get a report showing that Patricia Hines is 100% certain to be a close relative. Even better, she had authorized people to send her a message, which I did. Don't know if I'll hear back from her, of course. Here's what I said to her.

Patricia, a voice out of the past from Brian Hines. I recall that we communicated, by letter I think, or  maybe by phone, after our father, John Hines, got in touch with me shortly before he died. As you may know, I got to spend one hour with him in a Boston hotel room, along with Mike. The visit didn't go very well, as I related in a blog post.

https://hinessight.blogs.com/hinessight/2005/05/one_hour_with_m.html

I'd love to know more about you, your siblings, and my father. He only told me a few things about his parents, who he said were Polish speaking Germans whose last name was Mueller. Michael told me once that he'd send me copies of genealogical/family research our father had carried out, but this never happened.

A few days ago my birthday happened, as they do every year, and I became 71. I signed up with Ancestry because I'd like to know more about my paternal origins. Don't know why, not that why's matter in this case, really. It's just a blank spot in my life. Aside from my daughter and granddaughter, I'm not in touch with anybody from my mother's side of my family, mostly because of death.

My wife and I are living pretty happily in rural south Salem, Oregon on ten acres, though we have thoughts of moving into town as our property becomes more difficult for us to maintain. Our two dogs love it though. Squirrels! Deer! Coyotes! (well, they are more competitive and scared of coyotes)

I've got a web page that tells about me: www.brianhines.com I recently published a book based on some of my blog posts, and I'm working on another one, after writing three previous books. I enjoy Tai Chi and citizen activism here in Salem. Anyway, it'd be great to hear from you. My email address is [email protected]

I'll end with "Love, Brian" even though I don't know you, because I really do love coming into contact with my half sister. My other half sister, on my mother's side (from my mother's first marriage, before she married my father) died quite a while ago.

Love, Brian

With the help of Patricia's family tree, and some work of my own, I was able to make a start on my family tree. There's quite a few blanks, but this is more than I've ever been able to construct, family tree-wise.

I was surprised by how good I felt while thinking about and investigating my genealogy, especially since I haven't been much interested in this subject previously. 

Maybe it's because the older I become, the more I can relate to the photos of relatives that are displayed in our house. They're all dead now, but once they were alive, just as I am at the moment. One day I'll be a photo on the wall, a memory rather than a living presence.

So today I felt gratitude toward all of my ancestors who made it possible for me to be alive. It's an obvious fact of evolution that if any one of my countless ancestors, ranging all the way back to the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) of all living beings -- which could be as long as 4.5 billion years ago -- hadn't reproduced, I wouldn't be here.

Much more recently, if any one of my Baltic/Germanic relatives had failed to have children, there wouldn't be a me writing this blog post. Or doing anything else, because I wouldn't exist.

There's something beautiful about genealogy that I hadn't realized before today, how it reminds us of our connections to not only all people on our planet, but also every living being.

Ancestry.com lets you look at DNA matches that keep on scrolling for a really long time, with, not surprisingly, more people having shared DNA results the further down the "cousin" line you go. After Patricia Hines the strongest relative listed was, pleasingly, Al Capone. Yes!

Here's what a 71 year old guy does on his birthday

I have an easy answer to the title of this blog post: almost exactly what I do on any other day. After all, I'm 71,  not seven. A birthday party of any sort was the farthest thing from my mind.

I enjoy my usual Monday routine. So I followed it, with a few exceptions.

Reading and meditation in the morning -- check. Grocery shopping in early afternoon-- check. Tai Chi class in late afternoon -- check. Dog walk in early evening -- check.

The big surprise of my birthday came when I unlocked our mailbox. There it was, a birthday card from my daughter, Celeste (also signed by my granddaughter, Evelyn). 

Wow. Just Wow! 

In a FaceTime call last night, Celeste let me know that, per usual, my card would be arriving a few days late. I expect this to happen. I count on this happening. My birthday experience depends on this happening. It's one of the few things in life that is rock solid for me -- a card arriving from my daughter around October 9.

But when I checked the postmark, I saw that it was mailed on October 4. That was three freaking days before my birthday. Absolutely shocking. 

Tonight I had to let Celeste know via text message what she had wrought.

Hey, your card came today. Thanks for the love and nice sentiments. But there goes your record of late birthday cards! Need to start fresh in 2020. Hate to say it, but you’re becoming a responsible adult who does things on time. Which, actually, sounds like a good thing.

Laurel, my wife, also gave me a nice surprise: eleven homemade cupcakes with butter cream frosting to take to my Tai Chi class. Several people were missing, so I came home with two cupcakes, which got rave reviews from the happy recipients of the nine other cupcakes.

Then Laurel made a perfect vegetarian meal: nicely spiced braised tofu with rice, baked potatoes, and herb-enhanced sliced tomatoes. 

So yeah, I had an excellent birthday.

Some AllBirds waterproof wool shoes that I'd returned for a larger size appeared today, a present to me from me. And Amazon delivered a book I'd ordered about the nature of consciousness, "Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience," by Michael Graziano.

All that remains is for me to fill up the bathtub with pleasingly hot water, grab a yellow highlighter, and read a chapter or two of Graziano's book.

Oh, and then munch on a piece of raspberry chocolate cake Laurel brought home from LifeSource Natural Foods while watching Stephen Colbert make fun of Donald Trump. Perfect!

Self-publishing, like me? Check out ebookpbook.

I've written four books. Three have been self-published. Or, to use the term Amazon has on my Break Free of Dogma listing, "independently published." 

Last year I praised ebookpbook after this firm ably prepared for just $79 an electronic/Kindle version of a previous book I wrote. See: "If you're looking for a book design firm, I highly recommend ebookpbook."

That book, God's Whisper, Creation's Thunder, cost a lot for the paperback interior and cover design. Wanting to support a local graphic design firm, I paid them $3,000. That may seem like a lot, but it was in line with what book design companies I checked out via Google were estimating for a book like mine.

So with Break Free of Dogma I had the folks at ebookpbook do the interior design. They also made some adjustments to the cover that I fashioned myself courtesy of a Kindle Direct Publishing template. See above.

This is how much ebookpbook charged me: $249. Fifty dollars was for the cover work. Interior formatting and ebook preparation was $199. 

That's amazingly reasonable. You can check out how the interior design looks by heading to the Amazon listing and clicking on "Look Inside."

By the way, there are a few typos in the 85,000 word, 307 page book. I'm responsible for them. I didn't use the ebookpbook copy editing service, figuring I was capable of doing this myself. I just missed several typos and have vowed to be more careful with my next book.

Which I'm planning to have designed by ebookpbook also. Next time I'll probably have them design a custom cover, since most of the books in their "Portfolio" section look more attractive than the cover I created.

In case you're wondering how ebookpbook manages to do such a good job for such little money, the main reason is that they're located in Chennai, India.

But as noted in my first blog praise of this firm, I would never have known this if I hadn't asked Jason Pearce, the person I worked with last year, where he lived -- since he'd reply to my emails at times that indicated a decidedly distant time zone.

With Break Free of Dogma I worked with Vidya, who was equally competent, professional, timely, and organized. The only time her being in India came up was after I sent her this message:

Vidya, I just read a story about the horrible water problems in Chennai, India, and remembered that Jason said he’s lived there for 14 years. Don’t know if you are in Chennai, but if so, I wanted to express my sympathy for whatever problems you and others may be having. Global warming is causing temperature and precipitation extremes, and the world isn’t doing enough to stop carbon pollution. Very sad.

Vidya replied:

Thank you for your concern Brian. I do live in Chennai but fortunately managing with the resources available. Some parts of the city is very bad, especially the poor, who cannot afford to buy water. I live in an apartment here with three other neighbours and buy water of about 12,000 litres every 3-4 days.

It's marvelous that the Internet has made it so easy to communicate with people halfway around the globe. That said, I'm not recommending ebookpbook because they're in India, but because they make it possible for authors to get their book published at a very reasonable price with ease.

Break Free of Dogma consists of 93 posts from the early years of my Church of the Churchless blog. I basically copied and pasted content from my blog, and sent ebookpbook a manuscript with minimal formatting. No matter. They fashioned a good-looking book from that material in just a few weeks.

Few authors make much money from their books. I'm certainly not raking in the dough from Break Free of Dogma sales. That book was a labor of love for me, not a personal profit center.

So being able to have ebookpbook fashion books at such a reasonable cost makes independent publishing feasible for authors who aren't willing or able to either design a book themselves, or pay someone thousands of dollars to do this.

And that's a gift to the entire world.