LENA BLOG

This past Saturday I put my beloved dog, Quincy Blu, to sleep. Full disclosure: I started writing this a little bit before I had to let him go. I knew I wouldn ’ t have the wherewithal to form a complete sentence let alone write a little piece to commemorate my sweet pup. For the past few weeks, more like the last several mo nths , he has been struggling with his health. It turns out his kidneys were giving out; I learned this is somewhat of a death sentence. Kidney failure in dogs is much more swift and severe than it is for cats, something I also have experience with. ’ ’ ’ ’ s obituary — several weeks ago when he started on the decline. After the shock of the death sentence diagnosis (kidney failure), I went through deep grief and sadness — and he was still alive! I kept myself from going “there," to the future. It was somewhat absurd, after all he was still here and although not in his usual capacity, still living and breathing and being the sweetest dog ever. ...

I have been happily volunteering at Colorado Horse Rescue  (CHR) since February 2013. I am in the sun for most of my 2-3 hour shift. Becau se I ’ m around horses I have on jeans and cowboy boots, and I also wear a long-sleeved shirt under my CHR T -shirt to keep my arms from burning. And to protect my all- important hands, I have on thick leather gloves. (I know — hot, right?!) Along with the obligatory sunscreen, I always wear a bandana around my neck . I do this to protect the skin on my ne ck from sun damage. I n the summer, I ’ll wet the bandana before I put it on; this helps to keep me cool ed off a bit . At the end of my shift and after a lot of sweating, before the sunscreen and sweat start to dry, I splash rinse my face and use the bandana to wipe and dry off my face. Wearing a bandana —or something like it—is a good idea, even if you ’ re out walking. (With other exercising activities, like running and cycling , it ’ s a bit harder to pull off wearin...

This was taken last month in her favorite sleeping place Several years back, in my original post for this blog, I said that occasionally I would write about things unrelated to skin care. This is one such post. Today is my sweet cat Grace ’ s 21st birthday! She arrived at my doorstep in the arms of a friend back in August 1994. She was found in the hood of a pickup truck parked at a post office in Dallas, Texas. This friend heard a cat crying, and as she was looking over the truck to try to locate the kitty, the truck owner came out and wanted to know what she was doing. She said, “I hear a cat under the hood ! ” and he replied, “Is that cat still there? ” She instantly told him to lift the hood, where she found a black, straggly-looking kitty tucked near the front wheel. She quickly grabbed the cat and probably gave the guy a dirty look. I had just moved into an apartment where I could have pets. I di dn ’ t howev er expect that the day after I moved in I would get a ...