Aug 22 - 28

You know how every family has the good child and the trouble child. Well Cooper is our trouble child. If he hears another dog bark even a mile away he has to answer. If he even just sees a dog on TV he goes bonkers. If I am working at my desk he will bring a toy and bark at me continuously until I play with him. And once I start playing with him I can’t stop. Then when I do try to stop playing all he wants to do is eat me. Like children, when he is sleeping he is adorable, but when either of them are awake I have less flattering definitions to describe them.

My wife and I are embarking on a journey that we have been planning since the kids started high school. Next year we are going to move them into their own home. We feel they need a community of friends like them, with special needs. Many times when I have to deal with homeless people around the restaurantsI find that they are special needs adults. One man who didn’t even know his age or name was asking me basic questions that a 5 year old would ask. If a special needs adult walks out of his or her group home and is gone for more than a few days they are out of the system. Once they are out it is very difficult to get them back in. I tried to get help for this other gentleman, but found a series of phone calls that circled back to the original contact that ended up going nowhere. One of the biggest challenges with these kids is, they are all on meds, and once they are off of them they may have severe emotional issues. Consequently the police are called and these poor individuals are treated differently than they should be. So our goal is to build a community of these special people. A few years ago we purchased a closed fixer upper group home in Orangevale, and this year we bought a fixer upper a block away. We are hoping to have 4 kids live in each home. The second home has a guest house and we plan to build one for the other home as well. This way we can offer low rent to someone who helps keep an eye on the kids. Each kid would also have a care giver so many hours a week but with the guest house there is back up. We are hoping other parents will rent or purchase homes in the same area so that our community can grow and that would enable more people looking after these special individuals. Wish us luck.

Aug 15 - 21

CAUTION, this story should not be read while in the process of eating a meal of any kind.

Ok, so you know those signs you see on people’s front lawns that show a dog pooping with a big X across the diagram. Well Cooper doesn’t understand what the X means and he interprets the sign to mean ”please poop here”, which he does very consistently. I, of course, am not very popular with the neighbors because I always forget my poop bag.  

Ok, so on the farm things have definitely changed. About 5 weeks ago Star, one of our ponies died of hepatitis. Then 2 weeks after that my Great Pyrenees dog, SoSo, died of cancer and then last night our other pony apparently died of old age. He was 10 years older than the 16 year old, Star. Because of the coyotes Cooper cannot be left outside alone. My wife and I realize that maybe we should not get any more animals and I look at the 1000 feet of fencing I have put in over the years and think why do I have so much fencing, when now I don’t need any of it.

Aug 8 - 14

If you have ever been around special needs kids you learn they cannot control their emotions. You also learn that things that are on a schedule MUST stay on that schedule. As I get older I am learning I am not as patient as I used to be and dealing with these issues takes a lot more energy than I now have. MY wife, who is perfect, ( she was a social worker) is extremely patient and caring and you know just perfect. So for those of us who are not so perfect I decided I would open a bar. It would just be for parents and caregivers of special needs kids. There would be a tvroom in the back with video games and sugary snacks for the kids, but the kids would not be allowed out front where we non-patient people would get snockered. We can all relate and we can tell our stories to each other and we for a short time would be happy. I of course would work the bar and tell my stories and patiently listen to my customers stories. Then we would have a van that would take everyone home and provide a service to help them get their car back in the morning. Most people I have approached about the idea love it and can’t wait for me to do it. Now, I just have to convince that perfect wife of mine.

By the way I have lost 2 more chickens to our new pet.

Aug 1 - 7

During the last drought we had a problem where a bobcat would come around almost every day and eat a chicken. As time went on he or she got more brazen and he was coming by the dining room window while we were having dinner. So we got 2 big Great Pyrenees farm dogs to protect the farm and everything was better. Two years ago Brutus got bone cancer and we had to put him down and unfortunately SoSo got lung cancer and we had to put him down Monday. Then tonight we are making dinner when Ricky says there is a dog by the deck. I look out and there is a coyote running off with one of our chickens. It has only been 5 days, how did the coyote know. I am beginning to think my idea of the wildlife having their own internet may actually be true.