Attribution: Michael Himbeault, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, will not question the keeper’s conclusion on this nasty weather day that, like many of the lesser creatures, he has finally accomplished the life-long goal of hibernation.
It was there right in front of him but he was too dense to recognize that the independent-living lifestyle at Vista West is indeed a form of hibernation in that he and Phyllis can lounge around in warm comfort with plenty of food available and have no good reason to venture out into cold and wet snow and ice.
Hibernation!
At last, a winter-survival means that bears and gophers caught onto ages ago!
The keeper may even throw a bit of “migration” into the hibernation survival scheme—read a bit of National Geographic perhaps or tune in a TV travel channel.
With both hibernation and migration working for them the keeper and Phyllis look forward to the long winter ahead with a mix of enthusiasm and joy, encouraged perhaps by the threat of possible dementia.
Photo by Bill Stokes