by the light of the moon

EAST OF PINE HILLS

by Kiki Skagen Munshi

Goldie - “The Gifter”

Goldie, the wayward cat, is back and trying to atone for his sins. He doesn’t leave our side, even walking the 1/3 mile out to the County road for the newspaper and back, more like a medium sized dog than a very big cat. He purrs, he rubs… …and he brings presents. Three ground squirrels and a mouse the first day. There is a particular meow that signals a cat has something delicious in its mouth (delicious to the cat, that is) and that meow has been often heard this week.

Don’t get us wrong. We love having critters that dig holes in the garden, eat plants, and otherwise annoy us defenseless humans done in by the cats. The problem is that the cats prefer to dine in the dining room. Where else? On the rug under the dining room table. The Persian rug. The Old Family Heirloom Persian rug which might have originally be made to be dined on but probably not with cats in mind. Perhaps a family that would first lay down a sheet or other washable cover, then a grand round metal tray filled with delicious food, lamb korma, an eggplant dish, yoghurt, chicken… …but not ground squirrel. Or mouse. And Goldie, not to mention the other cats who also have this as their preferred dining option when supping on wild game, never bothers to lay down that protective sheet or get out the round, beaten metal tray. We HAVE one such tray, all he has to do is ask.

But he doesn’t. So it’s scoop up the still warm and we hope dead animal and throw it in the trash. Goldie, not quite knowing exactly what happens to his gift is pleased that it’s accepted. At least, we think he is pleased. He keeps bringing fresh warm presents.

Tribute to the Royal Human. How nice.

continued on page 12 ‘Breathe Easier’ Healthcare

Donation Program

(NAPSI)—Healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic are in desperate need of creative solutions to the lack of personal protective gear and supplies that help block harmful airborne pathogens. But civic-minded companies can help.

For example, NasalGuard Airborne Particle Blocker, an electrostatic topical nasal gel that prevents airborne particles from entering the nose, created the “Breathe Easier Healthcare Workers Donation Program.” The firm offers free nasal gel to any healthcare professional who’d like to try it. Requests can be sent via www.NasalGuard.com.

“NasalGuard is drug-free and safe for children, the elderly, pregnant or nursing women, and those concerned about potential

It’s springtime and on our property we have our second set of baby skunks to watch. We have had skunks on our property for as many years as I can remember and we really enjoy them. We seem to get the families which we inadvertently feed with dry cat food that husband Mike puts out each evening for our outdoor cats.

We have seen many generations of skunks grow from tiny babies to full grown adults on our property. The males usually wander off to establish a new home while the females find a new homesite here on our acreage. Right now we have a nest of teenagers under our kindling cabinet and another nest somewhere in our barn. Though I’ve always thought of skunks as being nocturnal, our skunks seem to come out in the late afternoon and then again in the evening.

I know of spotted skunks. We have striped skunks. They are black with beautiful thick white stripes from the tip of their foreheads to the end of their long fluffy tails. Sometimes we smell skunk odor. This always happens at night. Skunks naturally smell like skunks and during February and March, their mating season, if the females aren’t “in the mood” the put out an aroma to let the males know they aren’t interested.

On our property we have never had a problem with skunks spraying and we have never run over a skunk with a vehicle, causing it to release its “stink”. However, you don’t want to irritate a skunk and one good reason not to own a dog up here in the mountains unless you bring it in at night is that skunks can accurately spray at a distance of up to 15 feet. While skunk spray does not cause permanent damage, it can cause significant eye irritation and even temporary blindness. I think it’s interesting that skunks won't spray other skunks. The skunk spray odor can linger for days or even months, depending on the amount released. So do your best not to bother them.

At our house we can sit on the front porch with skunks sniffing and nibbling our toes and it’s no big deal. They move on as long as we make no quick movements or sounds. We watch for predators because having skunks and of course, have chickens and outdoor cats may bring in mountain lions, coyotes, dogs and red foxes. They all eat skunks, they all eat chickens and they all eat cats.

Skunks mostly like to eat oily foods which is probably why they are so fond of eating dry cat food. They eat both plant and animal material and they change their diets as the seasons change. They eat insects, larvae, earthworms, grubs, rodents, lizards, salamanders, frogs, snakes, birds, moles, and eggs. They also frequently eat berries, roots, leaves, grasses, fungi and nuts. So, yes, they are good to keep in your yard as pest controllers. I also read that mice don’t like the smell of skunks. That’s worth knowing.

If you have skunks on your property and you want them to leave, Soak rags with ammonia and place them around the outside of your house, under your porch or anywhere where you think they like to hide. Skunks are not animals that I would ever consider killing. I will keep watching our baby skunks for the next two months until they leave on their own.

We also have baby chicks. I bought 5 baby chickens at Kahoots in Ramona a few days ago. They are fluffy and yellow and they look just like the ones on Easter cards. We already have two roosters and three hens, and with the price of eggs going up I decided that we need to be a bit more self-supporting. Raising chickens is an easy way to help support ourselves since my son Robert built the chicken fortress to keep the chickens in at night and we let the full grown chickens free range during the day. Five more hens should do it.

The babies are just two weeks old and will have to be in their own cage within the chicken coop for three or four months. Robert is doing a good job of being a chicken daddy by moving them into the coop for safety at night, putting fresh newspaper under their tiny feet and giving them fresh water. In the morning he changes their newspaper again because baby chickens poop a lot. He fills their food dish and freshens their water again. He checks on them during the day because they are heavy drinkers and he gives them more water as they need it.

Not only do we have baby skunks and baby chickens, my son Thomas’s family has a new kitten. Tigger has a white belly and her back is striped. It only took her about two nights to figure out that she could snuggle under Thomas’s beard when she wants to sleep at night. Babies are so great!

With the covid-19 virus taking up so much space in conversations and on the news it’s nice to be able to see new life. As Louis Armstrong would sing, “I see leaves of green red roses too…” Yes, even with all of the whining I see on the news and on facebook, it is a wonderful world for many of us. Our income has dropped precipitously like so many, yet I can still take joy in the fact that I live in the back country where I can see new leaves on trees and new baby animals emerging. I hear songbirds and right now I miss the quiet that we were able to experience for the first few weeks of the lockdown.

I didn’t grow up wealthy, so now that I’m learning to barter; it’s becoming a natural thing to do, that and watching baby animals. These are my thoughts

* * * I will never take a day off policing the people we pay and keep a public trust with. I will use my camera, my pen, my pad, and my network to do my part, to make sure that Americans will no longer fear their government. Or its employees. They work for us - not the other way around. — Killer Mike * * *

(StatePoint) With many Americans asked to stay at home to help curb the impact of COVID-19, there’s a higher risk of potential prescription drug abuse or prescription drugs accidentally falling into the wrong hands, like those of children.

According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Abuse, more than 9.9 million Americans abuse prescription drugs. Additionally, more than 70 percent of individuals who illegally use prescription pain relievers obtained them through their friends or family, including through the home medicine cabinet.

To help those at home prevent prescription drug abuse and dispose of unwanted medications in a safe, environmentally responsible way, Susan Peppers, Express Scripts vice president of pharmacy practice, is sharing the following tips. • Keep drugs secure and out of reach. Medications should be stored in a locked area, out of children’s reach, with narcotics and other potentially addictive drugs stored in another secure location. If this isn’t an option, a lock should be added to the medicine cabinet and the key secured. • Track treatments. It’s recommended to maintain a master list of the medications stored at home, especially for individuals with a potential for abuse. That list should include the medication name, the doctor’s name who prescribed it, the dosage and the medication’s potential side effects. Periodically, caregivers should count the medications remaining in the container and make sure it’s the correct amount according to the prescribed dosage. Pill boxes with dividers for each day's medicines are also a good way to track usage. • Don’t share medication. Medication prescribed to one individual isn’t for anyone else, even if that person is showing similar symptoms. Not only is sharing medication with someone else illegal, but it could lead to dangerous drug interactions and serious side effects due to potential allergies and wrong dosages, among other reasons. If an individual has taken medication that wasn’t prescribed to them, they should contact their doctor. • Dispose of unwanted drugs properly. Individuals should follow specific disposal instructions on the label, if provided. Otherwise, they can check the Food and Drug Administration Flush List to see if they can flush the medicine down the toilet. If that isn’t an option, individuals can mix the medication with an undesirable substance like used coffee grounds, cat litter or sawdust, place the mixture in a sealable bag and dispose of it in the trash. Medication containers should be stripped of all personal information prior to placing them in the trash or recycling.

Note that once guidelines are lifted for staying home, individuals can visit the Drug Enforcement Administration website to locate a collection site near them as another way to dispose of prescription medications safely.

As everyone is spending more time at home, remembering these simple steps can go a long way to help individuals protect their family against prescription drug abuse.

Health And Well-Being As World Faces Health Crises, New Report Finds Trust Is Vital

(NAPSI)—Recently, health experts gathered online to forecast the future of medicine. One theme: the increasing frequency of global crises.

Now, COVID-19 has brought this hypothetical threat to life, and a report by the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP), an independent, nonprofit, scientific organization dedicated to improving public health through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety and benefit of medicines and foods, and the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence can help. Called “Trust or Consequences 2040: Will Innovations in Health and Medicine Deliver?” identifies what may happen in the future and explores the role that trust will play in helping people live longer and healthier. It identifies likely drivers of change, such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), gene editing, risks to health systems and medicine supply chains and opportunities to improve global health. Four scenarios surfaced: Scaling the tried and true: Rolling crises spur effective global collaboration to address health concerns. Medical advances based on big data and AI are implemented gradually. The focus is on baseline healthcare for all.

Dangerous uncertainty: Problems with big data and AI lead to devastating healthcare failures. Unequal access to innovation means only the rich receive advanced treatments; people turn to folk medicines, science-based medicine is questioned.

A world of difference: The success of big data and AI in healthcare leads to rapid advances in personalized medicine and prevention. Not everyone can access this and disparities between and within countries perpetuate a “haves” versus “have nots” dynamic.

Solving tomorrow’s problems: Smart innovation is widely distributed. Big data and AI create inexpensive diagnostic tools. Diseases become more predictable and healthcare emphasizes prevention. New treatments and technological advances curb costs.

The report also suggests how public quality standards for medical products could help promote trust in health and medicine in the future—as they have for 200 years.

“Many of the challenging issues we face in healthcare are recurring and persistent. ‘Trust or Consequences 2040’ points out that we must plan for the future we want, or we risk failure and an erosion of trust. Standards offer a proven approach to building trust and ensuring as many people as possible benefit from promising innovations in health and medicine,” said Ronald T. Piervincenzi, Ph.D., CEO of USP.

Read the report at www.usp.org/trustorconsequences. Share your opinion on social media using #TrustTomorrow. * * * Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt. — Shirley Chisholm * * *