From Shed Office Project, posted by Gabe Harriman on 8/30/2010 (7 items)

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The night before last we said goodnight to him and he seemed perfectly OK. He seemed happy and energetic. We woke up the next morning and he seemed lethargic and listless. Tomi did a search on the internet and found out that once a guinea pig starts showing signs of being sick it’s almost too late to heal them, because they’re predatory animals and they tend to hide the fact that they’re ill in order to fool would-be predators.

We called our vet immediately and got in to see her a few hours later. She gave him an antibiotic that was guinea pig friendly and some fluids and sent us home with the same to administer over the next week. She also gave us directions on helping him to eat by blending up veggies and forcing him to eat it.

We tried the feeding when we got home, but the little guy didn’t seem to be getting any better. We thought he’d at least respond to the fluids, but he didn’t…. He still barely had enough energy to move around in his cage. A few hours later we tried feeding him again and he passed away in my hands. It was one of the saddest thing’s I’ve ever witnessed… I buried him under a tree in the yard where I think he’ll be peaceful.

What’s even worse is that we’ve done a more research and we’ve found out this is a pretty common thing that happens with guinea pigs bought from Petco and other pet stores…. You bring home what seems to be a perfectly healthy baby animal, introduce it to the family, the family bonds with it, then two weeks later it dies. I thought it was odd when the Petco employee mentioned to me on the way out about their “15 day guarantee”. Now I know why.

I’m sorry for the hurt this has put you through, Anya and Tomi. I should have read more before making such a decision to bring a new pet into our home. It was irresponsible and impulsive of me. I hope you both see that even though we’ve lost our little friend, we were at least able to have him with us for two short weeks and give him a comfortable and loving home for his short life.

He said: ‘My son, the battle is between ‘two wolves’ inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.’

The grandson thought about it for a minute, and then asked his grandfather: ‘Which wolf wins?’

The old Cherokee simply replied: ‘The one you feed.’

Met Tomi in December. Her eyes caught my attention while I was having lunch with Jay near my new place in Topanga. Something drew me to her. I’ve been trying my best to keep this urge to want to see and be with her under control, but I’m slowly losing the control I once had. We’re in love. My head’s still spinning. This experience has hit me by surprise. My life and a lot of the things I want out of it are changing.

Went to Puerta Vallarta in April with the Jones’ and the Thelen’s and a few others for about a week. Had a wonderful and relaxing time. Stayed in a Villa on the bluffs just south of town. Did yoga for the first time… Had my first massage… First time to kite surf… Did some kayaking… Ate a lot… Swam a lot….

Tomi and I sailed to Catalina for a few days. On the way there we ran into a pod of hundreds of dolphin. They were everywhere. Several swam along with the boat for 30 minutes or so. Saw a baby swimming with it’s mother, mimicking her every move. Moored off Emerald Cove… Cooked and ate a lot, swam, laughed, played, couldn’t get enough of each other.

Playing a lot of music… Writing a few songs here and there… Looking forward to the day when I have more time to play, travel, relax…

Playing For Change | Song Around The World “Stand By Me” from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.