It was windy and beginning to rain when I went outside to bring in a towel out by the pool. I didn’t want the towel to end up in the pool, or get wet from rain.
I pulled the towel off the recliner and a bobcat jumped out of the fireplace! We both were surprised. She ran to the fence and crawled through to the wash behind our house. I ran into the house. A few minutes later, she returned to the fireplace. I grabbed my camera with the telephoto lens and took a few pictures from inside our bedroom.
Olive the cat noticed her first bobcat. She got low into stalking mode — but stayed far away from the window as she watched. If it’s a bird, she’s right up against the window whacking at the bird through the glass.
The fireplace makes a cozy cat cave.
House Guests
The last house guest stayed with us for several days to scout a local lake. He’s entering a freshwater spearfishing competition. He arrived at our house with his boat and spent the next three days free diving in the lake from dawn to dusk.
He also brought us some treats from a recent fishing trip to Alaska. The freezer in the casita is filled with salmon, rock cod and black cod. There’s also lobster from his free diving off the coast of Southern California. What a treat! He’s welcome back anytime.
This is Black Cod that I cooked in foil on the barbecue. It’s my favorite fish which I used to get in Seattle’s Chinatown while I was in college. Incredibly delicious!
Things are not going swimmingly!
The past two weeks, I got back into the pool at the YMCA for lap swimming. I had stopped swimming during our wet, cold winter months ago. Then summer came and the weather was hot, which means I don’t like being out in the sun.
I was proud of myself and wanted to be consistent with swimming. Then on my swim day, the weather dropped overnight by 50 degrees! It was windy and rainy. I cancelled swimming. It warms up a bit this week, so I’ll get back to the pool.
One day while driving home from the pool, I heard INTELLIGENCE FOR YOUR LIFE MINUTES by John Tesh on the radio. It was about a Harvard study on ending your daily shower with 30-seconds of cold water.
In the study, people who ended their daily shower with 30-seconds of cold water had less sick days than those who took hot showers. I’ve heard of a trend of cold plunge lately by a number of celebrities. My college roommate’s husband said he takes a cold plunge in an icy stream at their home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
I found this information from UCLA:
What is cold therapy?
Cold therapy, also called cryotherapy, uses exposure to cold temperatures to cool the body’s tissues for therapeutic reasons. There are several ways to apply cold therapy, including:
- Cold showers, which involve lowering the water temperature below 60 degrees for two to three minutes at a time
- Cold spray, used to numb a small area
- Cold water immersion or ice baths, or submerging everything but your head and neck in cold water
- Localized ice application to treat injuries or specific muscle groups
- Whole-body cryotherapy, which exposes the body to very cold vapors
Why cold showers could be good for you
Cold showers are not the primary treatment for any conditions, and conclusive research about cold therapy is still limited. But a quick blast of cold water can be beneficial when used for symptom relief.
Taking cold showers may:
1. Bolster your immunity to common colds
2. Combat symptoms of depression
3. Improve circulation
4. Increase metabolism
5. Reduce inflammation and prevent muscle soreness
6. Relieve localized pain
Our daughter used to take ice baths at swim meets in our hotel room between prelims and finals. The purpose was to flush out inflammation and increase blood flow to her legs.
Our pool isn’t heated and I could use it as a cold plunge pool this winter. Or, try the 30 second shower method. I’ll tell you how it goes.
What are your thoughts about cold showers or ice baths? Would you give it a try?
Have you tried Black Cod otherwise known as Sablefish?
I’ve never heard of Black Cod and feel like I’d enjoy it. Yum!
I know that when I was a teenager we were told to wash our face in warm water then end with a couple of icy cold splashes to close your pores. As for an ice bath… I don’t think so. But having the bathroom temp very cold when I step out of the shower or bath, that I like.
That’s how I washed my face too. I wonder why I stopped? I wouldn’t want an ice bath either, but I’ll try the 30-second cold ending to a shower.
What a regal looking bobcat! I like his choice of den- it would be perfect, if it was in the wild!
As for cold water, nope. There are a few weeks in the summer where I prefer cold showers, but otherwise, I’m already dreading getting out of my hot showers because I get cold and it takes a long time to warm up again. I do not relish the idea of being cold even before I get out. But I have heard it is good for you!
Perfect little cave for a bobcat. I understand that you’re up where it’s colder. I would want to stay warm also.
In theory, the bobcat’s choice is great, in practice, I think it’s best from afar 🙃
I’m with you on showers: hot showers ftw! I know there’s a “sport” of sorts of staying in cold baths and that people can get used to it, but… isn’t that a little like getting used to life with no chocolate? 🤣
Ha! Life with no chocolate is no good! In practice, the bobcat found a safe haven on a cold day. The prior owners had a bobcat litter in that fireplace!
Hahaha! And who wants to live a life with no chocolate, right? I feel like you understand me. 🙂
Both you and the bobcat are brave. Great shot of her/ him.
The research about the cold shower could be right but I’m not going to give it a try 😂
Thank you! I tried the cold shower this morning. It wasn’t that bad. I don’t think our water gets that cold, though.
Our doesn’t gets too cold these days either.
It could get more difficult in the winter!
Yup, so that’s why I’m not planning on doing it unless the water heater has a problem 😂
So nice of you to provide a den for the wildlife EA 🙂 Who knows what you’ll find in there come the spring. I really don’t think I want to jump onboard with the cold shower trick. I’m just going to assume I’m totally healthy enough without going down the ice cold path. Speaking of cod makes me want fish and chips!
It could be something scarier than bobcat hiding in the fireplace! I love fish and chips. The Black Cod is so delicious. It’s like Chilean Sea Bass, but milder and firmer. My friend warned me about cooking it in the oven. It has such a high fat content a friend of theirs oven caught on fire! I figured the BBQ was safe!
I was thinking if the fireplace was a bit more concealed by foliage and it was in WA it might be a bear in there 😉
Yikes. My mind went to a rattlesnake here!
Well yes, those as well.
👍🏼
What a gorgeous creature and lucky you for having it visit you (and posing so nicely for a picture). I don’t think I’d be a fan of a cold shower. I don’t get sick very often so, for now anyway, I’ll stick with heat.
And, yum to the fish and seafood! During the beginning of the pandemic, we had local fishermen who couldn’t sell their catch to restaurants (they were closed), so they sold it cheap to anyone willing to pick it up from the docks. Score!
That is a score! One of a few benefits to COVID shut downs was affordable seafood for you. I enjoy the wildlife so much in our new home. Especially the occasional bobcat.
I’m menopausal and hot flashing, ice baths sound great.
And I’m so jealous…. I want a backyard bobcat!
💕
I wish I would have heard of ice baths when I had hot flashes! You may want to give it a go. The sellers of our house disclosed a backyard bobcat on the forms. The home inspector we hired discovered bones on the roof, probably rabbits from the bobcat.
That’s fascinating. No one warned us about woidchucks and skunks…
🤣
Ha!
Wow, on the bobcat! My jaw would be to the floor if that ever happened here!
I have heard that about cold showers but I like my warm showers too much!! Cold would not be relaxing to me.
I tried it today for 30 seconds after my hot shower. In reality, I don’t think our water is that cold. Also, my body was already hot, so it was doable.
Nice kitty! In the summer I like to finish a shower with cold water.
When it jumped out of the fireplace I called “Here kitty, kitty!” We don’t have cold water in the summertime. It’s warm.
It looks so friendly 😁
It looks almost cuddly! But it’s more afraid of me than I am of him/her.
I would have to answer no to both your questions! I have not heard of that type of fish. And I dislike being cold.🥶 I’ll stick with my hot showers, thank you.😊
That’s fair! Although if you can find Black Cod it’s such a delicious fish. Better than Chilean Sea bass. Although my friends who brought us the fish said they bought Black Cod in a store and it wasn’t nearly as good. So, I guess you have to catch it fresh.
That bobcat is beautiful! Any chance she’s from the litter that was born in that fireplace?
I’ve taken ice baths for my muscles when I was doing successive days of cycling. It definitively helps! But I couldn’t do it on a daily basis – it took me so long to get into those baths. There was always a reason to delay. 🙂
I don’t think the bobcat is from the litter. She looks young and it would have been at least five years or longer when they had the litter. But then again I’m not an expert on a bobcat’s age. I’m sure the ice baths helped, but it would be hard to get in!
Holy cow! What a gorgeous bobcat. (I had to rush right over from River Girl’s blog the minute I saw your comment about her.) Waaaaay better than a wood chuck (sorry, River Girl). And yes, she looks amazing in her cat cave.
I’m so glad you came over! We are having our trees trimmed today, so our bobcat is nowhere in sight. I hope she isn’t scared away for too long. She is beautiful.
That bobcat is adorable, and I’ve never tried sablefish, but it looks good! The only time I love a cold shower is during a triple digit heat wave where our house reaches 90 degrees inside. Then a cold shower feels heavenly. Otherwise, no cold showers or ice baths for me. 🙂
I’m thrilled whenever I see a bobcat. Especially this beauty. If you can find fresh sablefish, it’s amazing!