April 18, 2018 – Wednesday
I know it’s Wednesday because Property Brothers was on when I turned the TV on this morning. Their shows run all day, on Wednesdays, on HGTV. Not a good sign that I recognize days by what programs are on Tv … and yet I do.
The other night I had a guest in my bnb space … he left a day early commenting that the house was TOO NOISY. It bothered me that he said that … yet at the time I didn’t have my Tv on but had 3 snoozing dogs and me laid out on the couch reading. If he could hear the soft whimper of a dog in sleep and the turning of pages (from my basement) – I have to hand it to him for his supersonic hearing. However, after thinking about it – I do think it was the occasional “thunk” of Clara’s head on the floor that this guest was referring to; Clara has no (working) neck muscles and when she lays down the top half of her body hits the floor with enough force that I’m always surprised she hasn’t knocked herself out! Thunk = noise. I guess. (But in the 14 months I’ve had her and hundreds of guests that have graced my space – he’s the first to mention it!) Odd.
Which leads me to dogs (and oddballs) … dogs first. I come from a long line of dog lovers. I’ve had a few myself over the years and Clara is my most recent rescue. She was found by a rancher in his field – caked in cow manure and mud, freezing, starving, painfully thin … and wounded. Basically, she was a mess. I had signed up on the local lab rescue site on a Weds (I guess I wasn’t watching Property Bros that day!) and got a call the very next day. Did I want her? I didn’t know.
So, Gert and I drove the 2 hours south and met up with this sweet, skinny, old lady. Her leg looked charred – was she burned? Road rash? Mange? It didn’t matter – her eyes told her story and it was one full of pain and sorrow and longing and we could do nothing less than bring her home.
And, here she’s been for the past 14 months. I didn’t think she’d last this long – her being what the vets guess around 14. She’s not demonstrative with her affection (no kisses – ever) but at times she’ll give me a tail wag (which is a big deal!). But she is here and ours and she is comfy and loved and well taken care of. However long I was/am to have her I am the one who is blessed by this creature. She has drained my pocketbook and filled my heart. What more could I ask?
But, her little earthly doggie days are numbered … she has cancer, Cushings, and her back end is atrophying. She eats … sometimes … and twice a day I am wrist deep in warmed up kibble, meat and gravy – because she’ll only eat from my hand.
And then in the blink of an eye things change.
Yesterday something happened and she ended up in the bathtub – a wild feat in itself as she doesn’t really bend her legs much! Was it an anxiety attack? A stroke? Some odd internal happening? Earthquake? (Come to think of it two of my wall pictures were crooked this morning!) … whatever and however, she got in there. When I found her she was panicked and panting and I was so worried she’d have a heart attack. Since then (due to a stroke or injury or ???) her back legs are folding up like some giant origami creation whenever she tries to stand.
Numbered days. Sigh.
We are trying Prednisone but if she continues not to eat and fold up like a paper swan, I will have to take decisive action. Never what I want to do. It’s always an odd feeling having to make that decision for an animal … too godly for my comfort.
And speaking of odd and godly … I’ve run across my fair share (or inordinate share) of oddballs lately. I’m not one to judge (well, actually, I am) but, I’m feeling a bit oddball magnet-y lately and feel I need to burn some sage or clean my aura or some such thing!
This past week I read an article about a woman who recycled and repurposed for a year and her total garbage (actual stuff she didn’t upcycle or recycle) fit inside a mason jar. Good God! I remember thinking that was ODD. Yeah, kudos to her for being so “green” but come on! Did she live in a cave for a year? Did she purchase anything?
The day I was mulling this over was the day the plumbing crew (I use that term loosely as it was 2 guys and a back hoe) were chomping their way through my backyard, laying 100 feet of new water main. I was thinking not only how earth friendly I would be but how nice it would be to reuse and recycle as much as I could in the next few months … to cut back, absorb the cost of this expensive dig, etc.
As I was thinking this over I was unpacking a bag (paper/reusable) of goods I had picked up that morning. As I looked at the 6 items on my counter, I realized that not only was nearly everything wrapped in a plastic film but with just these few things, I had already more garbage waste than that woman had for an ENTIRE YEAR!
The new toothbrush was encased in plastic inside a cardboard box. But my old toothbrush was plastic and not recyclable (around here) and I already had saved others for cleaning purposes, so that was garbage – along with the plastic wrapping on the new brush. The flea treatment for the dogs was hermetically sealed (more plastic) as was the microwave popcorn pouches I had purchased for my guests. I was beginning to think that the guy in The Graduate was right when he gave the advice to “Ben” about PLASTICS!
Anyway, the salmon was in a foil pouch (not recyclable) and in a matter of minutes I had accumulated “a year’s worth of garbage”. So, as much as I admire someone for doing that – I had to think that she must be some sort of oddball living off of nuts and berries and brushing her teeth with a twig. Who lives like that? Certainly not me. Which isn’t to say she’s wrong and I’m right – or vice versa … I just found it odd … as in confirmed cave dweller!
The dogs have all been fed, even Clara ate (yay!) and nighttime meds have been given. They are all sleeping, no thunking going on – just soft doggie snores and whimpers. And, it’s still Wednesday. Before I go to bed, maybe I can take the plastic off the lemon pound cake I got today and have some dessert while I tune in and catch one more episode of Property Brothers.