Thursday, July 29, 2004
One of My Favorite Things
Hiking with my son is one of my favorite activites. My daughter is not an outdoor girl and an attempted hike with her a month ago finally convinced me that she hates to hike and no matter how hard I try to convince her otherwise, it is just not to be.
I used to hike with my husband before Children came along but now he has feet, knee and hip issues that ruin the fun. So my hiking partner is my son and I love that he loves to hike with me--his Mom.
Yesterday, we hiked to Lanham Lake off of the Stevens Pass highway. It is so terrific that around here you can drive 30 minutes to an hour, find a trail and be in the wilderness---just like that. We picked Lanham Lake because thanks to an old diary kept by my English grandfather, we know where he lived and worked when he first came to America from England at the turn of the century.
I knew my English grandparents in Montana where they eventually settled. My grandfather died when I was 4 but I remember him and my beloved Grandma died when I was 18 so she was a huge influence on me. Ironically, she was not an outdoor girl either yet remarkably she left her dismal life in England in 1915 and traveled alone at the age of 24 by ship (probably in steerage), caught a train on the East Coast of Canada by herself and arrived in the wilds of Washington up on Stevens Pass.
I always knew as a child that my Grandparents had lived in Washington at the beginning of their marriage. My Grandma kept a framed photograph on the wall of her bedroom of their little cabin in the wilderness with snow up to the roof. It never occurred to me to ask her WHY and HOW she made that long frightful journey alone from London to the complete wilderness thousands of miles away. I never realized how wild this country was until we moved here. So I am reduced to speculation as to WHY and the answer I have come up with is LOVE.
You see my Grandma, Lily, kept a diary too and she included an entry in 1908 documenting when my Grandfather, Sam, left for America. My Grandma was best friends with his little Sister, Minnie. Minnie had followed her older brother to America as well but it took my Grandma 7 years more to make the trip--perhaps to save enough money. I think she had a big old crush on my Grandpa from the time she was a teen ager and in addition to wanting a better life, she had her sights set on handsome Sam. The excuse she always used was that she came to cook and be a housekeeper for Sam and his fur trapper, railroad building buddies. The problem with her excuse is that my Grandpa knew how to cook---his first job was as a cook and my Grandma could NOT even boil water. Yep, it was LOVE.
She arrived in the wilderness in 1915. Sam and Lily were married a short time later (SEE?) and their first child, my uncle George, was born a year later. At this point, the wild country must have grown tiresome to the young family because my Grandpa took a more steady job with the railroad back in settled civilization in Deer Lodge, Montana in 1918.
Back to our hike yesterday! We climbed a steep trail along Lanham creek until we reached the lake. Gigantic old growth trees surrounded us and at some points the trail was obliterated by undergrowth. I had to resort to my Girl Scout skills to find and follow the trail to the great admiration of my son. Very few hikers use this trail and my son (Sam's great-grandson), my Apolo, and I were completely alone in the wilderness. Throughout the hike I knew my Grandpa had placed traps all along the creek trying to eke out a living in 1911 selling furs. Very little has changed in nearly 100 years and it was humbling to realize my English city kid Grandpa who had spent years in the dismal Dickens workhouses knew his way around the wilds of these mountains as well as I know my way to the grocery store....and my daughter is an indoor girl just like her great-Grandmother.
Hiking with my son is one of my favorite activites. My daughter is not an outdoor girl and an attempted hike with her a month ago finally convinced me that she hates to hike and no matter how hard I try to convince her otherwise, it is just not to be.
I used to hike with my husband before Children came along but now he has feet, knee and hip issues that ruin the fun. So my hiking partner is my son and I love that he loves to hike with me--his Mom.
Yesterday, we hiked to Lanham Lake off of the Stevens Pass highway. It is so terrific that around here you can drive 30 minutes to an hour, find a trail and be in the wilderness---just like that. We picked Lanham Lake because thanks to an old diary kept by my English grandfather, we know where he lived and worked when he first came to America from England at the turn of the century.
I knew my English grandparents in Montana where they eventually settled. My grandfather died when I was 4 but I remember him and my beloved Grandma died when I was 18 so she was a huge influence on me. Ironically, she was not an outdoor girl either yet remarkably she left her dismal life in England in 1915 and traveled alone at the age of 24 by ship (probably in steerage), caught a train on the East Coast of Canada by herself and arrived in the wilds of Washington up on Stevens Pass.
I always knew as a child that my Grandparents had lived in Washington at the beginning of their marriage. My Grandma kept a framed photograph on the wall of her bedroom of their little cabin in the wilderness with snow up to the roof. It never occurred to me to ask her WHY and HOW she made that long frightful journey alone from London to the complete wilderness thousands of miles away. I never realized how wild this country was until we moved here. So I am reduced to speculation as to WHY and the answer I have come up with is LOVE.
You see my Grandma, Lily, kept a diary too and she included an entry in 1908 documenting when my Grandfather, Sam, left for America. My Grandma was best friends with his little Sister, Minnie. Minnie had followed her older brother to America as well but it took my Grandma 7 years more to make the trip--perhaps to save enough money. I think she had a big old crush on my Grandpa from the time she was a teen ager and in addition to wanting a better life, she had her sights set on handsome Sam. The excuse she always used was that she came to cook and be a housekeeper for Sam and his fur trapper, railroad building buddies. The problem with her excuse is that my Grandpa knew how to cook---his first job was as a cook and my Grandma could NOT even boil water. Yep, it was LOVE.
She arrived in the wilderness in 1915. Sam and Lily were married a short time later (SEE?) and their first child, my uncle George, was born a year later. At this point, the wild country must have grown tiresome to the young family because my Grandpa took a more steady job with the railroad back in settled civilization in Deer Lodge, Montana in 1918.
Back to our hike yesterday! We climbed a steep trail along Lanham creek until we reached the lake. Gigantic old growth trees surrounded us and at some points the trail was obliterated by undergrowth. I had to resort to my Girl Scout skills to find and follow the trail to the great admiration of my son. Very few hikers use this trail and my son (Sam's great-grandson), my Apolo, and I were completely alone in the wilderness. Throughout the hike I knew my Grandpa had placed traps all along the creek trying to eke out a living in 1911 selling furs. Very little has changed in nearly 100 years and it was humbling to realize my English city kid Grandpa who had spent years in the dismal Dickens workhouses knew his way around the wilds of these mountains as well as I know my way to the grocery store....and my daughter is an indoor girl just like her great-Grandmother.
// posted by Janet @ 9:00 AM
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Sunday, July 25, 2004
The Way It Should Be
Ah, yes!! I got up this morning after having a nice cool sleep; clouds cover the sky and a gray mist hangs over the water. The temperature was 63 degrees outside and 68 in the house. I was even a little chilly reading the Sunday paper in my summer morning clothes--tank top and gym shorts. (Most of the year, I put on sweats in the morning; I don't like to wear a robe because I'm outside to get the papers the minute I get up AND sometimes my puppy likes me to go outside with him first thing.)
My children, native Seattleites, came into the kitchen this morning with big smiles. This is the way it should be.
Ah, yes!! I got up this morning after having a nice cool sleep; clouds cover the sky and a gray mist hangs over the water. The temperature was 63 degrees outside and 68 in the house. I was even a little chilly reading the Sunday paper in my summer morning clothes--tank top and gym shorts. (Most of the year, I put on sweats in the morning; I don't like to wear a robe because I'm outside to get the papers the minute I get up AND sometimes my puppy likes me to go outside with him first thing.)
My children, native Seattleites, came into the kitchen this morning with big smiles. This is the way it should be.
// posted by Janet @ 10:50 AM
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Saturday, July 24, 2004
Hot Times--Part II
We have a breeze tonight so even though it was hot hot hot (89 in Mukilteo), I am feeling some cooler air from the water and smelling a little rotten seaweed. And the prediction is the temperature will drop a bit in the next few days. We are not used to this!! On the local news they were saying that 911 calls doubled and domestic violence sky rockets. People's nerves are frazzled and then they drink too much alcohol and kill their spouse. Seriously, we have had 7 deaths in the last 8 days due to domestic violence.
How did my family handle the heat?
1. Lucas went to the beach and jumped into the Sound with his cell phone; we are now trying to dry it out but it was salt water so ....?
2. Hubby and I wanted to stain our new deck railings but we got the wrong kind of stain and then the paint store closed. We kind of felt like killing each other. Nerves were frazzled so we got a bunch of tropical juices and made rum drinks instead.
3. I forgot to eat lunch so I was hungry and wanted to fix dinner; I called Kaley on her cell phone and she was on the ferry heading to Whidbey Island to cool off. "You are WHERE?" She took the return ferry and we picked her up in another 30 minutes.
4. We made a big fruit salad and cooked on the outdoor grill--halibut, pink salmon, and King salmon so we each had some of each. Hubby had a business trip to Alaska two weeks ago and finished it with a fishing trip!!
5. Dinner discussion focused on Apolo Ohno's new Group Health ads on TV; the fact that orcas make love belly to belly like most humans; and how far the ferry line was backed up--perhaps a record today (the light at Dairy Queen).
6. And finally, while sitting on our newly refurbished deck, we noticed a boat go by with water skiers being towed behind without wet suits. This is a first. We have seen jet skis out there and we have seen water skiers on Lake Washington but NEVER never Puget Sound because it is too cold. Clearly, this is evidence of global warming--water skiers on Puget Sound without wet suits!!!
We have a breeze tonight so even though it was hot hot hot (89 in Mukilteo), I am feeling some cooler air from the water and smelling a little rotten seaweed. And the prediction is the temperature will drop a bit in the next few days. We are not used to this!! On the local news they were saying that 911 calls doubled and domestic violence sky rockets. People's nerves are frazzled and then they drink too much alcohol and kill their spouse. Seriously, we have had 7 deaths in the last 8 days due to domestic violence.
How did my family handle the heat?
1. Lucas went to the beach and jumped into the Sound with his cell phone; we are now trying to dry it out but it was salt water so ....?
2. Hubby and I wanted to stain our new deck railings but we got the wrong kind of stain and then the paint store closed. We kind of felt like killing each other. Nerves were frazzled so we got a bunch of tropical juices and made rum drinks instead.
3. I forgot to eat lunch so I was hungry and wanted to fix dinner; I called Kaley on her cell phone and she was on the ferry heading to Whidbey Island to cool off. "You are WHERE?" She took the return ferry and we picked her up in another 30 minutes.
4. We made a big fruit salad and cooked on the outdoor grill--halibut, pink salmon, and King salmon so we each had some of each. Hubby had a business trip to Alaska two weeks ago and finished it with a fishing trip!!
5. Dinner discussion focused on Apolo Ohno's new Group Health ads on TV; the fact that orcas make love belly to belly like most humans; and how far the ferry line was backed up--perhaps a record today (the light at Dairy Queen).
6. And finally, while sitting on our newly refurbished deck, we noticed a boat go by with water skiers being towed behind without wet suits. This is a first. We have seen jet skis out there and we have seen water skiers on Lake Washington but NEVER never Puget Sound because it is too cold. Clearly, this is evidence of global warming--water skiers on Puget Sound without wet suits!!!
// posted by Janet @ 10:00 PM
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Friday, July 23, 2004
HELP
This is horrible!! I can't stand it. When I'm used to the hottest weather being maybe 75, 86 in the house is too much. I've said before on this blog we get very little wind in the Seattle area; well, that includes breezes. It is now 9 PM and I've opened all of our windows and there is no breeze off that water I'm looking at this very minute and that water is 55 degrees. My son and I watered the yard at 6 and squirted each other; that felt good.
Earlier in the afternoon while my daughter was at a voice lesson, I went to our local Starbuck's for an iced latte and the place was packed. In the winter when we had the snow day, all of the Starbuck's were doing a great business because in every single neighborhood in the Puget sound area, there is a Starbuck's nearby. People walked through the snow to get warm drinks. Starbuck's is also air conditioned like nobody's house so everyone was there sitting in the coolness with a cold drink.
And this too shall pass!!
This is horrible!! I can't stand it. When I'm used to the hottest weather being maybe 75, 86 in the house is too much. I've said before on this blog we get very little wind in the Seattle area; well, that includes breezes. It is now 9 PM and I've opened all of our windows and there is no breeze off that water I'm looking at this very minute and that water is 55 degrees. My son and I watered the yard at 6 and squirted each other; that felt good.
Earlier in the afternoon while my daughter was at a voice lesson, I went to our local Starbuck's for an iced latte and the place was packed. In the winter when we had the snow day, all of the Starbuck's were doing a great business because in every single neighborhood in the Puget sound area, there is a Starbuck's nearby. People walked through the snow to get warm drinks. Starbuck's is also air conditioned like nobody's house so everyone was there sitting in the coolness with a cold drink.
And this too shall pass!!
// posted by Janet @ 8:55 PM
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Hot Times
The Seattle area is having a scorcher--90 degree temperatures for a few days here. This kind of weather is the lead news story in much the same way as our annual snow day. It is a variation on the theme of "40's, 50's or 60's with chance of rain".
The problem with this kind of weather is that our gardens and all of our natural vegetation is dependent upon water and lots of it. A few days of hotness and everything turns brown rapidly. As you can imagine, we do not have many cacti around here. Most people do not really even know how to water their lawns. A few people like us have sprinkler systems but ours is not working because we had a new fence built and the fence guys cut the wire and didn't fix it properly so our lawn is.....not good.
Nobody has air conditioning. When you are surrounded by gigantic bodies of water at every turn--both fresh and salt water--a breeze usually happens at night so crucially opened windows cause the natural air conditioning to happen. I have heard stories about southern Californians moving here and either looking at million dollar homes to buy or building such a home. One of the first questions is about air conditioning. Usually, these people are met with blank stares from the builder or real estate agent with a response that that is a few thousand dollars wasted.
I mean--why would you want to shut your windows on a nice day and breathe fake air when you can get a fresh breeze off of 55 degree water???
On the other hand, we do have an interesting problem with days like this. Low tides happen this time of year and the seaweed rots. All over the Puget Sound region people complain that their local sewage treatment plant has gone haywire because the smell is....pretty terrible. This happens every year and happened last week in our neighborhood. The managers of the sewage treatment plants receive calls and every year there is an article in the paper (like yesterday) saying the smell is ROTTING SEAWEED.
Hmmmm! Maybe air conditioning is not such a bad idea after all!
The Seattle area is having a scorcher--90 degree temperatures for a few days here. This kind of weather is the lead news story in much the same way as our annual snow day. It is a variation on the theme of "40's, 50's or 60's with chance of rain".
The problem with this kind of weather is that our gardens and all of our natural vegetation is dependent upon water and lots of it. A few days of hotness and everything turns brown rapidly. As you can imagine, we do not have many cacti around here. Most people do not really even know how to water their lawns. A few people like us have sprinkler systems but ours is not working because we had a new fence built and the fence guys cut the wire and didn't fix it properly so our lawn is.....not good.
Nobody has air conditioning. When you are surrounded by gigantic bodies of water at every turn--both fresh and salt water--a breeze usually happens at night so crucially opened windows cause the natural air conditioning to happen. I have heard stories about southern Californians moving here and either looking at million dollar homes to buy or building such a home. One of the first questions is about air conditioning. Usually, these people are met with blank stares from the builder or real estate agent with a response that that is a few thousand dollars wasted.
I mean--why would you want to shut your windows on a nice day and breathe fake air when you can get a fresh breeze off of 55 degree water???
On the other hand, we do have an interesting problem with days like this. Low tides happen this time of year and the seaweed rots. All over the Puget Sound region people complain that their local sewage treatment plant has gone haywire because the smell is....pretty terrible. This happens every year and happened last week in our neighborhood. The managers of the sewage treatment plants receive calls and every year there is an article in the paper (like yesterday) saying the smell is ROTTING SEAWEED.
Hmmmm! Maybe air conditioning is not such a bad idea after all!
// posted by Janet @ 9:15 AM
0 comments
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Summer Activities
We haven't taken any major trips this summer and I love it. This is the best place to be. In the past week or so we've had some fun vacationing from our own house so I'll recap:
1. Garbage Fun One of Lucas's friend's family made some good money in the garbage business; in fact, in any alley around here, you will see their name on all of the dumpsters. Lucas's friend, Denny, goes to Boston College but he is home this summer and for his entire life he hasn't missed the State Garbage Convention. This year was no different; the convention was held in Yakima and Lucas decided he had to see for himself what a garbage convention was all about. So he and a friend went to Yakima to visit Denny and his family at the Garbage Convention. Lucas loved seeing the big brand new garbage trucks. He said they even smelled new. He came home with a bag full of key chains and water bottles for us and said Denny just loved showing him everything.
2. Beach Fun Kaley happens to be friends with Denny's brother David so she has been invited to their beach house as has Lucas to eat somores and ride in a boat. It seems funny to me that they have a lovely home with a view of Puget Sound and then a little beach cottage just 45 minutes a little further north also on Puget Sound. But the garbage business is good!! There is this Indian reservation and quite a few people have a little cottages right on the beach. The people actually own their cottages but they pay on a lease to the Native Americans for the land.
3. Food Fun There is a little cafe about 20 minutes north called the Maltby Cafe in Maltby. It always makes the Best of Western Washington Awards so we decided to go there while on vacation at our own house. Oh man, I LOVE cinnamon rolls and theirs are famous. They are the size of a dinner plate. Then to walk that off, we drove 3 minutes further and found Flower World which is an incredibly landscaped forest and gardens with a nursery to buy anything that ever has grown ever.
4. Shopping Fun Now that Nordstrom's has gone national, this is no longer a Seattle activity but the half yearly sale actually had an article about it in the Seattle Times today. Kaley and I hit the famous sale and got some shoes since Kaley has a purse and shoes and boot fetish. I remember years ago when I worked downtown, we'd leave work and take time to go to THE mother of all sales--the Nordstrom sale and you could be totally honest about it.
5. Music Fun Continuing with our vacation in our own house, we headed to the famous Darrington Blue Grass Festival today. Darrington is about an hour north of here and it is nestled in the North Cascade Mountains. We sat and listened to Blue Grass in the forest for a couple of hours at the base of this giant craggy mountain covered with glaciers and waterfalls. Speakers were sitting on gigantic stumps from old growth trees from the old days. The kids got T-shirts and it made me realize that these days where the four of us do these things as a family will not last forever. But at least, I totally enjoyed grooving out to Bluegrass with my loves today.
We haven't taken any major trips this summer and I love it. This is the best place to be. In the past week or so we've had some fun vacationing from our own house so I'll recap:
1. Garbage Fun One of Lucas's friend's family made some good money in the garbage business; in fact, in any alley around here, you will see their name on all of the dumpsters. Lucas's friend, Denny, goes to Boston College but he is home this summer and for his entire life he hasn't missed the State Garbage Convention. This year was no different; the convention was held in Yakima and Lucas decided he had to see for himself what a garbage convention was all about. So he and a friend went to Yakima to visit Denny and his family at the Garbage Convention. Lucas loved seeing the big brand new garbage trucks. He said they even smelled new. He came home with a bag full of key chains and water bottles for us and said Denny just loved showing him everything.
2. Beach Fun Kaley happens to be friends with Denny's brother David so she has been invited to their beach house as has Lucas to eat somores and ride in a boat. It seems funny to me that they have a lovely home with a view of Puget Sound and then a little beach cottage just 45 minutes a little further north also on Puget Sound. But the garbage business is good!! There is this Indian reservation and quite a few people have a little cottages right on the beach. The people actually own their cottages but they pay on a lease to the Native Americans for the land.
3. Food Fun There is a little cafe about 20 minutes north called the Maltby Cafe in Maltby. It always makes the Best of Western Washington Awards so we decided to go there while on vacation at our own house. Oh man, I LOVE cinnamon rolls and theirs are famous. They are the size of a dinner plate. Then to walk that off, we drove 3 minutes further and found Flower World which is an incredibly landscaped forest and gardens with a nursery to buy anything that ever has grown ever.
4. Shopping Fun Now that Nordstrom's has gone national, this is no longer a Seattle activity but the half yearly sale actually had an article about it in the Seattle Times today. Kaley and I hit the famous sale and got some shoes since Kaley has a purse and shoes and boot fetish. I remember years ago when I worked downtown, we'd leave work and take time to go to THE mother of all sales--the Nordstrom sale and you could be totally honest about it.
5. Music Fun Continuing with our vacation in our own house, we headed to the famous Darrington Blue Grass Festival today. Darrington is about an hour north of here and it is nestled in the North Cascade Mountains. We sat and listened to Blue Grass in the forest for a couple of hours at the base of this giant craggy mountain covered with glaciers and waterfalls. Speakers were sitting on gigantic stumps from old growth trees from the old days. The kids got T-shirts and it made me realize that these days where the four of us do these things as a family will not last forever. But at least, I totally enjoyed grooving out to Bluegrass with my loves today.
// posted by Janet @ 9:41 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Beloved Puppies Part II
I could write pages and pages about Jebbie or officially Jebidiah au Mont d'Or (mountain of gold--named after the village where we lived in France). Lucas and Kaley wanted to name him Jeb so that he would still recognize his name if we called him Jed by mistake, the name of our dog who had recently died of leukemia. He was terribly bright; he loved to sit up on the couch and watch TV. He loved the movie Beethoven and when he would hear the music from his favorite commercials, he'd run into the family room to watch. Jeb was gorgeous and show quality but therein was the problem. At age 6 in April of 2002, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. After one visit to a dog oncologist for chemo therapy, he died only two weeks after getting sick. We were devastated--how could this happen to us twice?? Laddie lived to be 16??!!
My husband is friends with the world's leading dog geneticist and she told us about the bad gene in certain lines of Puget Sound Golden Retrievers--particularly those bred for show. I could not go through this again so my decision was, "No MORE Goldens!!" We'd find a homeless dog at the pound. The problem was I had a 14 year old daughter who had had Jebbie since she was 7 and she was having a really tough time.
We had just watched the Winter Olympics a couple of months before and a local kid, named Apolo Anton Ohno was the media darling both locally and nationally. He was a cute short track speedskater and he managed to win both a Gold and Silver medal. Kaley was quite taken with Apolo and he replaced Justin Timberlake in her teen crushed little heart. Actually, I thought he was the most adorable Olympic athlete I'd ever seen as well. Kaley wanted a puppy; she wanted a Golden Retriever; she wanted to name it Apolo; and there was no alternative.
After discussions with Dave, my criteria were: 1. Puppy cannot be a Puget Sound Golden 2. Maybe we should return to the dark variety like I had as a kid and 3. There must be no dogs in the bloodline that were in either Jebbie or Jed's pedigree. 4. Finally, NOT a show dog. We thought about getting a puppy in Montana during the summer but then I saw an ad in the paper that looked intriguing.
Three days after Jebbie died and while Dave was out of town, "Ok, kids, we are just going to look at these puppies. We are not getting one so do NOT get your hopes up. It will be fun just to LOOK! We'll get a puppy in Montana later." I decreed.
The puppies were bred by this young guy in a small town in Eastern Washington for hunting. He owned two females and had a black lab as well. The father was from a family who had moved from Kansas. He brought the puppies to the Seattle area to his sister's house to sell them in a bigger market. They were dark in color and not bred for show. When I told the guy what had happened to us, he had never heard of the leukemia/lymphoma problem and then he said exactly the right thing, "Man, when you start crossing dogs from the same families, they call it inline breeding, just to get a prettier dog things can get really messed up. It ain't a good idea to mess with that stuff!"
"Oh my God!!, look at this little guy!" as I swooped up a dark darling with a slight white spot on his chest that would disqualify him from the show ring immediately. "He looks just like my Rufus who I had in high school--white spot and all!! This is the one I want!"
"MOM, you said we were just going to LOOK, remember? You even got mad at us!" reminded Lucas.
"I know but I want him!"
"He looks like Apolo, Mom. See his eyes--light brown with white white around them??" chimed in Kaley.
I pulled out my dead dogs' pedigrees and sat on the floor and compared them to these puppies' family tree. Whoa! My four criteria had been met and Jebbie hadn't even been dead a week. So that was it! I was in love again. We named him Apolo, Our Golden Boy, after our Olympic Gold medalist--not Apollo after the greek God, I keep telling the vet. "Only one 'L'!!"
At home, one of Kaley's friends pointed out that the white spot on his chest was his "soul patch" just like the real Apolo. He also had a little bit of white on the tips of his toes. Kaley said those were his skate blades. And when he'd fall and slide on the wood floor with his feet going every which way, we'd yell, "Get that silver medal, Apolo!" Obviously, of course, when he'd poop or pea or chew something, we'd yell, "Apolo Oh NO!!"
Apolo is now two years old and he weighs 92 pounds. When I take him for walks, people I have met think he actually looks like Apolo with his bright eyes and dark curls around his head. The white little skate blades disappeared but he still has his "soul patch" on his broad macho chest. He is not the brightest dog we've had; he doesn't watch TV but he is the most affectionate and Kaley is crazy about him. We are hoping for the best!!!
The real Apolo has actually learned about his namesake--a couple of times. I have a friend who saw Apolo in Chicago and she gave him a picture of our puppy when he was little. Fortunately, Apolo made a local appearance about a year ago and Kaley and I were able to tell him in person we named our puppy after him. His response, "That's awesome!!!"
I could write pages and pages about Jebbie or officially Jebidiah au Mont d'Or (mountain of gold--named after the village where we lived in France). Lucas and Kaley wanted to name him Jeb so that he would still recognize his name if we called him Jed by mistake, the name of our dog who had recently died of leukemia. He was terribly bright; he loved to sit up on the couch and watch TV. He loved the movie Beethoven and when he would hear the music from his favorite commercials, he'd run into the family room to watch. Jeb was gorgeous and show quality but therein was the problem. At age 6 in April of 2002, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. After one visit to a dog oncologist for chemo therapy, he died only two weeks after getting sick. We were devastated--how could this happen to us twice?? Laddie lived to be 16??!!
My husband is friends with the world's leading dog geneticist and she told us about the bad gene in certain lines of Puget Sound Golden Retrievers--particularly those bred for show. I could not go through this again so my decision was, "No MORE Goldens!!" We'd find a homeless dog at the pound. The problem was I had a 14 year old daughter who had had Jebbie since she was 7 and she was having a really tough time.
We had just watched the Winter Olympics a couple of months before and a local kid, named Apolo Anton Ohno was the media darling both locally and nationally. He was a cute short track speedskater and he managed to win both a Gold and Silver medal. Kaley was quite taken with Apolo and he replaced Justin Timberlake in her teen crushed little heart. Actually, I thought he was the most adorable Olympic athlete I'd ever seen as well. Kaley wanted a puppy; she wanted a Golden Retriever; she wanted to name it Apolo; and there was no alternative.
After discussions with Dave, my criteria were: 1. Puppy cannot be a Puget Sound Golden 2. Maybe we should return to the dark variety like I had as a kid and 3. There must be no dogs in the bloodline that were in either Jebbie or Jed's pedigree. 4. Finally, NOT a show dog. We thought about getting a puppy in Montana during the summer but then I saw an ad in the paper that looked intriguing.
Three days after Jebbie died and while Dave was out of town, "Ok, kids, we are just going to look at these puppies. We are not getting one so do NOT get your hopes up. It will be fun just to LOOK! We'll get a puppy in Montana later." I decreed.
The puppies were bred by this young guy in a small town in Eastern Washington for hunting. He owned two females and had a black lab as well. The father was from a family who had moved from Kansas. He brought the puppies to the Seattle area to his sister's house to sell them in a bigger market. They were dark in color and not bred for show. When I told the guy what had happened to us, he had never heard of the leukemia/lymphoma problem and then he said exactly the right thing, "Man, when you start crossing dogs from the same families, they call it inline breeding, just to get a prettier dog things can get really messed up. It ain't a good idea to mess with that stuff!"
"Oh my God!!, look at this little guy!" as I swooped up a dark darling with a slight white spot on his chest that would disqualify him from the show ring immediately. "He looks just like my Rufus who I had in high school--white spot and all!! This is the one I want!"
"MOM, you said we were just going to LOOK, remember? You even got mad at us!" reminded Lucas.
"I know but I want him!"
"He looks like Apolo, Mom. See his eyes--light brown with white white around them??" chimed in Kaley.
I pulled out my dead dogs' pedigrees and sat on the floor and compared them to these puppies' family tree. Whoa! My four criteria had been met and Jebbie hadn't even been dead a week. So that was it! I was in love again. We named him Apolo, Our Golden Boy, after our Olympic Gold medalist--not Apollo after the greek God, I keep telling the vet. "Only one 'L'!!"
At home, one of Kaley's friends pointed out that the white spot on his chest was his "soul patch" just like the real Apolo. He also had a little bit of white on the tips of his toes. Kaley said those were his skate blades. And when he'd fall and slide on the wood floor with his feet going every which way, we'd yell, "Get that silver medal, Apolo!" Obviously, of course, when he'd poop or pea or chew something, we'd yell, "Apolo Oh NO!!"
Apolo is now two years old and he weighs 92 pounds. When I take him for walks, people I have met think he actually looks like Apolo with his bright eyes and dark curls around his head. The white little skate blades disappeared but he still has his "soul patch" on his broad macho chest. He is not the brightest dog we've had; he doesn't watch TV but he is the most affectionate and Kaley is crazy about him. We are hoping for the best!!!
The real Apolo has actually learned about his namesake--a couple of times. I have a friend who saw Apolo in Chicago and she gave him a picture of our puppy when he was little. Fortunately, Apolo made a local appearance about a year ago and Kaley and I were able to tell him in person we named our puppy after him. His response, "That's awesome!!!"
// posted by Janet @ 7:38 AM
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Monday, July 12, 2004
Beloved Puppies Part I
This article in today's Seattle PI by Barry Wong caught my attention because it featured a photo of a Golden Retriever but then after reading it, I laughed. People are serious about their dogs. "If you're homeless, jobless, or just unwanted in the Puget Sound region, you might want to be reincarnated as a wet-nosed, tail wagging, fun-loving canine..."
Evidently in Medina on Lake Washington where the richest people in the world live, dogs are not required to be leashed in their city park. I guess people have complained about dog poop and "'about dogs exiting the pond and spraying other visitors when they shake off or rub up against other visitors leaving mud on pants and shoes.'" Residents have applied for an ordinance change accompanied by thick briefs to City Hall to require dogs to be leashed. This completely cracked me up because my dog, Apolo, is able to accomplish 1. pooping 2. exiting water and shaking all over people and 3. rubbing mud on people all while still on a leash. So I think the fancy lawyers over there better work on their arguments.
I do understand the passion and love dog owners have for their pets. When I was born, my parents had a Springer Spaniel named Jack. I do not remember him but my English Grandma also had a Springer Spaniel named Jack that I remember fondly. Evidently, my English grandparents had Springer Spaniels going way back and they were always named Jack.
After all of the Jacks were gone, my Dad decided to break with family tradition by bringing a Golden Retriever puppy home when I was 7. He did a lot of reading and what convinced him was a book describing how Nazis, knowing the breed was intelligent, tried to train Goldens to do bad things. But they couldn't make them mean. We named this dog Laddie. He was my childhood companion and he lived to be 16! In fact, he died on America's 200th birthday, July 4, 1976 and at 23, I cried.
My parents had two more Goldens, Lonnie and Rufus. Lonnie was killed by a truck as a puppy but Rufus lived to be 14. After my Dad died and after Rufus died my Mom had a female named Sunny who also lived to be 14. All of these Goldens were dark golden red.
When Dave and I were first married, my Dad felt sorry for us living in a big city (Kansas City) so far from home. Without asking us, he sent Rufus's puppy, a dark little runt of the litter, to us on an airplane knowing I would not send him back. We named him Montana Gold and called him Monty; he was our first child and we loved him so much. He hiked with us in Colorado where we'd go to get our mountain fix, slept with us, went with us everywhere and moved to Seattle with us. The article in today's paper reminded me how I took Monty for his last swim in Lake Washington when he was old and gray-faced. He died at 12 after a good life, when my first human child, Lucas, was one. I've always believed he died of a broken heart because he had to share me with a screaming ugly (to him) little thing.
As a family, we had two more Goldens: Jedidiah Gold (Jed) and Jebidiah au Mont d'Or (Jeb). I continued the gold theme with their names. These two guys were Puget Sound Goldens and they were light, fluffy and bear-like; parents and relatives were show dog champions. Jed got sick with leukemia at age 8 right before we went to France to live. In a macabre sort of way, it worked out that he died before we had to leave him for four months--almost like he knew we were leaving him. But let me say, we were completely devastated; I actually put my children, ages 10 and 7 at the time, at risk by adopting the mean German Shepherd from next door in our little village in France just to have a dog around. The day we got back, jet lag and all, we went puppy shopping.
Next up, Part II, and just how did we end up with Apolo when we had Jeb? And WHY did we name him Apolo with one "L"? Stay tuned!
This article in today's Seattle PI by Barry Wong caught my attention because it featured a photo of a Golden Retriever but then after reading it, I laughed. People are serious about their dogs. "If you're homeless, jobless, or just unwanted in the Puget Sound region, you might want to be reincarnated as a wet-nosed, tail wagging, fun-loving canine..."
Evidently in Medina on Lake Washington where the richest people in the world live, dogs are not required to be leashed in their city park. I guess people have complained about dog poop and "'about dogs exiting the pond and spraying other visitors when they shake off or rub up against other visitors leaving mud on pants and shoes.'" Residents have applied for an ordinance change accompanied by thick briefs to City Hall to require dogs to be leashed. This completely cracked me up because my dog, Apolo, is able to accomplish 1. pooping 2. exiting water and shaking all over people and 3. rubbing mud on people all while still on a leash. So I think the fancy lawyers over there better work on their arguments.
I do understand the passion and love dog owners have for their pets. When I was born, my parents had a Springer Spaniel named Jack. I do not remember him but my English Grandma also had a Springer Spaniel named Jack that I remember fondly. Evidently, my English grandparents had Springer Spaniels going way back and they were always named Jack.
After all of the Jacks were gone, my Dad decided to break with family tradition by bringing a Golden Retriever puppy home when I was 7. He did a lot of reading and what convinced him was a book describing how Nazis, knowing the breed was intelligent, tried to train Goldens to do bad things. But they couldn't make them mean. We named this dog Laddie. He was my childhood companion and he lived to be 16! In fact, he died on America's 200th birthday, July 4, 1976 and at 23, I cried.
My parents had two more Goldens, Lonnie and Rufus. Lonnie was killed by a truck as a puppy but Rufus lived to be 14. After my Dad died and after Rufus died my Mom had a female named Sunny who also lived to be 14. All of these Goldens were dark golden red.
When Dave and I were first married, my Dad felt sorry for us living in a big city (Kansas City) so far from home. Without asking us, he sent Rufus's puppy, a dark little runt of the litter, to us on an airplane knowing I would not send him back. We named him Montana Gold and called him Monty; he was our first child and we loved him so much. He hiked with us in Colorado where we'd go to get our mountain fix, slept with us, went with us everywhere and moved to Seattle with us. The article in today's paper reminded me how I took Monty for his last swim in Lake Washington when he was old and gray-faced. He died at 12 after a good life, when my first human child, Lucas, was one. I've always believed he died of a broken heart because he had to share me with a screaming ugly (to him) little thing.
As a family, we had two more Goldens: Jedidiah Gold (Jed) and Jebidiah au Mont d'Or (Jeb). I continued the gold theme with their names. These two guys were Puget Sound Goldens and they were light, fluffy and bear-like; parents and relatives were show dog champions. Jed got sick with leukemia at age 8 right before we went to France to live. In a macabre sort of way, it worked out that he died before we had to leave him for four months--almost like he knew we were leaving him. But let me say, we were completely devastated; I actually put my children, ages 10 and 7 at the time, at risk by adopting the mean German Shepherd from next door in our little village in France just to have a dog around. The day we got back, jet lag and all, we went puppy shopping.
Next up, Part II, and just how did we end up with Apolo when we had Jeb? And WHY did we name him Apolo with one "L"? Stay tuned!
// posted by Janet @ 3:50 PM
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Sunday, July 11, 2004
Seattle and Gardening
I do realize people garden in other parts of the country but people in Seattle are fanatics. In Montana, my mother does remarkably well despite the short growing season and desert like dryness. My Dad had a forestry degree before his Master's in Education so he was always planting things. I remember him out in the yard trying to plant little doug firs and half of them would die. If they survived, they would be little teeny trees for years. My brother and his wife in Sheridan Sage Brush, Montana have a little teeny lilac bush that she struggles with year after year with complete pride.
Hopscotch over to Seattle: At our old house six blocks away, we had little doug firs popping up all on their own. Ten years ago, my husband moved one to the corner of the yard to see what would happen and it is a gigantic 50 foot tree now and too big for the Christmas lights we'd always put on it. Huge trees grow around here like weeds. Blackberry bushes take over everything. I always wondered why there were no old abandoned cabins in the woods like in Montana. Blackberry bushes grow in the windows and over the roof and they eat the old cabins till nothing is left. Three factors allow flora to explode in the Puget Sound area: 1. Rain 2. Mild winters and rain 3. Long long light in summer months because of our northern location and rain.
When you visit the nursery to buy bushes for your yard, they recommend dwarf varieties of everything. At first, I was worried about planting dwarfs. In Montana, dwarf bushes would be microscopic but "Oh my God!!"---dwarf in Seattle means it will not grow taller than or take over your house. Dwarf varieties still must be pruned...and pruned. At a party next to our old house last week, we peered over our old 5 ft. fence and the dwarf escalonia and bhuddlia were 15 feet tall! The people that bought our house don't own pruners, I guess.
At a party on Friday night, we were admiring our friend's enormous back yard. Raspberry bushes were taking over one whole corner and we spent a good share of time out there with our glasses of wine, picking berries, eating berries and putting them in our wine. She also had 10 foot blueberry bushes like I'd never seen. And then I spotted this gorgeous bush with beautiful fragrant white blossoms; it was a mock orange like my mother had when I was a child.
But this shrub was 6 feet tall--not like my Mom's little three footer. I asked my friend about it saying I wanted one. She responded, "Make sure you get....what is it?.....ah...the midget kind because they get too big!"
"You mean, the 'dwarf variety'?", I giggled.
"YES, that's it--DWARF! But look, my bush is a little leggy--I need to get the pruners to it tomorrow!"
I do realize people garden in other parts of the country but people in Seattle are fanatics. In Montana, my mother does remarkably well despite the short growing season and desert like dryness. My Dad had a forestry degree before his Master's in Education so he was always planting things. I remember him out in the yard trying to plant little doug firs and half of them would die. If they survived, they would be little teeny trees for years. My brother and his wife in Sheridan Sage Brush, Montana have a little teeny lilac bush that she struggles with year after year with complete pride.
Hopscotch over to Seattle: At our old house six blocks away, we had little doug firs popping up all on their own. Ten years ago, my husband moved one to the corner of the yard to see what would happen and it is a gigantic 50 foot tree now and too big for the Christmas lights we'd always put on it. Huge trees grow around here like weeds. Blackberry bushes take over everything. I always wondered why there were no old abandoned cabins in the woods like in Montana. Blackberry bushes grow in the windows and over the roof and they eat the old cabins till nothing is left. Three factors allow flora to explode in the Puget Sound area: 1. Rain 2. Mild winters and rain 3. Long long light in summer months because of our northern location and rain.
When you visit the nursery to buy bushes for your yard, they recommend dwarf varieties of everything. At first, I was worried about planting dwarfs. In Montana, dwarf bushes would be microscopic but "Oh my God!!"---dwarf in Seattle means it will not grow taller than or take over your house. Dwarf varieties still must be pruned...and pruned. At a party next to our old house last week, we peered over our old 5 ft. fence and the dwarf escalonia and bhuddlia were 15 feet tall! The people that bought our house don't own pruners, I guess.
At a party on Friday night, we were admiring our friend's enormous back yard. Raspberry bushes were taking over one whole corner and we spent a good share of time out there with our glasses of wine, picking berries, eating berries and putting them in our wine. She also had 10 foot blueberry bushes like I'd never seen. And then I spotted this gorgeous bush with beautiful fragrant white blossoms; it was a mock orange like my mother had when I was a child.
But this shrub was 6 feet tall--not like my Mom's little three footer. I asked my friend about it saying I wanted one. She responded, "Make sure you get....what is it?.....ah...the midget kind because they get too big!"
"You mean, the 'dwarf variety'?", I giggled.
"YES, that's it--DWARF! But look, my bush is a little leggy--I need to get the pruners to it tomorrow!"
// posted by Janet @ 8:19 AM
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Thursday, July 08, 2004
Am I Getting OLD??????
Seriously, I feel no different physically or mentally than I did when I was 18 but my kids comment frequently that their Dad and I are becoming old fogies. So...
Am I getting old because:
1. I ask my kids, "Remember when Hershel the sea lion was eating all of the fish at the Locks??" They look at me with a blank stare and I realize this happened before they were born.
2. I read the obits and check the age and then check where memorials are to be sent to get some clue as to the cause of death??
3. I fuss over that fact that my peonies and camellias haven't bloomed in two years??
4. Before my cataract surgery, they ask me if I have my own teeth??
5. Even though there is quite an age span, I decide I'm not too old for Johnny Depp??
6. I constantly monitor the consistency of my Apolo dog's feces?? "Oh, he pooped out that napkin he grabbed from the table last night!!"
7. I frequently refer to my husband as Apolo's Daddy?? "Daddy's home from work, Apolo. Where's Daddy?"
8. I prefer the comfort of a cabin with a bed over a sleeping bag and a tent??
9. While out on our deck one evening, we got VERY excited about having four ferries in view at one time--two Mukilteo ferries coming and going and two Edmonds ferries coming and going??
10. And finally, the fact that I even made this list??
Seriously, I feel no different physically or mentally than I did when I was 18 but my kids comment frequently that their Dad and I are becoming old fogies. So...
Am I getting old because:
1. I ask my kids, "Remember when Hershel the sea lion was eating all of the fish at the Locks??" They look at me with a blank stare and I realize this happened before they were born.
2. I read the obits and check the age and then check where memorials are to be sent to get some clue as to the cause of death??
3. I fuss over that fact that my peonies and camellias haven't bloomed in two years??
4. Before my cataract surgery, they ask me if I have my own teeth??
5. Even though there is quite an age span, I decide I'm not too old for Johnny Depp??
6. I constantly monitor the consistency of my Apolo dog's feces?? "Oh, he pooped out that napkin he grabbed from the table last night!!"
7. I frequently refer to my husband as Apolo's Daddy?? "Daddy's home from work, Apolo. Where's Daddy?"
8. I prefer the comfort of a cabin with a bed over a sleeping bag and a tent??
9. While out on our deck one evening, we got VERY excited about having four ferries in view at one time--two Mukilteo ferries coming and going and two Edmonds ferries coming and going??
10. And finally, the fact that I even made this list??
// posted by Janet @ 11:10 AM
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Monday, July 05, 2004
Happy Fourth of July
Just like we have a secret place to watch the Christmas ships, we also have a secret place to watch fireworks in Seattle. Or at least it used to be secret.
Unfortunately, Dave couldn't find the right key to the locked third floor of the building where he works. Dave's office is on the second floor but this entire UW building is Dave's department. Fortunately, a student was up there and he let us in. It was really funny because once he realized who Dave was, you could tell he thought he'd been busted. He said he was having a party and was it OK?? I felt like we'd crashed their party because this student had all of his friends and family--they had food.
His Chinese friends and family did not seem to speak much English, if any. Dave heard him whispering something about "He's the Dean!" and before long Dave was being introduced to the student's mother and wife. We were so grateful someone was up there to let us in after the key fiasco; they were grateful Dave didn't mind they were having a party on the roof. But the huge roof was big enough for all of us so it worked out perfectly.
I have said before on this blog that the most beautiful view of Seattle is right where I-5 passes the UW heading South. This particular building is near the freeway and the balcony and roof look out over Lake Union toward downtown. We could see all of the skyscrapers lit up, the Space Needle, and the glistening water covered by hundreds of boats. In the distance we could see the fireworks over Mercer island and Bellevue. Immediately in front of us we were blasted by the Seattle Fireworks over Lake Union. Behind the Space Needle we could see the second Seattle Fireworks display from the Seattle waterfront. (We also watched cars line up and stop on the freeway overpass. As usual, it wasn't long before we saw flashing blue lights.)
After the Grand Finale, everyone on our roof broke into screams and applause. We were not alone because we could hear screams and applause from rooftops and balconies all through the University District. Sharing the roof with a large group of young people from China on this our nation's birthday was just....COOL!!!!
Just like we have a secret place to watch the Christmas ships, we also have a secret place to watch fireworks in Seattle. Or at least it used to be secret.
Unfortunately, Dave couldn't find the right key to the locked third floor of the building where he works. Dave's office is on the second floor but this entire UW building is Dave's department. Fortunately, a student was up there and he let us in. It was really funny because once he realized who Dave was, you could tell he thought he'd been busted. He said he was having a party and was it OK?? I felt like we'd crashed their party because this student had all of his friends and family--they had food.
His Chinese friends and family did not seem to speak much English, if any. Dave heard him whispering something about "He's the Dean!" and before long Dave was being introduced to the student's mother and wife. We were so grateful someone was up there to let us in after the key fiasco; they were grateful Dave didn't mind they were having a party on the roof. But the huge roof was big enough for all of us so it worked out perfectly.
I have said before on this blog that the most beautiful view of Seattle is right where I-5 passes the UW heading South. This particular building is near the freeway and the balcony and roof look out over Lake Union toward downtown. We could see all of the skyscrapers lit up, the Space Needle, and the glistening water covered by hundreds of boats. In the distance we could see the fireworks over Mercer island and Bellevue. Immediately in front of us we were blasted by the Seattle Fireworks over Lake Union. Behind the Space Needle we could see the second Seattle Fireworks display from the Seattle waterfront. (We also watched cars line up and stop on the freeway overpass. As usual, it wasn't long before we saw flashing blue lights.)
After the Grand Finale, everyone on our roof broke into screams and applause. We were not alone because we could hear screams and applause from rooftops and balconies all through the University District. Sharing the roof with a large group of young people from China on this our nation's birthday was just....COOL!!!!
// posted by Janet @ 2:05 PM
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Friday, July 02, 2004
IT MUST HAVE BEGUN WITH THE COWS
I do not know what it is about my family or maybe it is just me but animals just keep trying to move in with us.
1. COWS When I was about 10 in Helena, one morning at dawn, mooing woke me up. I looked out my bedroom window and saw cows in our front yard. We lived on the edge of town but there were no ranches for miles. I got up and went into my parents' bedroom, "Dad, there are cows in the yard."
"Go back to bed, Fuz (my nickname because of what was on my head at birth), you are dreaming," mumbled my Dad. Yea, I probably was--this wasn't the first time I'd awakened my parents because of dreams usually involving animals. No wait a minute, I'm really awake.
"Daaaad!!" I felt so gratified seeing Dad out in the yard trying to herd those cows off of our lawn. I had a wild imagination but this was for real this time.
2. DOGS Oh man, I do not even know where to begin on this one. When we lived in the middle of Kansas City, an Alaskan Malamute showed up on OUR porch and he really didn't even like our Golden Retriever, Monty. He liked me. We managed to find him a good home.
At our first house in Mukilteo just 6 blocks away, we had 5 or 6 dogs at various times just show up on our front porch. One Golden Retriever named Toby was a repeat offender. My family started to call me the dog lady of the neighborhood. The family of an old cocker spaniel I rescued from the nearby greenbelt was so grateful, we received a gift certificate for a restaurant in the mail.
The dogs around here must talk to each other because the reputation seems to have followed me to this house. We have only lived here a year and a half and I have already returned three dogs to their owners and one of them twice. I NEVER feed these animals; water, yes, but never food.
3. SQUIRRELS At our first house in Seattle, a lovely little A framed house in Seattle proper on a woodsy lot, a squirrel somehow managed to be in our house for an entire day while we were at work. Monty had obviously had great fun chasing Squirrel all over because my plants were scattered. By 6 PM, though it was boring because Monty was sleeping and the squirrel was sitting on our coffee table in the living room. "OPEN ALL THE DOORS AND GET THE BROOM!" yells Dave.
4. BIRDS Sammy and Susie Swallow at our house 6 blocks away must have had a conversation with Sally Swallow. Sammy and Susie had a nest on OUR FRONT PORCH, inside the brick portico. They could get a little owly sometimes (or should I say swallowy) and dive bomb people coming to our front door. It was embarrassing.
Sally seemed interested in building her nest in exactly the same spot inside the brick portico on THIS house. But she wanted MORE because when we opened the front door, last Saturday, she flew in our house. "OPEN THE DOORS AND GET THE BROOM!" yells Dave.
The four of us were screaming and chasing her around the house--or I should say three of us because Kaley was videoing the whole thing. After taking screens off the dining room windows, we broomed her out. She hasn't been back since and I spent a share of last Saturday cleaning purple bird poop out of my light carpet.
5. MICE AND RATS I am not even going to go there except to say that just today, the guy building our fence discovered a nest and he "took care of things" and I don't think it was with a broom.
I do not know what it is about my family or maybe it is just me but animals just keep trying to move in with us.
1. COWS When I was about 10 in Helena, one morning at dawn, mooing woke me up. I looked out my bedroom window and saw cows in our front yard. We lived on the edge of town but there were no ranches for miles. I got up and went into my parents' bedroom, "Dad, there are cows in the yard."
"Go back to bed, Fuz (my nickname because of what was on my head at birth), you are dreaming," mumbled my Dad. Yea, I probably was--this wasn't the first time I'd awakened my parents because of dreams usually involving animals. No wait a minute, I'm really awake.
"Daaaad!!" I felt so gratified seeing Dad out in the yard trying to herd those cows off of our lawn. I had a wild imagination but this was for real this time.
2. DOGS Oh man, I do not even know where to begin on this one. When we lived in the middle of Kansas City, an Alaskan Malamute showed up on OUR porch and he really didn't even like our Golden Retriever, Monty. He liked me. We managed to find him a good home.
At our first house in Mukilteo just 6 blocks away, we had 5 or 6 dogs at various times just show up on our front porch. One Golden Retriever named Toby was a repeat offender. My family started to call me the dog lady of the neighborhood. The family of an old cocker spaniel I rescued from the nearby greenbelt was so grateful, we received a gift certificate for a restaurant in the mail.
The dogs around here must talk to each other because the reputation seems to have followed me to this house. We have only lived here a year and a half and I have already returned three dogs to their owners and one of them twice. I NEVER feed these animals; water, yes, but never food.
3. SQUIRRELS At our first house in Seattle, a lovely little A framed house in Seattle proper on a woodsy lot, a squirrel somehow managed to be in our house for an entire day while we were at work. Monty had obviously had great fun chasing Squirrel all over because my plants were scattered. By 6 PM, though it was boring because Monty was sleeping and the squirrel was sitting on our coffee table in the living room. "OPEN ALL THE DOORS AND GET THE BROOM!" yells Dave.
4. BIRDS Sammy and Susie Swallow at our house 6 blocks away must have had a conversation with Sally Swallow. Sammy and Susie had a nest on OUR FRONT PORCH, inside the brick portico. They could get a little owly sometimes (or should I say swallowy) and dive bomb people coming to our front door. It was embarrassing.
Sally seemed interested in building her nest in exactly the same spot inside the brick portico on THIS house. But she wanted MORE because when we opened the front door, last Saturday, she flew in our house. "OPEN THE DOORS AND GET THE BROOM!" yells Dave.
The four of us were screaming and chasing her around the house--or I should say three of us because Kaley was videoing the whole thing. After taking screens off the dining room windows, we broomed her out. She hasn't been back since and I spent a share of last Saturday cleaning purple bird poop out of my light carpet.
5. MICE AND RATS I am not even going to go there except to say that just today, the guy building our fence discovered a nest and he "took care of things" and I don't think it was with a broom.
// posted by Janet @ 11:58 AM
0 comments
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Sometimes, LIFE is not Fair
Deja vu--isn't that what they call it when a setting or conversation seems like it happened before? Meeting Dave's sister last night in the lobby of UW medical center and waiting for Dave to come running down the hall from his office there was all too familiar.
Four years ago, Dave's sister, Shirley, came to Seattle from Helena, Montana because her husband of over 30 years had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most deadly of all brain tumors. He managed to get into an experimental treatment study at UW hospital so they stayed here for 6 weeks. We would meet Shirley and her husband in the lobby and then go to dinner. Her husband was relatively normal during this entire time. The treatment may have extended his life by about two months and he died shortly after; the scientists haven't figured this cancer out yet.
Last night we were again meeting Dave's sister but this time it was to visit my niece, Lori, who had brain surgery on June 29. She has had a seizure disorder all of her life and medications are no longer working. The surgery where they remove the part of the brain where the seizure activity occurs will give her about 90% chance of improvement. She is a young mother and wife and surgical assistant from Spokane, and she wants to live a normal life. Lori was doing pretty well last night though she had a really bad headache--an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10, she said. We laughed; she'll be fine though the risk was significant. This is only half the story.
My other niece, Chris, Lori's sister, also met us in the lobby. After seeing Lori, we drove the short distance from UW hospital to Children's Hospital to visit Gracie. Gracie is Chris's little baby girl who was born prematurely with all sorts of complications including Down's syndrome. We were able to see her despite the fact that yesterday was a bad day for her; she has episodes where she stops breathing. The effort is to allow her to grow and keep her alive long enough so that a surgery, scheduled for next week, can help. Chris is also a young mother, wife, and graphic designer from Helena. She wants Gracie to live as normal a life as possible.
Dave's sister Shirley called this the "second summer from Hell". She has one daughter in one hospital with brain surgery and the other down the road at another hospital with a critically sick newborn. (Our nieces who I've known from the day they were each born--Irish twins they say born less than a year apart about 30 years ago.) The "first summer from Hell" was four years ago when Chris and Lori's Dad (Shirley's husband) died of the mother of all brain tumors. Deja vu---we went to dinner together last night and we laughed and talked and hugged. No, life is horribly unfair sometimes. But you still have to eat dinner, laugh, and try to live a normal life.
Deja vu--isn't that what they call it when a setting or conversation seems like it happened before? Meeting Dave's sister last night in the lobby of UW medical center and waiting for Dave to come running down the hall from his office there was all too familiar.
Four years ago, Dave's sister, Shirley, came to Seattle from Helena, Montana because her husband of over 30 years had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most deadly of all brain tumors. He managed to get into an experimental treatment study at UW hospital so they stayed here for 6 weeks. We would meet Shirley and her husband in the lobby and then go to dinner. Her husband was relatively normal during this entire time. The treatment may have extended his life by about two months and he died shortly after; the scientists haven't figured this cancer out yet.
Last night we were again meeting Dave's sister but this time it was to visit my niece, Lori, who had brain surgery on June 29. She has had a seizure disorder all of her life and medications are no longer working. The surgery where they remove the part of the brain where the seizure activity occurs will give her about 90% chance of improvement. She is a young mother and wife and surgical assistant from Spokane, and she wants to live a normal life. Lori was doing pretty well last night though she had a really bad headache--an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10, she said. We laughed; she'll be fine though the risk was significant. This is only half the story.
My other niece, Chris, Lori's sister, also met us in the lobby. After seeing Lori, we drove the short distance from UW hospital to Children's Hospital to visit Gracie. Gracie is Chris's little baby girl who was born prematurely with all sorts of complications including Down's syndrome. We were able to see her despite the fact that yesterday was a bad day for her; she has episodes where she stops breathing. The effort is to allow her to grow and keep her alive long enough so that a surgery, scheduled for next week, can help. Chris is also a young mother, wife, and graphic designer from Helena. She wants Gracie to live as normal a life as possible.
Dave's sister Shirley called this the "second summer from Hell". She has one daughter in one hospital with brain surgery and the other down the road at another hospital with a critically sick newborn. (Our nieces who I've known from the day they were each born--Irish twins they say born less than a year apart about 30 years ago.) The "first summer from Hell" was four years ago when Chris and Lori's Dad (Shirley's husband) died of the mother of all brain tumors. Deja vu---we went to dinner together last night and we laughed and talked and hugged. No, life is horribly unfair sometimes. But you still have to eat dinner, laugh, and try to live a normal life.
// posted by Janet @ 7:39 AM
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