In Jail

The temporary heartbreak of a new puppy parent- putting the dog

in the crate when leaving or at night time. Look at this sad little creature whose mother has the nerve to put him in jail!

The night was a rough one. Lots of crying and yelping. At times he almost sounded like a monkey screaming. I laid on the floor in front of the crate for awhile (after I swore I wouldn't do it again. I spent the whole night in front of his kennel at the hotel in Flagstaff.). I realized, that even though my floor was more comfortable than a dirty hotel floor this had to stop.

12:50- crying again. Out we went to potty. Good boy!

2:50- Again. Same results.

5:30- Up, outside. Chicken wing for breakfast.

9:00- Made us leave (with Caprice) for coffee so Canon could have more alone experience.

We left the house to the sound of crying. When we returned it was quiet-- for awhile. Now he's sleeping at my feet. Respite for all of us!

THE trip

There's so much to write about the trip- the ride, the scenery, the view, the visit with Karen, the food, Canon, of course, and our reception when we returned. I think I'll start with the latter.

When we arrived home the afternoon, Michael took Caprice into the backyard, and then I brought in Canon. Caprice barked, of course; Canon got scared! Canon yelped, tucked his tail, peed, and ran (not necessarily in that order). Actually though, Caprice is not that interested in Canon. Although she growled at first, she is now allowing Canon (brave soul!) to come up to her.

Right now, they're sleeping at different ends of the living room. Canon, especially, is out cold after all the excitement. I see a lot of work coming...and a lot of joy!

Anticipation

Enough said!

Insidious

The rain of the past couple of days has made it a good time to do some weed pulling. After neating up the xeric landscape in the front, I decided to tackle the lawnful of weeds in the backyard. After two hours, I have an intrinsic understanding of the word insidious. The lush grass pictured above (taken about a month after it was planted) does not exist two years later. Now it is filled with dry, bare spots, holes (thank you dogs), crabgrass. dead grass, grubs, and numerous weeds.

I was angry enough at the dandelions that had invaded. Those sunny yellow flowers place themselves in the middle of the grass, thick taproots required extensive digging and pulling to remove them, if I am lucky enough to isolate them when surrounded by thick grass. (Why is it that the grass is only thick around the dandelions?)

A blanket of spurge (yes, I had to look it up) had spread throughout the grass, requiring me to trace its source so I could firmly grasp the main stem and root. And then, as I looked closely at the grass, I noticed the thick, branching blades of crabgrass. To add insult to injury, as I easily lifted the patches of dense, dead grass, I discovered the cause of its demise. Round, juicy, ugly grubs! (I looked this up on the Internet, too.)

I don't know if I even made a dent in removing these invaders and yes, some normal grass was sacrificed to remove these bothers. Perhaps it deserved it for harboring them.

A Very Small Matter

I deliberately stepped on an ant today while on our morning walk. Nothing? Of course I've stepped on ants before, but somehow, this morning, this act struck me. There is the lesson was that every little thing counts. Remember the Ray Bradbury story, The Sound of Thunder, where the crushing of a butterfly changes the world?

That's not what got to me, although it should. I stepped on him (her?) because his species in the past has been a nuisance to me, because he might bother Caprice, because he was there and I saw him. There is the respect for all living creatures element to this, but maybe there's something else. Is this an analogy for war and inhumanity?

Why did this strike me today? Am I trying to be profound?

Waiting is so hard!

We were to be leaving on Monday to pick up Canon, but there's been a twist. Karen's dogs, and then the pups, are turning up with a virus akin to kennel cough. It's been short-lived, but it's enough to delay the pups' pick-up, as they are going to be on a week's worth of antibiotics before they can go. Hopefully, Canon will be home right before his 10-week birthday. The putting off of an anticipated event is difficult. This one has been so long coming. For now, we'll have to settle for these pictures of Canon and his sister, Roxy, who will also be coming to Albuquerque.

Losing Summer

I already know I'm going to have to admit I'm a glass-half-empty kind of person. It's August--full-bloom, peak of summer. Here that means heat, green, and, of course, dry brown. But there's a touch of fall to summer now. The crisp, bright greens of spring and early summer have been replaced with deep, muted greens that seem to herald yellowing leaves. Evenings are ever so slightly cooler. School is beginning. September is less than two weeks away. Summer will disappear slowly, edged out by sneaky autumn. When Halloween comes, the game's over. That's when I silently hope for inclement weather so there will be less trick-or-treaters ringing our doorbell. It's as if the changing seasons make me more curmudgeonly. But I'll really just be missing you, summer.

Patience & Timing

Yes, a new, fancier camera with a better optical zoom and frills would be nice, but until then I'm working on patience and timing, to see where they take me.

Mini-Memory: When I Met Michael

There are two entries today. I wanted to show sweet little, non-agressive Canon, but have other things on my mind. It's time Michael gets some time here.

I met Michael 23 years ago (I think). I was looking for a stretch, and agreed to go with my friend, Jan, to La Foret, a camp-type thing in Carbondale, Colorado, run by the Unitarian church at the end of June. No, I did not go there for the church connection. It just happened that they had a drama workshop I wanted to attend. La Foret is another story, but one I won't tell now.

One day during lunch, Jan introduced me to Michael, a nice man who was a member of the group she was participating in. I remember walking down to a pond, I think, with him, a ten minute walk at most, before the afternoon's activities. I saw Michael off and on that week, mainly just to say hello to. What I remembered was that he always seemed to be having fun. An image I still have of him is at the final party, wearing a tie, and acting silly.

Skip to a few weeks later at what was called a La Foret re-entry party. I don't remember much about Michael then, because the hostess was flirting with him. Skip to October, another La Foret party, a couple glasses of wine, some flirting. The way Michael tells it, I pushed Mary Anne out of the way to get to him. The way I remember it is telling him that if he was every in the neighborhood visiting another friend, to drop by. A few days later a phone call and a date.

We had dinner at Ciao (one of Albuquerque's many now defunct restaurants), and planned to go see "Gorillas in the Mist." I believe I was wearing my bright yellow jumpsuit which I spilled wine on. (Some images remain in my foggy mind.) We talked so much that we missed the movie, and went out for a drink instead.

The beginning of an almost 23 year relationship!

Canon's Latest

The latest of Canon. I was rooting for him to get back at the others, especially that little dark pink girl!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QLrF41tUs4&feature=email

DOG/GOD

Those who know me well enough to have this type of conversation know I'm not big about religion. In the past decade I've come to know I believe in something and put my faith there, but it's embedded in my life rather than a separate element. This video spoke to me, probably mostly because of the dog element.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY

This Morning's Passer-by

This morning's walk was a bit unusual. As we were talking up the street, a dog came running toward us, down the middle of the street-- except it wasn't a dog. It was a large coyote with a cat in its mouth. A little scary to me, although I know he was more interested in getting his prey to a safe place than bothering me and the poodle.

It was a reminder to me as to whose place this is. I hate seeing someone's pet in the jaws of a predator. I also hate knowing I have taken up some of this animal's space, moved into his territory, forcing him to move.

Definitions

Names were important to ancient peoples. To know the real name of someone was to control that person. To some extent, we do that now, by means of labels, or definitions.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I define myself. As I've mentioned, for the past 35 or so years, I've defined myself as teacher. I teach. I talk teaching. I think teaching. I look at the labels I've put on this blog. Gluten-free. When I go out to eat, this definition of myself is the predominant one. Standard poodle lover. My day begins and ends with my dog/s. I take care of dogs. I read about them and look at pictures of them. I make friends based on my love of dogs.

What if I didn't have these labels? Is it possible to fill a day without referring to one's definition of self? Would it be a day of all new things? If I woke up to not knowing what I was going to pursue- not expecting to get on my computer, take care of the dog? Would I do the same things if I wasn't consciously and subconsciously defining myself? I can add to my definition of myself, but can I erase, or change, what is already there?

I have a feeling these questions are going to sound silly when I reread them, but that, then, would be due to my definition of myself...

New Friends

This morning started off with a new visit from Jasper and his parents, Nancy and Jeremy, who are the family-to-be of one of Canon's sisters.
The poodles spent a lot of time barking at each other. It seemed that each wanted to be the chase-ee in a game of chase, and were constantly calling out to each other, "Chase me. Chase me." It was great to see Caprice crouching in an invitation to play again after all these months, and to see both dogs streaking across the backyard. The play date was a success.

Jasper lost a black poodle sister named Lily a little while back, and, according to Nancy, has been mourning his loss. I never thought of Caprice as mourning, but she was clearly rejuvenated by this visit. This brown boy looks a lot like Rondo, especially in this photo, with him "smiling" with his tongue hanging out, as Rondo's was in some pictures.

Besides enjoying the dogs' joy, it was a pleasure to meet Nancy and Jeremy and share common interests. Hopefully our sibling pups and older "children" will be able to see each other from time to time. Let the poodle games begin!

You know what...

...and of course there's more on You Tube. No more to say. Only excitement and a bit of nervousness. Can we handle a puppy?

New Canon Video

He's getting more personality every day!

Back to School-- Not!

School for teachers here starts in just a week. My friends are preparing their rooms. There's talk of new teachers, test scores, what's in store. I'm not part of that this year, but I find myself still getting in to it a bit.

I listened to my former teaching partner, Michael, talk about the new things he's trying this year with a tiny bit of envy. I visited my niece Michelle's preschool autism classroom and wanted to plan centers in her classroom. I'm planning on being a "penpal," or foster aunt to her students when school resumes in a few weeks, even though her students don't know me and can't read my messages themselves. I've offered to teach lessons my nephew Philip's classroom.

I'm taking a step away from the classroom, but leaving a toe in. This retirement is partially to redefine myself. So much of my identity for the past 35ish years has been my teacher identity, and it will always be a part of me.

My Take On It

There is no good excuse for stupidity.
There ARE stupid questions!

Look for the Pennies

When I joined the Bone Cancer Dogs group, Bruce always said, "Look for the pennies," upon the passing of a dog. I learned that meant that the furry angels people lost let them know that they were thinking of them by throwing down pennies from heaven. Since Rondo has been gone, I've been looking for those pennies.

This past weekend I flew into Las Vegas and then drove to St. George, Utah to meet Canon, the white poodle pup who will be coming home to Albuquerque in a few weeks. He's named after Rondo, for both the rondo and canon are circular forms of music, like the round of "Row, Row Your Boat," or Pachelbel's Canon. I was thinking about Rondo during the weekend and wondering how it would be with a new pup.

When I was returning to Albuquerque, we were moved to a a new gate at the last minute. As all the people waiting for the plane traipsed down the concourse, I spotted two pennies underfoot. Now, the Las Vegas airport is heavily crowded, but I edged my way in and rescued the two pennies. I doubt most people in the airport would risk stooping down for two pennies. But then, they weren't getting a message from an angel.

Canon in St. George

This is Canon and pups on August 1 in St. George. I really need to learn how to focus puppies!

When we first got to Karen's house, all of the puppies were asleep. I sat down inside the pen and Canon woke up and came to me.

The puppies are all precious and very take-homeable. Michelle and I discussed gathering an armful and heading out the door.