We refer to our little place in the country as ‘the land of unfinished projects’. And I frequently flit from one to another, leaving the first one partially finished, with the tools employed left in unlikely places – and damn near un-findable when needed the next time. Then there are the projects that keep getting pushed to the bottom of the to-do list, an even lower priority than the partially completed ones. One such neglected project is seen in the photo below. It’s a formerly cute little frog pond, that hasn’t been mucked out in a few years and has largely filled with dead aquatic plants and leaf litter. I know, I know. I should have gotten around to cleaning it out. For one thing, it’s now unsightly.
Secondly, it’s become the La Brea tar pit of Chatham County, as seen in the brief aftermath video below.
And yes, the resulting half hour bath bumped a few items off yesterday’s list.
Just a brief video homage to our favorite North Carolina small town, Oriental, which celebrates New Year’s Eve with a ceremonial running of the dragon. In this case, it was dragons, one for the 8:30PM running and a new one for the hard core 11:30PM running.
Tough to top so much excitement in small town America, but then the evening is capped at the stroke of midnight by the ceremonial dropping of the …..croaker.
Some five weeks ago, most of my peers celebrated Thanksgiving. Despite having a wonderful time hosting a dozen family members for the traditional meal, I failed to really take stock and consider just how lucky I am – although that’s the very reason for the day. But now that the second phase of the three part holiday season is behind us, and the bags are nearly unpacked, I feel the need to publicly make up for lost time. It’s past time to give thanks.
I’m grateful for being gainfully employed, while other well-deserving people are struggling to provide for their families through no fault of their own.
I’m grateful for being healthy, despite not taking particularly good care of the body I was given. Again, others haven’t been nearly so lucky, once more through no fault of their own. I’m even more grateful that those I love are healthy as well, and that has not always been the case.
I’m very grateful for being loved, though I’m a difficult person to live with. I’m frequently moodier than I have any right to be, and am generally a glass-half-empty kinda guy. (This aspect of me is particularly hard to understand, given that I have absolutely no damn excuse for it.)
I’m grateful for my surroundings. From our ‘small house under a big sky’ I can see the stars at night. I can hear owls instead of sirens. I’m privileged to own enough dirt to grow my own food, and to have enough space for my animals to enjoy. I’m particularly grateful for our current houseful of canine occupants: Coltrane, Patti, Mason and Special K, along with the five cats. (Full disclosure: I’m grateful for 4 of the 5 cats….)
For those who have experienced the grumpier side of me in 2011, I sincerely apologize. Though for those closest to me, I am well aware that words are a poor substitute for deeds.
And while I won’t promise to be better in 2012. I will promise to try.
Scenes like the one below, taken yesterday from my porch, help me to appreciate my obvious good fortune. (Try full screen in HD – the audio is ‘work friendly’)
And thanks to George Winston, for his appropriately titled ‘Thanksgiving’. I was fortunate enough to see him a few years back, performing in a small venue. Not to be missed.
I’m just a sap for a new puppy. And I love the way that an older dog mixes play and toughening-up, to get them ready for the real world. Frankly they do most of our puppy training for us.
Notably absent in this video clip is the new big brother, who’s made great strides in learning how to be a dog, after spending his life as the lone dog in a one person household. He’s coming along marvelously, but we sometimes divide the pack into two parts, allowing the pup time away from the Doberman, and vice versa. So far so good.
Posted on December 13th, 2011 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Family Life | 1 Comment »
I love the fact that, while I can drive to work at a major med school in less than thirty minutes, it takes almost ten of those minutes to get to the nearest gas station (or any other store for that matter). But the confluence a new puppy (and five cats) with our other new ‘neighbors’ is causing serious loss of sleep, and the realization that we’re more ‘rural’ than we realized.
I taped the two minute sound clip below in the front field last night, while also spotting two of the perpetrators from my porch at two in the morning.
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Frankly, if I see them in daylight (such as the image below taken by a co-worker) I don’t plan on pointing a camera.
I know, this blog has turned into the dog channel lately, and this post is no exception. But we’re in a period of rapid change here, in terms of pack-building, which will sort out in the weeks to come. We’ve typically had three dogs at a time, until the loss of Allis Ray last summer left us with a mellow ten year-old male lab and an approximately four year-old female mix (Plott hound perhaps?). They had developed a comfortable dynamic, no turf issues, but not a lot of playground glee either.
Then Mason arrived on November 15th, followed by Katar on November 26th, and we’re off to the races. So, now we have a ten week-old puppy channeling his inner kamikaze pilot, who hurls himself at all takers until put in his fourteen pound place. But we also have a former solo alpha dog, who ruled his house for nearly four years, being fed fresh ground beef, etc., which was partly responsible for his ninety-plus pounds. (The other factor is that he’s just a damn big dog.)
So, who’s in charge now? Well, after a few days of carefully balanced praise and instruction, I’m happy to report that the humans are still at the top of the food chain. And after the two of us comes……well, we’re not sure yet. But my wife and I totally agree on two things. One, we know that every day that goes by without bloodshed allows the foursome more time to coalesce into a pack, and increases the odds that any skirmish to establish the pecking order will be a minor one. Second, we agree that the key to the dynamic is Patti. What role will she play in the pack? As you can see from the brief clip below, she is a dog of many talents….
By the way, that second clip was from last Sunday. The two of them now get along quite well for the most part, with each day increasing our faith that they can ‘play nicely’ without leashes involved.
And incidentally, Patti, the former ‘found-by-the-side-of-the-highway’ dog; had the ligaments in both knees repaired by an orthopedic surgeon last year and the year before..
Update: Pack bonding, day by day. Sunday night in front of the woodstove.
The two new pups arrived just in time, as the onset of cold weather and the exit of central heat coincided perfectly. Fortunately we have a wood stove for our primary heat source, and a really good friend who’s an HVAC guru and willing to come out tomorrow evening to hopefully repair/replace the defective part.
In the meanwhile, dog socialization continues, as our living room floor resembles a canine version of the UN General Assembly, with the male eight week-old yellow lab mix, the four year-old Plott hound female, the three year-old, ninety pound Doberman male, and the ten year old black lab. Slowly but surely, we’re forging a pack. The fact that coyotes have moved into our neighborhood in recent months is helping to provide common purpose, since the dogs are very attuned to the sounds of their wild cousins. I recorded the audio clip below in our back yard a couple of weeks ago. The serenade has become routine, though they’re usually not so close.
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More on this concern in a later post. For now, an updated pup picture from Thanksgiving, courtesy of my brother.
I made a big deal out of getting a new puppy last Tuesday night, and it was a big deal. I’m not just smitten with him, I’m “besotted” in my wife’s words. Mason, as he is now known, has been a fine, fine pup, with basic instincts that give me hope that he will be a superb dog for years and years. But a factor in our belated adoption of him that I left unsaid in his blog premiere, was that we knew that another dog was waiting in the wings, with a debut date out of our control. At least a year ago, my veterinarian wife promised a ninety plus year-old client that we would take care of his companion animal, should the need arise. The client was a widower, without kids or close family, and my wife visited him (and his dog) at home every week or so.
Well, three days after we adopt the lab pup, Mason, following his being thrown out on the highway, my wife’s client suddenly requires long term hospitalization. After things settle out, today she visits her client in the hospital, and his dog is introduced into our family. He may be here for a few weeks or forever; but I suspect forever. Regardless, he is a real sweetie and welcome at our house in any capacity. So, our second bedroom now has a new occupant. And Mason has a seriously big brother.
I make no excuses for the fact that I’ve been lobbying for a new pup for months now. We had to say goodbye to Allis Ray fifteen months ago. That left us with two, one of whom is aging out pretty quickly, thanks to cancer, etc. But I trust my veterinarian wife’s tastes in such matters, and we’ve been holding at two dogs for months and months. Apparently until tonight.
I walk in the house after an evening lab session, and head to the back for a hug when I hear a high pitched yelp from behind me. Jeez, I think, Patti has really managed to yank one of the ten year-old’s legs the wrong way……hold it….that’s not the ten year-old, that’s puppy yelping….
Yep. A cast-off yellow lab wannabe was dumped at the clinic and strategically held overnight by her staff until my wife, a.k.a., The Good Doctor, could get a look this morning.
Apparently, one minute of eye-to-eye and the deal was sealed. A few vaccinations and wormings later and he’s in our living room in his own crate for the night.
Yesterday, was the first full day with a fire in the woodstove, with the floor filled with re-located houseplants and the chairs full of cats, both seeking respite from the chilly wind. The counter was also filled with a premature pepper harvest, since there’s no good way to convince these cold-sensitive plants not to call it quits at the first sign of frost.
