My Guardian Angels

As I spend many hours lying in bed nursing my pinched nerve, my faithful buddies stay by my side, curled up and sleeping, trusting that as their Alpha I know what the plan is and what we're doing at any given time. Cosmo is off sleeping to the left up against Frankie there, Lola and Zoe are cuddling up to the right, all on the South half of my bed. The bond that exists between us is something awesome and spiritual for me - they give me a sense of purpose in the world. I keep them safe and fed and sheltered and they keep me company.

Winter Has Arrived

Don't be alarmed! This is a photo of my famous $12,500 wreck from three years ago. I use it simply to catch your attention. That said I want to describe for you a bit about winter in the U.P. Mother Superior has been raging lately and has dumped a fair amount of snow on us poor human souls - the "Gales of November" are blowing tonight making me wonder if another tree or two is gonna come down. It all started Sunday night. I had spent the whole day at home relaxing. By 6:30 PM I decided the nibbles in my kitchen were no longer satisfying and I needed to go get something to eat. As I headed out on Mangum Rd. my car shimmied a bit on the straightaway that crosses the big open field and for a brief moment I started to whine to myself that it couldn't already be time to get new tires. I only went about 1/2 mile further though, on the curve back in the woods after the pasture to find a car on its side in the ditch - the young driver and his female friend standing nearby. I pulled over and rolled down my window - it's what we do up here and made sure they were alright. Darwinism was clearly at play as the young man cursed that stupid curve telling me this was the third time...guess he didn't learn. This road was covered in what we love to call black ice. My stomach won out over common sense and I proceeded slowly and cautiously to 41 to head into Harvey and get a sandwich from Quiznos. SO...on my way into work on Monday morning I was reminded by the previous night's experience to take it slow and careful. I was just about into town coming down the Shiras hill when right in front of me a pick up loses control and BAM two car accident with a minivan and I slam on the brakes. I can feel the ABS pumping and my car slows - I realized afterwards that I'm one of those drivers that doesn't panic, in those few seconds I remember checking my mirrors and deciding what my action would be if it became clear I wouldn't stop in time. I did stop though - maybe about 25 yards behind them, they were almost totally blocking the northbound lanes. Knowing how folks come flying down that hill I decided to put my flashers on and stay put to ward off traffic till the police arrived. By today there were numerous school closings and I took my time going to and from work. Coming home there were a few total white out spots where I slowed to a crawl - the snow was blowing so hard I couldn't tell if my brights were working right or not. However, I made it home and in one piece which is good, because if I have another accident in that car, State Farm will cut me off completely I think. It's also very strange to live in a place where on days like this I know the spots on the highway where folks have been killed and in two of those spots know who was killed there - life in a small town, eh? Drive safely friends.

Me and My Computer

That's how I'm seeing myself these days...and that's not a bad thing necessarily. I have discovered the world of Face Book -- this on top of discovering the world of blogging. I have been able to link up with people from my past, have more personal contact with folks who have been commenting on OCICBW (Of Course I Could Be Wrong - see blog recommendations below), and have made contact with new folks. I even have named what it is I'm doing (more appropriate perhaps given the season) but I am cybernating. I have become somewhat of a hermit - my friend Leon calls me "a secular monastic." I choose not to have a television signal - I own a TV but it's a DVD monitor, nothing more. All of this cyber contact has expanded my human relating - not minimized it. At the same time, I can see just how addictive this can become and as my cyber friend Mimi (see Wounded Bird - blog recommendations) has discovered, for many folks it begins to be a substitute for real human contact. I think that's the subject of my post today, all this cyber stuff - good or bad? During the campaign I was particularly intrigued by the way the discussion boards and blogs all seemed to have a particular political bent. I started to wonder if this was healthy for us or was it actually contributing to the polarization in the country. We clustered in our little communities of like minds and hurled insults at the occasional "troll" who ventured into our discussion or blog. Are we further losing our ability to commune with folks with whom we often don't agree? Is it still dialogue if we're merely saying the same thing - preaching to the choir as it were or as on the Anglodeacons discussion board on Yahoo - do we have to avoid real discussion because otherwise it devolves into name calling and insults. And then there's FaceBook - I am thoroughly enjoying myself, but part of me (the cynical part) sees that all my opinions, likes, dislikes, and contacts are being carefully monitored and marketed to advertisers. My outspoken sister-in-law who is irritated with me for not participating in the family grab bag - shouted at me through my brother's cell phone when we were talking, "Oh sure, you're against the commercialism of Christmas and here you are participating on one of the biggest commercial things around..." (or something close to that) and she has a point. Perhaps FB is a metaphor for life in the United States - there is a lot of good that goes on here, but it's usually tied in to conspicuous consumption some how. I'm inclined to believe that the good that I am experiencing from Face Book outways the expanding electronic monitoring that more and more permeates our lives. I am healing long lost friendships, having conversations with folks who have existed more in the periphery of my social life over the years - friends of friends, siblings of friends - I feel more connected while I get to also be a hermit in the woods. I'm making friends with folks in the UK, Mexico, all over the US. It's really awesome. Perhaps as with many things we have to take the good with the bad - and just try to remain aware of the bad to keep it to a minimum.

Crowded House

Friends will know that this movie character, Grandpa Castorini, from Moonstruck is one of my cinema heros. He parades around the movie with his pack of dogs; I have long aspired to be just like this old man, and at four dogs I'm almost there. Well, my good friends Georgie and Mary gave me the chance to live out my fantasy this week. I am watching their two "kids" Bella (a very large and strong Great Dane/Malamute mix) and Mikey (an adorable terrier mix who bears a fairly strong resemblance to Toto from the Wizard of Oz). That brings my total to six for the week and it's been an adventure to say the least.

They dropped the dogs off on Saturday evening and they all played well together - just a couple of excited piddle puddles. Settling down Saturday night was a little difficult. I couldn't get Mikey to join us on the bed and couldn't get them to settle down on the moving pad/fleece bed by the window. They wanted to stay right by the closed bedroom door as if their folks were just on the other side, so I moved their bedding to the door and they eventually settled in.

Bella made her first escape Sunday morning - I may have mentioned this in my post about the porcupine. Got her back after only about 15 minutes when she got herself "trapped" on the neighbors deck. Suddenly she"sat" and was all sheepish - "Gee, what did I do, Unc, I'm a BAD girl..." I snapped the leash on and brought her home - no anger, no hollering, she knew she had goofed.

So Monday morning, I'm more careful and she has no opportunity to push past me at the porch door. The other guys are running around and I keep her with me in the porch while I do bunny chores - yes, I have two rabbits as well - my family says I have a petting zoo. Before I know it she's bopped the door to pop it open and off she goes - me chasing after her in my bathrobe and slippers - and about 1/2 " of snow on the ground! Got her back again, this time she trapped herself UNDER the deck. Monday evening I take her out with the rest on a horse lead - this big long strap to give her running room. She is able to romp with the neighbor dog and all is well. Unfortunately I stop paying attention and "crack" I here my finger make a nasty noise as she jumps off unexpectedly and snaps my finger unexpectedly. Luckily it's just sprained and I've learned that lesson as well. Proudly two days have passed since then without incident. The dogs are getting along fine, I love them all to death, and I am happy to stay at four dogs. Bella and Mikey will go home on Friday night. Oh, yeah, I did forget one thing - I ran into town today and when I came home this is what I found them up to. Those rascals, eh?

Some Folks Just Can't Take A Hint...

For the past couple of weeks my neighbors have been complaining about a pesky varmit much like the one pictured here. They've had to de-quill one of their Anatolian Shepherds at least three times. So on Friday morning, I'm getting ready for work and the dogs are going through their usual routine only Frankie and Cosmo don't come home. I can hear Frankie barking like a wild man out there and figure they have the neighbors cat cornered again. So I jump in the car and drive around to Steve and Heidi's house (rather than hike though the woods as I'm trying to get to work). I pull up in front of their garage only to realize that the "ferocious" barking is now behind me in the woods past their house. I back up the drive and see Yonka (the Anatolian), Frankie and Cosmo buzzing around a tree. Cosmo comes right over - after all, he's a guard dog by nature, not a hunter, and he climbs into the car, "Hey, Dad, que pasa?" I have to hike into the woods though to retrieve Frankie - when his hunting instincts are going full tilt he doesn't listen to anything. Sure enough there's this big ole porcupine pushed up against a tree trunk with a fallen branch providng some cover. Frankie and Yonka are drooling like mad fiends. I manage to get him to sit so I can snatch him up and shoo Yonka back home. Now I know what they've been talking about. Luckily no quills. I call up Heidi when I get to work so they can check out Yonka's mouth again and she's talking that it's time to get out the 22. I suggest maybe we call the DNR first but never get around to it.

So yesterday I get up, the dogs go about their morning routine only I don't have to go to work. Before I know it I hear Frankie going berserk again in the woods back towards Steve and Heidi's. This time when I show up - he's spiked big time and it's not slowing him down one bit. I manage to get him to sit and scoop him up again and try to shoo off the neighbor dogs. I bring him home, wrap some Koban around his muzzle and go to work with needle nose pliers - I know now to clip the ends off so the quills deflate - however, these were not too imbedded, thank God. Then I grab my big staff (ok, so it's really an old closet dowel rod) and one of the dog crates and march off to catch the bugger. No luck - he's gone.

Then today it all happens again - sort of. Only now I have Georgie and Mary's dogs in the mix. Bella is a Great Dane/Malamute mix and Mikey is a terrier mix more in line with my guys, so you can well imagine the chaos as I start to hear Frankie going nuts again off in the woods. Today I was ready though - King of Catch and Release. Cosmo comes running over once again and then so does Frankie sans quills. ::big sigh of relief:: So I put them in the car and grab the dog crate and staff and hike into the woods and there he is...trying to look inconspicuous amongst a stand of weeds. By now it should seem obvious that porcupines are either stupid or stubborn or both (kind of like George Bush perhaps) so I plop the open crate down near him and poke and prod till he scuttles in to hide and - whap! - slam it shut. Not long after he is transported about 2 1/2 miles down the road on the other side of a creek and released. Hopefully he will notice that he is now in a relatively dog free zone and will stay put. ::fingers crossed::

All Souls Day

On the church calendar today is All Souls Day, and in the spirit (if you will pardon the expression) I had a wonderful moment this morning remembering my Grandmother. Those of you who know me well, know that much of my household decor comes from her - I have much of her furntiture, everyday dishes, mugs, kitchen utensils, milk glass, and tchatchkies, etc. I have a fond memory of sitting with her in the nursing home talking, she gets this big grin and says to me, "You really like all that old stuff?" Anyway, Gram was bit of a worrier when it came to illness. She would be convinced that dementia was setting in because she'd catch herself putting the milk in the pantry. I would remind her that such mistakes were an indication of being distracted not demented and tell her how I (in my 30's at the time) did the same kinds of things, but didn't worry about it the way she did because I was young. I've known many folks worry the same way as they get older - Alzheimers is a big fear of growing old. Well, so here I am this morning stumbling around, post time change, running/feeding the dogs, which this morning includeds Cedar the neighbor dog who periodically shows up at meal, time, do my bunny chores, feed the fish, make coffee, etc. - just about all at the same time. So when I catch myself about to sprinkle fish food into the empty coffee filter, I burst out laughing and remembering my grandmother once again, feel her presence with me and within me, and it brings me a sense of peace. So on this All Souls Day, to all my friends and family that have crossed over, peace to you and fond memories.