When my
children were little, my mom, a.k.a. “Gramma Goo,” would always have a
way to get them to pick up their toys when it was that time. She would
say, in a singsong voice, “Let’s have a pick-up party!” She would start
to pick up and the kids would join in, and picking up toys was fun with
Gramma Goo leading the pack.
That worked almost every time until they got older. They got wise to
what she was doing and the magic of her “Pied Piper“ spell eventually
wore off. By that time, toys were more high-tech, and they weren’t as
prone to be left lying all over the floor as they were to be absconded
by a sibling and whisked off to his or her room to secretly use it. Then
the arguing would commence and so on and so forth.
Saturdays
for the most part are for relaxing. I might dabble at a tiny bit of
work, at home, but I try to save energy for the evening when I take the
Karaoke to the Carrington at the Landmark.
It’s been my routine for years, so it does not really faze me to have to
go to “work” after 7 pm and not get home until about 4 am. Greg, our
Security Person, says almost every week when I am packing up, “I don’t
know how you do it.” I just generally reply that it’s routine and you
just ‘get er done.’
One of them is that you can fit into small places that are very difficult for others to get to. One such place is under the couch, and Winnie makes good use of the space under there.
She hides all the toys in the middle just out of Toby's reach. She steals his treats and neatly tucks them away just out of his reach.
Here's a new verse that generated from observing Winnie and
Toby on their morning walk. With the winds swirling about, they have a
different world to explore as the deposits of leaves grow and
redistribute themselves from place to place. Walks are all about
sniffing and fun for them. I enjoy the walks as much as they do. I get
to laugh, and that's a great start to my day.
LEAVES
Leaves are blowing all around.
They're on the trees, then on the ground.
It only makes a quiet sound
When leaves are blowing all around.
Today
was an excellent day for all purposes. Aside from the fact that I woke
to another morning the best was that I had the day off work. I had
some appointments to attend to, and working just plain gets in the way
of things of that nature.
With the dog's morning ritual completed, I was free to get myself ready
to go. When I felt presentable, I got out Winnie's Pumpkin dress and
Toby's Halloween kerchief and decked each one out for the day. By the
time I had each of them perfectly adorable, it was time to load myself
into the car and get to my first appointment. They were too cute to
leave at home so I beckoned them to jump into the car to go bye-bye.
They were both more than happy to comply and off we went.
The clock strikes 6 am. I hear the jingle of tags on a
collar and instinctively know that Toby is awake and ready for today’s
action, beginning with a stint outside. I rolled over, grabbed a corner
of the blanket, and pulled it over my face to avoid getting slapped
with a morning breath dog tongue and said, “Get back up here.” He
bounded back up on the bed and came straight for my head and found it
covered so he plopped down next to me.
What I like about living in Door County is if you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes and it will change. Contrary to the angry wind storm that blew through and disrupted our fine county a day ago, today is a beautiful fall day. The sun is shining, the winds are fairly calm, and it's a great day for being outside.
I've got some laundry out on the lines, and Winnie and Toby have been enjoying some warmth of the fall sunshine.
Neither one wants to come in the house, and it's too cool to leave the
back door open now. I can see that the need for a screen door is a
necessary fix for the back door. I had to break down and turn on the
furnace today.
There
are so many of those television shows that tell us what we should eat,
read, clean with, wear, wash our hair with etc. Almost all of them seem
to start out with "What Not To ... "
It occurred to me, this morning, that Winnie should have her own "What Not To" list.
I
haven't been as observant since we moved into the new place. I've been
searching. Searching for what, I can't quite say, but it has something
to do with a level of comfort that hasn't quite been established yet.
Morning
walks have become quite different now that we've moved. No more creeks
and open fields and sunrises over Lake Michigan to watch. It's just
box after box after box when you live in a mobile home court. That's
not necessarily a bad thing, but it has created a new challenge for me
to find ways to get my two sidekicks exercised.
Neither one has the same gusto for "heading out" that they used to have.
Winnie's
tail has many purposes. It is a source of strength, like Sampson's
hair. When she needs extra oomph to pull along on a walk, her tail
stretches out straight behind her, and she is really quite powerful for
all of her 7 pounds.
Her tail is a toy, and she spends countless minutes chasing it. Her
tail is a quivering beacon that alerts me that there is something
outside that needs monitoring ... like chipmunks and birdies and kids.
Her tail is a collector of many things, as she is such a roughneck and
loves to play hard and roll in the grass.
It's
the beginning of birthday season at my house. As it normally does, the
weather and humidity took a hike over the weekend. If it remains true,
the hot days will be with us until next week and perhaps even beyond.
I always tell everyone that my children were born on the hottest days
of the summer. When I brought my first child home, the temperature was
registering 101. Inside our humble mobile home it was perhaps 110. I
just remember it was very very hot.
The sun is out, the temperature is a very comfortable mid 70ish and it's a prime time to walk and enjoy the outdoors.
Winnie and
Toby are geared up for a trot down the street and as I attempt to get my
shoes on and tied, they are both right in my face with that "Come on
come on come on MOM! Let's GOoooo!" look. I give them each a gentle
nudge away from my shoes, for the 40th or 50th time, and keep going.
I
just couldn't resist. I was watching her this morning and the idea for a
poem just popped into my head and wouldn't go away. So out came the
camera to capture a moment of her snuggled into her blanket. She's quite
patient while I bother her. It must be rough to have your own paparrazi
always after you with a camera.
Winnie wouldn't budge this morning. She does love to have her breakfast brought right to her in bed.
Good
Morning World! That would be what echoes out of Winnie and Toby if
they could talk. All ten of our feet are on the floor as we ready to
face the challenge of a new day. I'm not quite feeling rested yet as
the Holiday weekend really kicked my butt. However, in light of the
expectant reward at the end of the pay period, I force myself to put one
foot in front of the other and head toward the kitchen.
Winnie turned around and hopped back up on the bed and burrowed under her blanket making a lump at the end of the bed.
I've been slacking for the past several weeks, probably much to everyone's relief ... A week and a half ago I purchased a mobile home near my mom's home. Between my two jobs and working a bit here and there on my house, I've had very little time to sit and think of silly stuff to write about my favorite subjects, Winnie and Toby.
This morning, while en route to our corner destination and back, it hit me like a ton of bricks and then I had to write it down. I didn't have time before work so it had to wait till after. I had almost forgotten my intention to create another journal entry for the dogs, and then I stood face to face with my computer and it immediately flooded my head. While I still have my email up and running, I thought I'd share. Lucky lucky you.
6
a.m. the alarm goes off. I can feel Toby jump and stir around at the
sound. I reach over and snap the button to the radio side and settle
back into the feathers for a few more cozy moments. Toby gets comfy
along side of me and waits. After the 6:30 news is over, Toby
instinctively jumps up and off the bed and over to the side I am on. He
waits expectantly for what comes next, breakfast. I hit the floor
thankful for carpeting to cushion my "morning feet."
Winnie is still buried deep beneath her lump of covers. Sometimes she
runs along with Toby, sometimes she lingers enjoying the vast expanse of
her own bed for a few moments. Whatever. Eventually
she joins us out in the living room.
Updated constantly ... What's going on in Door County
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