Dear Annie,
It was so nice to hear from you today. I’m sorry about what
has happened to you and how the healing process is difficult. I can imagine you
had a lot of pain. Now it’s difficult to walk. I am looking forward to seeing
you and the family Dec. 16, which is only 2 months away! I keep thinking
Christmas, etc, is another six months out. I better start buying Christmas
presents right away – it will take me that long! (Not really, because my son
likes getting money for Christmas, birthday, and any other special occasion.)
I didn’t get to tell you that my son Daniel and his wife
Rachel are expecting their first child in April. I’m going to be a grandpa!
They live in Oakland. Rachel works at the UC Berkeley alumni office and is
doing very well. Dan’s going to be a house husband, and he’s really excited
about that. Rachel’s job is well paying and they will have university health
coverage. Up til now Dan has been a shift manager at the Claremont Resort in
Berkeley. He studied integrative biology and planned to go into paleontology
but after he finished his BA he said he never wanted to go back to school. The
professors in paleontology were having grad students sorting different sized
mouse bones. It sounds like a joke, doesn’t it?
But that’s what they were doing – probably as a test to see if they
really wanted to study dinosaurs – which Dan happily failed.
Right now I have my bedroom fan on and Misty is lying in
front of the fan. She realizes that the wind makes her cool. It has taken her a
month to finally figure it out. I took both Misty and Penny to a cute little
park next to United Methodist Church. They can roam around, sniffing as much as
they’d like, sitting with me on one of the benches, or having me pet them on
the grass. I also like to take them to the south end of LJ Cove, passed the
lifeguard tower, where there is a wonderful strip of grass we can walk on and I
can enjoy the ocean. There are times I could stay there a lot longer, but Misty
likes to come home after a certain amount of time, maybe 30 minutes. Penny
could stay at the Park all day if she could, just wandering around. Otherwise
she’s home lying on a blanket looking out the back door. Sometimes they both
sit on the porch during the day, and this evening again, where it’s about 10
degrees cooler than the house.
Anyway, Misty is very persistent and always wants her way. I
was lying down resting, the dogs on long leashes so they could wander a little
away, and the leashes handles over my shoes, so I could actually fall asleep if
I wanted to, which is almost every time I lie down at the park. Misty and Penny
walked around as far as they could. Misty decided she’d let me know that it was
time to go home. She laid next to my leg so I would feel her. Then she pushed
with her legs so I would feel her against my leg. So she decides there’s only
one way to get me off the grass. She came up next to me and SAT ON MY FACE!
Really, she sat down on my face. It’s pretty funny, but it shows you how she
has to have her way. Okay, okay, let’s go home. Yeah! I’m sure she barked as
she ran to the car.
She knows which car is mine, I guess by the size because
they’re color blind and wouldn’t see the blue car. Now, Penny is a whole other
matter. She wants to stay at the park and would probably spend the entire day
there, sleeping, looking at all the people, sniffing all the bushes, heading
toward anyone with a picnic. She loves to eat! Well, I guess all dogs love to
eat, but she’s pretty extreme. Even a couple of people sitting on the grass she
thinks there must be food. Sometimes
when people go down to the beach they will leave their towels, umbrella, and
FOOD so I am always having to pull Penny away from clumps of people AND piles
of belongings. I’m not making the next part up. When children come to pet her,
she always wants to lick their hands, not because she’s friendly. The kid
hasn’t washed his hands so there will be something to taste on the child’s
hands. She’ll even do this with little babies that mothers are holding. It’s
really embarrassing sometimes because everyone is cooing and saying what a
pretty, loving dog Penny is. But I know better! She has an ulterior motive when
she licks peoples hands.
I like to take them into the Village once in a while if I
have errands. They especially like to go to the car wash with me and walk
around on the grass while the car is being cleaned. The do like being with me,
but more importantly, the car wish has delicious treats. I don’t know this by
tasting it. I just know it from how eager they are to get up to the counter
where I pay my bill. I try to divvie it up into small pieces so it lasts
awhile. Misty likes to chew her food. Penny likes to swallow it whole without
chewing it. And then you know what they both like to do? Lick my hands! Of
course…they may look like sweet loving doggies, but you and I know better.
When I first started taking the girls into the different
stores on my errands, they didn’t know that Warwicks, Burns Drugs, and Meanleys
all have treats they give to those special visitors. After a few times of
taking them with me, they kept pulling me into the stores. Not just those three
stores, but every store they passed. No, Penny, no more treats. Misty, you’ve
had enough. But then we go into the pet store and I forget that they give
treats, there, too.
Now I only take Misty on my errands because Penny likes
lying on her bed at home more than going with me on my errands. One of the
reasons I stopped taking Penny is because the last time I took her to the car
wash, while I was paying, she squatted on the floor and peed right there in
front of everybody. I was so embarrassed. The manager came around with a towel,
a disgusted look on his face, to clean it up and I kept apologizing, but I know
“It’s okay, it’s okay” from him was more, “it’s okay if you don’t bring your
dogs any more.”
Misty isn’t much better. The last time we went to the pet
store, she decided she would just pee on the carpet. I had to take some of the
store’s paper towels and try to mop it up the best I could. You would have
thought I would have learned that the dogs need to pee BEFORE they go into
stores. So now I make sure they’ve done their business outside before they took
their business inside.
I carry a cloth handkerchief with me everywhere I go. It has
come in handy so many times. I like to take Misty to the barber shop with me.
She sits on the floor or wraps her leash around the bottom of the swivel chairs
and has no choice but to sit or lie down. Before we went into the shop I told
her she had to go to the bathroom before we would go inside. I walked her back
and forth and back and forth, but she wouldn’t do it. I thought, maybe she went
when I wasn’t looking. One more pass, and we went up near Starbucks and I
started talking with a man who also had a dog with him and they were sitting at
a table. While I talked with him, Misty finally went. But it wasn’t on the
dirt, it was on the tiles where everyone walks to go into and out of Starbucks.
I had not choice but to use my hankie. I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle of
keeping it so instead of taking it home to wash, I threw it away. Doesn’t Misty
know that I get my hankies at a special men’s store? I guess not.
I don’t know why I kept going on about the dogs, but they
are a fun part of my life. They both like taking turns getting up on the couch
and lying on their backs with their head on my lap and I scratch them on their
stomachs. Misty likes sleeping in my bed, but I have to take her down, because
she wants the whole bed and doesn’t like me on it with her. Penny likes to do
tricks, speak, sit, shake hands, as long as I have a treat for her. The other
day I was trying to get her to sit so she could have a treat, and she tried to
eat it out of my hand but wouldn’t sit down. I pulled my hand back and said, No
Penny, you need to sit first. She looked up at me and turned around and walked
away. For her the treat I had wasn’t worth doing a trick for me.
When my friend Moreen retired as head of school at Gillispie
School it was a couple of years before I talked with her about getting dogs.
They have lived with us for seven years and have been wonderful companions to
Moreen when she’s home.
I just sat down to write a note hello, but I think I’ve
overstayed my welcome. Just wanted you to know I was thinking of you and sorry
I didn’t know about your accident sooner. I could have sent you chocolates,
which I’m sure would help you feel better, don’t you think?
Bye for now,
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