OF DOGS AND PILLOWS

We had a cold spell last week and often as it warms up, we’ll get some snow. And that happened. It snowed Saturday and Sunday and it was beautiful for a few hours even as it makes navigation difficult. 

 

 

Here are pictures of Nellie and Bess on point taken during our Sunday afternoon walk. Nellie was first to point, then Bess “backed” her point from the other direction. Eventually a pheasant got up and flew off. 

 

The warming trend continued and the snow quickly melted off here in the valley. It’s already 56 this forenoon. A predicted wind / rainstorm – what they call the “Pineapple Express”-- has either fizzled or, more likely, is delayed.

Yesterday, Mike and I decided to take advantage of the break in the weather and get out for errands and groceries, along with many other folks.

While we were out, I suggested that we head over to Costco and pick up a new dog pillow for Bess and Nellie. Chris had suggested we check on a pillow from L.L. Bean. Those are expensive, but she had a point (at least, I think she was making a point): we needed to invest some money if we were going to have a substantial dog pillow. We've had dog pillows from Costco before and I decided to pursue that route.

So, heading for the pet department in the back of the warehouse, we came upon a large display of gold dog pillows -- then another – and another. I didn’t particularly care for a gold one, so we continued to the pet department where there was a little more selection. Discussion ensued.

An associate in the back had obviously noticed us and finally approached. “Say, if you folks are looking for a dog bed today,” he began, “we have an over-abundance of gold ones [no kidding!] and we’re in the process of marking them down. For that reduction, my dog doesn’t care what color his pillow is.”

“No, the dog doesn't care, but I might,” I thought to myself. But, it’s not a forever thing, and frankly, gold was as good a color as the others they had. So, we waited around while signs were placed and new tags prepared. Then, we took our gold pillow and checked out.

 

At home, the removal of the familiar old pillows caused angst in the dog world. As expected, Nellie’s initial reaction was rejection of this new and better pillow while Bess bounced right onto it, taking her half out of the middle, which did not help Nellie’s adjustment. After an afternoon of flirting around with it, they settled onto the new pillow as if it had been there forever.

Nellie does love padding under her bones. KW

   

THE MISSING MAILBOX

"Here's one for you," began an email message from Hallie this afternoon.

She continued:
Nick and I stopped by the house today to check on the sewer work. On our way out, a van approached very slowly and then stopped in front of the house and rolled down the window.

"Are you the new owners?" asked the woman in a Norwegian accent. We affirmed and she went on about how excited she was for us and that it was such a cute house. She had her eye on it, but was told there was an offer already. Her name was Heidi and she was in her late 40s and wore her grayish brown hair in dread locks.

"I looked around and saw the mailbox under a bush in the back" she said in her sing-song voice. "Ya, the mailbox is under a bush, I'll show yooo." She pulled over and hopped out of the van and showed us the way to the very back of the yard and crouched to peek into the inside of a leafy bush/tree. "It's there!"

And sure enough, she produced the mailbox that we had been sorry to discover missing.

How about that. Its a little rough, and I don't know whether it will even be worth restoring, but it might find a place somewhere as a conversation piece.

[In the picture of the house, you can see the mailbox beside the front steps. Nick and Hallie had noticed it was missing and had no idea it would turn up. KW]

BESS LEARNS THE SNOWBALL GAME

“Winter Storm Smites L-C Valley” read a headline in today’s newspaper. Yes, we have 9 to 12 inches of the stuff after the overnight storm. Citizens of our valley don’t like snow very much. We don’t like to drive in the stuff. Those of us who don’t need to travel out of the valley in winter don’t have go-in-the-snow tires. We just don't have enough snow to make snow tires a practical investment, so when we do have snow, as we're bound to, it's a challenge.

Snow here gets a lot of negative press, but the fact is, if we don’t receive winter precipitation in our mountains, we have a summer of drought. It’s a concern. So I say, “Yay! It snowed!” It's really a good thing.

      

Mike took Bess and Nellie out for their morning walk, and Bess stayed out to play “the snowball game” with Fun Guy (Mike). She learned to find the packed snowballs in the soft snow and fetch them back to Mike.

According to the forecast, the snow won’t last long. It’s already 31 and over the next few days a warming trend will set in – highs in the 40s and lows in the 30s. So, the snow will turn to rain, and we’ll cope with slush for a few days. But -- maybe the rain will be snow in the mountains. I’m a fan of snow in the mountains. 

UPDATE:
It was quite clear this morning that Nellie was upset. What could be wrong? Then it dawned on me that Bess had played one of Nellie's favorite games, the snowball game, and Nellie had been left inside. I suggested that Mike give her equal time.

So, Mike put Bess in the crate, got a tennis ball, and took Nellie outside. At first she couldn't find the tennis ball in the deep snow, so Mike tossed it where she could more easily find it, and then she was onto it. She had a great time. And when she came back in, she was content to settle down for her nap. KW

COLD AGAIN . . .

It’s been cold – a low of 7 above yesterday morning (Feb. 6) with recent highs in the low 20s. We got up to a few inches of snow today, though it was a beautiful sunny afternoon. The sun felt warm shining through the back door even though the high was just 25.

Because of the cold temps, Mike let the dogs stay in both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Nellie slept on one of the dog pillows while Bess was confined to her crate.

The dogs – Nellie especially – really like routine. Our custom is to put them in the kennel at night and let them out first thing in the morning. Then they come into the house and – well, the day goes on from there.

So, Nellie’s snout was “out of joint” when she was required to sleep in the house. The first night we could hear her beating her pillow every so often – and it sounded as though she were frustrated.

Last night, Mike decided that he would let the dogs decide where they would sleep – in the house or in the kennel. As soon as he opened the door, Nellie marched straight to the kennel and into a house. Bess followed and took the other house. They had no intention of spending another night in the hot old house.

 

Valentines’ Day is coming – soon -- and I was late with the shirts for Emmy and her doll. I finished them this morning and got them off in today’s mail. The matching designs are from “Girls ‘n Dolls Accents” produced by Amazing Designs. I purchased Emmy’s shirt but made the doll’s. KW

MID-CENTURY TELEPHONE MANNERS

In the world in which I grew up, a ringing telephone was meant to be answered. You had to answer it if you wanted to know who was calling, and you assumed that the call had some reasonable – even important – purpose. That was true most of the time.

The telephone denoted a place, being tied there by what we now call a “land line.” A person was not expected to be available to the phone 24/7, and when making a call, the polite person would consider what his party might be doing before dialing. Calls were not made early in the day, during meal times, or after 8:00 – maybe 9:00 -- at night. You didn’t call people who were sick, sleeping, or that you knew to be busy. Mostly you called – and received calls – from people you knew.

Our phone rang frequently. It could a business call, a family member, or a friend with information (gossip). Or it might be your best friend asking, “Can I come over?” or “Can you come over?” Some calls were brief; others involved a visit. Occasionally – but very occasionally – the call was an emergency or bad news.

“Come quick! It’s Mother,” my grandfather’s voice said over the phone in May 1955. Mother dropped the phone and went running the block from our house to his. My grandmother didn’t recover from the stroke she suffered that evening.

The point is – you just didn’t not answer your phone. You didn’t take the chance of ignoring the call. My mother’s comment on a ringing phone was: “Someone might need me.” But on the other hand, when my children were small, she also advised: “Let the phone ring if you’re busy with the baby. Anyone can call back.” So true.

Of course, in my growing up days, we didn’t have “Caller ID” or answering machines. Those are “modern inventions.” If the phone rang and rang without answer, you assumed your party wasn’t home because you knew they would answer if they were. That’s just the way it was. We had no facility for screening calls. We answered all of them.

The recommendation when making a call was to let it ring ten times. It was polite to give your party plenty of time to get to the phone.

Ordinarily callers were polite. You hardly ever encountered rudeness. Sales calls didn’t happen over the phone, though I do remember more door-to-door salespeople than we have today. Of course, harassment and mis-use existed, but most of us experienced very little of that.

Nowadays, of course, a growing number of us carry phones on our person. We still have a land line in our home – but one of these days we will let it go. The majority of calls received on our house phone are unwanted solicitations from strangers.

For Mike and me, our training is to answer a ringing phone and it’s tough not to, but we’re getting wise. The other night, the phone rang and I checked “Caller ID.”

“It’s SMU,” I announced to Mike. His alma mater calls every other week to ask for money. You know, I don’t care how respectable the worthy causes you support, they prey on you when they perceive you are older. They hope you have forgotten that you just gave.)

“I just sent them money!” he said.

It rang four times and quit. KW

[The pictures here were taken about 1960. The first is my parents' house in Orofino. The second clearly shows Uncle Pat helping a few little kids with Christmas presents, but on the left you can see the telephone.]

GO OUT TO A MOVIE . . .

One time I remarked to my mother that I really don’t enjoy suspense. “I know,” she said. “When you were little, I spent many a Sunday night walking you around the block while Grandpa and your dad watched Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

And as I’ve gotten older, I haven’t gotten better. I still don’t enjoy suspense, and I don’t like conflict either. Mike finds my choice of movies rather limiting.

“You don’t like anything,” he says. “We’ll find a nice Disney movie for you.” I really think there are movies on intelligent, thought-provoking themes – a few – but they often don’t show in our community. It’s not what sells here.

In fact, I did want to see Saving Mr. Banks about Walt Disney’s production of Mary Poppins. It was showing at our local theater but only at 9:00 p.m. Neither one of us wanted to see a movie at that late hour. And apparently it didn’t get good reviews. Not sure I really care.

Then a friend called and highly recommended Last Vegas. It was playing at the “dollar cinema,” he said, and really funny. We were skeptical – I don’t have a good funny bone either -- but we agreed it would be nice to get out. And the price was right.

But – when I checked the movie schedule, I saw that Captain Phillips was also playing at the dollar theater. Mike really wanted to see it, so we opted for that instead.

We (especially Mike) really like to get out to a movie now and then, but the problem with movies (in our community anyway) is that show times are either 6:00 or 9:00. We have to eat early – or late. Mike doesn’t like to eat early, and I don’t like to eat late. Captain Phillips was at 6:00, so I prepared creamed tuna and spinach and set it aside for a late supper.

I’m sure Mike enjoyed Captain Phillips. It’s a “guy flick” after all. Never mind that this is a high-grossing, highly-praised movie, I saw through the plot in the first five minutes and took an immediate dislike to it. I felt instinctively that the real event was something other than portrayed (isn’t it always?) and that the character of Captain Phillips was embellished. If I had enjoyed it, it wouldn't have mattered. I just couldn’t resolve the tension. I wanted to be someplace else.

I tried to retreat within my mind. “It’s just a movie,” I told myself. I wished for something for my hands to do. “Let’s see – what else can I think about?” I wondered. A trip to the restroom could be stretched into five minutes at most, but I took advantage of it.

Well – that’s my assessment. I just didn’t like it. And indeed, apparently others don't see the real Captain Phillips as he is presented in the movie. 

Bess stayed in her crate while we were out, so there was no question but that Nellie was the one who tore the dog pillows apart while we were gone. Yes, that was wrong, but Nellie isn’t a destructive dog, and as I told Mike, something about those last pillows I bought just isn’t working. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, the cheap pillows tear easily as she endeavors to fluff them. I’m getting a little tired of spending my time mending them. KW