It was so hot, you could actually see it! From the shade, at like 9 in the morning, and it was so bright out that my camera still looked hazey! You have no idea how difficult it was to take a walk in this kind of heat. In order for me to remain in the shade while walking, I had to ninja crawl through half a dozen back yards and slink down random alleys just to get where I was sitting…Worth It!!!
I made a new friend the other day, and his name is Pfhlurtt! How do I know what his name is, you might ask? Well, I made kissy noises and he came right up and introduced himself. If I told you that his full name is actually Reginald Nutflinger Pfhlurtt, you would never believe me, so we will call him Pfhlurtt for short!
I met him the other day while walking on a different route than my normal “Bob the Squirrel” trail. I do not think that the two squirrels knew of one another, mainly because there are a lot of Bobs out there, and also, I had never actually gotten Bobs’ last name!
The funny thing about this encounter was that Pfhlurtt knew who I was, before I ever even offered him that peanut. When he did not seem to know my friend Bob, I was quite perplexed as to how I was in Pfhlurtts’ list of contacts. As he ate the peanut I gave him, the funny little creature told me how he came to be so familiar with me.
Apparently, shortly after we moved into this area late last fall, I had passed through the middle of the Pfhlurtt clans terratory. The whole community had been out on one of their last foraging events of the year, grabbing the last morsels available. When the family saw me coming they assumed that I had some contributions for them, as passersby usually did. The whole clan got excited and ran to greet me, but I bolted before they could make proper introductions. I guess they always felt badly about that!
Pfhlurtts’ story brought the memory back to me with renewed freshness, and we both sat there giggling about what I saw verses what he saw. When I mentioned the Alfred Hitchcock movie that the incident reminded me of, Pfhlurtt cracked up, because his family spends movie nights on the fenceline outside of an elderly couples home, and they were avid black and white movie fans. Pfhlurtt had actually seen the movie that I was talking about!
Well, anyway, a new friendship began for myself and Pfhlurrt! I am now fully aware of where my little squirrel community resides, and have made a date to swing by with a spring care package. The whole Pfhlurrt clan plans on being there so this time I am bringing a whole bag instead of the three little nuts I keep in my pocket for these chance encounters.
Today, I see a great turtle heading into the waves…can you sea him? Get it, SEA him?
The sun was out and the church parking lot was rapidly emptying as people headed off to enjoy the day. A small group of us stood in a circle chatting about who knows what, having sent all of our children off to the cars to wait for us to leave.
I remember standing there thinking something was off and I don’t even know why, but I am glad I paused and did a visual check of our suburban. At first, it seemed ok, but as I looked closer I could see my oldest in the front passengers seat with her fingers in her ears saying something. I could not hear obviously, as I was way to far away for that, but my eyes followed from her toward the back where the other two were.
I could not see my middle child and my youngest was face and hand planted to the back window of the suburban, yelling something at us. I dropped whatever was in my arms, hit that gravel at a full sprint, and probably covered the breadth of the parking lot in what seemed like only an instant.
When I yanked the back door open, there sat our middle child on the floor of the suburban, fully the color of a blueberry, and not breathing. In one swift motion, I literally grabbed her by the front of her dress, jerked her full force out the door and smacked her back as hard as I could! Just as I did it, a blue hard candy shot out of her mouth and ricocheted across the parking lot to disappear into the grass.
As I held my child and consoled her, my oldest child was still in the front seat singing to herself with her fingers in her ears and my youngest was TELLING ME OFF!! Oh yes! She gave me an adult version of a lecture for a good five minutes. I was no longer allowed to give them hard candy unattended, and apparently, it was considered very rude that they had to wait in the car. Point taken little lady!
If you are going to keep a tube of Icy Hot in the cupboard, do not keep it next to things like toothe paste…thought you aught to know.
We are going to take a little journey down memory lane. Remember, I said that this journey was not all bad. Well, I am a woman holding herself to her word. I wish to share something lovely to think on…a gift from God, perhaps, that He has kept on repeating all my life!
I can’t tell you how many times I hear someone call out the name of an elementary teacher they once had. As I was walking along my trail the other day, I began to ponder how some people had memories that sharp, while I cannot even remember the names of most of the schools I attended.
I can, however, tell you the name of every dog I have ever had in my life, as well as most of the names of all the other pets I had. I am guessing that our memories are most solidly embedded wherever the deepest part of our character development happens. I am sure that for many, it made all of the difference in the world to have a teacher or mentor believe in and support you. I however, was already so closed and distrustful of adults that no one even had a chance with me, I suppose.
I truly believe that if I had not had a dog in my life, God would have been hard pressed to shape me into someone capable of love. I did not say He couldn’t, just that it would have been harder, and I am glad He always seeks the gentlest ways first. I am not being flippant, just in case you were wondering, as dogs for me, were a lifeline!
I do not have any memories of feeling love from either of my parents, not to say that they did not love me. A lot of right and a lot of wrong have been done in the name of love, since time began. What I do remember of any happiness or affection came from a dog. Unadulterated love and devotion with each and every little furry soul that shared my journey. I am now going to test myself to see how much I remember…
Buttons – My moms’ black poodle, but she babysat us kids like a bossy auntie.
Rags – My old English sheepdog – lost too soon.
Zach – My foster brothers black lab. Funny dog…kept his own private stash of rocks and sticks under his bed.
Ferran – My Fawn Doberman – I had to learn all of her commands in German, as that was how she had been trained.
Cricket – My little Dachshund. She was there for the birth of my children, as well as to destroy all of my personal clothing when she got mad. I also helped her raise three litters of her own babies.
Sadie – Our Golden Retriever was found in the mountains in a hollowed-out log with her litter mates. What a Lady!
Bear – Our Sheltie, had to have been one of the smartest dogs that I ever had the pleasure of training. He was amazing! I did the basics, but my oldest really took off with him, going all the way to the state fair with him in 4-H. I was so proud of them both.
Ollie – He was my first pug. I only had him 2 short years when someone stole him right off of our front porch. I searched for him for several years with no success.
Penny – Our second pug. God Bless her but that dog could not be quiet to save her life…its ok though because my kids couldn’t either so she fit right in.
Kitty – My Schnauzer – I loved her, though she found me to be too stressful. She fell in love with a friend of mine and I finally decided she was happier in a calmer environment than mine, so she got to stay with them.
Harley and Busa – My hubby and I found two twin black pugs. We could not choose, so we got both. Creed, my husband, loves fast bikes, and I love the big noisy ones. I leave you to it to guess who belonged to who…lol…no I won’t…Besides, I think that Harley’s pic is all over every current piece of social media I have…lol.
There are too many furry creatures to mention, as myself and my children adopted every creature known to man, so I will stop here for your sakes. It has been a few years now, since we said goodbye, and now for the first time in my life, I am an orphan.
Do not take this as a bad thing, as I count every single year we had together as a blessing, and since I believe in all things having a purpose and a time, I will allow God to select my next forever home…
*Note to future perspective furry companions: I walk myself, I don’t eat much, nor do I pee on the floor, and I only bark at or bite my husband, promise!
Sometimes, the only peace and quiet available to a parent is cowering underneath the covers in your bed. Here is where my first husband and I found ourselves one afternoon, when our oldest was about 6 and our middle child was about 3 and a half. Apparently, at this stage in life, our oldest felt it was her duty and responsibility in life to assume the roll of assistant mom to her younger siblings. Our middle child, however, felt it her mission in life to be our comic relief star. She was specialized in constantly badgering her older sibling, just to see what would happen, lol.
As we lay in our room seeking solace, we could distantly hear these two going back and forth verbally with one another over something. We both cracked up at how funny they sounded. We hesitated to get involved for several reasons. One reason was because we encouraged our children to try learning to communicate and work out their differences. The second reason was because it was just way too much fun for us to listen to them trying to sound adult.
Suddenly though, it became uncomfortably quiet for a moment, followed by a bit of a scuffle sound. From the silence that followed the sound, we could hear our middle child whispering a panicked and desperate “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” to our oldest, as the fall of footsteps could be heard heading our way. The desperate whispering continued as my oldest paraded herself loudly down the stairs to our room. As she reached the bottom of the landing outside our doorway, we could see her stop, turn to look at her sister, and so that we could hear her clearly, she loudly announced, “It’s not sorry time now”, mimicking me!
We were laughing so hard at how well she could impersonate me, that we didn’t hear her tell us what had happened, and to this day I cannot say that I recall what the offending child had actually ever done to her sibling…
Let’s be honest…how many people’s bucket list is filled with the best different kinds of chocolate and where to get it…just asking.
I once accidentally licked my fingers right after setting my bait on the hook…Don’t do that…Your Welcome!
So, in case anyone was waiting for the rest of the haircut memory…here goes!
Remember my girlfriend saying that I could one day laugh at her…well, if your wondering, I did have the occasion to take her up on her offer to get a laugh at her expense. Probably about 3 or 4 years later I got an unforgettable call. My girlfriend declared, “I am calling you first because I said I would, and you get the first chance to laugh before anyone else.”
You see, from the time of his birth, my girlfriend’s son began receiving Beanie Bear memorabilia from his grandmother as well as other friends and family. His baby room was covered wall to wall with adorable beanie bears encased perfectly in those little plexiglass cases. Everyone knows that for a collectible, its value is in its preservation, especially the tags from its beginning.
Well, with the confusing logic, usually employed by children, my friend’s son took it upon himself to take the tags off of all his beanie bears. He did this, not being concerned at all with the monetary importance of the tag being intact. After getting all of his bears off of the shelves and out of their cases, he proceeded to get out his preschool scissors and cut off not only all of the tags, but any ear or foot attached to said tag. I cannot remember exactly how many bears were maimed that day, but I know it was many. To this day we laugh, together now, about all the crazy things our babies did to us…we wouldn’t have it any other way…
Journey With Me! 