Suzie Q

My father in law used to call me "Suzie Q." I'm not sure why - but it didn't matter anyhow. It was sweet. We visited his grave yesterday. I had a short, private conversation with him. Later that evening, on the oh so long drive home from Stewartstown, PA to Long Island, I believe it was somewhere during the 15 mph trek of the New Jersey Turnpike, the song "Suzie Q" by Creedence Clearwater Revival came on the radio. I haven't heard that song in years. Coincidence? Acknowledgement? You decide.

Open the Blinds Close the Blinds

Every morning the first thing I do when I come down the stairs is open the blinds. Every evening the last thing I do before going up the stairs is close the blinds. If I did the math in my head correctly, that's over 20,000 times I have opened and closed the blinds in the past 25 years or so (don't get out your calculator to see if I'm right - it was a rough guess). How come every time I turn around I'm opening or closing the blinds? Another description of the same feeling - office chatter:
"Have a nice weekend." "How was your weekend?" I've been at my job long enough to have uttered these two phrases 1144 times. I hope I've made the most of all the time in between.

Taking Turns

It sems that a female dog put out on the first date and got herself in "trouble." Five puppies later, the owner could not handle it. That's what I walked into this afternoon at Bide A Wee. Three girls, two boys. Looks like a spaniel-poodle mix. All five are mostly white balls of fluff with some tan markings. They were all fast asleep when I arrived. Literally sleeping on top of one another. In our training classes we learned that puppies must learn to let humans hold them and touch them all over, it makes them much more adoptable. You don't have to tell me twice!! I would pay to do this. Once again, we humans could learn a lesson from these little guys. The lesson of unconditional love. Just hold them and stroke them and somehow they instinctively know that they are safe and they love you for it forever. I took them out (one at a time) and played with them on my lap. They knew they had to take turns. No one cried. No one was jealous. As I put one down, one would come to me. No one tried to jump the line - it was amazing. Funny - but the runt of the litter was the most playful, (her tail never ever stopped wagging), she was very interested in my fingers. I replaced my fingers with her chew toys just a couple of times and she got the message. It was so easy - no words needed. No punishing. Nothing negative. Just that look. That eye to eye - nonverbal communication. My eyes were saying "don't chew on my fingers." Her eyes were saying "but I love you." Her four siblings (one of which I'll call "Frankie" because his eyes were the bluest I've seen on a dog (except for maybe a Siberian Huskie), were also very playful. They; however, seemed much more interested in sleeping and peeing on the newspaper. Like I said last week - no matter how many litters you see, there is always that one - I already taught her to give kisses....I'm secretly calling her Frito. I'm sure she will have a permanent home before I get back there. Sigh.

And they called it puppy love

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I don't have any pictures, so here are my words (doubtful that it will be a thousand of them though). I'll be as descriptive as possible: Puppy love: Puppy teeth, puppy nails, puppy breath, puppy yelping, puppy crying, puppy playing, puppy kissing. Puppies. All over me. Over a dozen of them at one time - all fighting for my attention. Chewing through my latex gloves, putting their nails through my sterile gown, chewing on my earrings, licking off my sunglasses. Puppies. White. Brown. Black. Twenty four puppy eyes. Trying to put them back in their crates - even with the help of two staff members - not so easy. Lots of crying. I'm weak. I take them back out (one at a time). I play with one, the others cry. They all look at me with those eyes - "I love you, take me home with you." But you know, there's always that one, that one that's different. That one that looks right through your soul and says "look at me, don't you know who I am?" "I'm your destiny...."

P.S. They will all be up for adoption as soon as they are medically cleared. Keep checking the Bide A Wee website (www.bideawee.org) if you're interested. Most of them are golden lab mixes and they've been flown in from the Bahamas.