Big Red

 

Big Red

Today was Red’s final day here on the big orb we call Earth.  He had spent a lot of good times with me and there are a lot of stories I’ll keep in my heart. Here is just a couple off the top of my head;

* I had to get a plastic set of steps for him to help him climb into the Jeep.

*Shortly after we got Red,  Ann Marie and I “lost” him at Hartwood Acres. We called and called, looking all over the place and finally giving up and headed back to the car. I looked behind us and there he was, about 20 feet away, following us.

* He loved to run free sneaking out the door anytime he thought he was going to miss out on something. There was the time Frank and I were going on an expedition, he finally came back from  his own expedition a couple hours after scooting out the door. Frank and I left a couple hours behind schedule, rushing to get to the train depot only to find out we were still a couple hours early! (You had to be there…)

* One of the conditions to adopting him from Animal Friends was that I had to put a fence up in  the back yard.  When I finally finished, Ilet him out into the yard and he promptly jumped over the fence, clearing it easily! This was the first of his many times running free through the neighborhood!

*The neighbors would call and say “Your dog is in my backyard” and I’d have to explain to them that he wouldn’t be by the time I got there.  After an hour or two of running he always came back.

* There was the time we stopped at the farm-market on our way home from a drive. I bought a Strawberry Rhubarb pie, fresh out  of the oven, it would be desert for my lunch. I stopped at a store and “hid” the pie under the front seat of the Jeep. Red was tied in the back where he couldn’t reach it. Still, when I came back out from the store, after only a couple minutes, the entire pie was gone. The tin pan was wiped clean and the only remnants of it were on his nose. I was not happy with him that day!

* He has eaten plenty of things he shouldn’t have. He tore into a bag of flour when he was still a pup. He has eaten entire loafs of bread and bags of cookies, wrappers and all! I had to be careful not to leave anything out where he could get them.

* There was a day that he stole a sandwich from Ann Marie. We were on a hike, miles away from the car, sitting on an overlook. Our lunches were out and we had turned to talk with a couple other hikers. When we turned around, one of the sandwiches was gone and he was eyeing up the other one. It's funny now, but it sure wasn't then!

*We went on lots of hikes and adventures. Ann Marie and I would laugh (?) about how he howled the whole way to where ever we were going and then slept the whole way home. We could only talk on the return trip!

* People loved his howls. They didn’t have to listen to them as they were driving.

*These are just a couple of the memories, there are soooo many more. He was a good dog and I’ll miss him. Thankfully the memories help him to live on!

 

 

 

Some Thoughts Bouncing Around In My Brain

 

*             I have trouble grasping how some people can be so vicious, so mean hearted, putting people down and wishing hardships on them when their opinions differ from their own.  I heard one man say today that our Governor deserves to get the virus and he hopes his hair falls out! (The governor recently was tested positive) He (the Governor) had asked the Pennsylvanian people to help fight against the virus by staying at home and not going out unless it was necessary.  He also banned indoor restaurant dining and closed bowling alleys, gyms, movie theaters along with some other restrictions.

*             Does everyone see things differently than I do? It sure seems like it!

*             I feel as if I am always mad these days. I don’t want to socialize, my ears hurt from mask straps and I can’t breath because of the cloth covering my nose and mouth. My nose is always dry. The skin on my fingers is cracking because of all the washing I do.

*             When was the last time I shook another person’s hand or hugged someone?

*             I see people in stores and at gas stations who seem to feel as if they are better than me, they don’t need to wear a mask and it just makes me angry!

*             Instead I just slink away, keeping my distance and my feelings to myself, not wanting to cause any problems. This can be very depressing!

*             Some of the people I work with definitely don’t think that masks are worthwhile. They wear them on their chin, standing close to the people they are BSing with, not caring about the possibility that they might be spreading some germs around, some germs that might have the capability of killing someone. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more that is aggravating me these days.

*             People borrow my tools and never replace them or else put them where I can’t find them rather than back where they got em. There are people who kiss up to the bosses, people who spend more time trying to impress them than actually working. Since they are willing to stay as many hours as needed, the bosses look at them as “wonder workers”. “Fuck em” I say!

*             On the road there are the people who drive as if they are on a racetrack or in a video game. They cut in between cars, nearly clipping them in the process, going twenty or thirty miles over the speed limit. There are people who don’t know that a Yield sign means that THEY HAVE TO YIELD to the traffic they are merging into. Where did these idiots get their licenses?

*             I haven’t seen or held my grandson in over 10 months! He is walking around now and the only way he knows his Pappy is as a picture on a smart phone.

*             It feels like a spring being wound tighter and tighter. Eventually it will break unless I can find a way to release the tension.

*             I find myself referring to people as assholes, dickheads and fuckwads no matter what their offence was. Didn’t flush the toilet? ASSHOLE! Didn’t replace a tool in the correct spot? Fucking Dick! I don’t reserve these comments just to others, no, I refer to myself also! If I drop a book or a tool on the floor, I don’t hold back, I’m just as big of a dickhead as anyone else!

*             I crawl through my hours at work, bitchin’ and moaning only to go home and do the same thing. I feel sorry for my dog! The only difference is that the time at home seems to go by twice as fast! I’m tired when I get home yet I stay up. Nothing is on the boob tube but I still turn it on. I often wake up in front of it an hour or two after I turn it on. The time is gone without any recollections except sitting down. 

*             As I write this I’m thinking that I’ll be the only one who ever reads it. I don’t want anyone to thinking I’ve gone off the deep end. No one else could possibly be feeling the same as I am. BUT then I think about it for a while, it isn’t just me who is experiencing the problems with the virus and having to deal with restrictions on just about everything.  The world is trying to deal with it!

*             Others are going through the same thing as I am and I would guess that their frustration levels are raising the same as mine. There are also others whose experiences are much more difficult than mine are. People who no longer have a job to go to! People who struggle every day to figure out how to keep surviving!  How about the parents who never know what is going to be happening with their children’s schools, whether or not they will be going to school or staying home. People who have seen loved ones go into a hospital, never to see them again. Then there are those that daily put their lives on the line for the rest of us, people such as doctors and nurses, EMTs, policemen and firefighters. They go to work because they are needed and don’t question it. Compared to their daily experiences, my problems are pretty small!

*             But they are still there, no matter how big or small the problems are.  I think it is important to recognize that. By understanding a problem, or at least realizing that there is a problem and trying to understand it, we are that much closer to overcoming it! It is important that we recognize our feelings and how important they are.

*             It is sort of like wearing a mask… every little bit helps!