Dreaming What Ifs...

Stinky Dog Breath

The vetrinarian told me to put my dogs on a diet, because they were looking a little overweight. "Reduce their food by a cup, especially during the winter months when they are less active." No wonder my dogs give me the "death" stare at 4pm.

My dogs have been on this "diet" for nine months and there has been no noticeable difference in their weight. I can't see their ribs like I am suppose to in a normal weight dog. Of course, they do get some table scraps - impossible to keep from them when you have two young children daily throwing food on the floor.

My neighbor across the street, an elderly gentleman, who used to own black labs himself, is very partial to my dogs. He whistles them over to give them a pat on their head. We live in a quiet rural neighborhood; hardly any traffic and no fences anywhere. Still, I don't want my dogs running across the street or around the neighborhood to disturb my neighbors. For the most part, my dogs are very good about keeping to their own yard. They arn't left outside to be running around.

However, for the past six months, we have had a problem with our older male lab, Zeus, running across the street whenever he gets the chance. It usually occurs in the evening, just before bed. We put him out for one last "potty" break before the night. I started to suspect something when he would come inside, licking his chops, and having the WORSE DOG BREATH EVER.

I spoke to my husband about it, suspecting he was getting into someone's compost bin. (we have friends whose Bouvier got into a compost bin and almost died). My husband grunted his normal "I don't know... probably ....hmm....what will we do about it?" response. So, over the past few months, I have been the diligent pet owner and have stood watch while my dogs defecated. They are immediately brought back inside.

So, last weekend, my husband was talking to our neighbor and the subject of dogs was brought up. The neighbor laughs and says, "Oh yeah, every evening I put my leftovers in a big bowl on my back porch. Your dogs come over and get a nice treat."

WHAT????!??? That was my response when my husband told me. Our dogs are suppose to be on a diet. I really don't want my dogs eating whatever the heck he has put out there.

"What if it's chicken bones?" I ask. My husband responds with "He had dogs, he wouldn't do that."

My husband laughs. He thinks it is hilarious. It makes for a great story. No wonder our dogs weren't losing any weight. I am not one to be confrontational with the neighbors. If the old guy wants to feed the racoons, coyotes (heaven help us), bunnies, and deer, then he can. I will just have to be more diligent about keeping the dogs in the yard. I will have to stop buying scrapbooking supplies and save money for a huge fence to cover our acre size yard. Or, I suppose invest in some LONG rope. If not that, I'll need to buy more breath mints.

She WILL do it

I have a saying: If it can be done, my daughter will do it. I never knew how easy of a child my son was until my daughter came along. They have complete different personalties. Benjamin is easy going. He does what he is told, rarely talks back, and doesn't like to rock the boat. My dauther, Sela, on the other hand, questions authority, pushes every limit, and has a sense of curiosity that astounds me for a two-year old. Yes, she is only two. I fear my future.

Today, we went to the zoo. We met some friends there. Luckily, my friend brought her extra stroller, because I had forgotten mine. Sela was in and out of the stroller all day. When there was something to see, she was out running to stand beside her big brother and watch. We were at the Giraffe pen - looking down on the short giraffe and across at the tall giraffe. My daughter sat down at the iron fencing and dangled her feet. I didn't worry about her. There was no way she was going to get through that fence.

My son had been asking for a drink, so I bent down to grab a juice box from my bag. Suddenly, I hear my daughter crying and a bunch of other mothers saying, "Whose this little girls' mother?" My heart lept into my throat, wondering what in the heck happened to my daughter - you know that kind of leap? Terror at what could possibly have had happened. It is only a split-second feeling, but one that gets your heart and blood pounding.

I ran over to my daughter and asked, "What's wrong?" The other mothers pointed to the ground down below. "Her shoe fell off." And yes, there down on the ground, far below us, was my daughter's bright hot pink Land's End all-weather moc, (size 7), staring back up at us. All I could do was roll my eyes, "Thank God" it wasn't serious, and then put her in the stroller and find some zoo keeper.

Just so that everyone knows....a zookeeper (or zoo security) will not be going after shoes, articles of clothing, or other insignificant personal items until after the zoo closes to the public for the day. Of course, if that insignificant personal item is about to endanger the life of an animal, that is a different story. But, a pink shoe in the giraffe pen was nothing.

If it can be done, my daughter will do it.

Birds, birds, and more birds

I didn't plan on my Blog being all about birds - but right now that seems to be the only truly inspirational aspect happening in my life. It is a small escapism that I can enjoy; sitting on the "dog" couch in the sunroom watching the little birds flit about.

I've only lived in this house going on 2 years now. I had my feeders up last year, but didn't get the variety of birds I have now. This year, I am honored to host a little flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers. There are about 7-8 of them, 3 males and 4 females. They only eat from the suet feeder, but they are constantly foraging along my maple trees, eating what, I don't know. I wonder why I didn't see them last year.

I amazed at the different "personalities" of the birds. Oregon Juncos are brave little birds. They are the last to fly away and the first to return after danger. Yet, I've never seen my cat get one. Somehow, these juncos seem to know what is real danger and what is perceived. The Black-capped Chickadees are quite shy. They prefer to eat at the least populated feeder, sometimes waiting for one to empty before popping in. However, they don't mind me moving about in the sunroom. They must sense there is safety with the glass window. (oh, by the way - the chickadees were the first birds to find my new feeder).

Most of the birds arrive in flocks. Yet, there are a few solitary ones. A spotted Towhee comes every now and then, yet he is so shy. Unlike the chickadees, the slightest movement sends him flying. The same is said for the white-breasted nuthatch. He was very skittish. Yet, his counterpart, the red-breasted nuthatch has become very brave at my feeders. I walked right up to one the other day. He was sitting in the feeder, eating. I didn't see him until I was within an arms reach. He calmly looked up, eyed me, waited for what seemed a delightful eternity, and then flew off.

However, one bird is missing this year. Their noticeable absense worries me. Not seeing the hummingbirds sends my mind racing. What has happened to our rainforests? Was there no where for them to winter over this year? Deforestation impacts those little hummers. A loss of a species always breaks my heart, worries me to no end about the earth's future and the environment my children will grow up in. I know each species is crucial to the overall survival of an ecosystem. However, losing a slug just doesn't have the poetic impact as losing a hummingbird.

So many worries that I have no control over. Sure, I could give my life savings to a great environmental group, but what does a starving South American Amazon native care about hummingbirds when he needs to clear land to grow crops and feed his family? (I know, that is on the small scale. I should worry more about McDonald's creating grazing land to feed the mass quantity of American's craving BigMac's.)

More importantly, we should worry about the Magnetic Poles. Supposedly, it is past due for them to switch positions. When this happens, what will the birds due? Will they fly out to sea and drown from exhaustion? Or- will they surprise us and navigate by sight and familiarity over the pull of the poles? If the poles do switch, maybe I'll look out at my feeders and see a Carribean "Cuban Tody" or a "long-tailed Sylph" from the Andes.

Well, in the meantime, I'll enjoy what I have, keep looking out for my hummers, and try not to scare the Towhee away.

Dance of the Woodpeckers

I was sitting in my sunroom today, watching the birds. My husband brought home a new birdfeeder yesterday and I eagerly put it up and watched to see how quickly the birds would find and use it. Of course, here it is hours later and they havent touched it. Birds arn't that bright. It will take them a few days to find the new feeder.

So, as I was watching, a little male Downy woodpecker landed on the suet feeder. He comes every day. I enjoy seeing him. Well, I was surprised to see another Downy woodpecker land on the other side of the suet feeder. My first thought was that it was his female. But, NO! It was another male Downy. Immediately, there was a fight. But, it was unlike any bird fight I have ever seen.

The two woodpeckers flew to my red maple tree and landed on a branch opposite each other. They bobbed heads at each other and began to sway. Their heads jerked side to side, bobbing in a rhythmic pattern. Then one gave ground and hopped futher down the tree. The other woodpecker followed in hot pursuit. They stared each other down for a few seconds and then began their head bobbing dance again.

I was quite taken with watching them and wanted to see who would be the ultimate winner in Suet Feeder Territory. However, my 2-1/2 year old daughter ran into the room and interrupted the dance with one of her own. I call it the "too late pee pee" dance. It isn't as fascinating as watching woodpeckers fight, but requires immediate attention.

As I cleaned my daughter up, I wished that woodpeckers were like children. I could have taken them both by wing and showed them there were 2 suet feeders. They could each have their own. There need not be any fighting. But, of course, then I wouldn't have had any delight in watching their dancing.

Quantum Physics of Cats.

Okay, so this is kind of a weird "cat phenomenon". I call it the kitty doppleganger effect or maybe it should be the Quantum Physics of Cats. I've seen it three times, now, in person. (twice with my own cats!)

I have a friend, named James, who had this gorgeous tuxedo cat they called Murphy. Well, James and his family moved across town and brought Murphy with them. One summer day, they had left their back door open to let in some fresh air. Murphy came inside and they didn't pay too much attention, until James wife, Marie took a double look at Murphy and realized that it wasn't really Murphy!!! It looked exactly like Murphy (except on the face, the white spot was polar opposite of Murphy's). Well, they greeted him and welcomed him to visit. He started coming over regularly, so they named him "Murphy's Evil Twin." or "MET" for short. Gradually, Met moved in, and Murphy left them for the neighbors three houses down (who were more than happy to have Murphy as a pet). It was a weird switch.

Before I married, I was living in a house with roommates. I had two cats, Skunky (who is still with me), and Sammi (who passed away two years ago). Every day, the neighbor cat would come over and put both paws on the front glass window and yowl for my cats to come out and play, which they did. There was no fighting. They were all friends. Well, one evening, this happened, so my roommate let my cats out. I was just about to leave to go out for the evening and I didn't want my cats running outside at night. I quickly ran outside and grabbed Skunky, who hadn't got past the porch. Sammi had already run off, but I found her on the side of the house. It was dusk - so I grabbed her and threw her back inside, closed the front door behind me, and I left.

An hour later, my roommate, Kim was busy at her computer work. She heard Skunky growling. She was surprised to see that Skunky had Sammi cornered and was acting very agressivly toward her. Kim took a double look and , you guessed it, the cat was not Sammi. In fact, Sammi was sitting on the porch looking inside through the front window. This cat looked EXACTLY like Sammi, except for his whiskers, which weren't as long (and he was a tad bit skinnier).

Now, for the third scenario, it starts two years ago and ends today. When my husband and I married, we ended up with four cats. (He was owned by two "outside-only" felines). One cat was named Merlin (a gorgeous Siamese, who disappeared soon after we were married), and the other cat, Esmerelda, a grey and white longhair. He was named Esmerelda for his lovely green eyes, and then re-named EZZIE for short because the neighbor informed us that she had him neutered before he moved in with my husband. So, after my marriage, we moved to a new home a mile away. Three cats moved with us. Ezzie had to become an indoor-only cat because he kept running away to the other house.

Ezzie had been inside for almost two years, when one day he escaped. We never saw Ezzie again. It broke my heart. I kept checking at the other house for almost a month, and the new occupants promised to keep an eye for him, but he never showed up. We were all sad, but had to give up. Six months later, we moved to our current location (80 miles South). This is where it gets interesting!!!

We had only lived in our new home for two months, when one evening, this grey and white, long-haired cat showed up bawling at the back door. It looked almost EXACTLY like Ezzie (except his face was a little squished looking). He had the same markings, same fur patterns, same length of fur. We were in shock. It took about more than double looks to make sure it wasn't Ezzie. After about a month, we decided he was ours to keep - so we named him Ozzie (Ezzie's evil twin).

And now, this story ends with today! I was driving down the road, not far from my own house, when I spotted Ozzie in a field. I slowed the car down, rolled down my window and called out to him. And, you can probably guess where this is headed. The cat turned and looked at me, and it wasn't Ozzie!!! This cat had the same fur, markings, and look about it, but the face was slightly different. (it didn't have enough white on his face.) Of course, this cat was probably Ozzie's relative - most likely a littermate.

But, perhaps my reality is different than those cats. Maybe they are exsisting in two moments in time and altering their looks so as not to be noticed completely. Who knows. Maybe the cats have figured out the true meaning of the universe and are able to exsist in different planes. Or maybe I'm just losing my mind and can't tell my cats apart from each other.

one hour in 24

I love 24. It doesn't get more exciting than this! Tonights episode about bowled me over....just when I was thinking the show was hitting too close to reality (whiny, ineffectual president with an evil V.P. and gloomy Homeland Security group) the show throws a loop by making Audrey Raines the terrorist contact. yipes. What in the heck did she sell to the terrorists? I still think the Vice Pres has a Huge part to play in all of this!!! Love this show! Can't wait until next week. Jack Bauer is my hero.

I used to watch TONS of television. I had a "must-watch" show every night. Well, this year, I decided I had to stop. So, I only have two shows I watch religiously now....24 and CSI. That's it. T.V. is turned off on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. And the great thing is, I don't miss it. Of course, I have to watch my two shows - would be greatly saddened if I was to miss them. Sometimes I feel a little bit out of the loop, when the people around me are talking about what the Desperate Housewives did or who The Others are or whether or not the Nanny uses the naughty rug. But, as a whole, I don't really miss watching all those shows. It is kind of nice not having the t.v. on in the evening - I'll read a book, talk to my husband, or just relax. Besides, it is probably better for the kids, as well. We only have basic cable (a whopping 30 channels (which 15 are shopping junk - I'll talk about QVC some other day), so there isn't a lot on except PBS for the children. That is great!

Okay, I'll admit it: Some cold, rainy Sundays, I miss having the broad spectrum of channels to surf. All the movie channels are great for those days. When I'm extremly tired and want the kids to have some downtime, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel were great for child entertainment. So, I miss having some t.v. - however, on a whole, it is better to not have it. But, just don't try and take my 24 or CSI away. Then, I may have some fighten' words.

My first official Blog

Okay, so this is my FIRST OFFICIAL BLOG. My sister has been bugging me to get on and start one. Of course, she wanted me to do Myspace.com, but I didn't feel quite right about getting on there. I'm sure it is a wonderful place, but I wanted something a little bit simpler; a little more mature.(?).

I've been watching the birds today at my feeders. They are all in the stages of molting into their summer plumage. The goldfinch are in various stages of yellow. There was one bright fellow who had completely shed his winter coat. He seems a bit more skittish than the rest. I'd be too, knowing that there were two cats eyeing him through the sunroom windows. Yes, I let them outside. And yes, Ozzie catches birds and eats them - crunches their little bones and leaves guts and brains on my patio. Yes, I feel guilty. But, I feel guiltier not letting the cats out. Ozzie will pounce and bite my ankles. Skunky gives me the "death"stare and cries pitifully. (he's the old man in the house, so doesn't really catch anything, just likes to think he does).

Speaking of "death" stare, my dog, Zoe (a little black lab) gives me the Four O'clock "time-to-eat" stare. She is sitting behind me now, burning a hole in my back "It's late - it's late - it's late". I don't always give in. I can't. I have to have some power over the animals. I can't let them completely win. So, I withold dinner until 4:20p.m. HA! That will teach her!! Once again woman triumphs over nature. But, just a little.

I have to win sometimes. As a mother of two children I don't think I win very often. I try to choose my battles accordingly. "No, you can't have a 3rd lollipop". "No, you can't watch Wallace & Gromit for the tenth time this week". Sometimes, I am a MEAN MAMA. I feel horrible afterwards, but that is what it takes. Sometimes I feel that my children only hear me when I'm yelling. Whenever this happens, I think back to my own mother. I remember her saying "Am I talking to a brick wall?" No, she was talking to me. And, my past sins have caught up with me. I now am the mother of two brick walls, two horrible bird-eating cats, and two black labs who are dying of starvation, as I write, because it is 5:04 - a whole hour past their dinner time. Shame on me. At least the birds are happy.