Without a question, I prefer crispy cold and sunny, to slightly warmer -- just below freezing -- and cloudy, with the threat of a wintry mix down the road. But of course no one asks me how to set the temperature outside. I have to learn to love it all. Including today's morning, which is indeed just below freezing and cloudy, and with a threat of a wintry mix later in the day.
Well, at least I do not have to bother with putting Henry into a sweater. He's warm enough (according to me) on his own.
Though I still think that first blast of cold morning air gives him pause: so... it's winter for good now? A fresh dusting of snow, salt, all of it?
On doggie daycare days, I tend to skip a long walk in the early morning. Up and down the block a handful of times seems to suffice. He's not clamoring to stay out longer before breakfast.
Ah yes, breakfast. Delightful.
Well, delightful until I notice that Henry is not in his usual spot on the couch. True, he likes to check out the bedroom windows occasionally, but he is a creature of habit, so a prolonged absence at this moment has me get up to investigate. Ah, there you are: in the kid room/guest room, munching away at the wooden dresser knob. Oh, Henry!
I try some pet stain remover on the remains of the knob, thinking that the smell might repel further chewing. It doesn't. I notice this as I see him trotting up with another bit of knob in his mouth. He and I have a conversation about it (I subscribe to the policy of "No Yelling" at your dog, since, as with children, it is totally ineffective and demoralizing), but just to make sure, I purchase Jambos Bitter Apple Spray. Guaranteed to keep your furniture safe from pets! I'll let you know how (in)effective that is!
That's my good boy, Henry! Back on the couch with me!
I made the mistake on starting in on another 500 puzzle. Importantly, it's not too hard and it doesn't take up that much space. Snowdrop and I are competing for table room for our various holiday setups. Once I start the puzzle, I dont especially want to stop. What is it with these puzzles -- how can something so mindlessly boring be so addictive? Or is it really mindless? Or boring? It's like a memory game -- you're significant;y faster if you remember where you saw that piece with the bit of yellow window and a tree bark at the tip. So maybe not so stupifying after all?
I get halfway through it and then I stop and turn my attention to the bird feeding station on the balcony. Not a single bird stopped by. So, should I return the yet to be installed smart feeder? No! What if the birds will come only after they see a comfy platform on which to perch? Why not put up the feeder and see if that perhaps will be noticed? Ah, another dumb human putting up one of those little square boxes that they find so cute and that we perch on to humor them...
This is not your ordinary bird feeder. It has a small solar panel and it feeds not only birds, but also my bird app, which I can then use to identify birds with. Of course, 1. I have no birds and 2. We have no sunshine today. But I have the time to set it all up. (It takes forever.) Will this attract them? Maybe? Eventually? Ever?
I pick up just Snowdrop today. It's a luxuriously normal day. No special place she needs to be, no meal that must be eaten on her lap, in the car.
My goal tonight is to pick up Henry and get her, then him home, before the wintry mix ices our roads.
(Henry is super excited to hear me at pickup time; and yes, he is very tall when he stands on his hind paws.)
For the first time in weeks, there will be stuff coming down while the temps waffle between freezing and a degree or so above. And after a few hours of this, we'll plunge into temps significant;y below freezing and they will stay there. Forever, if you think like a dog and don't know about Gallileo or weather.com forecasts. I know what that means: whatever melts will freeze and create an ice layer for all to slip and crash on. My options are to embrace it or become a grumbling old person. I'm already old and would like very much to stay away from grumbling.
A side note on the subject of aging and grumbling: having taken care of my mother's needs and dealt with her grumblings and general unhappiness in the last half dozen years of her life, I greatly appreciated an article in the NYTimes about aging parents. Read it for free here. We sometimes think that older people can and should control their inner rage. (My mother had a lot of inner rage.) But the fact is, not only are they capable of losing joy in those last years, but moreover, they do not know that the world continues as before, but they are no longer keeping up with it in any way. I suppose this could happen to me, and I tell Ed that this well could happen to him, but he does not believe me. He's one of those people who is convinced that he can have control over his aging process. I reassure him that I will be there to assist, even if he becomes intolerable, but I doubt that he sees that as a viable path. It will be interesting to see which one of us loses their marbles first! Perhaps you'll be able to tell from reading an Ocean post.
with so much love...
