KUMA AND THE DOG PARK...AND MY GLASSES

          Yesterday (Monday) was a beautiful day with sunshine although the temperature could have been a little bit warmer. I decided I would take Kuma to a dog park for the first time. I thought about the one in Mountlake Terrace, but it’s pretty shady and who wants to be in the shade when the sun shines…not us.

          We drove down to Marina Beach Park in Edmonds and were lucky to find a parking place that wasn’t too far from the off-leash area. Kuma wanted to stop and smell absolutely everything as we walked toward the gate. I was patient for a bit, but also wanted to practice our walking training we'd learned last week. There were dogs coming out and going in and Kuma made a half-hearted attempt to bark at them.

          Once inside, I removed his leash and he followed me toward the water and all the dogs that were ranging from one side of the beach to the other. Kuma wasn’t too sure about all this or about all those dogs. Except for a few times, he stayed fairly close to me and even then, he would come right back as though I were his touchstone and would keep him safe…and, of course, I definitely would do that.

          I met a few very nice people there with their dogs, or in the case of young man, a group of dogs he under his care. He said he was a dog walker and trainer. Some of the dogs went into the water as though it were absolutely the thing to do. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a soaking wet, and most likely stinky, dog when it was time to go home. I'll probably find out at some point. Kuma was fairly circumspect when it came to the water and the waves. He was investigating the water and even took a tongue full when a bigger wave washed in…scared him right back to the hard sand.   

          It was my hope that Kuma would make a couple of buddies and dash all about the dog park. That didn’t really happen. He did dash about some, but not to the extent I had thought he would or that I wanted him to. Still, it was his first trip to a dog park and it won’t be his last. I did take some video that I hoped I could include with this post, but apparently it was too big to email to my computer so I could include. I'll just have to post it to Facebook.

          When we left the dog park, we went to Dick’s Drive-in and shared two cheeseburgers and fries. I had a small diet coke and asked for a small water. Even before the bag with the food was opened, Kuma lapped up almost the entire cup of water, and yes, quite a bit of it splashed about, but he was a thirsty dog. Note to self about bringing a bowl and water on the next trip.

          Back home, I felt he still needed more exercise and I needed more sun, so we played ball for a while. A couple of neighbors walked by and took turns chucking the ball up the street for Kuma while the other neighbor and I chatted.

          It would have been a great day; and perhaps Kuma didn’t deserve to have so much fun because he was a naughty boy first thing. While I was getting ready for our adventure, Kuma took my glasses off my nightstand and proceeded to play with them as though they were a toy. Initially, I thought I could just go to Costco and have the arms bent back to their correct shape. Unfortunately, Kuma managed to chew the ear pieces as well, so I think they are completely ruined.

          Fortunately, I have a spare pair that are the same prescription (I think) but I don’t particularly like the frames. They will have to do until mid-March when I have an appointment for an eye exam. I know my eyes have changed quite a bit (or it seems that way to me), so the result of the exam will most likely be a new prescription…and now, new frames that definitely won't be left in a location accessible to Kuma.  

FISHBOWL

           

living is not for me. I’m so glad I ordered the new sheer curtain panels. My front living room window seems hugely HUGE. The new curtains should arrive later this week and I can go back to living incognito this weekend. 

SHEER PRIVACY???

           It’s amazing how sheer white curtain panels made me feel much more private than I probably was. I don’t know how old the curtains were, but Kuma managed to shred one of the panels trying to look outside without the sheer curtain screen. I’m sure from the outside it looked as though a poor old person lives here…true, but it doesn’t have to look that way.

          This morning I managed to pull down the rod that held all four curtain panels. I tossed the shredded one and prepared the others for the Goodwill box I seem to have going all the time. Then, I ordered four new panels from Jaque Penne’ and they’ll arrive later this week. I could have picked them up at the Tukwila store but am sure I would have used up the $8.95 delivery fee in wear and tear and gas for the car plus I’m worth far mor than $8.95 an hour…or at least I was.

          So, my front living room window is sans sheer curtains. It’s wide open except for the drapes that are on either side. I don’t ever draw those drapes but maybe I’ll think about it depending on how visible I am to the neighbors. It’s amazing how big that window now appears and how close the outside now appears.

          I think I’ll need assistance to get the rod with the new panels aboard back on its holders. I hate to ask but I’m afraid one of my sons or my granddaughter will need to pay me a visit. Perhaps I can entice whichever one with yummy food or a promise not to call for help again for at least a month. I know they don’t mind coming to help me, but I just hate to have to ask.

          Now that I’ve done my post for today, I’m going to go get on my couch with Kuma and determine just how much of a fishbowl I’m living in without those sheer curtains.

SOME DAYS ARE HARDER...

         

than others. I have no idea why. I can’t point to one single thing that makes a particular day harder than another day. Today, Saturday, was a harder day than any I’ve had so far in 2023. Again, I don’t know why. I just know that I didn’t feel a lot of joy no matter what I was doing. Walking Kuma, chucking the ball up the street for him in sunshine that fell on my back and actually made me hot…nope, didn’t feel particularly joyful.

          None of the other accomplishments of today brought joy either, i.e., getting two weeks-worth of laundry done, making myself a nice dinner, transferring over a thousand pictures to the frame the kids bought me for Christmas, and attempting to figure out the PhotoStick Omni that came in the mail yesterday. Maybe it was the frustration engendered by the PhotoStick Omni. Yep, I’m going to go with that. It came with hardly any instructions, the link to the online help wasn’t very helpful and just made me more frustrated.

          According to all the hoopla I read about the PhotoStick Omni, all I had to do as plug it in and it would sort through all my photographs, eliminate any duplicates and organize them perfectly for me. What this thing actually is and does is backup everything you have on your computer…even the files in the recycle bin. I do have the option of returning it for a full refund minus the shipping costs…I may do that unless the shipping costs are HUGE.

          Maybe tomorrow will hold more joy. I’ll go to bed tonight with that thought at the forefront of my brain. When I get up in the morning, I’ll just CHOOSE to have a much more joyful day. 

A TALE OF TWO TEAKETTLES

          My eldest son likes me to blog about the past. This post is the story of two teakettles and how amazing it was the fire department didn’t visit.

          December 1965. My parents had moved out of town, so I’d had to get an apartment. It was just a couple of blocks from where I worked. Of course, being young and horny  all the time, John spent the majority of his nights with me in my apartment.

          When John got to the apartment, I was still at work. The firm consisted of all men except for me. That particular day was just before Christmas, so the firm was having the office Christmas party.

          Oh, did I mention it was cold and snowy outside? Well, it was. So, John very thoughtfully drove the couple of blocks so I wouldn't have to walk home. The men in the firm welcomed him with open arms and full glasses. We had a lot of fun before we finally got in the car and returned to the apartment.

          It’s true about John being a thoughtful man. Before he left to get me, he put the teakettle on the stove so we could have tea when we got back.  Well, it hadn’t been a quick trip and that teakettle melted onto the burner. It was ruined, but thankfully, nothing caught fire.

          The second teakettle loss happened several decades later. It had nothing to do with being thoughtful. John was home with Thor who was either in his late teens or early twenties. John put the teakettle on the stove but raised the lid so it wouldn’t whistle…not the smartest idea.

          John and Thor were watching something on TV…probably that crazy guy who had all kinds of weirdos on his show. I don’t remember who or what they were watching, but it was hugely entertaining. By the time John remembered the teakettle, it too had begun to melt onto the burner. They rushed out and bought a new teakettle and tried to make me think it was a gift they simply wanted me to have; however, neither of them could keep from laughing and smirking, so they had to tell on themselves.

          It was all fine. The new teakettle was better than the melted one and I'm still using it.

MORE LIGHT IN THE DARK

          Monday of this week I went to Ace Hardware to pick up a couple of items. There were signs saying all the Christmas lights were 90% off. I took a box up and asked how much it would be…$1.50. Each box held one hundred lights and the cords were white which is the color of my fence.

          I’ve always wanted to wrap the top rail in lights but never got around to it, mainly because the lights were so expensive when the lighting season came along. I bought all the boxes they had which was seven. I called AJ to see if I needed something to protect the cords as they joined. He didn’t answer but a very nice, and handsome, young man offered his advice. So, I purchased these thingies that you put the connections in. They were more expensive than the lights…$4.99.

          I spent time running an extension cord from the deck out to the end of the fence closest to the house. Then I wound the lights around the fence rails. I’m one of those people who are unable to figure out feet and inches…and yes, I’ve heard the joke about “THIS MUCH” being six inches. Anyway, I figured I had enough to do the entire fence…wrong. When finished, the fence beside the driveway remains unlit, but the rest of the fence is very bright. I think if I’d stretched the initial strings, I might have had enough. Ah well.

          Now, all I have to do is figure out the timer so the lights come on when it gets dark and go off at the witching hour. These dark and dreary days require a lot more light, at least in my opinion.

KUMA GETS A SHOWER

          On Tuesday, after I finished putting lights on the fence, it was time for a shower. On the spur of the moment, I decided I’d put Kuma in the shower too.

          I thought I could kneel on a towel on the floor, wet him down, apply shampoo, scrub and then rinse. Wrong. There was no way he was going to stay in the shower with the door open. Good thing I’d already disrobed.

          In the shower with the door closed, I was able to get him all squeaky clean. I got out of the shower first to get the towel ready to toss over him before he could shake water all over the bathroom. Goodness, but Kuma’s a fast little bugger. I finally got a towel over him at the exit from the bathroom…good thing I’d closed that door. I dried him as much as possible and put down a dry towel for him to lay on while I took my shower.

          While I was cleaning myself, the noise Kuma was making was unbelievable. You would have thought he was being tortured in some fashion. When I got out of the shower, he was laying on the bathroom rug and the three towels I’d provided were in three separate piles around the room. All in all, it took four huge beach towels to dry my puppy.

          Then I tried to use the hair dryer on Kuma. He wouldn’t hold still for that, even on the low setting. He’s seen me use it, but he didn’t like the idea of that hot air blowing on him. I persisted and managed to get parts of him dryer than they had been.

          This was followed in a bit by some brushing. I had to laugh because Kuma has waves on the top of his back. Those waves became stand up curls and looked so very cute. I did brush him for a bit and filled the brush twice with this soft downy hair. I think it was the undercoat he’s supposed to have. There certainly weren’t any longer stiffer hairs in the mix.

          We were both exhausted by the time the brushing was finished. We curled up on the couch together, both of us smelling very clean.