Messy little creatures at the best of times, but I could not live without them. As a child I was deathly afraid of dogs because of an incident where I was riding my bike and a dog on a chain lunged at me. I screamed not knowing that he could not get at me. After that it was games over when it came to dogs. We had the odd stray cat come and live outside at our house on occasion and that was terrific. My dad always used to tell us that we couldn't have pets because when they died it would hurt us too much. Go figure!! My parents in the meantime have had three cats, one right after the other. Nothing said about what happens when they die. Oh well.
When I was about 17 I started dating a guy who would become my husband. He had a beagle. She was rather aggressive so I never really got to know her but hubby was always good around dogs and with his help I lost my fear of dogs.
In the early years of our marriage he worked the midnight shift at a grocery store so I was alone at home at night. We got our first dog- a Samoyed whom we named Snowball. She lived with us for almost ten years before we had to have her put down because she was deaf and had started to snap at our young children. We already had another dog by this time... a collie, the first of three to date. Lady Diana was a blue merle collie. She was a joy to have around and I will write in depth about her in a future blog. Next came a Lhasa Apso named Fawn. All of our dogs have been with us since they were pups with the exception of one. Fawn lived to be a ripe old 16 when she started having seizures and needed to visit the Rainbow Bridge. Lady had passed away and along came Kai from the same breeder. Kai was a tri coloured collie. As Kai got older, and Fawn passed, we aquired Savannah from a breeder in Mississauga. Savannah was supposed to go to our youngest daughter's house when she moved out but I just couldn't give her up. Our youngest daughter bought an Australian Shepherd for herself that was raised with Kai and Savannah.Kai died a year ago in December. At that point we decided to stick with just one dog. So for six months Savannah moped around the house but we didn't really catch on. As our oldest daughter found herself with two children and two dogs it became too much and we told her that we would take her collie, Zoe. So that's how an adult dog arrived in the family. She and Savannah were already good friends but we did not know just how lonely Savannah had been until Zoe arrived. They play, run, jump and bark in tandem. What a pair.
Throughout all this we have had cats. Early on in our marriage we had two black cats named Damian and Cricket. We found Cricket as a kitten hanging on the fence by the horse race track. It was cold and snowy. We took him home. Damian had been born under hubby's parents' porch and we took him from the litter. One day our oldest brought home an orange and brown calico whom we named Pumpkin. She was supposed to stay until our oldest's best friend could convince her mother to keep her. Needless to say that didn't happen and we kept Pumpkin and have her to this day, 14 years later.
I think pets choose you not the other way around. I could not see our lives without animals. Dogs will be in our future until I leave this earth and meet up with all of them at the Rainbow Bridge.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Camp
The smell of an open fire. Pine trees swaying in the wind. Owls hooting at night. Tranquility everywhere.... Except the 200 other girls gathered singing around the campfire.
Camp! I spent two weeks of every year for three years of my life attending church camp in the summer. I started when I was about 10 I think and stopped when I was 12. My parents got new best friends out of the whole situation and I got a new friend as well.
Let me explain. My parents had decided to send me to church camp. We live in southwestern Ontario and the camp was located in central Ontario. My parents were informed that another girl from the church was also going. She was a year old than I was so I didn't know her. As it turned out we became close friends and are to this day over 45 years later. Her parents met my parents and it was "love at first sight". I jest. They met and decided one set of parents should drive us there and the other should drive us home. That way neither set had to make two round trips. My parents drove us up on the Friday night, we spent the night in a motel and then on to camp for Saturday. It may have been Saturday up and register Sunday. I can't really remember. The return trip was with her parents. A few times we spent the night with her grandmother who lived near the camp. She had owned a farm and the house was a big yellow brick house with a wonderful bannister that we often slid down. Once we ended up scattering her aunt's purse full of stuff all over the floor as we slid down and reached the end where the purse had been placed. Another time we woke in the middle of the night (it was to us anyway) smelling something awful. We crept downstairs past the first set of doors in the hallway and towards the back of the house to the kitchen where the doors were also closed. It was limburger cheese. Her grandma and company were sitting in the kitchen eating limburger cheese. The smell had permeated the house. I was amazed. There was an arena nearby where we went roller skating. Or should I say my friend, C. went skating, while I watched. I had seen someone split their head open and was none too eager to try the experience despite the fact that I rollerskated at home on the streets all the time.
I remember stopping for a picnic along the highway and C.'s mother pulling out fried chicken, potato salad and a pie for dessert. It was different that what I was used to living in a European household. I remember trying olives for the first time and liking them. Her mother made a potato salad with all kinds of things and mayonnaise. Mine made hers with oil and vinegar dressing. Her mother made deep fried chicken; mine cooked hers in a bit of oil in a frying pan. They lived in a big two story old house in the city. We lived in a ranch in the suburbs. Differences sure, but we had lots of fun together over the years. She was in my wedding party and I was in hers. Today we compare grandkids.
I digress. Back to camp.
There was a big pool for swimming. The cabins surrounded a central green area. There was a canteen next to the pool where we could spend our money on candy and stuff. We brought money and it was taken from us and a tab was set up at the canteen. At the end of camp any money left over was returned to us.
Meals were served in a large barn like structure with long tables for each cabin. We had kitchen duty regularly. Cleaning the tables and washing the dishes. We had hot cocoa and cookies there just before bed.
There was a small structure that held all sorts of supplies like plastic lacing. I learned to make plastic bracelets. Another cabin was the nurse's headquarters. I went there once when I didn't want to sleep outside one night. I faked a sickness and got to stay there for the night. There was a large building with toilets and showers.
We built an outdoor chapel for our cabin. A few logs for pews and an alter and that's where we had our prayer service each day.
On one occasion we slept outdoors (I didn't). We travelled through the woods and across a creek to a higher area where we ate over a campfire and slept in our sleeping bags. I remember walking with them there and then another girl and I walked back to the main camp later in the evening. It was dark by then and we were scared. We had only our flashlights to guide us back. The hooting and other noises made us move a lot faster.
We went on hikes through the area to little towns nearby.
It was a lot of fun and I learned a great deal. I became more independent. I got a great life long friend and my parents had wonderful friends too until C.'s parents passed away a few years ago.
Camp! I spent two weeks of every year for three years of my life attending church camp in the summer. I started when I was about 10 I think and stopped when I was 12. My parents got new best friends out of the whole situation and I got a new friend as well.
Let me explain. My parents had decided to send me to church camp. We live in southwestern Ontario and the camp was located in central Ontario. My parents were informed that another girl from the church was also going. She was a year old than I was so I didn't know her. As it turned out we became close friends and are to this day over 45 years later. Her parents met my parents and it was "love at first sight". I jest. They met and decided one set of parents should drive us there and the other should drive us home. That way neither set had to make two round trips. My parents drove us up on the Friday night, we spent the night in a motel and then on to camp for Saturday. It may have been Saturday up and register Sunday. I can't really remember. The return trip was with her parents. A few times we spent the night with her grandmother who lived near the camp. She had owned a farm and the house was a big yellow brick house with a wonderful bannister that we often slid down. Once we ended up scattering her aunt's purse full of stuff all over the floor as we slid down and reached the end where the purse had been placed. Another time we woke in the middle of the night (it was to us anyway) smelling something awful. We crept downstairs past the first set of doors in the hallway and towards the back of the house to the kitchen where the doors were also closed. It was limburger cheese. Her grandma and company were sitting in the kitchen eating limburger cheese. The smell had permeated the house. I was amazed. There was an arena nearby where we went roller skating. Or should I say my friend, C. went skating, while I watched. I had seen someone split their head open and was none too eager to try the experience despite the fact that I rollerskated at home on the streets all the time.
I remember stopping for a picnic along the highway and C.'s mother pulling out fried chicken, potato salad and a pie for dessert. It was different that what I was used to living in a European household. I remember trying olives for the first time and liking them. Her mother made a potato salad with all kinds of things and mayonnaise. Mine made hers with oil and vinegar dressing. Her mother made deep fried chicken; mine cooked hers in a bit of oil in a frying pan. They lived in a big two story old house in the city. We lived in a ranch in the suburbs. Differences sure, but we had lots of fun together over the years. She was in my wedding party and I was in hers. Today we compare grandkids.
I digress. Back to camp.
There was a big pool for swimming. The cabins surrounded a central green area. There was a canteen next to the pool where we could spend our money on candy and stuff. We brought money and it was taken from us and a tab was set up at the canteen. At the end of camp any money left over was returned to us.
Meals were served in a large barn like structure with long tables for each cabin. We had kitchen duty regularly. Cleaning the tables and washing the dishes. We had hot cocoa and cookies there just before bed.
There was a small structure that held all sorts of supplies like plastic lacing. I learned to make plastic bracelets. Another cabin was the nurse's headquarters. I went there once when I didn't want to sleep outside one night. I faked a sickness and got to stay there for the night. There was a large building with toilets and showers.
We built an outdoor chapel for our cabin. A few logs for pews and an alter and that's where we had our prayer service each day.
On one occasion we slept outdoors (I didn't). We travelled through the woods and across a creek to a higher area where we ate over a campfire and slept in our sleeping bags. I remember walking with them there and then another girl and I walked back to the main camp later in the evening. It was dark by then and we were scared. We had only our flashlights to guide us back. The hooting and other noises made us move a lot faster.
We went on hikes through the area to little towns nearby.
It was a lot of fun and I learned a great deal. I became more independent. I got a great life long friend and my parents had wonderful friends too until C.'s parents passed away a few years ago.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Computers
Computers. You can't live without them and sometimes you wish you had never gotten one. At the bank for example when they break down and no one can tell you what your bank balance is. It used to be so easy for the teller to simply write it down in your passbook with ink. Black and white there it was. Not now. If the computer system is down too bad. Come back another time.
Don't get me wrong. I love computers. That's partly why I have decided to start a blog. I figure that some day my grandkids and maybe even great grandkids can log on and check out what I wrote way back in 2009. I have had a computer for probably over 20 years having started with an old used Apple and moving on to more elaborate and updated models as the years went by. I got my Computers in Education specialist certification when I taught school. When my computer breaks down I get very cranky. Can't check my "emull" as my three year old grandson calls it. Can't check my bank account. Can't connect with friends. Can't check Facebook. Actually Facebook and this blog are my latest forays into the Internet. Can't say yet whether I will continue with either of the last two but time will tell.
Don't get me wrong. I love computers. That's partly why I have decided to start a blog. I figure that some day my grandkids and maybe even great grandkids can log on and check out what I wrote way back in 2009. I have had a computer for probably over 20 years having started with an old used Apple and moving on to more elaborate and updated models as the years went by. I got my Computers in Education specialist certification when I taught school. When my computer breaks down I get very cranky. Can't check my "emull" as my three year old grandson calls it. Can't check my bank account. Can't connect with friends. Can't check Facebook. Actually Facebook and this blog are my latest forays into the Internet. Can't say yet whether I will continue with either of the last two but time will tell.
Old Songs
Got a Journey late last year and with it came a one year subscription to Sirius radio. I didn't realize how much I had been missing. Since I am one of those kids raised in the 50s the music available on Sirius is fantastic. I just tune in to the 50s or 60s channels and away I go. Back to my teen years, growing up, teen dances, ice skating at the arena, hanging out with friends, dancing at the pavilion at the beach. It all comes back. Music is the window to our past. How many times have you recalled the exact words to a song that you hadn't heard in eons? How many times has that song reminded you of what you were doing when you used to hear it regularly?
Music takes you back in time, to memories and your younger years.
When my subscription runs out, I will run out to renew it. I just hope Sirius is still in business.
Music takes you back in time, to memories and your younger years.
When my subscription runs out, I will run out to renew it. I just hope Sirius is still in business.
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