Heard about Neil's Dad on Saturday. Phoned him yesterday to say, well, you know. Having lost my parents, the thing that seems most helpful is knowing that the sadness mellows with time. There's no quick help for grief, it's a process without shortcuts, another course in our human curriculum. I wish his family all things good through their turn at it.
Spent part of today with a small dog that wandered into the yard of the empty house next door. I couldn't see any injury, but she was backed into the corner of the fence, trembling and obviously very shaken. Several other neighbors stood by to help, but since I lived nearest it made sense that I wait with her for animal control. (She wasn't wearing any identification.)
I don't think they quite knew what to make of me. I was wearing shorts and my red Buffalinos with no socks, was carrying a book on rats. (Sullivan- see previous blog) We live in a very (very) conservative neighborhood and though the residents aren't overtly unfriendly, they generally give us plenty of space. Objectively, I can see why most people might think us a bit strange, and I've never bothered with explanations.
Anyway, she snapped and barked at anyone who came too near, so I sat a couple of feet away and read to her quietly. Now and then I offered my hand for her to smell, and after about a half hour she let me stroke her head and took a bit of water and shaved ham (I didn't have any dogfood.) The officer who came for her was extremely gentle and kind. I'll phone him tomorrow to see how she is.
Here's a quick (I seem to be experiencing a shortage of memory cards today--please forgive the abrupt ending) video of the Poppet toy we just finished. It's based on some old wire toys we found photos of. I look forward to making more.
It's late and I must do Mom stuff. Will tell you more about the rat in the cupboard tomorrow.
Later...
6 comments:
You are too kind. I have had experiences with lost/found dogs that are similar and different at the same time. It takes a caring sole to do *something* and reading to this lost pooch was very nice of you :)
*soul*
Oh my gosh, your neighbors think you are a witch!
I'm sorry to hear about Neil's Dad...I lost my Dad this past New Year's Eve...your first paragraph helped ease my pain a bit.
You were SO good with that dog...I hope she's ok :-)
I was so sorry to hear about Neil's Dad. Funny how one feels like they know someone who keeps in regular "contact" with fans. Must be a strange loss of privacy for the fact that an intimate loss would touch so many strangers so personally. And yet...
Good on you with the dog. Last time I found a domesticated critter in my yard, it took up permanent residence in my house.
Good for you with helping that poor, scared little dog. I hope she's just lost and is reunited with her family.
I once had a dog that kept running back and forth by our deck door, and looking in as if to say "Why won't you let me in? This is my house!" He finally curled up and slept there all night, so the next morning I put a leash on him and thought I'd see if any of the regular dogwalkers recognized him.
Sure enough... a sign was up already for a lost dog, and it looked like the one that was stalking our house. When I called the posted number, I found that it was a new family that lived 2 blocks over but in the same position as our house. The dog was just confused as to where "home" was since they'd only been there a couple of weeks.
I too was sorry to hear about Neil's dad.
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