Odds & Ends #21
Melina’s going to be back in the US in July! She and her family are coming to New York City for her mother’s birthday, and the plan is for me to fly up there and meet them. While NYC is the last place in the world I want to be in July (second only to LA — yes, I am a Texas snob), this gal is excited to see my girl again. “We’ll have to take a photo at the Statue of Liberty!” she texted. They are busily making their plans, and I’m just waiting at this point to see where I can fit in.
Speaking of exchange students, things continue to progress with getting Mia here in August. She has her visa appointment this coming week, and we’ve turned in her class wish list to her academic counselor. She and I check in with each other every weekend. She’s as crazy about her dog as I am about mine. Lotta is quite the character, it turns out, so we compare notes. Apparently she killed a duck a few years ago. I told Mia about the time that Daisy killed a chicken, and how Wolfie got a rabbit just this morning. We are both looking forward to her stay SO MUCH.
Speaking of dogs, rescuing them has been more down than up lately. We had to put down an aggressive dog recently. Lest you think this was some raging, foaming-at-the-mouth terrier, no, she was not. She was a bright, alert, confident, loving and sweet girl who — for some unknown reason — would lose her shit occasionally and attack other dogs. There was no predictability to it, and it was uncommonly vicious. If it were tied to some predictable event or situation she found herself in, we could have tried to work on it. However, it seemed to escalate, and I thought it was only a matter of time before someone got seriously hurt. So the decision was made, and my heart will hurt for a while.
And yet more frustration: people are flaky. I like to say that we work with people as much as dogs in rescue, trying to find the perfect home for really good dogs. Unfortunately, people are even more unpredictable than dogs much of the time. Applying for dogs and vanishing, not returning phone calls and surrendering dogs for stupid reasons — it’s maddening.
Oh, well — just a low point. Things will rally, and I’ll be my happy-go-lucky rescuing-dog-self again soon.
A high point this week, though: Niece #1 got engaged! Yes, my baby is all grown up (sob!). Isabelle is now a nearly-married young woman, and she graduates college this coming week as well. So she’s having a good month.
May is just getting started. My irises are spent, the wisteria is in full bloom and my anemic peonies are struggling. The yard is greening up and growing. I got mad at my lawn company last year because they were hit or miss — mosly miss — in their reliability, so I had to scramble to find another one in time for mowing season. That red oak — you know the tree; the one I had all that fuss last summer with the Homeowner’s Association? — shades so much that not much grows under it. “Just go get some sod from Home Depot and lay it yourself,” Heather advised. Oh, aaahahahaaa! And no, I’m going to wait until the Homeowners’ Association violates me — and they will — and then I will piss and moan about it for a while before caving and having someone else lay the damn sod. You know I live for these skirmishes with the HOA.
And finally, a find! I’m so in love with Loaded Honey, this new side project from the minds behind Jungle, who came out with their latest song, “Don’t Speak.” It’s fun, it’s funky, it vibes and makes me want to go searching through the bowels of Spotify and You Tube for everything about them and their stuff. Give it a listen!
