Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Approach of Winter Friday Round-Up
Our old boy is sick. You couldn’t tell by looking at him, especially at the dog park. There he trots along with that sled dog long distance gait that he used for his eleven working years. He’s fourteen now with a gray beard but still fit and trim, his big sled dog feet still leaving wolf size prints in the snow. There is a large mass on his spleen, probably malignant. There is no way of knowing without cutting him open which all agree would not be wise. We wait and see. Our boy, Punchy.
Tomorrow, we are going on a sewer tour. Actually, it’s a two-hour (outside) tour of our city’s water treatment system that will occur on Jones Island, a mysterious location where Great Lakes ships unload and the city’s giant winter salt stores are kept under gigantic plastic tarps anchored by dozens of tires. We aren’t getting paid to do this. But maybe we will get t-shirts or something.
I had a pomegranate martini this week. For a person whose most alcohol consumption is out of a box, having such an exotic drink was really, as my dad would say, out of this world. Plus I drank the martini across from this fine fellow, a lumberjack I picked up on the way to a famous supper club in our town.
We have become cat people. It’s taken the good part of a year but we tolerate a cat walking across our heads in the morning like a child stepping from rock to rock across a creek. At night, I feel the heavy lump of the cat against my foot and I’m loathe to move lest I disturb him. I don’t want him to leave our bed. When he does, when he leaps down to find a less restless place, the bed feels cold and oddly bereft. That is, until he makes his morning wake-up tread.
I am the incoming chair of the Milwaukee County Commission on Aging. This happened today. It makes me feel like the mantra “You’re not done yet” has some truth. 2023 will be a good year for me.
9 Comments on “Approach of Winter Friday Round-Up”
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Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
Oh Jan, I love you We have 3 dogs and 27 cats and well do we know the morning tread. But they’re family so I feel for you. Your fur babies know just how loved they are. XXX
Congratulations! in this order
1. on becoming a cat person
2. on becoming the commission chair
: )
So sorry about sweet Punchy. We know it’s going to happen with our old dogs, but nothing ever prepares you for it really. Glad he’s in your loving hands.
I see your priorities there. LOL And yes, old dogs are beloved. Still.
I hope Punchy will be okay. I agree, exploratory surgery at his age wouldn’t be a good choice.
Congrats on your new job as chair.
Tonight I’m having an exquisite breakfast stout.
Just hugs!
Punchy looked great today at the dog park – running through mud like a champ. He is such a workingman’s dog. We don’t know what will happen. But neither does he, which is good, I think.
Aww, such a gorgeous puss and lots of light in that martini but sorry to hear about your pooch. It’s always hard as they get older and big decisions have to be made. Sending all good wishes 🙏
Thanks Miriam. We bump along with Punchy. I guess we have a lot in common. 🙂
So much joy in many parts of this post, but then the heartbreaking news about Punchy. I am so sorry and wish for him and you a calm and loving transition through the next steps on this journey. To you, sincere congratulations on your upcoming position. Your drive and experience are a perfect fit for that job.
Thank you — everything moves forward one way or another, I guess.