WordSisters

Tag: family

  • Fall Morning

    Earlier this week I ate breakfast, sitting in a chair on the deck, wrapped in a fleece blanket. With a morning temp in the lower fifties, the conditions were not exactly perfect and I did not care. These beautiful days of early fall are too precious to waste. Three weeks ago, our temps still tried to top ninety and in three weeks from now the mornings may well have forties at seven. Maybe we’ll flirt with hot temps before the big dive.

    The birds are becoming scarce. The wild turkeys are an exception. They peck our windows and doors to protect themselves from themselves. Yesterday they jumped to peck at the car’s sideview mirrors. Out in the water ducks are gathering in large numbers. In Minnesota the geese migrate honking good-bye. The tourists are here for fall festivals with freedom to drink alcohol and dance in the streets. Summer residents have started their migration to permanent addresses or warmer places. 

    Peacefully alive is what I call being wrapped in that old blanket, eyes closed, listening to breezes in trees still covered by leaves. A neighbor’s dogs are making noise. A deer cautions people and dogs to back off. Her six-month-old fawns independently forage and explore but will stay near her through the winter. They have already eaten our Hosta and hydrangea and other flowering plants. Food will become more difficult to find.

    Summer’s bookmarks will not all be featured in this year’s photo calendar. Kids, grandkids, families and friends get all the smiling pictures. My husband had a one-month bout with kidney stones including two surgeries in June/July and now is in week three of a back injury.   Our dog passed in August. We had weeks of forest fire smoke topping off the hottest summer in meteorological measures. Except for bugs and heat, summer mornings eating breakfast outside were pretty fine as well.

    Enjoying a cool drink or the comforts of a cozy blanket and something to read are treasured simple activities. Don’t forget everything that can be seen was covered by 33 inches of snow just six months ago.  

    A serene forest scene with trees displaying vibrant green and yellow leaves, creating a rich autumnal atmosphere.

  • Dogs and Aging Families

    When do people become too old to share their homes with a new dog? How do middle-aged dogs and older people find each other?

    During his annual vet visit in February 2020, Rocky was found to have a heart murmur. Covid locked down our city before we could take him to a doggie cardiologist. That visit never happened because Rocky continued his happy, boisterous life.

    Walk ahead to 2025 when Rocky hit his senior years. Since dogs pack a lot into lives of ten to fifteen years, their aging process is more compact. More dramatic. Medication helped with high blood pressure and easing anxiety due to dementia. A chiropractor supported with home exercises and massage kept his rear legs working. Playing smaller versions of fetch accommodated diminished vision. The adaptation grows.

    Over years, not months, so will ours. For Rocky we’re able to be solid caregivers.  I am not sure that I will be physically capable of supporting another dog through their final years. But how would we walk away from a beloved future family member because we’re all aging? 

    Cats and some rodent pets are not options because of allergies. We’ve done fish and snails when kids were young. None of them check any boxes of what I value in a companion creature. Spending the rest of our lives without a furry friend is hard to accept. Foster care is kind of like babysitting a neighbor’s child now and then. Can be physically demanding.  Entertaining. Heart-warming. Then the baby or child goes home and there’s no one to talk to at midnight when sleep is elusive.

     Maybe there are dog-share programs or lease a pet centers with humane housing for dogs in transition. 

    Maybe the quiet house will grow on us after Rocky’s life is over. 

  • Lazy, Crazy, Days of Summer

    So, this is summer. We all began daydreaming about this time of year during the February/March doldrums. Longer days, more time to bike, read in a comfy outdoor chair, walks with friends or family, cookouts, maybe swim, possibly attend a local festival or even a trip to the state fair or a getaway.  Don’t think about bugs, grass cutting, watering the gardens, traffic, crowds, bored kids, very hot days, house maintenance at your place or a relative’s, ants in the kitchen, work that doesn’t diminish or go away, higher food costs or utility bills. Just roll out the lazy days. Really?

    For each of us with plans for a long weekend, there is a scheduler or boss with post it notes from a few of our peers for the same time off and calendars needing additional worker hours. Caregivers are scrambling to fit in dentist appointments, physicals, and eye tests and all required before the last week of August. And don’t forget finding drivers’ ed if there is an appropriate age kid in the house.

    What is it about our easy-going collective summer fantasy? Planted in our rhythms by school calendars built around agricultural and/or weather limitations centuries ago. Perpetuated by advertisers and businesses. Lots of people work their longest hours in warm weather. For them summer means more bucks to stretch through slow times. Or those extra summer jobs pay for the extra summer expenses. 

    What we share in our summer dreams across many parts of the United States are the simple pleasures of walking outside without a coat or gloves, not slipping on ice, seeing neighbors or friends while casually walking, sitting on a public bench sipping a cup of coffee or slushy. There are flowers to admire, fresh vegetables and fruit available that taste better, sunlight more hours instead of porch and garage lights. After staying inside during sunlight-starved months of cold, this is worth the wait. Wasps, bees, flies, mosquitos and ticks: please give us a break.