It's official--summer is here! We had our first thunderstorm a few nights ago, and that is the signal that the heat is upon us and that summer has arrived. From now on, we will be getting them very regularly. At least two or three a week. Boy, do I miss the snow. I hate hot weather and humidity combined. Walk outdoors and sweat. No mercy. Remember the movie "Body Heat" with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt or "A Time to Kill" with Matthew McConaughey and Samuel L. Jackson? Remember the characters always looked like they had just taken a shower with their clothes on? Right. Oppressive heat is depressing.
Berra, one of our Golden Retrievers, is thunder-phobic. Well, he's actually loud noise-phobic. Fireworks will freak him out, too. We have tried a lot of natural things to keep him from being so anxious. At one time, we thought about giving him anti-anxiety meds, but the storms come up so fast, there isn't time for the meds to take effect. Poor thing. He tries to get inside of my skin. And at a mere 120 pounds, he's a bit too big to manage easily. He's taller than me when he puts his paws on my shoulders. He doesn't do that often, but when there is a storm, he is all over me. Normally, he's a perfect gentleman. He and Yogi were brothers. We saw all the puppies being birthed and picked out the two of them several days later. Well, my hubby got to pick out Yogi. Berra picked me. He was being held by someone as I walked past to go look at the pups. He howled or something when I passed him by, so I think he was trying to get my attention. When I backed up and started talking to him, he talked right back. He still does. He makes all kinds of sounds, and I swear that he understands English. He always obeys me, no matter what I say! He even understands body language. All I have to do is raise my eyebrow and he's doing whatever it is that he wasn't doing the first time I said it. Sadly, we lost Yogi last year to bone cancer. Goldens are prone to all kinds of cancers, and I think we've had about half of them show up in our dogs. So far, Guidry is not showing any signs of illness, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that she stays healthy. With our pets, we've dealt with heart failure, an intestinal blockage that required several feet of intestines being removed, a brain tumor (preceded by an eye being pushed out and having to be removed), spleen cancer, and the gum, eye and skin cancers that Maris has had, along with Berra's epilepsy. I think God just keeps sending these special babies to us to care for and love. I'll never forget the day we went to pick up Toby, who had the intestinal surgery. He had been at the vet in recovery for a week. We visited him every day. When we went in to pick him up, the receptionist/admin person said to me, "Oh, I am so very sorry." I almost fell down, thinking that he had died. It was touch and go for a few days. However, she was talking about the bill! She told me it was the biggest bill they had ever had. A week at the vet, meds, and surgery that required four doctors. After she handed me the invoice, that's when I fell down. There are a lot of people who wouldn't want to spend big bucks on their pets, but we wouldn't do it any other way. They are our children, our family. Can't just chuck 'em when they get sick. But many people do that as well as lots of other things that are even worse. Thank goodness for animal rescue clubs. We have loved all the puppies we got, but our last two are rescues and all the more special.
Well, I don't usually listen to the radio, but when the thunder started, I cranked up the volume on a top twenty station and let it drown out most of the noise. I heard Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Timbaland, OneRepublic and a lot of rappers. I say all that because now all I can hear are those songs. So with that, let me say:
Hey Soul Sister, Imma Be going for Carry Out, so don't Telephone me. In My Head, All The Right Moves will get me to Sexy Chick fastfood. I just hope I can Breakeven and it won't be a Replay of last week's financial fisaco. Well, Tik Tok, Whatchu Say, Meet Me Half Way and we'll Breakaway. Blah Blah Blah...
(The first image is a detail of a work entitled "See It Coming" by ZoeDockery at Etsy. The second image is of the entire hand painted quilted silk wall hanging. Beauty.)
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