Friday, November 23, 2012 

The Day After Thanksgiving 

One of my Facebook friends posted the following on her FB page this morning:  

“When your friends become family and your family are your friends, that's when you know you're truly lucky in this life.” 

However, I would change the wording to: 

When your friends become family and your family are your friends, that's when you know you're truly blessed in this life. 

I can say I am definitely one of those people who are blessed. The oldest of four girls, me and my 3 younger sisters (Betty, Jackie and Susan) are very close. We are doubly blessed that our parents are still alive (dad is 82 and mom is 80 and married 58 years). These very special people are not only my family, but also my closest friends. We have so much fun together, from celebrating the holidays with each other to traveling around the word together. 

However, the dearest people to me are my husband, Dennis, and three children, Kathleen (33), Christy (almost 28) and Kevin (24). My kids and I have the best relationships. I love nothing more than spending time with them – either collectively or individually. They share their lives with me – from Kathleen telling me all about her current guy to Kevin seeking girlfriend advice from me to helping Christy plan her wedding to her wonderful fiancé, Brian. Just thinking about them warms my heart! 

And then there are my friends, especially the “fifth” and “sixth” sisters – Debbie and Kelly. They started out being the friends of my sisters Susan and Betty, respectively. However, over the decades (yes, decades) they have become part of the family. They join my family for holidays and special occasions. We even travel together. (In fact, we are currently planning our next trip together – to the Amazon in 2014!) 

Luck? Mmmm… I don’t think so. God has put these people specifically in my life to bless me and bring me joy and love. I am so thankful.

 

 Me with my sisters: Susan, Betty & Jackie

 

 Me and my sisters with our mom

 

 Me with my dad, mom and sisters

 

 

My husband, Dennis, and me in Ireland

 

 
 My 3 children - Christy, Kevin and Kathleen

Debbie and me

 

 

Kelly and me

 

 

Debbie, Susan, Kelly, Rick (bro-in-law), Betty and me

Sunday, November 18, 2012 

“The Golden Rule” – Matthew 7:12: The Life and Words of Jesus 

This morning pastor Josh Harris’ message was on Matthew 7:12: So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 

Introduction

The name “The Golden Rule” (Matthew 7:12) originated about 200 years after Jesus’ ministry with the Roman Emperor, Alexander Severus. He wasn’t a Christian, but he was so impressed with Jesus’ words that he had them inscribed in gold on the walls in his home. 

It’s a lot easier to put these words on your wall than it is to live according to them. It’s much less costly to write them in gold on your walls than to write them on your heart. So what does Jesus want to teach us? What does in mean for this to be the rule of our lives? The Golden Rule is… 

…A Simple Rule of Love

What is so striking about the Golden Rule is its powerful simplicity: it is not complex, but it is profound. Even kids can understand it: if you really want to care for someone, if you really want to do right by them, then treat them the way you would want to be treated. 

When Jesus says, “for this is the Law and the Prophets” he’s saying that this sums up the teaching of the Old Testament about how we should treat one another. (Matthew 7:12 is a literary “bookend” for the entire section of the Sermon on the Mount beginning in Matthew 5:17.) Jesus distills laws about not lying, not committing adultery, not cheating, not coveting, and so forth, into a single sentence. He’s showing us the essence, the heart of all the commandments and teaching about how we relate to our fellow man. He’s showing us what love for others looks like in action. 

This commandment is taught elsewhere by Jesus and in other places in the New Testament. For example: 

1) A lawyer asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he [Jesus] said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:36-39). The second great commandment is the same principle as the Golden Rule. 

2) The Apostle Paul echoes Jesus words in Romans 12:8-10: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. 

Doing unto others as you would have them do to you is the fulfilling of the law. The Golden Rule is a simple rule of love.

·    Do you wish others would be honest with you? Then be honest with them.

·    Do you wish others would believe the best about you? Then stop judging them and believe the best.

·    Do you wish others would be patient with and overlook your weaknesses? Then extend mercy and grace toward them. 

…An “impossible left to myself” rule

If we’re honest, we see that this isn’t our natural disposition. This isn’t how we live left to ourselves and our desires and strengths. There’s something about the clarity and simplicity of the Golden Rule that reveals how self-centered and unloving we often can be. We want people in authority over us to be just and fair. Yet, when we have power over someone else, we can use it for our own advantage. We want others to give us the benefit of the doubt, but so often we are quick to judge other peoples’ motives. We want others to forgive us when we ask forgiveness and stop focusing on our mistakes, but when other people cross us we hold it against them. 

None of us can say that we have perfectly upheld this rule of doing unto others as we would have them do to us. Jesus wants us to come to this humbling realization. Jesus is not giving us the Golden Rule so that we might attempt to earn our salvation by our good works. He gives us the Golden Rule to expose the folly of trying to be justified by the law. Jesus loves us so much he wants to rescue us from the lie that we can save ourselves by being good enough. Jesus loves us so much he’s knocking the legs out from under our dead, man-centered, performance based religion. 

Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has shown us that we need more than just rules to make it to heaven. We need salvation. We need inner transformation. God’s standard is so far beyond us we could never win his love by meeting it. 

…A “possible in Christ” rule

Every major religion has some version of the Golden Rule in its teaching. It is a universally acknowledged principle of how to treat others that is not unique to Christianity. But what is unique Christianity is God becoming a man and through his death and resurrection giving people like us the power and grace to live a new life. 

It is only half the story to realize that we can’t earn our way to God by keeping the Golden Rule. But God has come down to us. Jesus humbled himself, took on our humanity and lived a perfectly righteous life before God in our place. And because he died as our substitute to make us right with God and rose from the dead conquering death forever, we are not the same. We have been born again. The power and grace of God is at work in us. We can obey. We can love. What we cannot do in ourselves is possible in Christ. 

Conclusion

It’s so important that we read the Sermon on the Mount and this verse in particular through the lens of the power of grace. We can never be justified by obedience to the law. We are only justified through faith in Jesus. (Gal. 2:16). But through faith in Jesus, what we read in the Sermon on the Mount is the new life we’ve been freed to live. We don’t strive to obey the Golden Rule out of fear that if we fail God won’t love us. We strive to obey it in the confidence of his love and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. We can love like this. We can love others as we love ourselves, because God has loved us. Jesus has come to rescue us.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

Slippers

Monday, August 15, was a very sad day for me. My sweet kitty, Slippers, passed away.

Slippers came into my life as a kitten 20 years ago. It was a nice fall day in 1991, and I was sitting in my living room. I heard the soft mewing of a cat, but every time I looked outside, I didn’t see anything. However, the mewing continued and I finally traced it to a branch high up in one of my trees. About 20 feet up was a small black and rust colored kitten looking down at me. I called to her, but she wouldn’t budge. I was finally able to coax her down by putting little piles of cat food (I already owned another cat, Molly) on a long board and then raising the board up to the branch, creating a ramp for her to walk down. It took awhile, but she finally made it down the ramp and into my arms.

She was a beautiful tortoise shell, and her nose was half black and half rust. She had a white neck and four little white feet, which is how she got her name, Slippers. I estimated that she was about 5 or 6 months old. I decided to keep her, much to the delight of my 3 children.

Slippers became an indoor/outdoor cat (this was before it became widely-accepted that all kitties should be indoor cats). I would let her outside during the day and she would come back home every night. One day in the spring of 1992, she disappeared. I looked for her for a few days, but couldn’t find her.

A couple months later, my daughter was on her school bus when she heard one of her busmates describing the cat they had just recently found. It sounded just like my Slippers, so I went to the little girl’s house to check. Sure enough, it was Slippers. And, she was pregnant. I told the family she was with that if they wanted her, they could keep her. However, they insisted that I take her back. So I did.

In June 1992, Slippers gave birth to 6 adorable kittens: 5 gray tabbies and 1 one taffy-colored. Slippers was the best mother ever. She never left those kittens and nursed them all the time. In fact, she was so diligent about nursing that she became emaciated. Eventually, the kittens were old enough to go to new homes, but I kept the runt of the litter: a tiny gray tabby named “Baby.”

Over the years, Slippers and Baby grew up together. Baby was strictly an indoor cat (having never been outside), but Slippers loved the outdoor life. When she was about 8 years old, Slippers accidentally ingested some pool chlorine and ended up with a terrible chemical burn in her mouth, on her tongue and down her throat. She was a very sick kitty, and we weren’t sure she would make it. After a long time in the animal hospital, she was finally able to come home; but she had to return daily for tube feeding and IV fluids. After a couple months she healed, but all of the little papillae (spikey-like bristles) on Slippers’ tongue had been burned off.

After the episode with the pool chemical, Slippers became an indoor cat. She no longer seemed to want to go outside, so it was an easy adjustment.

The years passed, and Slippers and Baby aged. In 2008, Baby became very ill: she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer and had to be euthanized. Slippers was so distraught over the disappearance of Baby that every night for 6 months she would walks around the house yowling. It just about drove me and my husband crazy! (Our cat, Molly, had passed away some years earlier at the age of 18.)

After Baby was gone, Slippers became extremely attached to me. She would sleep with me, snuggling under the covers with her head resting on my arm and do “happy paws" against my chest. In the morning when I got out of the shower, she would be sitting on my bed by my pillow waiting for me. Every night, she would sit on my lap and wait patiently for me to give her a few cat treats.

A few months ago, Slippers developed a cough. (By the way, a kitty cough sounds nothing like a human cough.) I took her to my veterinarian, but, of course, she didn’t cough for the vet. Over the course of time, the cough worsened until it gone so bad that she would have these coughing fits and her body would actually shudder. Another trip to the vet determined that she had some 20-year old kitty teeth that were infected, and that was causing her cough. The vet said that she needed to have the teeth removed, but it would be a very risky surgery for such an old cat. (Twenty cat years is like 94 human years.) However, without the surgery, she would get worse and eventually die. The vet assured me that she would take every precaution during the surgery to keep Slippers healthy. I was very nervous about it, but after praying felt that Slippers needed the surgery.

So, Slippers had her surgery on Thursday, August 4. She made it through brilliantly with no complications. I brought her home the day after her surgery, and after a couple days she was back to her old self – minus the cough. I was so relieved. They vet told me as long as she developed no further complications, she could live another 2 or 3 years. (All of her organs were healthy.)

However, one week after her surgery, Slippers started sneezing. Not just one or two sneezes, but 10 sneezes every 5 minutes. I thought maybe she had developed a little cold, so I decided to take her to the vet the next morning. However, the next morning she was having a very difficult time breathing. I could tell she was extremely uncomfortable because she wouldn’t sit down and she was purring extremely loudly. But this wasn’t a happy purr, it was a dreadful sounding purr.

The vet’s office wasn’t open yet, so I left them a message saying I would be waiting at their front door when it opened, and I was. They took her right away. She was in a lot of distress, and now a discharge was coming out of her nose. She was still doing the really loud purring; the vet told me she wasn’t actually purring, but that she was trying to get some air. The vet took Slippers for an x-ray, and the diagnosis was pneumonia. The vet said it was very serious, and because of Slippers’ advanced age, there was only a 50-50 chance she would make it. They decided they would keep her, give her IV antibiotics and fluids, and oxygen if necessary. They were going to do everything possible to get her well. That was last Friday, August 12.

I visited Slippers on Saturday, and she was much sicker than the day before. She could barely breathe and the discharge from her nose was very thick. When she saw me, her breathing became even more labored because of the excitement of me being there. I was heartbroken. I couldn’t see how she was going to get better, especially since she was such an old kitty. But the doctor said there was still a chance! I didn’t stay long because I could see that she was totally stressed by my being there. Both the vet and I agreed that it would be better for Slippers if I didn’t visit anymore until she got well.

So, I didn’t visit on Sunday. The vet called me Sunday afternoon and told me that Slippers had improved slightly. I was encouraged. Monday morning, the vet called me and told me that Slippers had passed away “peacefully” early that morning. I was devastated. All I could think about was that she was alone when she died. I wish I had been there to comfort her.

I told the vet to have Slippers cremated and return her ashes to me. (I have Baby’s ashes, too.) A few days later, one of the other vets in the practice called me to find out how I was doing. I asked her how they could know that Slippers died peacefully. The vet told me that when they found Slippers, she was curled up like she was sleeping. If she had been in distress, she would not have been in this position.

So, that is the story of Slippers. Even as I write this, I am crying. I miss her so much. I still have not put her things away… her bowl and water dish and litter box and cat treats. Her bed is at the vets, and I will pick it up when I get her ashes. I found one of her whiskers, which I will treasure.

Good-bye, Slippers…

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Resurrection

Yes, I know. It's been quite a while since I last posted anything on this site. Let's just say I got sidetracked with other things (i.e., life) and the blog went by the wayside. But now I am ready to start blogging again, so, with any luck (which, by the way, I don't believe in), I will resurrect my blog.

Dog Banquet

My daughter, Kathleen, called me in stitches last night to tell me that her cat had stolen her just-cooked piece of chicken from the kitchen counter. By the time Kathleen discovered it was missing, there was only a small piece of it left, said piece clutched possessively between the jaws of Kathleen's tiny Chihauhua. Not sure how much the cat actually got to eat, but the dog had a feast.

This reminds me of something that happened in my own home a few years back. My husband Dennis had just had surgery (can't remember if it was for his ankle or hip) and was laid up in bed. My neighbor, Lyn, who is an excellent chef (he makes the best prison Mexican nachos ever!), had just cooked up a pot roast, complete with carrots and potatoes, and brought it to my house for Dennis and I to eat over the next couple days. It smelled delicious, and I couldn't wait to dig in. However, being a gracious hostess, I took Lyn upstairs for a short visit with Dennis. About 15 minutes later, it suddenly dawned on me that I had left the pot roast unattended on my kitchen counter. I quickly excused myself and ran downstairs. At the bottom of the stps sat my dog, a Keeshond named Dusty. I knew right then and there that there would be no pot roast tonight!

Once in the kitchen, I looked in the glass dish where there used to be a hot, wonderful pot roast, and saw only three lone carrots. There was not even a hint that a post roast ever existed . . .

. . . except for Dusty, sitting there looking content and licking his chops.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing

Today at church, Josh Harris continued Part 3 of the series, “Desperate,” preaching from John 15:1-11 and focusing on how only when we abide in Christ, the true vine, can we have a fruitful spiritual life.

Introduction
The good kind of desperate is when you know you need help, and you confidently know that there is someone who has both the power and loving desire to help you. In John 15, Jesus teaches his disciples this good kind of desperation. It tells us that we can do nothing, but it promises that in Jesus we can know spiritual life and fruitfulness.

Spiritual Life Begins Only in Jesus
Jesus uses the imagery of a vine to describe spiritual life. Jesus is drawing from an Old Testament imagery, which frequently described the people of Israel as a vine. God’s specially chosen people were like a vine that God had planted. Their obedience to him and worship of him were the means by which God’s spiritual life and truth was made known in the world. The only way to know and relate to the living God was by joining oneself to the people of Israel. Sadly, God’s people repeatedly failed in this role. They forgot God, pursued idolatry, and were faithless. They were an unfruitful vine. (See Isaiah 5:1-7, Jeremiah 2:21, Psalm 80).

When Jesus says, “I am the true vine,” he’s making a profound claim. He is stating that where the people of Israel failed to rightly obey and represent God, he, Jesus, perfectly obeys and perfectly reveals the character and purpose of God. Now, the only way to be joined to the spiritual life of the one true God—the only way to know God and relate to him—is through Jesus.

In verse 3 Jesus speaks to his disciples and says, “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” In the original language there is a play on words. The word “clean” sounds the same as the word for “pruned.” Jesus is saying to his disciples, you’re already pruned and in the vine, you already have new life because of the words about me that I’ve spoken to you. (See John 3:16; John 5:23-24; John 11:25-26)

Spiritual Fruit Continues Only in Jesus
This passage is very concerned with bearing fruit.

• Verse 2: “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
• Verse 4: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
• Verse 5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
• Verse 8: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

Bearing fruit is an essential part of genuine spiritual life. Living things reproduce. If you are united with Jesus and have his life in you then there will be tangible results of this life growing out of your life. You will bear fruit.

What does verse 6 mean when Jesus says branches that don’t bear fruit get tossed away? It doesn’t mean that genuine Christians can lose their salvation. What it does mean is that people who falsely claim to be Christians and demonstrate no evidence of new life in Jesus will eventually be revealed as dead branches. Jesus’ teaching here is meant to sober us. It calls us to evaluate our lives. Saving faith is not merely a matter of having prayed a prayer years ago. It’s not about church attendance. It’s not just about getting baptized and getting your ticket to heaven. If we are united with Jesus, then there will be fruit in our present day life.

What is the spiritual fruit that Jesus is talking about? Verse 7 tells us that spiritual fruitfulness is closely tied to prayer. When we begin asking for and desiring the priorities of God, God powerfully grants our requests, and spiritual fruit and life spills out of our life. Verse 8 tells us that spiritual fruitfulness is defined by being like our Master. When we live and act like Jesus—when we love, sacrifice and serve like Jesus—this brings praise to God. Verse 16 ties fruit to the mission of telling others about Jesus.

How do we bear fruit? Jesus says “abide in me.” To abide means to live in, to dwell with Jesus. The NIV translates it “remain in me.” Spiritual life and fruit only comes by staying close to and not moving on from Jesus. Just as a branch can only live while it’s attached to the vine, so we only live and produce fruit through ongoing dependence on Jesus. When we think about what it means to abide in Jesus, our temptation is to ask for checklist. But abiding is not a “to-do” list, a program, a methodology or a technique. Abiding is a relationship. Abiding is what desperate people do who realize that they have no life, no power, no inward resources of themselves. The secret to abiding is simply being desperate for Jesus and believing that apart from Jesus you can do nothing.

Too often, we don’t really believe that we can do nothing apart from Jesus. We think we have enough principles and practical tips to parent our kids. We think we have enough experience and advice to enjoy a good marriage. We think we’ve been in enough small groups to know how to help others grow. We think we’ve learned enough evangelism techniques to make converts. We think we’ve done church long enough to safely say we can build a strong congregation. Activity and programs and techniques cannot replace real fruit. We can accomplish nothing of lasting spiritual value apart from Christ. Apart from dependence on him, apart from daily reliance on his gospel and his resurrection power working in us, our activity is nothing more than dead religion. Real spiritual fruit only grows when we abide in Christ.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

“Ask, Seek, Knock”

At church today, senior pastor Joshua Harris preached on Luke 11:1-13. Part 2 of my church’s new series, “Desperate,” Josh answered what is would mean for us to live desperate and what it would look like for us to live aware of our dependence on God.

Here is a summary of the message by Josh, titled “Ask, Seek, Knock.”

The Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our lives is the best of God’s good gifts. (verses 11-13)

Jesus compares earthly fathers to our Heavenly Father and makes an argument from the lesser to the greater. If an imperfect, evil earthly father is able to give good gifts, how much more will a perfect, righteous and faithful Heavenly Father give good gifts to his children? Jesus is encouraging our confidence and faith to bring our requests to God. And he does this by reminding us of God’s character. When we ask for something we need, he won’t give us something evil. In particular, the Father will give himself in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is saying, “Think about the best thing you could ask and seek for—it’s nothing compared to the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart.”

• The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ.
• The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual life.
• The Holy Spirit enables us to believe and trust in Jesus.
• The Holy Spirit works to conform us to be like Jesus.
• The Holy Spirit sustains us and enables us to persevere.
• The Holy Spirit gives us power to overcome spiritual forces of evil with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• The Holy Spirit gives us boldness to proclaim the gospel to the lost.

Is there any “good gift” from God that we want more than the Holy Spirit? Is there anything else on the top of our prayer list? More than we need money, we need God’s Spirit to give us contentment and faith for what we have. More than we need a change of circumstances, we need God’s Spirit to enable us to persevere. More than we need another person to change, we need God’s Spirit to give us supernatural love and patience. More than we need a title or a position, we need God’s Spirit to be assured that we are children of God.

Desperate people ask, seek and knock in their pursuit of more of the Spirit. (verses 5-10)

Jesus tells a story of a neighbor persistently asking for bread late at night to feed a guest. Again and again, this neighbor asks until his request is granted. What is Jesus’ point? He tells this story to teach us that we should bring our requests to God with the same boldness, born of urgency. In the same way that the man was desperate to borrow bread for his guests, we should be people who are desperate for the Holy Spirit.

In verses 9-10, Jesus exhorts us to ask and keep asking, knock and keep knocking, seek and keep seeking. This isn’t describing a technique that we employ to manipulate God. This is a description of a person who realizes his or her need. The boldness in prayer Jesus is calling us to is born of desperation. When we abandon self-reliance, when we see how much we need the Holy Spirit, we ask and seek and knock because we have no other option!

Are we desperate in our pursuit of God’s Spirit? Do we realize how much we need the empowering work of the Spirit in our life—to be a father, a mother, a disciple, a witness? Do we think we can live the Christian life on our own? Can we come to church and get insight and apply truth on our own? Can we grow and change and fight sin and lead our family and parent our kids by ourselves? We need the empowering of the Holy Spirit every moment of our Christian lives.

God gives us his Holy Spirit to enable us to accomplish his purposes. (verses 1-4)

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to align ourselves with God’s purposes. These are the categories that Jesus says we should be concerned about:

• The glory and exaltation of God—that his name would be honored and respected and worshipped (verse 2a).
  
• That the reign and rule of Jesus would spread—that his kingdom would be established in the hearts of more and more people (verse 2b).
  
• That we would depend on him for our basic needs and trust him (verse 3).
  
• That we would know his forgiveness and extend this forgiveness to others (verse 4a).
  
• That we would turn from temptation and honor him. (verse 4b)

We should never separate being filled with the Spirit from the priorities outlined in the Lord’s Prayer. And we should never attempt to fulfill the priorities outlined in the Lord’s Prayer apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.

Monday, October 25, 2010

October

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

I took these photographs over the past two days. They were all taken either on my property or down the street from my property.

The stillness of October gold

Went out like beauty from a face.

E. A. Robinson

"Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn." ~ Elizabeth Lawrence

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"Beauty is one of the rare things that do not lead to doubt of God." ~ Jean Anouilh

How innocent were these trees, that in

Mist-green May, blown by a prospering breeze,

Stood garlanded and gay;

Who now in sundown glow

Of serious color clad confront me with their show

As though resigned and sad,

Trees, who unwhispering stand umber, bronze, gold;

Pavilioning the land for one grown tired and old;

Elm, chestnut, aspen and pine, I am merged in you,

Who tell once more in tones of time,

Your foliaged farewell.

Siegfried Sassoon, October Trees

All still when summer is over

stand shocks in the field,

nothing left to whisper,

not even good-bye, to the wind.

After summer was over

we knew winter would come:

we knew silence would wait,

tall, patient calm.

William Stafford, Tragic Song

October is nature's funeral month. Nature glories in death more than in life. The month of departure is more beautiful than the month of coming - October than May. Every green thing loves to die in bright colors. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Colors burst in wild explosions

Fiery, flaming shades of fall

All in accord with my pounding heart

Behold the autumn-weaver

In bronze and yellow dying

Colors unfold into dreams

In hordes of a thousand and one

The bleeding

Unwearing their masks to the last notes of summer

Their flutes and horns in nightly swarming

Colors burst within

Spare me those unending fires

Bestowed upon the flaming shades of fall.

Dark Tranquility, With the Flaming Shades of Fall

Just before the death of flowers,

And before they are buried in snow,

There comes a festival season

When nature is all aglow.

Author Unknown

The milkweed pods are breaking,

And the bits of silken down

Float off upon the autumn breeze

Across the meadows brown.

Cecil Cavendish, The Milkweed

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"Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter." ~ Carol Bishop Hipps

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Pet Sitting

I’ve been pet sitting for the last two weeks for my neighbors and good friends, Tom and Terry, while they are vacationing in Puerto Rico. I have been watching their 3 cats: Peanut, Butter and Tank, and their elderly dog, Solomon. I’ve also been caring for two Pomeranians in my home for the past week that belong to my daughter, Christy, and her boyfriend, Brian, while they are on vacation in Disney World. This evening all owners return and my pet sitting stint is over… for now.

The most difficult part of pet sitting was taking care of Solomon. I’m not quite sure how old he is, but he’s somewhere between 13 and 16, which is pretty old for a chocolate Lab, which is what I think Solomon is. Figuring that the age of a dog Solomon’s size translates into 10.5 dog years per human year for the first 2 years and after that about 4 dog years per human year, Solomon is somewhere between 65 and 77 in human years. He is a super sweet dog, but his back legs are very weak and he has an extremely difficult time walking, not to mention getting up from a lying down position. He also has trouble controlling his bowels, so my neighbors banished him to the garage over the summer, where he seems perfectly happy to be with his big, soft beds to lie on. The only time he is allowed in the house is to eat.

Tom’s grown daughter, Hailey, and I are jointly taking care of Solomon. I am in charge of his evening feeding, so at 7 p.m., I go next door to give him his food. When I open the garage door, I first try to get him up so that he can walk out into the yard to do his business. However, he either doesn’t have the strength or else he is being extremely obstinate (not being a doggy psychologist, I don’t know which it is), but he will not – I repeat, WILL NOT – get up for me. I have even tried picking him up – and he is VERY heavy – to lift him onto his feet, but he just collapses back down. At this point, this dog – with what must be the biggest bladder ever – almost always pees all over himself and his bed. So, I prepare his food and bring his bowl to him in the garage. After he gobbles it down (he definitely likes his kibble!), I give him his joint chew and a pain pill (if it’s Monday, Wednesday or Friday). I feel so bad for Solomon as he must be extremely uncomfortable being wet, sticky and stinky covered in his own urine, unable to get up. (I know, however, that he is moving around, because the water level in his large water bowl is lower every time I go to see him and he is never in the same spot (he has two beds on which to lie). One day last week, I attempted to give him a bath, but he would not get up so I had to drag him out of the garage and all I could do was spray him with the hose. Hailey has also given him two baths, but she has the same problems with him as I do. I am so glad that Terry and Tom are coming home tonight because Solomon listens to Tom and I am hoping Solomon will get back to “normal” once they return.

Solomon

Solomon

Peanut and Butter are no problem at all. I feed both of them also at 7. I don’t really have any contact with Tank. He is a Persian Longhair cat and is kept in Tom and Terry’s mudroom most of the time, mainly because he and the other cats don’t get along too well. Normally, Tank is absolutely psycho! One other time when my husband, Dennis, was watching the neighbor’s pets, he couldn’t get Tank in his room, so he called me over to help. We finally got Tank in the mudroom, but he then started to run up the wall and flip himself in the air. He did this over and over again. He seems to only go to Tom, Terry or Hailey, and would act crazy around everyone else. However, suddenly Tank seems to really like me and will come to me and sit on my lap and purr. Very strange… In any case, Tank is a beautiful cat, but like most Persians, his super long fur gets matted very easily. So, before my neighbors left for their vacation they got Tank shaved, except for his head, his legs and the end of his tail. When I first saw him, I burst out laughing, he looked so ridiculously funny!

This is either Peanut or Butter, not sure which one!

Again, not sure if this is Peanut or Butter.

Peanut and Butter look so much alike, I can't tell which is which!

Pretty green eyes!

Tank's beautiful face.

Tank with his new hair cut. If he only knew how funny he looks!

No comment needed!

Sebastian Cabot face!

Watching Zoey and Onyx has been a lot of fun! They are super cute Poms with tons of personality. Onyx, who is almost 2, is a male; Zoey is a female and just turned a year last month. Onyx is super hyper and always on the go. He will not sit still for a minute, until he “crashes,” then he will rest. Zoey, on the other hand, is very laid back and follows me everywhere. She loves to sit on my lap or snuggle under my bed covers. When I take them for walks, they love to chase acorns, which are falling like crazy from the trees, and carry them around in their mouths. Too cute… What has not been so cute is when they get hold of something they shouldn’t. Yesterday, they both ate a pencil and today Zoey chewed up an old Bluetooth phone accessory. Zoey also found a bra of mine that I am throwing away and was carrying it around. I took it away from her, but 15 minutes later she had it again!

Zoey and Onyx

Taking a walk.

Struttin' their stuff! They love their walks.

It was hard getting a photo of Onyx. He never stays still long enough to get a good shot!

Onyx

Onyx

Sweet, sweet Zoey.

Zoey took a break from chewing her bone to get her picture taken.

Update: I am sad to report that Solomon was euthanized in early December 2010. He had been eating very little since the Thanksgiving holiday. He also was having an extremely difficult time getting up and walking, and most of the time he was unable to move. When my friends took Solomon to the vet to have him checked, the vet was shocked to see how quickly he had deteriorated. The vet told Tom and Terry that Solomon was suffering and it was time. I hope dogs go to Heaven and that Solomon is there now running through the clouds and chewing on a big juicy bone...