zosianicola's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- too long post It�s been a while since a real post. I was too busy decompressing after the end of my first semester and then keeping my guests fed and my dog healthy. First Bill, Pop-in-law and one bro-in-law were here, then the two young men left and a different bro-in-law arrived. First bro-in-law is the most sensible and approachable of my in-laws. Pop-in-law is a sweetheart and was easier to keep care of this year than last. What does that mean? Ummm, he seemed better at keeping track of his blood sugar so I didn�t have to worry about when to get him sustenance. He is so quiet though that I wouldn�t necessarily be aware whether he�d had any crises while here. One morning he announced that he�d just had a record low blood sugar, and I handed him an emergency dark chocolate truffle. That was an overnight blood sugar episode, one I couldn�t affect very well, except by having many chocolates on hand for breakfast. We still have two pieces of fudge, so the chocolates held out. Pop-in-law likes good plain American food, so I cooked the things that my mom taught me, like pot roast and Swiss steak, roast chicken. I made white bread cuz that�s what he likes. Second bro-in-law is a little bit more high-maintenance. He is allergic to many things, and he is a California macrobiotic devotee/Buddhist/Yoga practitioner. He made an off-handed comment about the white bread so I felt compelled to make some seven-grain bread, not so easy here in CS because the heavy-duty mixer has been moved to SA. Usually he takes care of his inscrutable needs. here is what irks me; he is trying to overcome severe mercury poisoning which he incurred via his magnificent California eating habits. I mean really, his fantastic lifestyle causes him to have to fight his way out of the very worst nutritional disaster humankind ever deals with (besides starvation, that is) and we are supposed to respect his diet? He went to the University of Michigan, which should have required some science education, but I sure get the impression he knows approximately diddly about the natural world. Here�s an amusing anecdote: I showed him the little cartilaginous chip that came out of Mydog�s shoulder, and he turned green and swallowed a gaggy gulp. That little nickel-sized piece of white material floating in formaldehyde turned his macrobiotic stomach. LOL now, though not then. But I did have a serious genuine heartfull long talk with him about his whole family, his and my relationship, our relationships with everyone else in the family, our lives, etc, yesterday. He is full of warmth, and regardless of his Hollywood life he has remained loving and affectionate. Now for the important people in the house, the dogs. They are so beautiful and fun. I have had some sadness this holiday season, remembering Izzy and the roles she would play during this time of the year. She used to sit just on the outside of the Christmas present circle and wait until someone gave her a box or a ball of pretty paper. In her younger years she would use our distraction to swoop up socks and slippers to chew on. Once I got a photo of P-dog opening a gift and Izzy in the background laying claim to a shoe. I got especially sad remembering last year, when we took her for a walk in the woods and she sailed across a creek bed only to crash into the bank on the far side. She�d been crashing into stairs and car doors and such, but that crash into the creek bank shook us all up in a big way. She shuddered and shivered for 5-10 minutes, and Bill and I couldn�t proceed until she was recovered. Then I read a book called �Timbuktu�, a fantabulous little volume about a dog belonging to a homeless schizophrenic, having to find a new home after his homeless master dies on the street. �Timbuktu� is where he thinks the master has gone. It is a touching book and I recommend it to all dog-lovers. Though it did make me sadder about Izzy and all dogs who live homeless for a time. (And a little guilty for buying purebreds instead of rescuing shelter mutts.) Gerry Ford�s death exacerbated these feelings of grief. I actually felt guilty for having voted for Jimmy Carter! I might have been grieving for times gone by when republicans were not hateful. Bro-in-law was returning to his home in Grand Rapids, I was remembering doing my graduate work in the Biophysics Building which was next door to the Gerry Ford Library, it made me feel like I had some claim to Gerry Ford, how dumb. ---well, I should mention that my mother died on New Year�s Eve 9 years ago. The whole season will always be tainted with grief because of her sad last few weeks. I also miss my Mom-in-law. I was very lucky to have her in my life. But wait, back to the dogs! it was really difficult keeping the house from exploding. The dogs were itching to be rowdy but I had to prevent that because of Mydog�s surgery recovery. But the rain and the tornadoes made it impossible to let them out in the backyard. For a while the neighborhood was even messed up, with fences down; our usual routes for walking were too muddy or obstructed by debris. Then, with all the doggy pent-up restlessness, I had to prevent them from jumping on my guests, especially Pop-in-law. When the young men were here they would take Hisdog out for walks and that was a great favor to me. Today Mydog gets his staples taken out and I will be able to give them baths. Mostly they are charming and they are smart and fun, and very good at distracting me from grief about Izzy. It�s all part of that wonderful circle of life. Dottir has been all over northern Europe over the holidays. We spoke to her by phone when she was in England; since then she has been to Edinburgh and is now in Frankfurt. we spoke to her again yesterday. Good Girl, not letting the complexity of train/shuttle/air/train travel stump you! Enough enough already. I hope everybody has had a wonderful holiday. 8:16 a.m. - 2007-01-03 ---------------------------------------------------------
a substitute activity - 2007-07-17 |
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