A Merry 2009 Christmas

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 28th, 2009 in Days of Old | 2 comments

T’was had by our clan,  hope yours went as well!

While sitting around after our Christmas dinner,   someone suggested we all take turns speaking about one of our personal memorable Christmas’s.   The majority (as should be) spoke of happy Christmas memories.  A few remembered Christmas outdoor play,  that turned into a holiday injury, (nothing to serious).  I , of course, had many Christmas memories (at my age),  some joyous,  some not.   The one that stuck,  was a bit less that joyous,  still now at this later date,  it turns out not to be a bad memory.

Grifter was our Rottweiler.   He came home with us when our kids were teen-agers and he lived past the point where they had both moved out.   On that Christmas eve,   I took Grif out to do his business,  and shovel a light snow off the deck.   Grif,  about 8 and half years old  and still acting like a puppy,  lept off the deck romped in the snow,  the lept back over the stairs onto the deck.   When he landed,  he crumpled with a yeowl,  and laid there in pain.  I ran over and found that his lower front leg was the cause.   I got him up and helped him in the house,  but he couldn’t put weight on it.     We called our Vet,  who said to call an Animal Emergency room.   We called the Emergency room and were told that they were closed until the day after Christmas.   We called our Vet back,  and he told us to bring him in, first thing the next morning.   We could tell he was in great pain,  and tried to make him as comfortable as possible,  aspirin was the strongest pain killer we had in the house.   One of us laid on his blanket with him,  all night long.   When morning came,  I carried him down to the van,   all 140 lbs.   We took him to the Vet’s office,  where he finally got some pain relief and the Doc said, for us to go on home,  and he’d call us when he had made a full diagnosis.

Later that day,  the Vet called and told us that Grif’s foreleg was eaten up with bone cancer.   When he had lept up onto the deck,  the landing had stressed the bone and it had shattered.   There was no repairing it,  and he said that if we took the leg off,  Grif may have had a couple of more years.

We respected our Vet,  and listened when he spoke.  He said,  that in his opinion,  it wouldn’t be worth it, from Grifter’s point of view.  Taking the leg off,  would have been more for our benefit.   Grif had gone through an ACL ligment repair on one of his rear legs at 3 years,and we knew how rough the recovery was from that.  

It was a tough decision on the day after Christmas,   but,  my wife , myself,  and our Vet,  decided it would be best to allow him peace.  I cradled his head and watched the life fade from those dark expressive eyes.

From there,  we carried him home,  and sledded his body up the hill on the ridge in the pines beside the house.  A small fire was built to soften the frozen ground,  and I dug a grave beside that of Zipper,  the Pit-bull mix that our kids grew from toddlers to teens with. (also succumbed to cancer).

It was a not to cold,  but snowy day,  with snowflakes swirling down through the pines. A very pretty, Christmasy day.   After digging the grave and wrapping him in his favorite blanket,  I went back to the house to warm up with the last shot of Glenfiddich from a bottle I kept.   As the wife and I prepared to walk back out the lane on the ridge to complete the burial,  two cars pull up the long driveway.   My Son-in-law and my daughter,  followed by my Son and his wife.    This delayed the burial a brief turn of time,  while we all reminisced about, the big black dog,  then we headed down the lane between the stately red pines.   While we finished the burial process,  the girls scraped the coals a bit away from the grave and added a load of fuel.  There wasn’t a dry eye.   As I padded the mound tighter with a shovel,  my Son-in-Law, pulled out a fresh bottle of Glendiddich.

We stood there watching the big snowflakes flutter down through the pines,  to cover the fresh gravel of the burial mount,  and took big pulls off that bottle of Glenny.   The kids remembered Zipper nearly as much as Grifter,  but both had their stories told again.  When the fire had turned to embers, and the light was starting to fade,  the family made their way back to the house.   I stayed for a few moments,  and cleaned the rock pile over Zippers grave,  then drove the Glenny bottle neck down into the dirt,  to serve as a headstone.   Over the next few days,  a chew bone,  a neck scarf,  a ball, and an old hunting knife(?) found their way out to sit around the base of the bottle.  

A few years passed,  before we sold the house in the woods,  and moved up north to become water people.  One of the last things I did before leaving the house was to walk down the lane and say goodbye to two legendary dogs.  Then scatter the rock piles,  and bury the head stones where they stood.  Finally scattering pine needles over the graves to concealed them from the curious.

We’ve moved on and away from that hideout deep in the woods, likely never to return and walk that ground again.   Now that I’ve wiped my eye’s and am studying a wee dram of Glenny Reserve,  I can remember those days with a sad smile,  and I often feel saddess for a human who’s never experienced the phenomenom of a good dog.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,  to one and all.  Cherish the living,  and repect and remember those that have passed.

Overnighter, followup

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 23rd, 2009 in News and weather | 4 comments

Back from our trip to Leelanau country.  Christmas wishes were exchanged and we bought a little bit of wine,  including something new from SilverLeaf,  “Purple Foot”,   Mark say’s it’s from a small run of Malbec.  I’ve yet to make a determination on it’s quality,  but it’s a “big” red.  They had had a recent snow,  and the drive was beautiful,  if at times a little exciting.

After out vineyard visits,  we made a stop in downtown Traverse City.   Notibly, we checked out Fusinis’s Oils and Vinegars .  An interesting shop,   look at the previous link I’ve provided and you’ll note that it’s a long narrow shop with containers of olive oils and vinegars on either outer wall.   Also provided are very small plastic tasting cups (like those used for pills in a hospital).  You are encouraged to wander up and down the rows,  tasting those oils and vinegars that interest you.   They have some very interesting flavor combinations.  If  you like E.V.O.O. (extra virgin olive oils) and Balsamic vinegars,  you’ll be sure to find something you like there. (we did)

Overnighter to give Christmas wishes

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 21st, 2009 in Local | Comments Off

Heading out tomorrow morning for Leelanau pennisula. (a three hour drive)   I have a couple of stops to make,  Boskydel and SilverLeaf vineyards.   Expedia found us a nice room for the night, for an excellent price,  and we have plans for a nice dinner at a certain Bistro.   Should be home by Wed. afternoon,  and ready to head downstate for Christmas.    

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Point Lookout mini report (cold snap)

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 17th, 2009 in Local | Comments Off

We’ve had a pretty serious cold snap here on the outer edge of inner Saginaw Bay.   On a short trip up US-23 today,  I saw that all of the Bay,  at least as far as I could see,  is frozen over.  I could see open water far out to the northeast in Lake Huron,  but Charity Island is surrounded by ice.   To me that seems like quick ice this year.  We’ve only had a few weeks of real freezing weather,  and then mostly only at night.  I suppose this little cold snap,  lows like, 19 degrees, 12 degrees, 12.5 degrees, 16 degrees, and bottomed out last night at 9 degrees,  are the culprit.  With a high today of 28,  it’s not going anywhere fast either.

In other local news,  have you heard that, first off,  a couple of weeks ago,  the DNR finally got the proof they needed to announce that there are Cougars in Michigan.  (more)

  Then, 7 day’s later,  this little kitty was taken while stalking this deer hunter,  5 miles west of Rogers City Michigan.   That’s two sighting in one week (and not in the same area).    Luckily this man was well armed and alert!  Kinda ups the stakes a bit doesn’t it?  

Disclaimer:  Of course, there are claims that this is a false picture,  could be,  but,  it doesn’t change the fact that the DNR has now agreed that Cougar are in Michigan!

Carbon DiOxide (a joke?)

Posted by Greybeard on Dec 14th, 2009 in News and weather, Political | Comments Off

Last Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a danger to public health and welfare. The announcement gives the EPA the authority to mandate policy that would regulate carbon emissions, regardless of whether or not Congress passes the long awaited cap-and-trade bill.

This is one of the crazier examples of government hyper-management and control.   So now, the very air we breath out is classified as a “danger to public health and welfare“.   Not to mention,  the output of basically all living things!   Hmmm,  seems there was a Hollywood movie with a solution for that problem,  DESTROY ALL LIVING THINGS ON EARTH.     But wait,  no that wouldn’t work either,  even dead swamps and dead bodies emit carbon dioxide!   Oh well,  on a brighter note,  I suppose this negates the need for a gun to protect ones self.   If attacked all I would have to do is threaten to breath out, on the attacker.