Showing posts with label Highness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Highness. Show all posts

Friday, January 30, 2015

Say “Hi” to Mom and Dad for me





Shilo is a sweet dog
I refer to him as “Highness”
In my posts
He was old when we got him
Loved to dig in the back yard
And escape.
I thought it odd that
The animal shelter had not
Collected him

Favorite activities:
Go for walks
And sleep

Picky Eater. 
He’s always been a picky eater
Since we’ve had him
As I mentioned in my blog before
I think his owner before us
Tied a bib around his neck
And let him sit at the dinner table
       With her

Jenna and I would take him on long walks
Or else I would put him in the car
And walk him around
After I dropped off Jenna

He could jump onto the couch
And into the car – but age has slowed him down

He stopped digging
At least two summers ago
He needs assistance climbing on anything
                                    Higher than he is
He tires a lot more easily
On our much shorter walks
He’s wheezy and his nose is dry
                                    He hasn’t eaten for three days

There isn’t a hospice for dogs.
I don’t know how miserable he is
I can only guess.

Today Roland will take him
To the animal shelter
To put him down
To send him over to where
Mom and Dad are. 
Maybe Harold will have
A treat for him. 
Harold loved
Giving treats to the resident dog
At the assisted living
I only hope Shilo isn’t as picky
And accepts Harold’s treat.

We will all miss you, Shilo.
I hope you will be happy and active
                                    On the other side

Monday, January 19, 2015

Ester Loves Babies and Dogs



Ester doesn’t get to visit with
Bill and Kayla’s kids all
too often.
She is their second cousin
once removed on
mine and Kayla’s side. 
They are seventh cousins
on Tony and Bill’s side. 

Ester will always sit with
the adult closest to
the one holding B.J.
Ester Loves looking at
this little human who
is smaller than her
(though that’s bound to
change within the next
two to four years I think; 
Ester’s small)

Randy and Carrie have
a dog. 
They did not name him
Iron Chops,
but that is what I
call him. 
Even though he is
still a puppy,
he is three times
bigger than Ester
and oblivious at
knocking over anybody or
stepping on body parts. 

Ester likes to watch him from
a distance –
tightly secured in
someone’s lap and not
anywhere near the
same floor that
Iron Chops occupies with
his very long body.

Highness is our dog
Ester Loves him.
Highness is old
and slow
and Ester can
keep up with him.















 
Highness moves to
get away from Ester as
she follows with her
hand raised in the air
ready to pet him.

He goes under the
table and Ester follows with
no problem. 
Highness looks to each adult
waiting to be rescued from
this almost-three-year-old who
is quite tame compared to
Iron Chops who
tortures Highness far more
than Ester ever does.

At the end of the night
when Tony and Rochelle have
said their good-byes and
Ester has kissed everyone,
she bends down toward 
Highness and whispers loudly 
in his ear.
“Don’t cry,” she says. 
“Don’t cry, Highness”

She Loves Highness. 
She only tolerates
Iron Chops.  But
someday she may
love him as much or
maybe even more
than Highness. 

Right now she sees
Iron Chops as a big
scary dog. 
There is nothing
scary about Highness. 
He is a very
well -mannered dog.

Ester Loves babies and dogs

                                                                                                 kfralc

Friday, January 2, 2015

December 31st and New Year


         Roland had come home early on Wednesday.  He probably shouldn’t have even gone in.  He slept most of the day.  He needed to.

         I took Jenna to the library for the afternoon countdown.  I have been to the library on December 31st before.  But the last day of 2014 was different.  The library was overly quiet – except for children in the library.

         It wasn’t crowded.  Less crowded than I have seen the WV library – EVER. Roland had told us to leave early in order to get a good parking spot.  I honestly don’t think it would have mattered what time we left.  The turn-out wasn’t as good as it had been the last time we had gone for the New Year/afternoon countdown.

Jenna decorated a hat and asked me to finish her noise maker while she went to participate in games.  I wished Anna had been with us as I think she would have enjoyed the parachute game.  I don’t know if the library near where she lived had offered a New Years celebration or not.

 I left Jenna in the auditorium while I went to the teenage section to read.  It felt like the library was closed. It was actually kind of awesome just to feel peace and enjoy my reading. 

I returned for the countdown.  Two years ago I could have just stayed put.  The children were loud enough that you could hear them no matter where you were in the library.  There was a lot less children on December 31, 2014.  Even from the auditorium they didn’t sound even half as loud as they had two years prior.

As we passed the park, Jenna expressed her desires to go there.  It was cold.  But the air was clean still and not filled with the pollution that’s come with the New Year thus far.  We went home to get Highness and returned to the park.  I walked the dog while Jenna played.  I also took a fair amount of pictures.










Jenna always wants to stay up for the New Years countdown.  When I was growing up, my family had always played games on New Years.  I was willing to play games with Jenna, but she wanted to watch Aliens in the Attic. So we watched that followed by Little Shop of Horrors before we shuffled and dealt cards to play Go Fish.  We were playing cards when we heard the fireworks and the clock marking the New Year. 

We finished our game and played another – though I don’t recall what it is we played.  Cranium, I think.  And then we went to bed.  Not a typical New Years celebration.  But typical that someone was sick.  This year it just happened to be Roland.
        
         I am surprised that he was feeling well enough to donate blood the next day.  He had an appointment on New Years’ Day.  One had to have an appointment in order to donate.  They weren’t taking walk-ins yesterday.  That was my first time ever not being able to get in without an appointment.  But because it was New Years’ day, Red Cross didn’t have a full staff.

         We were at Red Cross for a long time before Roland was hooked up and producing blood.  It took him less time to bleed than to wait and be checked in.  I read four chapters, I think.

         We did get our game playing in – only a couple of hours though.  We went to Bill and Kayla’s and played a couple of games.  One was called Mad Gab – which we’ve never played together before.  And one was called Whatzit – which is puzzle solving which I’m not terribly good at.  Jenna played that one with us, and she is good.

         I’m in awe at all the birds I’ve seen – even on December 30th which was an extremely windy day.  What surprises me more than the birds are the fall leaves that have continued to cling to the trees.  Those are some major STRONG leaves!  January 2nd and they are still there.  Nature is puzzling lately.





Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Wind Has Knocked Me in a Coma - Journal Entry




I take Highness for a walk
He’s notorious for wanting attention
after we have all gone to bed
I want to wear him out
I’m already worn out

Roland and I are on the couch
watching Shark Tank
I suggest we finish watching
in our room
He let’s the dog out just before
he comes into the bedroom
to join me

“What are you doing
letting the dog out?!”
I think.
Now one of us will have to
get back out of bed
to let him in.
I can’t remember
which one of us
received that honor.

I am asleep
I missed the end of Shark Tank
I actually don’t remember
turning on the TV
maybe Roland did

It’s 2:00 in the morning
when I can hear Highness whining
“Go lay down!” I say
Sometimes that works

Highness ignores me and continues whining. 
I let him outside.
I have two pillows in my hand.
I sit on the couch in a reclined position.
I don’t know how long I have slept
when I hear Highness bark again.
He has stayed out longer than usual
How surprising
Especially when I consider that
he’d been out for five to seven hours
while I was away less than
fourteen hours ago.
Not to mention the twenty minutes or so 
when we had gone to bed

Roland wakes at 4:10.
He sees that I’m gone
and goes back to sleep.

On couch this morning. 
It is getting cold.
I decided to turn on the heat for Roland.
I don’t hear the click when I turn the dial.
I don’t check the clock.
It could have been 5:30 or 6:00.
I should have checked.

I stir on the couch
The wind is howling. 
I pull the afghan around me.
I think the heater is broken.
I get up.
I am in a daze.

I hear noise coming from
the TV in my bedroom.
I see that the light is on.
The door opens. 
Roland is fully dressed.
He says it’s 6:30.  Oh, shoot.
He was supposed to take us
to school this morning. 

Jenna has drama club
early in the morning and
he doesn’t want her left alone
before the school opens
That is why I have to go with her.

But Roland will be late
if he takes us all the way
to the school so I tell him
to go ahead and leave

Jenna is crying
because nobody had woken her up
and she believes she’s going to be late
and she didn’t get breakfast. 
None of us did.

I throw on a wrap
and grab my windbreaker for Jenna
to wear over her hoody
(which is not all that warm)
I grab a hat from my back pack
I should have grabbed one from Jenna’s room
as well

Before we head out the door
I grab an apple and banana
Roland hits McDonalds
before he gets to work
He wanted a hot chocolate
and they told him there’d be a wait.
I think he would just leave
except he already paid.

He doesn’t drink it
until he gets to work.
It tastes awful!
McDonalds messed up his order
Roland received a coffee
instead of hot chocolate.
He finds another
to give his coffee to.

Jenna and I wait for the bus.
We wait and wait and wait.
Jenna cries
as she believes she will be late
She will be if the bus is as late as it had been
last night.
We’re not going to be late.
The bus finally comes
We arrive at the school
fifteen minutes before drama club starts

My wrap blows in the wind
I am reminded of the tail end of

though my cloak doesn’t 
wave that long

I make three bus transfers
I am home by 8:30.
I turn on the TV to watch
“Dancing with the Stars”
I missed two dances
because I was asleep.

Roland calls me and relates the
events of his morning with McDonalds
Says he’ll return for lunch
and report to the manager
It’s a short day and so I leave the house
to pick up Jenna
I am wearing my windbreaker and wrap
and hat and scarf
because the wind is loud
and howling like this morning
not as cold though
but I don’t notice until I have passed
the house next door.

I remove the wrap and scarf
and return home so that
I don’t have to carry them on the bus
Before I get to the school
I have removed my hat
I pass a house with a windmill
Funny I have never noticed before
Today the wheel is spinning hard and fast
So fast it just might come off

The bell rings just before I sit down
at the bench
Jenna is playing on the playground
but does come eventually
I ask if she would like to catch the bus
in front or behind the school
she chooses front because
she needs to run inside the school
for a few moments

We notice Marvin out on the lawn
waiting for his grandfather
When we exit the school
Marvin is still waiting
It is a short day
Perhaps grandpa has forgotten
I asked Marvin if he would like me to call his grandpa
But he doesn’t know grandpa’s number
And I don’t have my old phone
Where I have grandpa’s number stored
I ask Marvin if he would like to go to the office
to call his grandpa or maybe
we could just walk him home.

I choose to walk around the school
rather than cross the field
(though it takes longer to go around)
That way we can look for grandpa’s car
in case he is on his way.
Marvin believes the sidewalk is a better choice
and faster than crossing the field.
It's not.
I don’t know why grandpa drives around to pick him up. 
His brother Isaac always crossed the field.
I wonder if Marvin has been bullied
and maybe that is why.
Or maybe it was expected last year 
because Marvin was just in half day kindergarten 
and is just used to being picked up

As we approach grandpa’s house, I notice
that his car is gone.
Marvin thinks that grandpa has gone to the store.
I hope that is where he is and
not at the school searching for Marvin.
Jenna and I continue to the main road to catch our bus.

We get off at the corner and grab
a late lunch at Burger King
before we continue our walk
to our house
I start dinner
Roland calls to say he’ll be late
He’s not hungry anyway.
He gives Jenna a coupon for a
Free smoothie or frappe from McDonalds.
She is off school for the next two days.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Poor Highness




            I wish that I could take Highness on the bus with me.  I know thered be complaints.  Hes a good dog.  He really is.  But  he does tend to get loud when he gets excited.  And sometimes his excitement can be conveyed as threatening.  And there is no way Im going to try to lift him anyway. 

      He has really been missing Biff who is actually home right now.  He did let Highness into his room initially.  Biff wants to sleep.  Highness wants to be walked and stroked.  He hasnt been getting the attention that he seeks right now especially by way of walking.

      I have taken him on occasional walks between my two bus commutes, but not very often.  The walk between bus stops and destinations can take a lot out of a me especially now that the weather has turned. 

      Yesterdays commute was not so bad going.  Each time I was riding in the direction toward her school  the bus was about the usual speed (twenty minutes) but coming home was another story.  It was cold.  It was wet.  It was bumper to bumper.  No one was going more than four miles an hour.  What is normally a ten minute commute (by car) was over an hour heading home.







      Buses were behind schedule ten minute, twenty minutes . . .  our first bus driver appeared to be on time.  But the second one said he was an hour behind schedule.  Can you imagine?

      The sun is out today, but the roads are icy.  I tried taking Highness for a walk but Im afraid of slipping.  Perhaps Jennas teacher would be willing to bring us home tonight?  

      I tried taking Highness at least around the block.  I only made it to the second corner before turning back.  I think he could actually do it by himself, but Im not willing to send him out unsupervised.  So for the time being he is tied to the flagpole out in front.  Weird dog would rather be tied up in front than have the freedom to wander in the back.  Im not wanting to ignore him, but I do have other things to tend to.  



      Im glad Biff is home.  Even though our visit was brief and he is trying to sleep now.  He said hed give Highness a bath.  I think that Highness is in strong need of it.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Please Check the Collar


After we got Highness (our dog) we went and got him tagged and I went online to change the information on the chip (though I don’t think it’s taken) and somehow lost the tag within the first week or two.  I sent off the renewal fees this morning – but I’ve been informed that he is to wear his original tag.  He had four of them hanging on him this morning.  And now there are two – the newest being the one given for his rabid shots.

When our first dog, Houdini, escaped, animal control picked him up all too often – though we did occasionally receive calls from others who had found him – those that took the time to find the information attached to his collar. We loved Houdini.  But we just couldn’t afford to bail him out of jail.  He was a good dog, but apparently some saw him as a threat.  

 

Highness is a good dog overall.  I’m surprised he hasn’t spent time in jail.  There was only one time when animal control was called – but I called him in not realizing the animal control was about to step in. Still, I wish I could attach the following note (for those times that he does escape and someone will take the time to read it:


Dear Sir or Madam::

            My name is Highness Romero. I live in West Valley.  I’m basically a good dog, but if you are reading this, I’ve obviously escaped.  But do not worry.  I will not harm you or your animals.  If you heard me yowling or barking, it’s because I am excited.  I would like to sniff your cat or dog.  Once I’ve done that, I will be on my way.

            You can call my owners if you would like to (provide number) but I don’t have dementia and I can find my way home.  I’m sorry if my yowling scares you.  I don’t mean to be frightening.  I don’t bite.  Even when I am taunted and your animal is biting me, I don’t bite back.  I am a good dog.  I’m also adventurous.  Please don’t call animal control on me.  My owners can’t afford it.  It’s really not their fault that I’ve escaped.  For the most part, they don’t even know I’m gone.

            Thank you for taking the time to read about me.  Thank you for being my friend.

                                                Love, Highness



Okay, maybe it’s a bit cheesy.  I guess the name and phone number I’ve written on the collar will have to do.