When our schnauzer Tinker was alive, she always seemed to inspire a poem. Her younger sister Tally all too often got upstaged. Now that she’s an only dog, I thought it only fair to write some words to describe our all-black pup who is often just a dark shadow in photos (unless she poses on a white rug). Tally rarely pays attention to me, but every once in a while she rolls on her back expecting a Tummy Attack!
Yummy Tummy
We have a pup,
Who likes attention.
All you have to do,
Is subtly mention.
Would you like,
A Tummy Attack?
She’ll roll over,
On her back.
Her paws in the air,
To urge your hand.
Exposing her belly,
To something grand.
“Please don’t stop,”
You can hear her plea.
The smile on her lips,
Expressing glee.
“A little lower,
And to the right.
You can keep rubbing,
All through the night.”
And when she’s hungry,
There’s more magic rhyme.
“Yummy Tummy,”
It’s dinner time.
Backwards, Upside down,
Then comes the look.
She’s got you,
On the Hook.
She’s a black bandit, For scraps or Ham Time. But stealing your heart, Is her biggest crime.
Those eyes meet yours,
It’s clearly Pet-nosis.
Tally gets what she wants,
She’s Puppy Precocious.
Copyright 2020 johnstonwrites.com
Company’s come and gone and we’re back to the boring old routine. My wife has gladly cooked and cleaned for days, showing the love for her two daughters. It’s my turn to cook dinner tonight – an easy cheeseburger salad recipe. Our schnauzer Tally can also rest after five grueling days of bone wars with her doggie niece Falco. A quiet day at home is a well-earned reward for all of us.
Our next daughter adventures will take place in San Francisco just over two weeks from now. A weekend at the Ritz Carlton will start our journey to Florida. All of us will then get together for a pre-Holiday getaway to Kauai. Hopefully, the virus will not interfere with our plans. It’s already gotten in the way too many times this year.
Tonight, the Portland Timbers battle Orlando for the MLS is Back championship, perhaps their first since 2015. Maybe the city will get some positive exposure after all the bad press about the never-ending riots? I enjoyed some of the family games we played these past few days, including jackboxtv.com. It was much more exciting than any of the professional games we tried to watch on TV or “Shark Week.”
Looking back at this past week of activities entertaining company, the time has passed quickly. We’ve done some wine-tasting, sight-seeing, long drives, hikes, dinners, and a picnic. It was the antithesis of stay at home, but a much needed change from isolation. We’ll return to our quiet life together prior to the 2,600-mile cross-country drive next week. There’s plenty of company waiting for us on the road ahead.
We’re lucky to have house guests for the weekend. My wife’s daughter and husband have come for a visit. I feel bad that we don’t have more space to accommodate them, having moved from our house into an apartment. They would have had the entire upstairs and total privacy. Instead, they have an inflatable bed crammed in my office. I’m writing from the living room coffee table this morning and feeding the parking meter out front to allow them garage space. These are both minor disruptions in the world of retirement. We’re glad to have the company in these pandemic times of isolation.
We relieved the stay-at-home boredom yesterday by driving to the quaint Oregon Coast city of Manzanita to meet some friends for wine and food. It was like an extension of our long drive to Glacier National Park along winding scenic, forest roads. After a couple of quick views of the Pacific Ocean and a bite to eat in Cannon Beach, we were soon back home. For some reason, Tally our schnauzer had no interest in being near the roaring waves. We still had a few more preparation duties to take care of in anticipation of our soon to arrive guests.
Today would normally be a “Leadership” luncheon, but nothing is normal these days. Next week we’ll return to that Friday tradition. Tonight, we’ll grill outside at my wife’s other daughter’s nearby home. It will be the first time that we’ve all gotten together since their wedding 10 months ago, just before the world shifted and spun out of control. At that time, our schnauzer Tinker was still alive and their pup Falco had yet to be adopted. Now, Tally is best friends with Falco, so the patter of little feet will add to the reunion atmosphere. We might even see our fancy grill in action, since they are not allowed in our apartment building. It’s being stored at their house. Someday soon, it will be the focal point of our Florida outdoor kitchen.
Construction should start soon on this Florida house that will once again allow comfort and privacy for house guests. We’re not anticipating any overnight company in the remaining 6-months of our apartment lease. Most are discouraged by the lack of space and inflatable bed, but family is forgiving. However, they would not be staying here if it weren’t for the fact that the other sister’s house is under construction. They picked the lesser of two evils, and we’re doing our best to be good hosts. My wife loves house guests, especially those tolerant of our limited amenities.
Eight nights, seven McDonald’s, six gas stops, five hotels, two-thousand miles, and one small glitch. We were back in our apartment last night with a sense of relief – Whew! All that way to Montana and back – up steep terrain, across mountain passes, and through high desert flat lands without a single complaint until the very end. Despite its age, the trustworthy 2008 Toyota Solara convertible chugged along as planned, starting and stopping where needed. The only problem we’ve ever experienced over the years was a battery problem a few months ago. I had it fully recharged without any further issues. Yesterday, we drove in from Spokane with several stops for food, gas, and at a roadside farmer’s market. In every case, the car started right up, until the very last gas station.
I had filled the car up with gas, and moved it to a parking spot to use the restroom facilities. As we got ready to make the final leg of the journey, I turned the ignition key and nothing happened. My wife and I were anxious to pick up our dog Tally and finally get home. Instead, we were stranded by The Dalles in ninety degree temperatures. It was not a desperate situation, we had food, several cases of wine, and a Shilo Inn next door. Fortunately, I called AAA, as I had two months ago and waited for a jump. As we sat there waiting, I thought of all the many other remote spots where we could have been inconvenienced during the course of our trip. Whew!
They told us it would be an hour wait, as I continued to get an ear full from my wife about not double-checking the battery before we left. It was going to be a very long hour! Thankfully, it wasn’t even a half hour before we were back on the road again thanks to the prompt assistance of River’s Edge Towing in nearby Hood River. Fortunately, they happened to be in route to service another car and we were in the right place at the right time. AAA to the rescue – it’s such a great service! I’ll need to call them again tomorrow because the battery failed to recharge during the last hour-and-a-half of highway driving. We’re home and safe, but still in need of a new battery. It could have been much worse – Whew!
Fourteen hundred articles represents about 44 months of daily blogging. I’ve faithfully adhered to my one-a-day writing pledge from the moment I retired. In the process I’ve also written a sleazy novel and hundreds of poems. Prior to this trip to Glacier National Park, there was little to write about and the frustration showed in my rants about the Portland protests. What had always tended to be a humorous blog turned ugly and sarcastic at times. Hopefully, the time away will get me back on track. I guess you do need vacations, even in retirement.
We’ve on the last leg of our Montana journey with an overnight stop in Spokane, Washington. We’re back at the historic Davenport Hotel for a last night of luxury. This is a very ornate structure with massive ballrooms. The dance floors are suspended from cables to cushion the feet. We attempted to take a walking tour of the facilities but most rooms were closed due to Covid-19. The same was true of the nearby Bing Crosby childhood home on the now quiet Gonzaga University campus. Life as we know it has been frozen in time with only brief spurts of activity, like the wedding taking place in our hotel. There are pictures on the walls of lavish masquerade parties, while all of the hotel guests and wedding attendees are masked now.
We’re five hours from Portland, where we’ll be reunited with our schnauzer Tally after ten days on the road. She’ll miss her doggy buddy, Falco, when she settles back into boring apartment life. I’m ready to get back in the home routine, although we’ll have visitors this week to break up the monotony. Day-trips to wine country and Astoria are on the agenda along with overnight guests for the weekend. With this in mind, the inflatable bed may get some use by my wife’s daughter and husband. We’ll see them again in a few weeks as we begin our cross-country journey to Florida. Overall, it will be a very busy August with stops in San Francisco, Cambria, Desert Springs, Tucson, Marfa, Austin, Mobile, Lake City, and Venice. I’ll be 69-years old and poorer by the time we cross the Florida line. Let the Journey of Life continue!
I’m limited on time this morning, with a trip to the dentist. It was just another item on my calendar that got delayed four months because of the Coronavirus. Too bad it wasn’t totally cancelled like most of our activities. No Bali. No Canada. No Egypt. Just the dentist! So much time has passed since I made this appointment that I can’t even remember what they’re doing to my teeth in the three-hour time frame. I’ll soon find out.
The countdown to Florida living continues. Only 8 months of preparation ahead, starting with a cross-country drive in about 30 days. Meetings with the builders and bankers will start the process. In the meantime, there will be design decisions, conference calls, moving arrangements to make, and lots of driving to do. I’ll have my son take pictures on a regular basis so we can monitor construction. This is the first and last home we will ever build. It will be an exciting process, especially when there’s little else to look forward to these days of isolation.
I missed my self-imposed daily deadline yesterday on getting this blog posted. Between the dentist, two visits to friends’ homes, and codes to break in my latest Hunt A Killer mystery game, the day got away from me. My wife and I did sit down and watch episode five of Perry Mason on HBO and another hour of Titanic: Blood and Steel on Amazon Prime. Without much to write about, these posts accurately reflect my sense of boredom.
I continue to marvel at Portland’s persistence to protest. I keep hearing from friends concerned about our safety here. The city is getting a lot of bad publicity nationally, when there’s little going on in our downtown neighborhood. However, it was eye-opening to drive downtown yesterday and see firsthand the destruction to businesses, buildings, parks, and statues. It’s a war-zone, while every protester continues to insist that their intentions are peaceful. There’s something wrong with this picture. “Moms” in yellow shirts were out two nights ago to fight federal intervention. Apparently, it was “Dad’s” turn to get out last night. These groups should be acting like responsible parents. There has to be a better way. The bigger the mobs, the more likely violence will break out, as it eventually did later last night.
Crowds are dangerous – they look threatening, even in colorful t-shirts with positive messages. Unfortunately, not-so-mindful intruders also have access to yellow. You’re forcing law enforcement to make snap decisions that do none of us any good. Stay home like the rest of us if you love America, and find another outlet for your anger. It’s nothing but a party in the streets – and you know it. Protesters, especially in masks, are nothing but a health and safety risk to our future. I promise to stay home myself today and meet my writing deadline.
Now that the morning run is behind me, I can begin to look forward to the upcoming week. Today, it’s some live TV baseball between the White Sox and Cubs. Tomorrow, I have a baseball card meeting, once I get out of the dentist’s office. The fourth box of the Hunt A Killer mystery also arrives this week. Friday, the adventure to Montana begins. I’m not sure if I’ve ever run in “Big Sky Country” since skiing has always been the primary reason for going there. This time it will be some hiking in Glacier National Park. It will be the 40th state my wife and I together have visited, and my 26th state for a run. I have only 2 states left to visit on my lifetime bucket list – Alaska and Maine.
Friday’s trip east will cover about 800 miles round-trip with overnight stops in Walla-Walla and Spokane. Four nights will be spent in and around the park. Our schnauzer Tally is staying with my wife’s daughter and her doggy buddy Falco. They get together quite frequently. I will get out of my dog outing responsibilities for a full week. We’re meeting friends for two days of wine tasting in Walla-Walla on the way to Glacier. While in the area, we have joint reservations at seven different vineyards and three restaurants.
My car will get a good work-out. It has just over 135,000 miles on it. If it survives this journey, we’ll take it down the Oregon Coast into San Francisco. It’s one of our few travel options following the cancellation of our Egypt excursion. My wife’s car is being prepped for it’s cross-country venture to Florida in late August. This includes some extensive body and strut work. Once we get it to the Sunshine State, it will patiently wait in my son’s garage until our permanent move next March. At that point, we’ll pack my car for the same long drive in conjunction with the moving truck. So much to look forward to this year!
I’ll pack both my running shoes and hiking boots for this Glacial journey through nature, not necessarily my favorite thing. At least, I should be well pickled by the time we get to Mother Nature’s door. Many of our planned activities have been disrupted by the Coronavirus. Also, traffic is reportedly a problem with travel limited to primarily US locations this summer. National Parks are now a preferred family destination by car. The Going-to-the-Sun Road has recently been choked with congestion and the boat trips have been cancelled, so our entertainment options may be limited. We’ll make the best of it, as we look forward to simply getting out of the neighborhood.
I heard on the radio this morning that because of the current coin shortage there might be an announcement soon to eliminate the penny from production. This already makes it an endangered species. As a coin collector, I’ve always been a fan of the penny, always intrigued with its shiny copper-like surface, distinguishing it from every other coin. I spotted two this morning on my run, but sadly someday we’ll carry nothing but silver in our pockets. In the meantime, they’ll be hoarded by collectors and unwelcome at stores. Will 2020 be the last date stamped near Abraham Lincoln’s face? Will other faces like Jefferson and Washington start to change on coins in lieu of current politics?
The University of Texas is changing their tune about stadium names and statues to honor Black Lives Matter. Also, the Oregon State vs. Oregon rivalry may not longer be called the “Civil War.” There will no Redskin team in Washington D.C., although the city’s whole identity may eventually get a non-offensive makeover. It’s hard enough to keep track of names, but get out your scorecards because we’ve only just begun.
Protesters were back on the Portland streets last night after a week’s vacation. Downtown looks like a war zone even thou these are supposedly “peaceful” demonstrations. Only a few fires last night where statues once stood. The Governor seems to think everything is under control and that freedom of speech includes damaging graffiti and senseless gatherings. Looks like the Feds will be back soon – someone has to protect these downtown businesses. Police Matter but they sure aren’t getting much support from the state. It’s sad when people take advantage of our liberal nature – like spoiled kids left unsupervised. Kate Brown or Mayor Wheeler won’t soon be getting their own coins or statues.
My wife and I got tired of being cooped up and went for an impromptu drive yesterday. We ended up at Haystack Rock. I was surprised it wasn’t covered with graffiti or surrounded by a fence. The area restaurants were very busy and had responsibly spread out into the parking lots to keep people properly socially distanced. However, there were too many people on the streets without masks and in groups. The beach was not crowded but we wore our masks strictly to keep our noses warm. There was a strong, cold breeze that made us both yearn for Florida. I have a new tan line today just over my nose and a red forehead. Getting out of the city for a few hours was a refreshing change. Tally enjoyed chasing the seagulls. There were no boarded-up windows, trash in the streets, or homeless camps on the sidewalks. Maybe we need to get out of town more often?
This is probably one of the most uneventful Fourth of July weekends I could remember. In fact, I checked my diary dating back for 20 years to find that we always had something going on this weekend. For the first 10-years of our marriage, while still living in the Midwest, we were usually with my wife’s mother watching their home town fireworks. That all changed when we moved to Austin, Texas and I started temporarily working in the retail business. One Fourth of July weekend was all work and no play. We did at least see the fireworks at Zilker Park and Auditorium Shores.
The following year, 2011, we went to a wedding in my home town, the last time my family was all together for an event. Three years later both my parents died just after we moved to Portland. In that time span, there was one very memorable Fourth on the beach in Port Aransas, Texas. Tinker was scared to death of the fireworks in the sky above us. The last Fourth with my wife’s mother was four years ago in Indianapolis. Portland was just too far away to run back to Indiana, so we explored Oregon, including a hike and picnic at Punch Bowl Falls and a fabulous weekend at Crater Lake.
My wife’s mom passed 14 months ago. This ended all trips back to Indiana and allowed for last year’s Fourth at Canada’s Butchart Gardens. Both Tinker and Tally were relieved that there were few outbursts of fireworks once we crossed the border. It was Tinker’s best and last Fourth of July, including an All-American hot dog in the peaceful garden setting. She was a princess in her special stroller and got lots of attention from passers-by. Tally got to smell the flowers in the dog-friendly grounds. Unfortunately, it was their last together.
Last night, Tally did have company for the noisy night. My wife’s grand-dog Falco stayed with us because the neighborhood where she lives is much louder than ours. In fact, she’d been medicated for days and reluctant to even go outside. On their final outing last night both dogs were freaked out. Falco refused to pee, after not touching her food or water for days. It was quiet once we got back inside, so both dogs slept undisturbed. However, it took a longer walk this morning to get either of them to do their business. We did have our traditional chicken legs and potato salad dinner, while I drank a bit too much wine. Sadly, in these pandemic times, there was little else to do but watch Yellowstone, for me a repeat. For the first time in our marriage, we were stay-at-home Fourth of July shut-ins.
I’m getting excited about the prospect of moving, even though it will be a major hassle. It will be expensive, stressful, and exhausting. The same will be true about the design and building process that will start in two months. We’ve picked out the floor plan and lot and will make our way to Florida by car for my 69th birthday, two months from now. We’ve decided to bypass New Orleans on the drive, hoping to meet up with my half-sister in Alabama. In the meantime, my son will turn 47, another indication that life is moving quickly. We’ll soon live about 15 minutes apart as opposed to the current 43-hour, 2500-mile drive.
Our plans call for a two-bedroom with den and lanai. This will give us room for guests, a dedicated office space, and a pool/outdoor kitchen. The lot sits on a pond and across from a nature reserve, so there will be some privacy. There are three community/recreation facilities on the grounds that is adjacent to the Atlanta Braves Spring Training Facility. Venice Beach is nearby where I first saw the Gulf as a child. Life is going full circle with retirement in the same area as my grandparents. They’ve been gone now for 41 years. My son still has fond memories of playing board games and making shell figures with my grandmother. In fact, he named his youngest after her.
My cousins would come down to visit with my grandparents in Englewood, Florida. They also got together at Corey Lake in Michigan during the summer months. My closest cousin now lives in Thailand, where we got together last year. We also share a birthday, although he’s 10-years younger. The rest of his family lives in Indiana, where my wife and I were both born. Her sister still resides in Indianapolis, while my sister is in Elkhart. We’ll be more likely to see them when we move to Florida.
Today is the first day of the second half of the year. If everything goes as planned, next year at this time we’ll be settled in our new home and getting together with family for the Fourth of July. We’ll leave behind my wife’s two daughters but will provide them with a warm place to vacation. The oldest is here in Portland, while her sister lives in San Francisco. Both were married last year, and the daughter here adopted a dog, Falco. Our schnauzer, Tally, has become a close companion. In fact, Falco stayed with us this past week while the sisters got together in Coos Bay. The only sad news of our plan to move is that the two pups will probably never see each other again. No plan is perfect!
