Sandwiched Between Chaos And Delight
Our trip over President’s Day weekend to visit my son, daughter-in-law and six-month-old grandson did not begin auspiciously. Before we even arrived in New York, our brand-new dog sitter phoned to tell...
View ArticleSearching for Jiminy Cricket
Every time I see an ASPCA ad on television for an abused dog or cat about to be put to sleep, I start to cry. Sometimes I get upset enough that I shut the TV off. I don’t want to look at their...
View ArticleGuilty Pleasures
So, it’s Thursday at 5:00 in the morning and I’m speeding along at eighty miles an hour, in the pitch black, to a burg called Vallejo, which is about an hour and a half from my house. I’m keeping watch...
View ArticleRiding Over The Potholes
Last week in our backyard, Mac inhaled a foxtail and we spent a rocky day at the vet. For those of you who don’t know what a foxtail looks like, it is the very spiky tip of a weed–one that will work...
View ArticleSkunked!
Dogs will be dogs–and skunks will be skunks. One night two weeks ago, our family of black and white spotted Dalmatians introduced themselves to a family of black and white striped skunks, under the...
View ArticleStaying By The Side Of My Wild Child
All of us have daily challenges, and sometimes tackling them can be demoralizing. We try so hard, whether it is in climbing out of bed to face a routine that bores us, or in trekking off every day to a...
View ArticleGive The Boy A Dog This Summer
When I was a child, my parents held out to me the example of an excellent and dedicated writer, my great-grandfather, Arthur Gray Staples. My mother, a Pulitzer-Prize winning poet herself, told me many...
View ArticleEastward Ho!
Last week, I received many responses to my last newsletter essay, the one about losing the ones we love. Many people agreed that we all need to pay more attention to the way we try and help those we...
View ArticleBuilding A Nest In Maryland
For the first time in a long time, children dressed in costumes and shrieking “Trick or Treat” will clamor at the stoop of my house on October 31st. In California, we lived at the end of a long and...
View ArticleMy Wild Child Strikes Again…The Inconvenience of Love
Last week’s trip to New York was everything I had hoped it would be. I had plenty of opportunity to visit with friends, as well as with my son and daughter-in-law-but mostly I spent a lot of cuddle...
View ArticleSandwiched Between Chaos And Delight
Our trip over President’s Day weekend to visit my son, daughter-in-law and six-month-old grandson did not begin auspiciously. Before we even arrived in New York, our brand-new dog sitter phoned to tell...
View ArticleA Chink In The Armor
Hope seemed out of the question. As we returned home from Long Island, where we had celebrated my grandson’s first birthday, we were mired in non-stop traffic when my cell phone rang. The call was from...
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Building A Nest In Maryland
For the first time in a long time, children dressed in costumes and shrieking “Trick or Treat” will clamor at the stoop of my house on October 31st. In California, we lived at the end of a long and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Wild Child Strikes Again…The Inconvenience of Love
Last week’s trip to New York was everything I had hoped it would be. I had plenty of opportunity to visit with friends, as well as with my son and daughter-in-law-but mostly I spent a lot of cuddle...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sandwiched Between Chaos And Delight
Our trip over President’s Day weekend to visit my son, daughter-in-law and six-month-old grandson did not begin auspiciously. Before we even arrived in New York, our brand-new dog sitter phoned to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Chink In The Armor
Hope seemed out of the question. As we returned home from Long Island, where we had celebrated my grandson’s first birthday, we were mired in non-stop traffic when my cell phone rang. The call was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PUBLICATION PSYCHOSIS AND A PUPPY FIX
Writers keep bizarre schedules: some compose late at night, some early in the morning, some whenever the urge overwhelms them. I am a disciplined early riser–or should I say that my three Dalmatians...
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COMING FULL CIRCLE TO LIFE
How did I get through the loss of Gulliver, the dog of my heart, to whom I dedicated Bespotted? How did I put away my grief and return to living and enjoying myself once again? The answer is a simple...
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A Call for Cody
I call out Cody’s name but he does not respond. He does not wag his tail, or even look to me for reassurance. His body is stiff, his mouth foaming, his legs paddle in the air, his eyes have rolled...
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Metal Plates & Aging Gracefully
Two years ago, my youngest Dalmatian, Mac, broke his leg in three places while colliding with his older brother as they jumped high to compete for a ball. He had a twelve inch metal plate and twenty...
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