There is major construction going on at the Cambridge Common! Fences surround a significant part of the park. The part of the park that I walk through and the part of the park where the Sitting Man's bench lives. Sadly, he is no longer there and I can no longer share niceties with him.
His daytime home has been ripped out from under his butt!
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Lost dogs and community
Yesterday, we had our new dryer delivered. As you may have read, last week our son had the stomach bug and we had no dryer to dry said cleaned puked on garments and sheets. I digress. In any case, the dryer had to be delivered through our storm door in the backyard, which meant that the back gate (which encloses our dogs) was open. After delivery, I went back to close things up and in my haste to tie up loo
se ends, I forgot to shut the gate.
Fast forward about 30 minutes... we go on about our morning business and get ready to head out to run errands. I go to let the dogs in and realize the gate is open and the dogs are gone.
Queue STRESS HORMONES AND PANIC!!!
We have a long history with Dexter and his wild escapades. He runs and runs and runs. He was a street dog before we rescued him, which means that he is street smart. His demeanor changes and his eyes go wild. It is hard to shake him out of this state when he is on the loose. His name just sounds like "wah, wah, wah" and we become mere strangers trying to capture him.
I have memories of the wifey running around the streets of Rogers Park, only to hear screeching tires and metal colliding on metal by innocent victims trying to avoid hitting this wild beast. Another memory - driving to Michigan and stopping on the side of the road to get gas. Somehow this wicked beast got out and started running around the apple orchards off a two lane highway on the western edge of northern Michigan. Cops pulled over and tried to help. I don't know how the wifey did it, but she found him and brought him back.
All of the rescues have been accomplished by the wifey. Dog whisperer...
Yesterday... I got in the car and the wifey grabbed the stroller and the boy and we set off on our rescue mission. This time, Bogart was with Dexter and Bogart really knows nothing other than loving enclosure and the benefits of dinner and a warm bed. We stopped a person in a low riding Honda Civic and asked if he had seen our two dogs. The guy hadn't then, but returned shortly thereafter saying he had spotted Bogart at the park. Bogart was an easy rescue, but there was no sign of Dexter. We talked to a lot of local Lawrence people, who were all very nice and truly concerned for us.
We spent the next two hours driving and walking around calling his name. It was like he had disappeared into thin air. So we took a break and sent out messages to Granite State Lost Pets (GSLP) and Home Again Pet ID (HAPID). These two organizations are awesome - GSLP sends out a flyer on Facebook and HAPID sends alerts out to local vets and police with the animal's microchip number. HAPID also lets you print out flyers to put up around the neighborhood - which is what we did.
The wifey took the flyers to the park to put up and called me shortly thereafter with Dexter in tow.
IMMENSE RELIEF!!
What happened was that the gentleman we stopped in the low rider saw Dexter run by his cousin's house. He, with the help of his cousin, captured him. The cousin's dad then spent the next hour walking around the park to see if anyone was missing the dog.
I'll have another post on this topic, but Lawrence gets a lot of crap for being dangerous. It might be in places. Where we live there are families with varying levels of income. Families who are all trying to raise kids and provide basic needs for their loved ones. Deep down, we are all the same. These people went out of their way to help complete strangers. I am truly grateful.
Fast forward about 30 minutes... we go on about our morning business and get ready to head out to run errands. I go to let the dogs in and realize the gate is open and the dogs are gone.
Queue STRESS HORMONES AND PANIC!!!
We have a long history with Dexter and his wild escapades. He runs and runs and runs. He was a street dog before we rescued him, which means that he is street smart. His demeanor changes and his eyes go wild. It is hard to shake him out of this state when he is on the loose. His name just sounds like "wah, wah, wah" and we become mere strangers trying to capture him.
I have memories of the wifey running around the streets of Rogers Park, only to hear screeching tires and metal colliding on metal by innocent victims trying to avoid hitting this wild beast. Another memory - driving to Michigan and stopping on the side of the road to get gas. Somehow this wicked beast got out and started running around the apple orchards off a two lane highway on the western edge of northern Michigan. Cops pulled over and tried to help. I don't know how the wifey did it, but she found him and brought him back.
All of the rescues have been accomplished by the wifey. Dog whisperer...
Yesterday... I got in the car and the wifey grabbed the stroller and the boy and we set off on our rescue mission. This time, Bogart was with Dexter and Bogart really knows nothing other than loving enclosure and the benefits of dinner and a warm bed. We stopped a person in a low riding Honda Civic and asked if he had seen our two dogs. The guy hadn't then, but returned shortly thereafter saying he had spotted Bogart at the park. Bogart was an easy rescue, but there was no sign of Dexter. We talked to a lot of local Lawrence people, who were all very nice and truly concerned for us.
We spent the next two hours driving and walking around calling his name. It was like he had disappeared into thin air. So we took a break and sent out messages to Granite State Lost Pets (GSLP) and Home Again Pet ID (HAPID). These two organizations are awesome - GSLP sends out a flyer on Facebook and HAPID sends alerts out to local vets and police with the animal's microchip number. HAPID also lets you print out flyers to put up around the neighborhood - which is what we did.
The wifey took the flyers to the park to put up and called me shortly thereafter with Dexter in tow.
IMMENSE RELIEF!!
What happened was that the gentleman we stopped in the low rider saw Dexter run by his cousin's house. He, with the help of his cousin, captured him. The cousin's dad then spent the next hour walking around the park to see if anyone was missing the dog.
I'll have another post on this topic, but Lawrence gets a lot of crap for being dangerous. It might be in places. Where we live there are families with varying levels of income. Families who are all trying to raise kids and provide basic needs for their loved ones. Deep down, we are all the same. These people went out of their way to help complete strangers. I am truly grateful.
Sitting Man and his pretzel bites
Every morning, as long as it isn't raining, there is this man who sits on a bench in the Common in Cambridge. What the hell is he doing??? He has a cell phone and buckets of pretzel bites, so I'm assuming he's not homeless. Sometimes he wears a suit and sometimes he wears a hat. He has a book, so I would like to think he's reading, but it could just be a cover. He also smokes rolled cigarettes, and takes pictures of squirrels from his phone. Is he out of work and won't tell his family? Perhaps he has no one at home to be with. Maybe he's a teacher and likes to spend all of his summer time having business meetings with squirrels.
He is there in the morning when I go to work and there when I leave work. I've tried different times of the day and he's still there.
We exchange pleasantries. I say, "have a good weekend" and he says, "be well" -- which I respond with "thanks you too." My doctor tells me to "be well".
He's probably some spiritual leader who meditates his days away in this public park, quietly training squirrels to be circus performers and every time we exchange words, he casts a lotus spell on me.
Hypotheses aside, he is interesting to me. Sitting on a bench while the world turns around him. I have no idea what brought him to that place or point, but part of me wants to share some of it with him. I'm always in a rush to work or home from work. There obviously isn't time for me to watch the squirrels in the park, alone, eating pretzel bites, each and every day of the week from dawn until dusk, but perhaps one day, I'll take a minute and exchange more than pleasantries with him to find out his story. Stay tuned.
He is there in the morning when I go to work and there when I leave work. I've tried different times of the day and he's still there.
We exchange pleasantries. I say, "have a good weekend" and he says, "be well" -- which I respond with "thanks you too." My doctor tells me to "be well".
He's probably some spiritual leader who meditates his days away in this public park, quietly training squirrels to be circus performers and every time we exchange words, he casts a lotus spell on me.
Hypotheses aside, he is interesting to me. Sitting on a bench while the world turns around him. I have no idea what brought him to that place or point, but part of me wants to share some of it with him. I'm always in a rush to work or home from work. There obviously isn't time for me to watch the squirrels in the park, alone, eating pretzel bites, each and every day of the week from dawn until dusk, but perhaps one day, I'll take a minute and exchange more than pleasantries with him to find out his story. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Licorice memories
I've been on this nutritional and fitness program for a few weeks now. It is definitely working, but all I really want at this particular moment is licorice. What the hell? But think about it - that sweet, tart, soft, red Australian licorice that behaves like chewy candy, but finishes like a plump, red, luscious strawberry. I like black too, but this craving is for red. I've had a love relationship with licorice since I was very young.
This weekend my son was pukey sick, which of course led to the parents becoming sick. The experience made me think of all the times I was pukey sick growing up. My worst memory of course involved licorice.
You see, I was kind of a binge eater growing up. I'd really limit myself (or my parents would), but then when I would get a free and alone moment, I would just gorge. On the particular day I'm thinking of, I rode my bike to town after school and bought some red Nibs. Not a small bag of Nibs either. I think I shoved the whole bag in my face and headed home. Long story short, I made it home and then choked big. The color alarmed my mother enough she had to get a second opinion from my dad. Of course then I had to admit I had eaten licorice, which was almost the worst part of the experience.
Either way, we are slightly traumatized from this weekend. Only this time it wasn't licorice... it was green beans.
Oh this totally worked. I don't want licorice anymore!!!
This weekend my son was pukey sick, which of course led to the parents becoming sick. The experience made me think of all the times I was pukey sick growing up. My worst memory of course involved licorice.
You see, I was kind of a binge eater growing up. I'd really limit myself (or my parents would), but then when I would get a free and alone moment, I would just gorge. On the particular day I'm thinking of, I rode my bike to town after school and bought some red Nibs. Not a small bag of Nibs either. I think I shoved the whole bag in my face and headed home. Long story short, I made it home and then choked big. The color alarmed my mother enough she had to get a second opinion from my dad. Of course then I had to admit I had eaten licorice, which was almost the worst part of the experience.
Either way, we are slightly traumatized from this weekend. Only this time it wasn't licorice... it was green beans.
Oh this totally worked. I don't want licorice anymore!!!
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