Mia has had huge tumors in her body for the past couple of years. One of them has been particularly large and seemed to affect her bladder, as she voided water as she walked, and especially when she would sleep on the floor. Another tumor constricted her lungs and caused her to gasp for breath. Her hind quarters were also problematic and would suddenly collapse so Mia ended up splayed on the ground, unable to get up. Many times we had to go out into the yard to pull her to her feet so she could come inside and collapse on her favorite pillow.
Several weeks ago, we saw a sadness in her eyes that had not been there. She became more quiet and less mobile, so Y and I talked about her failing health and agreed that time was coming to have her put to sleep. We both agreed that we did not want to wait until she was totally helpless as that was not the Mia we both knew and loved. Last weekend, it seemed that the time had arrived, so I called the vet and made the appointment.
Mia had a really good day prior to the appointment. She was able to walk and seemed very comfortable, so it gave me cause to pause and question whether I was doing the right thing, but I knew the decision was best for everyone, including Mia. The vet gave her a sedative and then the lethal dosage of the medication that put her to sleep. We stayed with her, said our goodbyes, and shed our tears.
We're all missing Mia as she's been a big part of my life for well over a decade. All the kids in the neighborhood look forward to our daily walks and love to pet the dogs, but especially Mia. A couple of the kids saw her collapse in the street, unable to get back on her feet, and felt such sadness for her, showering her with love until we could get her up and on her way home again. Daisy and Cinnamon have looked for Mia, especially at night, because the two smaller dogs sleep on top of my bed, but Mia's pillow and palette were on the floor right next to the bed. They've sniffed all her favorite places, but haven't been able to find her. I wish I knew that is going through their minds ... but I know they miss Mia too.
We're not going to get another big dog as we still have two dogs to keep us busy and amused. Daisy, the Jack Russell terrier, has become fast friends with Y, while Cinnamon is my little girl. We'll spoil them and enjoy having them in our lives, but we'll always miss Mia, too.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
It's a Matter of When to Speak Your Mind
The President of the United States of America came to Palm Springs to spend President’s Day weekend. His arrival/visit/departure requires some access to roads in the Valley to be limited, and therein lies the issue.
Believe it or not, local residents “wish the President had picked a better weekend” to visit the Valley. There is a lot going on this weekend, including the Tour de Palm Springs, the Indio Date Festival, the Dr. George car show and auction, Modernism week, a golf tournament, the Cathedral City Hot Balloon Festival – and on and on and on. Some residents (you know, the ones they find to put on the local news) think that there was already enough increased traffic to have reason to turn down the President’s trip to the area.
Really?
What would we do without the tourist dollars? Basically, from June through August the shops struggle to stay open as our fair weather friends fly back to their homes in milder climes. Year-round residents have learned how to stay cooler when it’s in the triple digits, but not so much our visitors who come from the northern and eastern regions of the continent. We have a bureau of tourism that works long and hard to entice visitors to the area, but they get a free publicity worldwide when it’s the President arriving to enjoy both our climates and our golf courses.
Publicity like that is literally priceless, so the nay-sayers should zip their lips and share their opinions after Air Force One leaves the local airport.
Believe it or not, local residents “wish the President had picked a better weekend” to visit the Valley. There is a lot going on this weekend, including the Tour de Palm Springs, the Indio Date Festival, the Dr. George car show and auction, Modernism week, a golf tournament, the Cathedral City Hot Balloon Festival – and on and on and on. Some residents (you know, the ones they find to put on the local news) think that there was already enough increased traffic to have reason to turn down the President’s trip to the area.
Really?
What would we do without the tourist dollars? Basically, from June through August the shops struggle to stay open as our fair weather friends fly back to their homes in milder climes. Year-round residents have learned how to stay cooler when it’s in the triple digits, but not so much our visitors who come from the northern and eastern regions of the continent. We have a bureau of tourism that works long and hard to entice visitors to the area, but they get a free publicity worldwide when it’s the President arriving to enjoy both our climates and our golf courses.
Publicity like that is literally priceless, so the nay-sayers should zip their lips and share their opinions after Air Force One leaves the local airport.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
If I Can Take It, I Can Make It
The trailor for Unbroken shows an action-packed film that is guaranteed to keep the viewer riveted to the screen and on the edge of their seats. If I judged the film on the trailer, I'd give it an A -- but then I sat through the rest of the story as it trickled across the screen.
Louis Zamperini is played by Jack O'Connell, an actor who does a fine job portraying what has to be the world's unluckiest SOB. First, Zamperini's plane is shot all to hell by the Japanese enemy during WWII, then he has to ditch in the ocean, from which he is plucked by Japanese military, who take him to a prison camp, where his fame as a former US Olympic track star pins a bull's eye on him for maltreatment by a cruel Japanese jailor. Woven throughout these several ordeals are bits 'n pieces of his childhood, where he had to learn the hard lesson that in order to make it through life, you have to be able to take a lot of shit from a lot of sources.
Now, that's a fairly good story, but ... . First, his childhood was on par with that of all the other children in families that suffered during The Great Depression. Zamperini was lucky that he had caring parents and siblings, one of whom taught him how to take whatever came at him. When Louis qualified for the Olympics, he gave his best on the course, but I can't tell you if he won his race or not because my mind was already wandering as the film began to spend far too much time getting to the point.
Then, when the plane was shot up and ditched in the ocean and Louis had to single-handedly save his crew, the story enlongated again. While the castaways' hair didn't grow, nor did their facial hair change, the alternating scenes of sun and darkness and veiled references to another crew that was on the ocean for 40-some-odd days. At one point in the getting to the point (the rescue by the Japanese ship), it felt as if we'd been on the ocean ourselves for 40+ days, but the actors finally had some sunburn and scrabbly beard stubble.
Next, he went to prison of war camp, where there probably was a highly-skilled barber who kept the hair and beard growing under control. Also, there had to be a prison laundry because the clothes should have been rags a whole lot sooner than later. Louis suffered, but it seems that he was singled out to suffer while the rest of the prisoners went about their daily routine. I'm not sure how long Louis suffered, but my suffering was about 20 minutes of childhood, 25 minutes of ocean wreck, 30 minutes of prison suffering, an hour+ that moved by at an unbelievably slow pace.
Unbroken is a story written by Laura Hillenbrand about the real-life protagonist, Louis Zamperini. I think I would enjoy reading the book more than I enjoyed watching the film as I would get to create my own mental movie as I read, rather than sitting captive in a theatre seat while someone else's vision of the story dragged across the screen. It's not a bad film, but it is not any better than average.
Louis Zamperini is played by Jack O'Connell, an actor who does a fine job portraying what has to be the world's unluckiest SOB. First, Zamperini's plane is shot all to hell by the Japanese enemy during WWII, then he has to ditch in the ocean, from which he is plucked by Japanese military, who take him to a prison camp, where his fame as a former US Olympic track star pins a bull's eye on him for maltreatment by a cruel Japanese jailor. Woven throughout these several ordeals are bits 'n pieces of his childhood, where he had to learn the hard lesson that in order to make it through life, you have to be able to take a lot of shit from a lot of sources.
Now, that's a fairly good story, but ... . First, his childhood was on par with that of all the other children in families that suffered during The Great Depression. Zamperini was lucky that he had caring parents and siblings, one of whom taught him how to take whatever came at him. When Louis qualified for the Olympics, he gave his best on the course, but I can't tell you if he won his race or not because my mind was already wandering as the film began to spend far too much time getting to the point.
Then, when the plane was shot up and ditched in the ocean and Louis had to single-handedly save his crew, the story enlongated again. While the castaways' hair didn't grow, nor did their facial hair change, the alternating scenes of sun and darkness and veiled references to another crew that was on the ocean for 40-some-odd days. At one point in the getting to the point (the rescue by the Japanese ship), it felt as if we'd been on the ocean ourselves for 40+ days, but the actors finally had some sunburn and scrabbly beard stubble.
Next, he went to prison of war camp, where there probably was a highly-skilled barber who kept the hair and beard growing under control. Also, there had to be a prison laundry because the clothes should have been rags a whole lot sooner than later. Louis suffered, but it seems that he was singled out to suffer while the rest of the prisoners went about their daily routine. I'm not sure how long Louis suffered, but my suffering was about 20 minutes of childhood, 25 minutes of ocean wreck, 30 minutes of prison suffering, an hour+ that moved by at an unbelievably slow pace.
Unbroken is a story written by Laura Hillenbrand about the real-life protagonist, Louis Zamperini. I think I would enjoy reading the book more than I enjoyed watching the film as I would get to create my own mental movie as I read, rather than sitting captive in a theatre seat while someone else's vision of the story dragged across the screen. It's not a bad film, but it is not any better than average.
The Trouble with being Into The Woods
Imagine a group of older people sitting around, perhaps sipping cocktails and drinking far too much wine, and all talking about the myths from their childhoods, the folk stories that parents used to read to their children before they turned over the reading function first to the TV and more recently to the hand-held electronic device. One person recalls a bit of one story; another person adds a piece from a second story; a third person recalls with glee a favorite moment from yet another story, and so it goes until the subject of fairy tales has everyone laughing and enjoying the nonsense.
As the evening wears on, the wine runs out and the reminiscences begin to falter. Suddenly, someone says, "Wouldn't it be a hoot to take a whole bunch of mishmashes from all these stores and put them together into a movie?"
The one who had consumed the most wine adds, "And make it into a musical!" That comment was followed by loud guffaws from the more sober of the revelers because they knew it wouldn't make good sense, much less a good movie.
Spend your $7.50 for the matinee of Into the Woods and see for yourself. You'll be wanting your own glass of wine just to make it through the opening scenes 'n songs!
As the evening wears on, the wine runs out and the reminiscences begin to falter. Suddenly, someone says, "Wouldn't it be a hoot to take a whole bunch of mishmashes from all these stores and put them together into a movie?"
The one who had consumed the most wine adds, "And make it into a musical!" That comment was followed by loud guffaws from the more sober of the revelers because they knew it wouldn't make good sense, much less a good movie.
Spend your $7.50 for the matinee of Into the Woods and see for yourself. You'll be wanting your own glass of wine just to make it through the opening scenes 'n songs!
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Mile Marker 70
The letter arrived today from Social Security: time to sign up for benefits.
I read it with a sinking heart as it constantly referred to my milestone birthday coming up soon. There's an offset for teachers in California, so we don't get our benefit on top of our retirement, both of which we've earned through years of hard work. I'm not sure how the offset works, but I know I'm penalized for having both Social Security and a teacher's retirement pension.
The clock is ticking harder and faster, with time whizzing by. Hope I'm ready for the late autumn of my life and make the most of it because winter just ain't far behind!!
I read it with a sinking heart as it constantly referred to my milestone birthday coming up soon. There's an offset for teachers in California, so we don't get our benefit on top of our retirement, both of which we've earned through years of hard work. I'm not sure how the offset works, but I know I'm penalized for having both Social Security and a teacher's retirement pension.
The clock is ticking harder and faster, with time whizzing by. Hope I'm ready for the late autumn of my life and make the most of it because winter just ain't far behind!!
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