It is really nice to be able to take more walks with Mom. When the rain breaks (there has been a lot of it this week), we ‘saddle up’ as she calls it, and stroll along the lane.
It is nice to see so many spring flowers, like the rootbeer iris, blooming in the yard. We are eating a lot of grass. Mom thinks it is because this early grass tastes really sweet and we are not about to argue.
The only challenge lately with all this walking is that tons of people we never knew lived in our neighborhood are out with children and bicycles and even worse, puppies!!! Our walks are not the quite strolls that Mom likes. Now they are fraught with having to turn around halfway down the street because dogs we don’t know with people who can’t seem to control them are barrelling towards us. We aren’t always the friendliest to strangers (we have to protect Mom, you know).
They locked down her Assisted Living community a few weeks ago because of COVID-19. No one there has it, thankfully. There are over 450 residents and tons of workers. Grammie is served her meals in her room and is only limitedly allowed to go out in the hall. She is not happy because she can’t go down to the gym and do her little bicycle machine, which she was doing every day until this happened. At almost 95, even a little movement helps keep her legs from swelling and atrophy setting in.
Mom dropped off a care package Sunday, to the security desk, before they locked the campus to any traffic. Grammie called immediately to tell us that she was so excited and that it felt like Christmas. We loaded 2 big canvas bags with tons of crackers, pretzels, candy, cereal, lotions, soaps, personal stuff, and we even made a big album of family pictures. Grammie doesn’t see very well, so the pictures were really big. She especially liked the ones of me.
Please make sure to reach out to your seniors by phone so they feel less alone during this isolation period. Even just a short hello can make them feel thought of and valued.
This post means a great deal more to me than just a fun picture with 4 of my zoo. If you look closely, it shows the personalities of each animal.
Louise: Always pawing at me. She knows she can’t be on the couch but she finds ways to get as close as she can by having a paw on me. She seems to be saying ‘Please, Mommy, I was here first. Pet me!,’ and I do. She is the quiet leader of the pack.
Sofie: The bundle of anxiety that is always at my feet. Through it all, she seems to have that mischievous smile whenever you snap a picture. She is loving that Mommy is home all the time now, but, as you can assume, it has made any separation all the harder for her.
Mini Cooper: On my lap 24/7 these days. When she isn’t on my lap, she is meowing for me to sit down, so she can be on my lap, or my hip, or my keyboard…
Charles: Next to you but not on you. Wanting to be the center of attention, but knowing he is small and has to share with all these big animals. He has gotten very vocally demanding these days and that little yip can go right through you. He is pouting in this shot, as he is prone to do because he wants his 3rd supper (he is the most food demanding mugwump ever).
And then, of course, there is me. Currently hiding from the world so that I don’t catch this horrible COVID-19 virus. The animals are my social distancing, especially when I am out walking them. I am one of those ‘vulnerable’ people they keep talking about. I am one of the ones that, if this thing hits, the potential is that it will take me down hard.
Please STAY HOME if you can. If you can’t, follow the rules about washing your hands and keeping your distance. And, for my sake, if you have not been isolated for 14 days with no symptoms, please stay away. That is how we show love and respect in the age of COVID-19.
Thank you to all the first responders, the front line medical workers, the animal caretakers, the grocery store and essential services clerks, the people that keep the warehouses stocked so that things get shipped, and the transportation crews that keep the supply chain going. We will get through this, even though we have to do it #separatelytogether.
I am used to Nine stealing Louise’s bed. He does it often. And Lulu usually doesn’t mind. She sleeps on the carpet instead.
But for some reason, Lulu decided she wanted to be in her bed even if Nine was there. This is something I have never seen before at the DogDaz Zoo. Especially because there is another dog bed right next to that one that Louise could have settled into. They never cease to amaze me.
When Mom was a kid, she got both Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays off separately as school holidays. It is not fair that someone in the government decided to combine them into one holiday instead of two. We want both days off!!!!
Well, if we can’t get both days off can we get every other Friday?
Happy birthday, George and Abe! We appreciate the February break. Mom gets a 3 day weekend which means: EXTRA WALKS! Yahoo!!
Louise before seeing MoJo – Louise when she sees MoJo
Louise’s love is the boy next door, his name is Mojo Rising (he is a big handsome black lab). Louise has loved Mo since she first laid eyes on him: he was 2 she was a puppy. So many years later they still have a thing for each other, except now it is a familiar sniff and a little extra wag in the tail. Louise doesn’t warm up to many dogs, but he is the wind in her sails.
Here is yet another in the series of ‘this cannot be comfortable!’ I really don’t try to overthink why the animals do what they do but, this just can’t be comfortable, Sofie.
Feel free to add your pictures to the series of ‘this cannot be comfortable’ in the comments.
It is really nice to be able to take more walks with Mom. When the rain breaks (there has been a lot of it this week), we ‘saddle up’ as she calls it, and stroll along the lane.
DogDaz Zoo 