Friday, September 15, 2017

Musings

Why do we do what we do? Is there a reason or is it arbitrary. I used to think I knew why I was doing what I was doing but now, I am not so sure.

When I was employed, my activities primarily centered around earning a pay check to meet the mortgage, feed my family, and buy the things we needed, wanted, or desired. Now that I'm retired, it is a different story -- I guess that is what this is all about -- i.e. I'm trying to establish a rationale.

Looking back, I was active in Kiwanis. Was that because I was civic minded? Was it the camaraderie? Was it the activities? Why aren't I still engaged in Kiwanis?

I was active in Scouting but not any more! Basically discontinued my Scouting activities when I was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney disease. The only Scouting activity that I've continued to be involved with is posting or sharing things to Facebook that I run across related to Scouting. If and when I return to good health (i.e., receive a kidney transplant), I will probably become more active in Scouting again.

(originally drafted August 15, 2017)

Happy and Precious

For Father's Day this year(2017)  my wife gave me two rescue dogs. One's name is Happy and the other one's name is Precious. Those weren't the names they had at the kennel but the names they had at the Kennel just didn't seem to fit!


Happy's name at the kennel was Grotle. What does that mean? He came from Arkansas. He is a Shitzu-Pekingese mix. His coloring is white with a slight tinge of blondish brown coloring. He was supposedly born in April 2016. He is a very beautiful (handsome) dog, is very active, has a great outgoing personality and so we renamed him "Happy"! He loves to play and jump up on you when he first greets you -- whether he knows you or not. I am working on trying to keep him from jumping up on people but I don't think I am being too successful. He is  a joy for me and I have to work on admonishing him when he jumps on strangers. He is not completely house broken so when he has accidents, I take him to the spot of the accident, point to it, and tell him bad dog. I give him very little attention for the rest of the day. This seems to be working. I say it seems to be working because he doesn't have accidents as frequently. Plus, we do not give him or Precious free reign of the house.


Precious is a Yorkshire Terrier. The Homeward Bound Rescue Cinic (where we got both Happy and Precious) says she is about 5 years old. They described her as "a cat in a dog's body" which seems to fit her to a "T".  She is very meticulous, grooms her paws all the time, laid back, and more or less goes with the flow. She loves to have her belly rubbed. Happy likes to be cuddled, but Precious doesn't. She would prefer that you leave her alone except when your willing to rub her belly.  Her coloring is a beautiful brownish tan on her head, paws, and backside. The rest of her is a light brownish grey. She is a sweet dog -- hence the name "Precious!" Her name at the kennel was Shellos! Again, not sure where that name came from and she didn't seem to respond to it. She does slightly respond to Precious but not a whole lot.


Needless to say, I love them both. We have had them since Father's day and I love them more and more every day. There are times when I'd rather be sitting home with them rather than going to the Bridge Center or doing anything else. I don't know what that say's about me. I get a lot more exercise with them. I try to walk them in the morning and in the evening however, the evening walks happen more often than the morning walks. We (the dogs and I) spend a lot of time together. If I am on my computer, like now, they sit at my feet. If I am in the family entertainment/game area, Precious usually sits on the sofa net to momma's seat -- if momma is not her, Precious will sit in her seat. Happy usually sits on the floor at my feet or sits in my lap.


These dogs are truly a blessing.