Monday, July 30, 2007

The Sound of Pee is Like Pavlov's Bell



For years now I've avoided saying the word "walk" in my house. As in "lets go for a ..." or "its time for a ..." because the dogs would invariably go crazy. Or so I thought. I'd say to whoever, "lets get ready for a W" instead. So that the animals wouldn't know yet what we were doing and we'd have time to get the leashes, poop bags, cookies etc and not have three large animals running around like crazy because they'd know it was walk time. And whenever someone would ask why we said W and not walk, I'd patiently explain to them the reasons.

But one day someone pointed out to me that I'd said the word walk at least three times in conversation about something else and that none of the dogs had reacted at all. So I tried it, "walk" I said. Nothing. "Lets go for a ..." using that tone of voice we all use. Nothing. "Walkies!!!" Nothing. I tried "Ready!!??" Still no reaction. This was so strange. My older dogs that I'd had in the past had all known what the word Walk had meant. I know this, its why I now never said the word Walk. Thats when I clued in that this was the reason these new dogs (ages 5, 4 and 1 1/2) didn't react to the word, they'd never HEARD it before. I also knew though that they did get very excited when it was walk time, so what was it that prompted this? It wasn't the word Walk, that was for sure. Now that I was paying attention I quickly found out.

That evening when walk time came around I was busy getting ready for our walk but before I did anything else I went down the hall and into the bathroom and when I started to, ahem, go... all heck broke out. Excited dogs ran everywhere. This was the cue. Oh my gosh!!! The sound of pee, it's like Pavlov's Bell.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Walk with your dog!!

I have one of those Ipod/NIKE sport attachments so I do all these walk/run challenges. Anyone out there who likes that kind of thing can join in one of my challenges through my blog page. It's a new thing I didn't know about. Cool. By the way, I've never even come close to winning one of these, LOL. But we do (my 3 dogs and I) go the distance!!!


Sunday, July 15, 2007

Re-reading the Past - Part 2

Hmm. Really got me delving into all this old poetry I've found of mine. So I'm going to include some more. Two more pieces that caught my eye. The first one was published in 1979 and did cause some comment as to whether "one night stands" were a good thing or not for women, emotionally.

The second was a lullaby, albeit a sad one for my best friend Joy, a single mom's, new born daughter Michelle. Poor thing did not end up doing well in life, I wish we could see the future so as parents we'd know exactly when to step in, but all we can do is be there when they fall.

Untitled - written and published in 1979

he lies beside me
quietly sleeping
an arm out flung
slightly tousled hair
damp from pleasant exertions

I lie beside him
restless, wide awake
gazing intently at his face
so sweet in sleep

who is this man
and who this woman
together for a night
and who will they be
together, apart?
at dawns first early light

restless stirrings deep inside me
longing, doubts and fears
quietly so as not to wake him
I cry silent salty tears

for love, for hope, for innocence lost
for past mistakes and uncertain days ahead
for wanting not just one night
but a whole lifetime instead


Song for Michelle - written in 1980

child of the future
I'm a child of the past
still in your mothers arms
and yet you might ask

what will the future bring
Lord, wish I knew
If I could comfort me
then I might comfort you

dreams of beginnings
and scenes from the end
all your tomorrows
are yesterdays best friend

young schemer, of dreams untold
tell me what you see
for I am much to old
there's no more dreams for me

if wisdom and youth could blend
your fears I would deny
but life passes over us
you reach, sometimes you fly

so reach child, life up your arms
and hold on till its done
and if you stumble, so did we all
before we learned to run

child of the future
I'm a child of the past
still in your mothers arms
and yet you might ask

what will the future bring
Lord, wish I knew
If I could comfort me
then I might comfort you

If I could comfort me
then I might comfort you

Monday, July 09, 2007

Re-reading the Past

Came across poetry I'd written a gazillion years ago and kept. It was funny reading all of those poems from up to 30 years ago. Boy are teenagers moody LOL. There was one though that I think was a little futuristic reading it now, so I thought I'd share it, I wrote it in 1981.


1.
When I was just a tiny lad
I'd sit upon my fathers knee
and beg him tell me stories made of
fairy tales and history

I noticed even then it seemed
that as he spoke he also dreamed
with eyes that shon with unshed tears
as he took us back through long gone years

the tales he spun of long ago
of snow white doves and buffalo
of seals that swam in icy waters
and of the sons and of the daughters

and of the men who tamed the land
and I thought it sounded oh so grand
because I didn't understand the price we had to pay
my father knew I'd understand someday

The young man that I came to be
saw not the land and not the sea
nor the quiet darkening of the sky
the absence of night sounds by and by

but as I walked the beach one day
I heard an unfamiliar sound
and turning to look on an oil bound sea
saw a creature almost familiar to me

as memory recalled the name
I felt a fear arise within
and it struck me then that what we'd gained
couldn't ease the emptiness of what remained

I stood and watched the struggling bird
and I couldn't lift a hand
for as I watched his fight for life
I finally saw the land

and I saw the future I'd thought so bright
reflected in a man made light
and heard the warning from my fathers knee
that for to many years I failed to see

suddenly with a triumphant cry, the struggling bird pulled free
and crying still I understood, what this sight was meant to be
but the pain was to great and I turned away
who could I tell and what could I say

so I turned my back and I quickly walked away

as the last bird cried
spread his wings and took to the sky
and the wind mourned his passing
and hushed, with a sigh
that sounded like a word
and it was "why"

2.
the years sped by to soon it seemed
I was trapped inside my own lost dreams
the sight I saw so long ago
the light I'd seen but then let go

the oily slick on the oceans brow
that small trapped bird escaped somehow
to heights so long unseen by man
up through the smog that covered the land

and now I have my own small lad
who asks me "daddy please,
tell me of when birds covered the skies
and fish filled all the seas"

and now my own eyes cloud with tears
as I dream my way back through the years
and pray that my own son will do right
and not turn away but stand and fight

and not close his eyes when he sees the light
I saw the light and I turned away
and the vision I saw still returns today
as I saw the last bird lift, and fly away

and the last bird cried
spread his wings and took to the sky
and the wind mourned his passing
and hushed, with a sigh
that sounded like a word
and it was "why"