Guest poster: Oskar Goes to the Vet, 1

 

This morning was my turn to go to the vet.  It's a little hard for me to get into the car these days.

 

Once I'm in the car hammock, though, I'm ready to roll.

There was traffic on Three Oaks Road this morning.  Instead of going 45, we were held to 25.  Johanna got a little bit testy.

At the coffee shop (which Johanna was in a hurry to reach), we saw the man who always walks two Pugs.  He only had one today, but it turns out the other one does not like snow so she'd stayed home.  I carried on a conversation with them while Johanna got coffee.

At Sawyer Road we discovered part of the traffic problem.  Red Arrow Highway was loaded up with semi trucks re-routed off of I-94.  Later we heard there had been an accident and the interstate was closed for a while.  Luckily, we do not take the interstate to reach the vet!

Guest Poster: Oskar Goes to the Vet, 2

We arrived at Ani-Med in Bridgman and discovered they are all decked out for the holidays.

Tracy had my favorite room all ready for me. I'm always happy to go into this room because...

...it has a bench that's just my size, looking out into the woods where the squirrels run!

Nicky took me to visit the scale. It's a little noisy, but today I didn't mind because I'm still 78!

 I thought I deserved to take a bow for that!

We went back into the room with the Oskar-sized bench, and I suggested that Johanna put on her coat and we could go, now that we knew I was still 78.

I said "WE CAN GO NOW! HERE'S THE DOOR!" Instead, Nicky came to take me into the back again to give blood. Johanna stayed in the room...

...and read the literature.

Then I came bursting back into the room with the Oskar-sized bench, hoping it was time to go. But no, I could not escape Dr. Mike. I invited him to join me on the Oskar-sized bench, but once he was there I didn't fit.


He poked me in the ears, smelled my breath, and moved my legs all around.

He said I was great except my hips kind of hurt now, but I could take some drugs to feel better. That made me smile, and I said to Johanna "ok, now can we go?" She said there was one more thing.

A treat from Dr. Mike. Because I'm a big boy, I got TWO treats!

On the way out, I signed the guest book.  They do a good job at Ani-Med.

More decorating!

I've noticed that many of my neighbors had outdoor lights up at Thanksgiving! How organized they are! My problem was that I really wanted to improve on the barn wreath I used the first few years I lived here. It was nice, with white lights and a red bow, but it wasn't really large enough. What I need is 5 or 6 feet in diameter. Then I found out how much that would cost. No way! So I thought about building a form. Cut it out of plywood? Form it with PVC? Time was a-wastin', snow was coming.

I decided to skip the wreath this year and go for lights on my little NeBoShone pine.

It sits to the mound side of the barn, a nice distance from the house for viewing. Coming up the road you catch a quick peek of it between the trees, but mostly it's my private holiday sight.

Originally I wanted white lights, but colors were what I had available, so colors it is.

We got a dusting of snow overnight, adding to the soft look of these needles.

As the sky began to lighten this morning, the warm colors of my little NBS pine cheered the yard. Next: the indoor tree!

Guest poster: Ulani - "Tis the Season"

See the pine in my hair? See it there, smack dab in the middle of this mugshot Johanna took? Well, if you're a regular here you probably think "Ulani decided to start decorating for the holidays!" Wouldn't that be cute? But you'd be wrong. Dead wrong. Here's my story.

Lately when we get up in the morning it's very dark outside. The sun doesn't come up for an hour or more. Some days there's moonlight filtering through the snow clouds and anyone can see what's in the yard, but Oskar and I don't need that -- we have our noses. Any critter that's been through our yard has left a scent, and we sniff 'em all.

The past week or so we've smelled rabbit every morning. Don't think Easter Bunny, or Bugs. This is stinkin', stupid rabbit. In the winter they like to make their nests on our septic mound. Then in spring they have babies, and sometimes the babies freeze overnight when the stupid rabbits go off. Oskar and I call those Bun-sicles.

But I digress.

Today, Saturday morning, we got up really early because we went to bed at 8:00 last night. That's no typo -- Johanna was freezing cold and said "let's watch tv in bed!" like it was a big treat. "Let's watch tv in bed and eat popcorn", now that's a treat! But this was a treat-less offer. Of course within twenty minutes she was snoring away, so we went to sleep, too.

Well, when we got up this morning we raced to the door, and when Johanna opened it Oskar and I flew across the grass, looking for the stinkin' rabbit. I smelled it good. And this morning I found it. I chased it across the septic, I chased it through the pine trees, then I caught it and shook it until it went limp. Johanna came outside and called "biscuits!" but I did not go to her. That was a mistake. In poker they call that a "tell" because it shows that something is going on. And how! I was just having the first couple of crunchy chomps when Johanna appeared and took me into custody. That's when I had my mugshot made. With the pine needles in my face.

When we went back outside the stupid rabbit was gone. But I have my memories. 'Tis the season for bunny.

Let the Decorating Begin!

Welcome to December, 2009! The year held so many dark times, I intend to brighten this final month with lights and color. I've only just begun...