Poetics: Abby, My Old-English Sheepdog

Abby after grooming early February 2012

 Abby and me on Valentine's Day 2012

Abby, My Old-English Sheepdog

My husband picked up Abby's ashes last night
and brought her home
one final time.
The metal box has paw prints on it and was cross-tied
with a soft pink ribbon, topped with a
pink bow like the pink bow
the groomer put on Abby’s head
in her last grooming. It stayed on
until I cut it off to keep
after the vet put her to sleep.
It was her first
and final bow.
(The groomer had always put
bandanas around her neck before that.)

Michael untied the ribbon and opened the lid and
Abby’s ashes were there in a plastic bag that was
strongly cinched
with the metal numbered medallion that followed Abby
throughout the cremation process.
The medallion is charred black
but the number is still readable. The same number
is on the cremation certificate.
(I will put it in Abby’s file with her
puppy-training-completion certificate.)

The plastic bag inside has
a small pink bow attached to it, next to the medallion.
Wow, what are the odds?
I kissed the bag right near
that fragile pink bow.

Michael also brought a dozen
white roses
to me along with Abby. They’re as white
as her beautiful white fur...
all except one that I pointed out as he was grooming them
to put in the vase.  He hadn’t noticed it at the store.
Amazingly, that one has the
slightest hint of pink to it.
I wanted to kiss it, give it
a final bow. Wow.
                                                   MLydiaM ~ March 2012

...my humble attempt written for Translucent Poetics: Writing Spoken Word at dVerse Poets Pub -- in memory of Abby, my favorite dog ever.  (Please visit the link to read the wonderful prompt and submissions by other poets.)

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Mag 105 -- phone booth on the playa

There is a phone booth situated on a semi-desolate playa, in the middle of nowhere, really, because the lights visible against the mountains on the horizon are far away in another state of mind. There is no phone inside the booth and the location obliterates cell phone coverage. Still, it stands as a beacon for late-night communicators. Knowledge of the phone booth's existence is passed from one communicator to another not by word-of-mouth, but from state of mind to mind. Only the most sensitive among us will ever be privy to its playa power but for those who are nothing in life will ever be as welcome or astonishing as what happens there.

The Operator always knows who arrives at the booth and who the caller is longing to talk with once again. Neon collages, depicting the caller's memories of the loved one who has passed, appear on the glass walls as the connection is made and their lifetimes together are displayed in changing holograms for the two late-night communicators. For some, it is a dizzying circus of the senses. Others have found complete redemption there. The loneliest have been known to return night after night until madness sets in. The most grateful visitors find fulfillment. A few have passed beyond peace and disappeared onto the dark playa, needing nothing more from this life.

This is how to get there:

Written for The Mag (top image by Eric Mahoney) with a heart full of sorrow, as the health of our dear Old English Sheepdog, Abby, failed so suddenly this week and she left us on Feb. 23. What I wouldn't give to be able to communicate with her, to squeeze her one more time....

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I am behind visiting your blog because.....

Valentine's Day was a very good one at our house this year. It was our 18th one together, which seems amazing to me because I never thought I would be with anyone this long. It is not easy, but what blazing adventure ever is easy? I don't have the art of relationship or marriage figured out at all. But I do know this. It is important to pause and pay attention to the soul living with you, to recognize how your partner is changing, to listen, and to laugh together. This week while my husband has some vacation time we are attending to the closeness between us, a shared space of the heart.

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Pet Thankfulness and a way to help pets in need

My dogs, Abby and Bonbon, are thankful for each other and for their happy, loving home with us and their cats.

The following is republished from PR Newswire:

What is Your Pet Thankful for This Thanksgiving?

Share Your Pet's Tale of Thanks, "Like" the Petcentric Facebook Page, And Purina Will Donate $1, Up to $50,000, to Adopt-a-Pet.com

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- At Thanksgiving Day feasts across the country, families pause to reflect on the many things they are thankful for, and for millions of people that includes their pets.  This year, Nestle Purina PetCare® is looking at this holiday tradition in a different way – from the pet's point of view.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111121/LA10626LOGO)

Beginning on Thanksgiving Day, pet lovers are invited to visit the Petcentric by Purina Facebook page and share what their pet is thankful for.  Stories of gratitude will be accepted until Nov. 27, and for each "like" of the Petcentric Facebook page Purina will give thanks to pet rescue shelters by donating $1, up to $50,000, to Adopt-a-Pet.com.  Adopt-a-Pet.com is the largest non-profit homeless pet adoption website in North America*.

"Pet lovers show their appreciation for their pets every day, and on this special day of thanks we'd like to know what they think their pets are thankful for," said Danielle Behan, senior brand manager, Purina brand.  "This is a fun way to engage pet lovers and to support a great organization, Adopt-a-Pet.com, in its mission of finding forever homes for pets."

The program will be highlighted during the National Dog Show Presented by Purina®, which is scheduled to air at noon (local time in all time zones) on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, on NBC, following the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Actor and National Dog Show co-host John O'Hurley will appear in a video during the telecast that features his four-legged friend Tater Tot and explores what the pup is thankful for at Thanksgiving.   

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the National Dog Show Presented by Purina.  NBC launched the two-hour special in 2002 and it became an immediate hit with viewers, more than quadrupling TV ratings for that time slot from previous years.  Nearly 20 million people tune into the show each year, making it a genuine family holiday tradition and America's most widely viewed dog show**.  Some 2,000 of the nation's top dogs encompassing more than 160 breeds will compete for "Best in Show" this year.

The Petcentric Facebook page, located at www.facebook.com/petcentricbypurina, is an online community where pet lovers get together every day to share their love for their dogs and cats.

Adopt-a-Pet.com has more than 1.7 million unique site visitors each month and assists more than 11,000 animal shelters and humane societies find homes for their pets*.


About Nestle Purina PetCare Company

The North American headquarters for Nestle Purina PetCare is located at Checkerboard Square in St. Louis, Mo., where it was founded as Ralston Purina Company more than a century ago.  Nestle Purina PetCare promotes responsible pet care, humane education, community involvement and the positive bond between people and their pets.  One of the leading global players in the pet food industry, Nestle Purina PetCare is part of the Swiss-based Nestle S.A., the world's largest food company.  Visit www.purina.com.

*Source: Adopt-a-Pet.com

**Source: NBC

SOURCE Nestle Purina PetCare Company

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The Crystal Butterfly Lovers

Jack Frost
                -by Helen Bayley Davis

Someone painted pictures on my
     Windowpane last night --
Willow trees with trailing boughs
     And flowers, frosty white,

And lovely crystal butterflies;
     But when the morning sun
Touched them with its golden beams,
     They vanished one by one.

* * *

I took this video of Abby and Bonbon (both ten-years-old) in our back yard on Thursday--our one day of falling snow this winter. It did not last long, but it was enchanting. The three giant Sequoias seemed pleased to welcome "crystal butterflies" where, in a few months, other butterflies of various colors and sizes will settle onto the boughs for sheltered naps on hot days.



Music (my latest favorite classical CD):  "Lagrimoso" movement from The Butterfly Lovers - Concerto for Violin, by Gang Chen and Zhanhao He. Gil Shahan-violin, Lan Shui-conductor, Singapore Symphony Orchestra


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Old English Sheepdog posing as couch potato

Michael took these shots of Abby last week when I was away from the house. She has cozy dog pads on the living room rug for lounging during the day and is not usually allowed on the couch. Today, however, if she wants to I will let her sleep there while I continue painting the kitchen/office and while Michael puts in yet another weekend day at the office. I think we all need a day at the beach soon, that is what I think, and I think Abby is dreaming of that too.

For those of you who don't know how Abby came into our lives here is Abby's Story (it includes a photo of us at the Oregon coast)...

Paul McCartney has raised Old English Sheepdogs for years, loves them dearly, and wrote Martha my dear about one of his favorites...

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Abby is our Old English Sheepdog

Mike put this video together last summer of our Old English Sheepdog, Abby, but she's enjoyed the same spot in the sun this summer. It's her favorite place to nap during the day.

Abby had her ninth birthday recently. Some of you may remember my earlier post, Abby's Story, about our bringing her into our family via a Rescue group. There was the saddest loss in the group this past May. Steve Schott died suddenly. He was the man who fostered Abby not once, but twice, and who, as president of Texas Old English Sheepdog Rescue, was instrumental in the vitality of the group . We still miss his calls and emails. The last time we spoke on the phone he lamented, "You know, some of the first Sheepies that I placed into homes are beginning to die." But there are many Sheepies all across the United States still living their lives happily with families who rescued them, all because of Steve. He had a heart full of love and compassion, and I think of him often when I look at our precious Abby. What a great legacy.

• If you'd like to know more about the wonderful organization where we found Abby click here for Texas Old English Sheepdog Rescue.

• Once there, please notice the special memorial page for the wonderful Steve Schott.

• Also, if any of my readers are in the Houston, Texas, area please consider the special appeal for a foster home for a dog named "Tank." If you can help out, or know anyone who can, well ..... that would be super.

• There are rescue groups for nearly any breed of dog. And don't forget your local animal shelter, where many dogs and cats await homes...or would appreciate your time as a volunteer.

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Make Our Garden Grow

You've been a fool and so have I
But come I'll be your wife
And let us try before we die
To make some sense of life
We're neither pure nor wise nor good
We'll do the best we know
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow
And make our garden grow

I thought the world was sugar cake
For so our master said
But now I'll teach my hands to bake
Our loaf of daily bread
We're neither pure nor wise nor good
We'll do the best we know
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow
And make our garden grow

Let dreamers dream what worlds they please
Those Edens can't be found
The sweetest flowers
The fairest trees 
Are grown in solid ground
We're neither pure nor wise nor good
We'll do the best we know
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow
And make our garden grow
-from Candide






We planted our small garden last weekend. It seems late but it was our best timing given the extremely wet month of May. I read that because of the kind of spring we've had it actually isn't too late to put in a garden in this valley.

We bought a lot behind and to the side of our house in 2001 from the woman who intended to quarter her property and sell off the three empty lots for development (one quarter contains the house next door where she'd lived for decades). We're not talking large lots here, and if we hadn't saved the one next to us three giant Sequoias would have been sacrificed for a small house and garage. That is indeed what happened to the two other empty lots, and one contained a fourth Sequoia that, when felled, shook the entire block. A neighbor teenage girl methodically counted the 77 rings on that tree, and since the survivors were the same size we knew their age too. It's more than an honor to share our time here with these three giants who will be 80 years old this year.

There's a clearing in the lot that gets sun most of the day in the summer and that's where we planted our garden. It's next to the old potting shed that came with the lot. The shed enchants me and I think it holds a lot of promise but we haven't done anything with it yet except to store potting and yard supplies, and shelter stray cats.

Abby was our only pet to show interest in the creation of a garden. She lay down in between the garden space and the potting shed and supervised our work. The three of us had a beautiful day!

The experience over the weekend reminded me of "Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide by Leonard Bernstein. I tested many YouTube videos today and there are some marvelous versions of the song. But this one by Barbra Streisand was the only to get to the heart of us, Mike and me, and our days in the sun together.

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