Irish Spring

To keep pesky mammals at bay, Irish Spring soap can be added to your garden as an inexpensive repellent, since animals find the stench unpleasant.

SF GATE*

This weekend, being a long one here in Massachusetts on account of the Patriots Day Holiday (which I was surprised to learn had nothing to do with Tom Brady or the multiple Super Bowl winning franchise, but rather to commemorate the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Being Bark Rangers, I am somewhat disappointed that Zoe did not know this fact), we went for a drive around town.

The first stop…well it wasn’t a stop at all since Rainbow Mums Perennials doesn’t open for another week or two…was a plant distribution center where the couple grows all their own plants and are quite proud of this fact. The first time we went was last fall and the one of the owners thought we would be interested in some of their literature. Out of habit, he licked his finger to separate two sheets of paper, recoiled at his non-Covid era behavior, and then handed us another (un-licked) page which we found super informative.

The next stop was the local post-office where Dad was planning on just jumping out to put a letter in the mailbox with our final payment for the slidahs. When we drove up, there was a woman doing Tai-Chi (or some other bizarre exercise you people have come up with) in front of the drop-box, but by the time he had donned his muzzle she was gone. Phew!

Then we were off to our last stop, the elderly couple who have a plant distribution center in their yard.

But first, we passed Kimball – the Ice Cream shoppe in our town. I nearly leaped out the back window when I got a whiff of all those flavors (the first time I’ve smelled them since they shut down for the winter last October…or there abouts). Unfortunately, Mom had a hold of my leash and Dad sped up so the sweet scents of goodness were soon out of reach of my nose. The place was packed – no parking – and per my Mom not great social distancing. Probably ’cause it was so cold? I mean… it did just snow a few days ago… and it hasn’t all melted yet.

When we arrived at the plant selling house, Zoe and I were finally allowed out of the car. Dad had both of our leashes and Mom was tasked with finding some good new flowers for our yard. Immediately, Zoe dragged us to a nearby bench that had a bunch of plants on top. But she (Zoe) was not interested in those but rather the bar of Irish Springs that was underneath. And in a split second it was in her (Zoe’s) maw. Dad, quick to respond – once he understood the circumstances – got the bar of soap out of her mouth and tossed it into the grass behind him. Just so happens I was there and rather intrigued by the odor emanating from the bar – not so appealing as the Ice Cream Shop but still…Who knew Irish Spring could be purple? Then Mom shouted; there is soap all over! Be careful!

Quickly, he put us both on short leashes, grabbed the soap and put in on the bench top.

The Soap

However, despite the actual soap being removed from the grass, the odor was still there and like any good dog, I immediately started rolling and rolling around in the spot where the bar had been (much like I do if I find a recently used cleaning rag or best of all one of those dryer sheet things!).

https://videopress.com/v/uXlppD1J?preloadContent=metadata

Not sure what “mammals” that article was referring to, but Zoe and I were all in for the Irish Spring.

Oh, and for some reason the Kimball ice cream overload (’cause my parents got too much) from last summer disappeared this evening from our freezer…🧐.

Happy Belated Spring everyone,

The Tempest

PS – Mom found some great bluish/purple plants for the garden bed just inside our stone wall. We all agreed that they’ll really POP when in full bloom against the reddish stones.

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*URL: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/use-irish-spring-soap-repel-garden-pests-97701.html

Infield Practice

Lunch. This is a new concept for our pack – well at least us four-legged members. In the past, we would often sit in the kitchen and watch Mom, Dad, or both, eat a meal around noon-time. On these occasions, we may get a little bite of something off their plates or maybe a milk bone (this was before the whole “Zoe getting thin” thing).

Over the past week and a half, this routine has changed on account of us trying to fatten Zoe up and give her smaller meals / get more of her medication per day by feeding her a lunch. For some reason, I do NOT get an extra meal in my bowl but while she eats I have to do infield practice as shown in the below video which we finally got to upload properly (we hope).

https://videopress.com/v/LgHXXJpH?preloadContent=metadata

Lunchtime Drills

As you can see, I get a number of ground “balls” of kibble thrown to my left or right, and a few pop ups. Occasionally, I lose one in the sun streaming through our sky lights but in general I don’t make too many errors – gobbling up pretty much everything thrown my way. And my the picture at the start and end of Zoe’s movie captures my disbelief that she is getting a meal and not me!

At first I thought Dad might be trying to make me a tennis player – as he has been working on trying to finish the Infinite Jest (backhand, forehand, lobs) – but since I never returned his serves, I figured it must be softball training I was undergoing.

In the background, you may be able to hear some off screen noises as Zoe downs her lunch. At first, I was thinking this was extra diegetic sound effects, but then remember I actually heard her chewing away as I was doing my drills so I guess it is ambient “music” for her short film.

The one interesting aspect of this new routine is that “Constellation” starts playing just a minute or two after we return from our midday walk. I think our parents have worked out a scam where as soon as we leave for our short half-mile+ stroll around the block (which given our bathroom breaks and need to sniff around the leaves on the side of the road takes about 15 minutes) my Mom races off her Zoom calls to make Zoe’s lunch and put it in the oven and set the timer before going back to Zooming…hmmm 🧐 – I think I’m starting to catch on to their plot!

The Tempest

Spring Nor’eastah

Sorry about not posting about “Lunch” yesterday. This time, shockingly, it wasn’t due to The Scribes lack of attention, but rather some technical issues with publishing the latest Zoe short.

So, as we try and resolve the issue – which I assume will be completed this weekend – I thought I’d share a short post about the unexpected winter storm we had this afternoon. Well, at least the snow was not what we expected having been told by our parents that the rain that started yesterday, persisted overnight, would continue today.

Instead, mid-morning, it turned into snow. Then shortly thereafter, the snow didn’t just melt on the ground but started accumulating on the ground, the tree branches, and the roofs of our house and garage.

The Start of The Snow Storm

This was about the time we were due for a road trip to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro (made famous by our boy Tom Brady alumni of the University of Michigan and x to the nth Super Bowl champion quarterback). We went there so Mom could get her first vaccination shot. Turns out, the weather was apt for a football game – despite it being mid April.

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Football Weather at Foxboro

After she got her shot she had to sit around for 15 minutes which is when she took the picture of the playing field (no Tom Brady 😢). And then we were back on the road back to Car-lie-lee.

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As you can see, Mom is driving and feeling fine after her shot. About 5 hours later, on an enthralling zoom call, things didn’t go as well for Mom, but we still got dinner so all is well.

Upon our return to our home, we discovered a few interesting things – something we are hoping will continue next winter.

1. The garage roof remained covered in snow.
2. The Tesla/Solar City solar roof was mostly devoid of snow.
3. There were piles of snow just beyond the overhangs of our roof.
4. The continuous sound of car doors closing or someone entering our house as the snow sloughed off the roof.

Well the last two points aren’t something we need next winter but a roof clear of snow will be great for generating solar power after some snow storms. I am thinking that a roof as “slippery as snot” when wet might be to our advantage.

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Zoe’s swimming pool is almost filled up but I suspect it will be a day or so before she goes swimming again – unless she is a part of the polar bear club and never told me!

The Tempest

Constellation

The medication (Viokase-V) that Zoe is taking for her condition (EPI) has caused quite a disruption in our meal time routine. Her medicine provides her with a number of enzymes (Lipase, Protease, Amylase) that her pancreas is no longer making in sufficient quantities to properly digest her food – and thus the rapid weight loss she experienced over the last month or two.

Viokase-V comes as a powder. A single teaspoon is added to her kibble along with some water. One of our parents dons one of their special muzzles that they wear around other people these days (who knew that would be a convenience of the pandemic? Lots of muzzles!) as breathing the stuff is apparently not something one wants to do. With their mouth and nose covered, they add the powder and stir it around in the kibble and water with the goal of coating each bit of food with the enzymes. Then it has to SIT for 15 MINUTES before we get fed!

I pretty much got the routine after the first meal but Zoe, especially in her panic to get food into her system, has not been so patient. There has been some barking at our parents during the “resting” period – especially if Mom dares do any work related thing like checking email (the audacity!). There may have even been exasperated pleas, pathetic looks (big brown eyes gazing at our parents, the oven where the food is stored, or even into empty space), and maybe a few “%**#&$”.

On day 2 of our new routine, Dad and Mom set their timers to chime with the “Constellation” song on their iPhones to signal when breakfast, lunch*, or dinner was finally ready to be eaten. This was chosen to differentiate meal time from when Dad is making bread or something is grilling on the BBQ (“By The Seaside”).

https://videopress.com/v/k7fCenoE?preloadContent=metadata

BTW – Zoe poop updates are still occurring 🙄. Will this never end?!?

The Tempest

*more on lunch tomorrow.

Danish Holiday

Not to be confused with the classic film starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck (Roman Holiday)…this is a story about the day after Easter – or as the Danes call it: Første Påskedag (more of a day off of work to recover from the weekend then an actual holiday – at least that’s how I understand it). Tho I don’t know why anyone would need to recover from the weekend, just sayin’, as my days are pretty much the same other than Mom not being on Zoom on the weekends. Maybe I need to recover from her being with me? That sounds kinda harsh…

The Roman Holiday

Either way, Zoe was all in for the ice cream eating until we reminded her that she is now on a non-fat diet. Not sure if “is” (ice cream) is a traditional dessert on the day after Easter in Denmark. Or piskefløde/flødeskum* (BTW – these are the first words our Mother mastered on her trip to Denmark back in ought 3 when they all celebrated my Michigan grandparents 50th wedding anniversary – which was well before I joined the pack).

*whipping cream/whipped cream (note: another thing Zoe should not be consuming). Once she goes to college she can eat all she wants with the rest of our brethren who have already graduated- but that has to be many years from now.

Denied the fatty treats she so dearly craved, the young girl started her own Monday after Easter tradition: Flour Monday.

Anointed on Flour Monday

Turns out, while watching Dad prep some sourdough bread, he decided to give her a quick pat on the head. Unbeknownst to him his thumb was covered with a bit of bread flour. And thus, possibly a new Pastafarian ritual has been birthed…assuming bread flour can be used in the making of spaghetti 😇.

The Tempest

P.S. we got her medicine today. Zoe finally seems satisfied by one of her meals, similar to all we read on the Intranet from others of the Nation who suffered from the same ailment. Power of the Paws this continues and I get my sister back!

Pica

We got great news late on Friday afternoon from the blood tests the Vet had ordered. Dr. Wilson warned it may take up to a week to get the results but they were reported the very next evening!

As a result of the results we also learned a new acronym and word (or at least a new definition for a word):

EPI: Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (this is what Zoe has). And it doesn’t mean some weird mixing up of the initials for Prince Edward Island. Or an abbreviation for an epinephrine shot-pen-thingy.

Pica: eating inappropriate things (e.g., soap). I had heard this word be used in relation to type setting. Who knew both Dad and Zoe suffer from this disorder.

EPI can develop at any age but can be treated with prescription medicine (Pancrezyme is one of the names) which basically gets added to her food and helps her properly digest her food. The downside to this diagnosis is she no longer can have fatty foods – a fate that seemed untenable to a couple of my aunts (“How do you put on pounds without butter?”, “How would eating be without butter?”). Unfortunately there are some shortages of meds (probably that stuck ship in the Suez canal) so my Mom went into action mode and said “we will get pig pancreas!’ This led to some frantic time on the internet looking for frozen pig pancreas supplies / Dad driving to a store to purchase some (they were out). But our vet called today and said they found a supply of the prescription meds and we should get it tomorrow. Panic subsided…

As it turns out, had we taken a photo of her poops – disgusting as that is – it may have helped the Vet with the diagnosis (see symptom 2 above). This may have also saved Zoe that horrible fasting day when she had her ultrasound/emesis after the (first?) soap event, and the April Fool’s Day joke of not getting her breakfast at the normal time (a necessity for the blood draw).

Hopefully, when she starts her medicine tomorrow, we can stop talking about her poops and the constant reporting between my parents on the consistency, color, etc after each Zoe bathroom break. Dad really is not a big fan of poop conversations in general. Although he does well with puke, where Mom totally fails. Anywhoo, this may come as a surprise to my Uncle S who has commented multiple times that when the Ann Arbor pack all gets together (pre-covid) for a meal, this topic or other matters of bodily functions appear in the dinner conversation.

I apologize to all my readers that I didn’t send out this news sooner. Dad says he suffers from “writers inertia” – which doesn’t make sense to me since I am the author…he is but a mere scribe. It appears that the relatively nice weather this weekend caused him to be distracted with yard work – and then of course there was all that exciting basketball to watch! So, if anything, he has “Scribe ADHD”.

As for the yard work, Zoe and I were allowed out front (on leashes) to assist in the chores. I may have picked up a stick or two but once a couple of our favorite neighbors came by with some potted tulips for Easter, some bread flour (as thanks for the bread Dad has made for them), and TREATS for us; our attention to yard work was shot!!!

The Treat Neighbors live around the corner from the stop sign

Since we’ve tried to keep Zoe from getting any fatty foods she has perked up some – even smiling on a couple of recent walks. I am sure Zoe will be less of a cranky pants when she gets on her meds and starts digesting her food properly. At that point I expect her to finish the couple of movies she has been working on. Can’t wait to see her smiling all the time again:

Except at my expense…

I guess that is all I have for now.

Best wishes to all,

The Tempest