This past week on a couple of our walks we came across some interesting creatures hanging out in our neighbor’s yards. The first one, a chicken – possibly with the name Debbie – is one we smell almost everyday since we pass the yard where it lives on most of our lunchtime strolls. This time, we had visual (or our parents did) confirmation that she was just on the other side of the fence. However, to be honest, this was the second time they had seen her but the first was a time her owner was holding her and petting her as he looked with her over the fence – which my parents thought was a bit odd … but hey, we are in California!
The second sighting was of a cormorant in our next door neighbor’s front yard – which we thought was kinda odd as the ocean or bay are a little ways away. Zoe was at a loss of what to do – try and catch it for dinner or just follow Mom home for her Zoezyme kibble. When she got to the end of her leash and was still a long way from the bird she decided on the kibble since this time she knew she wasn’t going to be able to pull her Mom through the sand and into the ocean given she was now standing on cement.
Mom and Dad were kind of concerned that the cormorant was ill. So, as we were eating, Dad went back to check on the bird. Turns out it could fly … although not the most graceful of takeoffs.
Zoe’s interest in trying to capture and presumably eat it is in stark contrast to the pictures we got of “Nike” who we heard about on a family text trail. Turns out, she was very concerned for this little baby robin who had apparently fallen from its nest. According to the story, she obsessed about the lost little one even when she was taken back inside. We are all hoping the robin can survive until it is able to fly – well that is except for my cousin Erik… and Zoe 🤣.
Or was it, as my Farmor suggested, she was just wondering what the little thing was doing with her stick!
As for me, I prefer a little chew on my Nalgene wishbone!
“Don’t worry about a thing. ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright.”
Bob Marley and the Wailers
This afternoon, after mom finished with her Zoom meetings, we all piled into the car on a bread delivery run. First was to the campus of Stanford University where we have been going a lot more since Dad started biking there a few times a week.
After loaf one was dropped off with one of his coworkers. we headed down the grove of fleas street that runs from basically our house to the house of one of my parent’s friends who they met in Portland, then hung out with when we all lived in Illinois, and now out here on the west coast again. Actually, from the stories I’ve heard, it was the mother of this family (they have two kids) that was the reason my parents actually got married as she set the date at the Chicago Botanic Garden…although that has nothing to do with this story. Maybe some time The Scribe will tell that story but for now I’ll get us back in our car cruising north on Alemeda de Las Pulgas toward San Mateo.
Somewhere up in the hills, maybe in the Sugarloaf neighborhood, on some narrow roads Zoe spotted three little Shelties (they looked like little mini collies to me) wandering down a driveway. The three of them were looking at each other like: “what do we do now? which way should we go?”. This behavior Zoe determined was against the rules…a breakout. If there is one thing Zoe doesn’t abide by is dogs not behaving (she actually gets mad at bikes who don’t follow the rules, too). So, Mom quickly grabbed the handle on her harness to restrain her from going after them, or redirecting her aggression toward her sister.
Since the road was narrow, we couldn’t pull over right away to convince the wee dogs that they should stay home so we continued on to the next corner and turned off the road. Dad could see all three of them headed our way, so he parked the car, put the hazard lights on (and the car in Dog Mode), and headed out to try and get them to turn around.
As he approached them, one readily came up to him and let him grab her by the collar. One of the other stood back and barked, while the third circled around him and his sibling. There was a number on her collar that he tried to call but the number was not in service so he decided to try and corral them back to the driveway where we all first saw them. They all more or less followed him back the few houses to their house. At the foot of the driveway, which, although, was relatively steep, he could see that the front door was slightly ajar. He told the three of them to go inside. The “Barker” immediately went in to defend his turf quickly followed by the “Circler”. The remaining pup hung around Dad’s feet for a minute or so and then with a little encouragement went inside. Dad closed the door behind them and then knocked to see if an owner was home. Just as he was about to leave the door opened and the owner stepped out and Dad explained the door was open and the man’s dogs were down on the street. He thanked us and when Dad finally got back up the hill he climbed in the car and told us the story I just related to you.
Sometimes, timing makes everything alright.
The Tempest
*sorry for the lack of photos. Dad forgot to take any pictures while in pursuit. I keep telling him not to forget to document these events for my blog but he most have forgotten…again. In lieu of any actual photos, I’ll share the video of the song quoted at the beginning of this blog that I found on YouTube.
The day started with Dad deciding to stay home, make some cookies, do some chores and then take me to my annual vet visit for my series of shots and snot shooters. Part one went well – the results 12 HUGE chocolate packed, salt sprinkled, sourdough cookies:
This was the second time he attempted to make these. The last time, he left one in a ” Welcome to CA gift bag” for one of our friends at her AirBnB in Palo Alto so she had something to look forward to after her cross country flight. Unfortunately, all that was left in her bag was a bottle of water and a mangled bunch of chocolate in a ripped zip locked bag….oh, and a very angry squirrel who was yelling at her as she looked questioningly at her gift (legend has it that she could smell chocolate on the little critters breath as he scolded her for taking away his treats).
This time, Dad pulled the new batch out of the oven shortly before lunch time and set them at the back of the counter to cool. While they sat there chilling, he was busy asking the people at Google where the Women’s European Cup was being played (the Danish women having just beat the Finnish team in their soccer match which made FarMor very happy). This search was interrupted by the rustling of parchment paper in the kitchen. Dad “quickly” ran into there to find Zoe starting in on her second cookie (and these are BIG cookies with lots of chocolate, as I have already mentioned).
Knowing that us pups aren’t supposed to eat any chocolate – and especially not dark chocolate – he immediately called the emergency vet to ask if she needed to come in. While on hold, he placed the racks on the top of the cabinets which nearly touch the ceiling (note to self: next time he bakes, remind Dad to put the racks up there immediately). After talking to the receptionist, it was determined we had better come in and induce Zoe to vomit so she would not be able to metabolize much of the chocolate, the metabolite being what makes us sick. Now remember, this is just about lunch time – one of three favorite times in Zoe’s day. But off we went to the vet before any of us ate anything.
We arrived at the emergency vet in about 15 min and they took her straight to the back room to work their magic. I sat next to Dad in the waiting room looking at the door she went through.
We were hoping for a quick turn around so we could get back home for lunch with one of Mom’s new coworkers who was in from MA – and who naturally really wanted to meet Zoe and I. So we sat at the edge of our seats ready to take off ASAP.
Then about an hour passed and Mom and Sarah (that’s Mom’s new coworker/friend’s name) had finished their lunches and were headed back to work…later we heard they had some very funny stories and adventures of their own but since I wasn’t there I can’t really tell you what went down, only that they had a lot of laughs over it. Anyhow, with this news we sat back in our chairs and waited. And waited. Finally, Dad and I went across the room to the reception desk to ask about when Zoe might be ready to leave. While waiting to talk to her, we heard Zoe barking in the back room which made us feel better. Soon we were told that they had caused her to puke up some chocolate and that the Doctor would call us and let us know how it went, what we should do going forward, etc. but she couldn’t tell us when that would be. So more waiting. Some of the time was spent walking around outside so I could get some sniffs and chances to mark trees and what not.
I almost forgot. While we were waiting, I made a new friend. Here I am saying hello to her for the first time. By the time Zoe was finally released – with a camel pack* – I had shaken hands with her three times!
Finally, around 3:30, Zoe and her camel pack of subcutaneous fluids which they gave her to try and help her to urinate out any possible metabolites she may have already generated, was ready to go. This timing turned out to be pretty fortuitous since my vet appointed was at 4 PM and was not far away from where we were. So we hightailed it over there not stopping for food or water.
This visit when remarkably fast relative to Zoe’s trip. I heard later that she was not pleased that another patient was receiving treats from their owner while I was out of the room. Turns out we were all hungry and Zoe and I were also suffering from missed afternoon naps!
We got back to our house just around dinner time which made us all very happy. That is until Dad read the discharge papers given to him when Zoe was released. Ignore the yellow line, the important part is the information following DIET:
“Withhold food for the next 4 hours” ?!?!?!
That would mean dinner at like…I was too hungry and tired to do math so I am just going to say a time WAY after when we normally eat. This was not going to sit well with Zoe – or me.
Turns out, despite spending a lot of time shouting to the neighbors about the abuses her parents were putting her through, she would spend some time sitting quietly and ever hopeful.
We did eventually eat a regular sized meal and all was well with Zoe’s belly …however I puked up something in the middle of the night which wasn’t related to my shots – guess I was looking for some attention?
In the end, all turned out fine, but those turned into some really expensive cookies!
Today, while packing up for work, Dad loaded some cookies in his backpack for his new coworkers and Zoe actually looked like she was afraid of them. She slinked into the other room and kept eyeing the backpack. Could she have actually learned???? Will she stop counter surfing now? Only time will tell I guess.
The Tempest
PS – I decided to include the rest of the discharge paper because I thought it had some interesting information.
Each week we have a list of chores that we need to complete in order to get our allowance…which, come to think of it, we are still waiting for. Despite this, we diligently perform our tasks; some of which occur on a daily basis. For instance: cleaning the dinner plates before they go into the dishwasher. You’ve seen in previous posts how good we are at this – working together to make sure it is clean enough to just put back in the cupboard. Even though they could go back on the shelf they always make at least one pass through the dishwasher.
Which brings me to tonight’s installment of: Oh No You Didn’t Zoe….
“What? I wasn’t in the dishwasher. Why do you ask?” Zoe.
Today was a beautiful sunny day here in MP, so we thought: Why not take a trip to the coast and enjoy the beach for a few hours!?!
However, when we got there, it was like we ended up in Scotland – or at least it reminded Mom of her academic year on that wee bit of land.
We still ended up having a blast (more on that later), but apparently the best was yet to come.
When we got back in MP we stopped by our local fish monger and Dad bought two live crabs for our dinner! Well, actually our dinner was still kibble and water (with some Zozymes added to my sisters bowl for her condition).
However, after our meal and some bits of crab that may have fallen on the floor accidentally as Mom was making the pasta and Dad was pulling the meat out from under the carapace which Zoe and I quickly consumed.
And then, when my parents finally finished their repast, we had our our opportunity to clean the plates…which we did with sisterly seafood splitting… and satisfaction!
Montana Moments 