Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Life outside the blog


Yes, Virginia, there is life outside the blog.

Sometimes it is exceedingly mundane. Yesterday, for example, I mowed the lawn.

As my friend and co-worker, Sanford J. Epstein of Burlington, Vermont, and Boca Raton, Florida, used to say, “Big whoop.” Sandy was a bit of a big whoop himself, weighing in at 305 pounds. And every St. Patrick’s Day he wore a Kelly green suit to work and modified his badge to read “Sanford J. O’Epstein.” I hadn’t thought about him in a long time.

But I digress.

Since tomorrow is the first day of October, I must pay a bunch of bills today, some of them by going online, some of them by writing checks and putting them in envelopes and adding self-sticking stamps on the envelopes and walking them out to my curbside mailbox and raising the little red flag to alert the mail delivery person to take them, and some of them in person by driving the ten miles into town. Even though this saves stamps, it uses gas, but it is also an opportunity to give Jethro a ride.

Jethro looks forward to going to town with us in the car, because there are several opportunities to receive doggie treats during a trip. He especially likes the drive-up window at the bank, but he is usually disappointed at the drive-up pharmacy and the water department.

People say dogs live in the moment and have no recollection of past events. People, I think, are wrong. Every time we turn off the main road into our subdivision, Jethro knows exactly where he is. Every time we go to the bank, Jethro knows exactly where he is. And every time we go to the drive-up pharmacy and the water department, he continues to hope for the best.

Please do not try to disabuse me of my illusions. Like my dog, they are precious to me.

If only I could find a self-mowing lawn, life would be complete.

10 comments:

  1. Jethro is a fine name along with Choco's. What is Jethro - his name brought to mind "Beverly Hillbillys". Remember that show. Hilarious in its time. Not so now, I would conjecture. Does age diminish our funny bone? BTW, Choco is a chocolate Dachshund. Standard and obese! There are posts back in March of him and Dapple Hope.

    When you find seed for "No-Mo" grass, send me some.

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  2. Never heard of the robomow? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C1enKnHpys

    And I wholeheartedly agree with you that dogs have a recollection of past events.

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  3. duke is obese...oh boy oh boy is he ese..yea know ese, ese.....i have my laptop with me as i mow, by the way, why water grass if you can't eat it, but just water it and it grows and you cut it and then have to water it again and then it grows and then you try to cut it but it is too long and it breaks your mower andyou can't eat it you know

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  4. you remember how i said tha t all ideas of mine become garbage and that was why i quit commenting blogging postin paragraphing sentencing, have you thought any more about that regarding specifically me

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  5. I think Beverly Hillbillies is still funny. But then I'm a dork. I like mowing with my Neuton. Battery powered, light weight, quiet, not hot, doesn't vibrate, don't have to worry about gas or oil, and starts by pushing a button. Fantastic!

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  6. Sissy - I have written at length earlier about Jethro, a registered Havanese. You can read all about him in these four posts. As far as I know, he was NOT named after Jethro on Beverly Hillbillies! That is just his nickname; his real name is far different!

    Carolina in Nederland - A wonderful invention. I think they also make it in a vacuum cleaner.

    Putz (David) - As usual, it is all about you, you, you! But I agree with you, by the way, about the vicious cycle of mowing, watering, mowing, watering, mowing, watering....

    Rosezilla (Tracie) - My mower is electric. I use a 100-foot-long extension cord. So far I have not sliced it into a million pieces.

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  7. How about a camomile lawn? All I know about it is from the book of the same name, so it may be useless infomation. But, on the other hand...

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  8. Of course dogs remember!!

    I have a gasoline-powered, self-propelled (thank goodness)lawnmower. I don't know that my lawn would ever get mowed if I had to actually PUSH one! I guess I'll continue to mow, even if sporadically, until I can't walk anymore. Then... I shall buy a goat and a flock of guinea hens.

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  9. jinksy - A camomile lawn! Now there's a thought. I could stop buying tea at the supermarket altogether and just save my lawn clippings.

    Pat - An Arkansas Stamper - You don't know how much it pains me to think of you herding a goat and a flock of guinea hens around your lawn. The pain is from all the laughing.

    The verification word for this comment is tallob, and my powers of discernment are just sufficient enough to discern that it is ballot spelled backwards.

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

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