Right Up Front

           I want you to know right up front that this letter blog almost didn’t happen.

          Almost.

          “What’s going on, Peg?” you ask.

          In my life, not much.

          And what little is happening could be summed up in a page or two. I was thinking that my time could be better spent doing something else rather than sitting here, in front of my computer, trying to put together a little something-something that wouldn’t embarrass me and at the same time let you know how precious you are to me.

          “What would you be doing otherwise?” you wanna know.

          Probably painting. I’ve got some commission work that needs to be done before Easter — which I thought was a week from today.

          My beautiful friend Joanie has asked for a double-sided porch sign. Easter on one side, summer on the other. I’ve got Easter done, thanks to the help of my cute little redheaded artist-sister, Diane. She gave me some tips to improve it. Some I took, some I didn’t. But I’m happier with it now than I had been.

          The other side is an amalgamation of the summer actives in the Grover household. Swimming with the grandkids, barbequing, and s’mores over a campfire. I expect to need at least two days to paint it, possibly three. And with Easter only five working days away, and me with another commission that has to be done by Easter, I didn’t think I’d have it done in time.

          “Do you want your sign now so you have time to enjoy it before Easter?” I asked Joanie. “You can give it back after Easter and I’ll finish it.”

          “What if you keep it until it’s done?” Joanie asked.

          The other commission is going to be a gift to family members who live out of the area. Robin, another beautiful lady from my church, is planning to make the four-hour drive down to Lancaster, a half-way point where the gathering’ll take place, and she needs to have the sign by Friday before Easter.

          “What’s it gonna be?” you wanna know.

          Oh, my gosh! I have it designed already and it’s going to be so stinkin’ cute! It’s going up in an ice cream store and it’ll have a quote, “Ice cream soothes the soul,” an ice cream cone, and the cutest little pig you ever saw. I’m thinking I’ll need at least three days to paint it but want to give myself extra time in case I need it. That just isn’t going to give me enough time to finish Joanie’s sign.

          Luckily, I pulled up the calendar and discover I’ve got two weeks before Easter!

          Whew!

          I can finish Joanie’s sign and get it to her and still have time to get Robin’s done.

          Now, porch signs aren’t the only commitment I’ve made for Easter gifts. Miss Rosie ordered three stained glass bunny butts last year to give as gifts this year. So, that means I’ll have to squeak out a day to make them.

          All y’all know that my cats are good hunters.

          “Cats that are hungry hunt better than cats that are well fed,” someone recently told me.

          I have to disagree. In theory that sounds resonable but my cats have access to food any time they want it. They’re not hungry. At least not for the fare at my house. I’m guessing fresh game just plain tastes better.

          This week I looked out the kitchen window and saw Blackie batting something around. I watched as he batted it into the weeds. When he came back out without it, I thought maybe the mouse got away from him. I went out to investigate. It wasn’t hard to spot the white belly of the dead mouse laying there.

          “You’re such a good kitty,” I told Blackie, stroked his head, and walked away.

          On a morning love call to my neighbor Sally, she said, “Tell Blackie not to leave his feathers on my porch. I guess he got a bird. It was a black one so that’s okay.”

          What can I say to that?

          “I’m not crazy about them getting the birds either. They get ‘em over here and I know that down at the Kipps’ their cat gets birds, too.”

          Here’s Blackie hiding behind a tipped patio chair waiting to ambush some unlucky guy.

          Keeping the bird population in check is what the cats do.

          Mike has discovered we have a whistle pig making his home on the bank of the barn. Mike is unhappy about that so we’ve set a live trap to try and catch him. I’ve been checking the trap twice a day but because there’s nothing to camouflage it with, we haven’t caught him yet.

          I’ve been taking Raini with me. After we check the trap, we walk over and check out the pond.

          Raini is so funny.

          She waded right in. It’s got to be cold. Her muzzle dips under the water once, twice, and the third time she came up with a mouthful of greenery. 

          I laughed at her.

“You silly girl!”

          She turned and looked at me, weeds dripping from her mouth.

          Her fishing expedition continued as we walked the banks of the pond. 

          On the way home we found a skull. I think it’s probably a possum. It still had a piece of skin hanging on it. Raini picked it up.

          “Drop it,” I told her and she did.

          I picked it up. One of these days I’m going to get around to painting it.

          We start for home and I see Raini proudly trotting along beside me, the piece of possum hide hanging from both sides of her mouth.

          “Drop it!” I commanded. She did. As soon as I start to walk away, she grabs it again. “Drop it!” I told her again and she did. “Leave it!” I told her but as soon as I turned to go, she picked it up again. It was just much too much of a temptation for her. Rather than continue to fight, I picked it up and draped it in the fork of a tree.

          Some battles aren’t worth waging.

          Speaking of Raini...

          She got into with Bondi this week. It’s been a while since we’ve had any squabbles of this magnitude.

          I was at my desk and I’d just given them both a treat. A few crumbs fell to the floor but I didn’t think anything of it. In the end, I think that might’ve been what they were squabbling over. I turned back to my computer and next thing I know the growling and snapping started. Raini was on top, of course, because she’s bigger. I let it go for a few seconds because I expected Bondi to submit.

          She didn’t.

          The snapping and snarling continued as Bondi tried to get away but Raini stayed right with her, glued to her neck. It didn’t look like Bondi was going to submit so I grabbed Raini’s collar and pulled her off Bondi.

          “Bad girl!” I admonished, but she really isn’t. She’s a dog, being a dog, doing dog things. Her growls continued low in her throat. “Get in your kennel!” And I gave her a rump swat and a timeout.

          Bondi’s neck was soakin’ wet with slobber but there wasn’t any blood.

          These fights upset Mike. He’s afraid Bondi’s going to get killed. I don’t think Raini’ll kill her and a lot of times Bondi’s the one who starts things — and Raini is just big enough to finish them.

          >>>*<<<

          Thursday, in the early evening, I went to check the live trap. I was going to take Raini with me but she was out in the yard and didn’t come when I called.

          We caught one unhappy possum. He hissed at me. “Okay! Okay! I’ll let you out!” I opened the door but he just sat there. I picked the cage up and dumped him out. Once free, he turned and ran. I’m sure glad I didn’t have Raini with me! Do you think she’d try to kill a possum? Or just chase him until he went to ground — or climbed a tree — or whatever possums do?

          We did run to Towanda for lunch one day. They have a place there called The Flying Taco. Michael got two brisket tacos and I got an appetizer of nachos. I wanted fajitas but they don’t have them. Most Mexican restaurants give you complimentary chips and salsa while you wait. This one did not.

When our food came, I was surprised. My serving of nachos was... it was — so small!

          I didn’t think to take pictures but I found this one online. These little steel trays are what our food was served on. You get an idea of the size.

          “But how was it‽” you ask.

          It was okay but not worth the price. Two tacos and a small tray of nachos with cheese set us back twenty-five dollars before a tip.

          We won’t be darkening their door ever again. 

          I did take some road pictures — and missed a few, too.

          “Like what?” you ask. “What did you miss?”

          Like driving through Wyalusing, on our way to lunch, some guy in a motorized chair was driving right down the road, on our side, heading right for us. There was traffic coming from the other direction so I knew Mike couldn’t go around him without hitting a truck head-on and he wasn’t slowing down. I was afraid he was going to hit the guy in the chair and I started to panic.

          “There’s a guy in the road!” I exclaimed.

          “I see him,” Mike calmly said, and finally started to slow down.

           The guy in the truck saw him too and moved to the shoulder to give Mike room to pass. Only in Pennsylvania have I seen drivers make this particular courtesy move — but in all fairness, I haven’t been everywhere.

          As we drive along, my eyes are usually trained to the trees as I look for raptors. I saw this guy just as he took flight.

          And I don’t know what this guy is except he was big.

          In the tree where I saw a hawk last time, I see a hawk again.

          “Must be his favorite hunting spot,” Mike said. 

          Back in Wyalusing, going past the gas company, I see this!

          “How could I have lived here for so long and not seen that before‽” I asked Mike.

          “Seen what?” he asks.

          “It looks like a big gas can-man holding a little gas can,” I said.

          Mike made a second pass-by so I could get the shot. He’s a good husband.

          “I never saw it before either.” But he’s the driver so he has an excuse. 

          >>>*<<<

          Okay! Okay! I know I said I was going to try and put something together that wouldn’t embarrass me and this is embarrassing, but since it’s never stopped me before, it won’t stop me this time either. I know some of you have been wondering about my two health issues of late and wonder how they’ve resolved. I’ve been hesitant in updating you because it’s not only embarrassing, it’s yucky, too. Besides, the knowledge may be a benefit to someone someday.

          So! A couple of years ago, I developed a cough. After a chest x-ray to rule out lung cancer, my PA (physician’s assistant) thought maybe it might be GERD. Gastroesophageal reflux disease can cause a cough and I do get heartburn after I go to bed at night. She prescribed esomeprazole, a generic for Nexium.

          My cough seemed to get a little better but it never went away. She prescribed a second three-month round of meds.

          In the meantime, and this is the yucky part, I discovered soon after I started taking esomeprazole, that it messed with my bowels. I have a sluggish bowel to begin with so going a few extra times a week didn’t bother me all that much. However, what did bother me was that passing gas often resulted in an underwear change and washout, and sometimes even a shower! If you think that’s hard to read about, you should try living it! Needless to say, I was so happy when I was done taking esomeprazole and no longer blowing chunks when I passed a little gas!

          Fast forward a couple of months and I start having lower abdominal cramps. After a CAT scan, my PA believes the cause is a backed-up sewer system.

          My bowels became dependent on the esomeprazole and wouldn’t work right without it. I had to re-train them to go on their own again.

          Fast forward another month or so and my cough is getting worse and worse. Even Mike is noticing that I’m coughing a LOT! And not just in the mornings like it used to be, but all day long.

          Something else I noticed is that my nose runs a lot. Although I’m not aware of it running down the back of my throat, it must, because post-nasal drip is the most common cause of persistent cough. I take an antihistamine now and just like magic — my cough goes away.

          All that trouble, not to mention expense, caused by allergies!         

          Let’s call this one done!