| October 2008 |
October 1 (Wednesday)
Getting cool already. I haven't had much opportunity to cut firewood this year so I may have to rely more on my
window unit than I would like. Nonetheless, I do have enough supply of firewood to take me into probably January
at least. I love using my fireplace. For me, the way I live is like camping out all the time -- especially in the winter
when I have to fire up the fireplace to heat the house.
October 3 (Friday)
Yesterday was not a great day. The dogs didn't let me sleep the night before, so I found myself to be quite
exhausted and lethargic all day yesterday. In addition I had a slight headache. Add to that the fumes from all the
painting and interior work going on at the offices at work. Well, I feel much better this morning.
The animals at home are doing well. The Daily Corinthian online edition published another of my articles this
morning. It is on the front page. It feels good to be published, and I hope the stories inspire others to be more
cognizant of the plight of the many unwanted and un-cared for vagabonds that roam our streets and country
roads. Adopt a pet from the animal shelter today!
A co-worker showed me some pics of a cat he and his wife recently adopted from the Memphis animal shelter.
Evidently, the cat had been scheduled for euthanization, but the paper work was misplaced, only to be discovered
when my co-worker and his wife showed up to claim their cat! Lucky kitty! Her name is Zanne. Look at those
paws!
October 7 (Tuesday)
Great. I woke up this morning before 3:00, and I cannot get back to sleep. I have been doing this lately. I'll go on
in to work early, but I won't necessarily leave from work early. At least I can get caught up on my journal.
My coworker informed me yesterday that in addition to the cat he and his wife also got a puppy from the shelter.
Pictures to come soon.
I left work a little frustrated yesterday. Some of the work I was doing wasn't going well. When that happens I end
up doing what I did in my sleep last night -- dreaming about it. Maybe that's why I woke up so early -- I can't wait to
get to work so I can get back to work. Of course, I did go to sleep at 8:00 last night. That might have something to
do with it.
I just found out today at work that the same co-worker who adopted Zane had also adopted a four-month old pup.
He and his wife named him Sherlock. Evidently, he was very sick when they brought him home from the shelter,
but he is doing better. We sure hope he makes a full recovery, and here's to you, Sherlock:
October 9 (Thursday)
I sent a letter to the webmaster of another of our local newspapers, The Northeast Mississippi Journal, requesting
that he consider featuring my stories. I received a reply back that he will be posting a link to my stories page within
the next few days. That is great news for me, of course, but more importantly, I am hoping that people will become
more educated about the plight of unwanted and abandoned strays and what they can do to help alleviate the
problem. There are many issues of concern in our world, most of which require time and money to fix, but right
now I am focused on the many dogs and cats that roam our streets and rural roads.
Of course I think about other things. There are tens of thousands of children around the world that are in the
same or worse shape as the abandoned dogs and cats. It is a sad situation that so many children die each year
from starvation and neglect.
October 11 (Saturday)
My third story is featured on the Daily Corinthian online edition. I queried a couple of book publishing agents via
email. I guess it is time to consider if my stories might be worthy of a book. I don't know, but what can it hurt to
inquire? I sent out four emails this morning and already have received one positive reply. So we shall see.
I am not looking forward to Tuesday. I have an 8:00 am appointment at the cardiologist. It is not the appointment
that bothers me: I have to fast before I go. I'll call Monday morning to confirm how long, but I hope the fast is for
after midnight only. I'll be in bed by 8:00, so a midnight fast will be a piece of cake. If the fast is a 24 hour fast,
then that will make all day Monday a miserable one.
October 15 (Wednesday)
The Northeast Mississippi Journal out of Tupelo has posted a link to my stories page and titled the link Willow Oak.
It is cool to be published. Now if one of the national syndicates would just take notice ...
All animals are doing okay. I now have 11 dogs and 13 cats, and that is more than a body needs. I can handle it
for now, but if I had my preference I would have 11 less dogs and 13 less cats. Actually, having that horde of
animals is pretty cool -- I mean warm. What money I pay for in pet food I save in electric bills: no need for running
the heater at night since I sleep under a blanket of animal fur.
My visit to the cardiologist yesterday went well. The prognosis is good. It appears that my heart has made a
complete recovery since my heart attack. In addition, I have lost about 25 pounds or more. Whereas I weighed
around 215, I was down to 187 as of yesterday.
October 18 (Saturday)
"Running With the Big Dogs" appeared in Friday's online Daily Corinthian. Zack Steen is the web master, and he
has been gracious enough to feature my animal stories. I hope to raise awareness of the plight of homeless and
abused animals.
Of course, I realize there are other issues in our world. As I believe I've mentioned before there are homeless and
abused children right here in North Mississippi, and were it not for my prohibitive schedule I would consider
fostering some of them. I think that Willow Oak would be a great place for kids to grow up.
Steve sharpened and cleaned my chainsaw today. I made a visit to town, and visited with my friends Steve
Morelock and Larry Winters at Bigger's Hardware. Bigger's Hardware on Cruise Street in downtown Corinth, is one
of those venerable places you have to visit if you ever make a trip to Alcorn County, Mississippi. Larry, by the way,
is the subject of one of my animal stories, "Too Much Drama for Me."
October 20 (Monday)
I have taken to calling her Mary Grace. It is a curious thing that I find it easier to say "Mary Grace" as opposed to
just "Grace." Grace has really fit in around here at Willow Oak. She and Willie get along so well with the others.
Willie is just a little feller, but he holds his own. I isolate Willie when I leave just to be on the safe side, and I
continue to isolate Cathy and Taz for the same reason. And I keep Grace apart from the others while I am gone.
As I have had to learn so bitterly, accidents can happen.
Something very funny happened yesterday. I was checking the electric fence when Willie jumped up and placed
his paws on my leg. Well, you know what happened at that moment. It took several hours for Willie to let himself
believe that I didn't do it.
October 23 (Thursday)
I guess the end of the week sneaked up in me. Today was a very dark and wet and cold day. All right, it could
have been colder, but it was not a warm day. Fall is moving along, and winter will be upon us soon. My favorite
kind of book to read this time of year is anything by James Herriot. Those books of his that describe those
Yorkshire winters sure do make a winter's evening inside feel snug, no matter what the weather.
I have been missing one of the BK's lately. My sister stopped by today to say that he has been hanging around at
her place. She is missing a dog. I am missing several dogs myself. I spent some time with Buddy and Darkly
yesterday. That Buddy sure is some sweet kitty. I may have to go get the missing BK and put him in the cage with
Buddy and Darkly.
I am continue to work on some new stories. I am bound to run out of animal stories, so I am working on a different
genre. I have called one of the stories Columbus Day and the other Dark and Stormy.
October 26 (Sunday)
5:00 am Sunday. I fired up the fireplace again this weekend. It isn't cold outside, but it is cool enough to require
heat, and the fireplace is cheap. I figure that I have enough wood to last me to at least the end of the year. I have
quite a bit of oak and cedar. I might be able to cut enough to last the entire winter if I can make myself go out and
do it.
Willie got out of the fence yesterday. I haven't had to worry about the dogs getting out of the fence since Sam and
Oscar learned their lesson a few months ago when they jumped the fence, but not before touching the electric wire
that is stretched over the top of the fence. Willie is a high jumper, and he jumped up and crawled over the fence,
but he is small enough to crawl underneath the electric wire. I found where he went over and stretched a piece of
wire over that section, which he would have to contact if he does it again.
All animals are safe and accounted for as of yesterday. I constantly worry about them. One of the black cats
takes to "getting lost" for days at a time. I made the decision long ago not to cage the cats like my sister does, but
I have been reconsidering. I do have Buddy and Darkly in a cage because they will return to my sister's house if I
don't. I don't like having to go down there to check on them. I may yet decide to put all the outdoor cats in a pen
outside. Some of the cats almost never go outside. For them I don't need to keep cat litter, which is obviously a
very convenient thing.
October 28 (Tuesday)
The temperature had to have approached freezing last night. The tips of the leaves on my fig tree tell me that
they have recently experienced some challenging temperatures. I fired up the fireplace yesterday after I arrived
home from work, and have done the same this evening. Looks like I am going to be doing some extra wood-cutting
soon.
But I love the fireplace. For me the fireplace is the best thing I have going. Sitting here in my house, knowing that
the major source of heat I have is the fireplace is, well ..., it is cozy to say the least. I do have the 220 unit, which is
a combo air/heat. It does an adequate job of supplementing the fireplace, but if I had to depend solely on one or
the other, the fireplace wins hands down.
Willy escaped his kennel today. I did not do a good job of securing the latch on his cage when I put him in there
this morning. When I arrived home he was in the kennel with the big boys: Sam, Oscar, and Scamp. I got lucky
there. His kennel is inside Fred's kennel, which means that he had to escape Fred's kennel after he escaped his
own. Willie is capable of scaling any fenced-in area, so I am lucky that Willie survived Fred and did not escape the
fence, or there might not be any more Willie.
October 29 (Wednesday)
I pinched a nerve or pulled a muscle in my back yesterday. I spent a miserable day at work in pain and a worse
night. I didn't sleep well, so today I had a rough time at work. But it is feeling better. All the animals are well and
accounted for, and that's enough to make me feel better about anything.
I am seeing another dog in the general area where I found Grace. It looks to be Taz' age, which makes me think it
might be from a previous litter of Grace. I only hope it isn't female and presents me with another rescue of a mom
and six pups. I had a time with Grace ad her pups, and I don't want to go through that again so soon.