Oh calm down, you know I have a propensity for grabbing an attention seeking headline. Ella is alive and well, don’t worry. Pearl Bailey, however, is on restriction!
This morning while I was culling through my northern attire in an effort to perhaps pass-on to the needy some items to keep them warm in the coming winter months, I came across this ‘animal skin’ once worn as a collar on a fashionable sweater. I guess Pearl Bailey liked the scent of the varmint and relocated the ‘beast’ to her side of the house!
I will tell you this, when I came downstairs with my load of donations, I almost fainted! For a brief moment I thought Ella was a goner! Thinking to myself, ‘what has Harry Barker Ella Bella done to deserve this early demise?…’ After which, I quickly came to my senses!
Well lookey here…Pearl Bailey and her cohort Ella found a ray of sunshine and decided to bask in it this morning. As my grandmother used to say…”time to get while the gettin’ is good!”
If I am to understand the Accu-Weather forecast, the sun is here for only for a short period of time. I am glad my girls are grabbing the sweet sensation that the warmth of the sun delivers.
The island is still reeling from the torrential downpours; the streets are just now beginning to dry and the ground is saturated to its brim. The landscape crews are arriving for the first time in weeks tending to the aftermath. By now the lizard population is beginning to wake up and I am sure those girls, sitting pretty down there on the deck, are planning their next blitz!
Well, I won’t exactly tell you the sun is shining brightly down here on the Suncoast, but hell…it isn’t raining, and for that both Pearl Bailey and I are joyous. I’ll take the forecast of partly overcast skies with a hint of afternoon sun promised!
This morning when I asked Pearl Bailey what she thought about the sky clearing up, she responded with this pose…now doesn’t that picture just say a thousand words?
Cuteness factor – HIGH!
“No one appreciates the special genius of your conversation as much as your dog does!” — Christopher Morley
Ok, even the dogs are getting bored with all this rain. Jeez, another 3″ fell today and the grounds are saturated. As anyone with an animal understands, there is nothing worse than a wet dog, except maybe two wet dogs.
Pearl Bailey is a gem at getting dried off. I know…one would think the opposite given the brash way I present this dame, but she is so complacent and dare I say, appreciative?! Whereas Ella will run from the towel, Pearl Bailey will come in from the door, pause and smile up as she awaits my approach – face first, then a couple of brisk strokes down her flat back, a couple of rubs on each side, then voilà – she beams at the attention. Sometimes even coming back for seconds, and if she does return for a second round, the end result is a red lipstick kiss on her nose! (This week, there’s been a lot of kiss prints on the pale blonde fur of this babe’s snout, I tell ya’!)
The torrential downpours of our most recent monsoon days have had me going through a lot of towels. Since the lull in precipitation is short-lived, sometimes I have to be reminded to snap out of my reverie and take advantage of the break in the clouds. So, here’s Pearl Bailey imploring me “LET ME OUT!”
The best thing about being a sister is having a sister or brother. Being one in a series; together a pack with a pecking order and each holding a distinctive role. Having someone in life that shares your experiences and common character traits is transforming, even if later in life geographical distance punctuates the relationship.
Being an only child is interesting; they are a unique combination of independence and dependence that you don’t normally encounter in the traits of siblings. Yet, these children still form the bonds that siblings experience but with cousins or close family members that share their world.
Sometimes as we mature the sibling relationship becomes strained or even dislocated. These are unlucky relationships and are probably due to history or rivalry or the like. If this occurs it’s best to protect one’s life and sanity as sad as that is.
Keeping or maintaining a consistent communication as we mature is key to bettering the deep connection that only the siblings share. I know that by having a sister I have learned how to love and respect other women, and from having an older brother I learned how to expect to be treated by a man. Consider the value of having and nourishing a sibling relationship when you are self-reflecting on this Friday, the end of another work week!
PS. I wish I could tell you the Florida sun was shining down here, but alas it is STILL raining!
Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at …………….. -Maya Angelou
We awoke this morning to another drippy day down here on Florida’s Suncoast. I am seriously thinking of giving our island a new summer nickname – Florida’s Raincoast!
Trying desperately to shake both myself and mopey Miss Pearl Bailey out of the doldrums, I began to cheerfully ask Pearl Bailey a string of upbeat questions. But her response to every question was an emphatic “NO!”
I’m thinking to myself, ‘don’t shake your head at me Pearl Bailey, I am your provider!’ – but like most contrary 5 year old’s, she paid me no mind!
I am beginning to get annoyed at the forecast. Each afternoon, Accu-weather makes statements like ‘thunderstorms in the area, or little sun and thunderstorms, or just plain a.m./p.m. showers and thunderstorms likely’. My response, when is it going to stop?And, as to that forecast above? 40% chance? Malarky! It should read 100% because it has been coming down now for two weeks straight!
Pearl Bailey differs in her opinion of the rain. She loves to run outside and immerse herself in the puddles; she also delights in rolling her wet pelt in dirt in hopes of drawing a look of dismay from me, I suppose. There is a name for beings with this outlook – they are called Pluviophiles – beings that love the rain! I definitely do not fit into that category.
As a professed introvert, there is nothing I like more than spending time within the pages of a good book, and rainy days supply that mindset readily. Plus, I am always willing to wile away hours binge watching Netflix when the sky is emptying its tear ducts. But ask me if I enjoy a incessant deluge and every time my response will be “Merdi il Pluet!”
If you can’t figure that one out, go ask a French teacher for a translation.
“Our lives tick by like pendulum swings, poor little things, puppets on strings. But life is full of beautiful things… beautiful people, Dolittle people. Beautiful people… like you.” –‘Beautiful Things’ quote from Dr. Dolittle
I believe by now I have fully exposed my ability to speak in the voice of my dog. So, it should come as little surprise that you find me quoting Dr. Dolittle. I have had this proclivity most of my life, it may well be an affliction but I am going to stick with it just being an essential part of me. Thanks for your acceptance of my quirkiness! I mean someone should take this task on, and shouldn’t that someone be a someone who understands the animal spirit?
Early this afternoon I went to the kitchen door to let in the hounds, as I do hundreds of times a day. And, what did I find waiting for me? Not such beautiful things, but endearing ones nonetheless. There was ole’ Pearl Bailey, covered in dirt, as usual, with Ella seated right behind her – Ella’s terrier teflon coat presumably unchanged. I guess there IS beauty in all things (animal related that is) so I just snapped the photo and then had some fun in the processing hoping to capture true beauty of their spirits, their antics and their zest for life.!
It is wonderful to live a life that is full of beautiful things! Even if it is just in the eye of the beholder!
“Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye…” William Shakespeare
PSIf it doesn’t stop raining soon, I’m building an ark.
I heard a story today that struck a beautiful, resonant chord in me. It was a narrative of a mid-20’s young black man who was out on a ride. He eventually spied an elderly white woman on her walker in sweltering 100-degree heat, a slew of grocery bags draped across the handle bars. This young man pulled his car over to the side of the road, got out and asked, “Could I offer you a ride, M’am?” A selfless act of kindness.
Was it the heat that made him think to stop and offer help? Did she remind him of someone special, perhaps his grandmother? Was he destined for somewhere where his arrival time was important, and did he cast that aside to be of service? Maybe all of these things, but his taking action and following his instinct to make the first move, despite any other needs he might have in place, were extraordinary acts of good-heartedness.
For today’s story illustration I chose this photograph of the Professor ostensibly in counsel with our 16 year-old nephew. Their inter-generational heads deep in conversation – together young and old. The Professor has the look of excitement of seeing the world through a younger perspective, and Nephew looks as if he is taking in the scholarly wisdom being offered him. Relationships, such as these, are important to our society.
As to the end of the story of the benevolent young man with the helping hand–the elderly woman graciously accepted the ride and allowed the young man to untether her groceries and place her walker in the trunk. And then he drove her home, a distance of more than two miles.
All because he listened closely to his instinct to do good. That inclination lies within us all.
It is not uncommon for Pearl Bailey and I to wake and descend the stairs at the same time each morning. So, one can gather from this togetherness, that some conversation would take place ~ even if it is a one-sided one at that! After an hour of gradual exchange between the two of us, the Professor and Ella descend and join in the banter. That’s when the chit-chat really gets interesting. Here’s a screenplay of this morning’s dialogue:
Me:[Raising the blinds] Holy smokes, a big palm frond fell down onto the driveway last night!
PB:That’s not a big deal. Where’s my kibble?
Me:Maybe I should go out and move it before the Professor comes down?
PB: Forget that! I’m hungry. [PB nudges my arm]
Me: Hey, what’s up with you, are you hungry?
PB: [Smiling, panting] Hell ya’ I’m hungry- how about you produce the goods, I’ve been up for an hour already.
Professor: [descending down the stairwell cheerfully whistling] How’s everybody this morning?
Me: Great! Last night, a big palm frond fell down out front, you wanna’ go move it while I make your coffee?
Professor: [delivered with a tone of great alarm] Oh my gawd, oh my gawd that frond is huge, it had to have damaged the car. I can’t believe it, I have to move it, forget the coffee, this is the worst thing to happen, this is disastrous!
Ella: [Bark, bark, bark, bark] Alert – Bicyclists on the block, let me out, let me out, let me out!
PB: What’s a girl have to do to get a meal around here? Alright Ella, let’s go out, maybe I can eat some lizards.
Me: [eyes closed, in silent devotion] God give me the serenity…..
