Thanksgiving Season Day 4 Gratitude

 Thursday, October 16th, 2025

Today I am thankful for the technical tradespeople who service my home.  I note they have gone to a "subscription" model which I'm sure helps their business budget better, but it gives such peace of mind to know I have plumbing, heating, electrical services available, and that they even take care of calling me up to schedule annual or semi-annual inspections to prevent the buildup of problems.

I'm also grateful for the infrastructure that brings utilities into my home.  Maintenance of the systems only works if there's a larger system it plugs in to!

Thanksgiving season Day 3

 Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Today I am thankful for routine.  The workday routine that I lived for decades, and the retirement routines that I have established with my furry companions.  Routine is something to hang on to during unsettled times.  For me, routines have regularly changed and adapted with the changes to school, jobs, homes (apartment or house), and household composition as marriage, births, and yes, even passings occurred.

Routines and rituals keep us grounded.  And sometimes they involve "looking up", figuratively or literally.  

Getting the pup outside in the dark of pre-dawn, and for her last call after sunset gives me the chance to do a little star or moon gazing as the dark months of the year are creeping upon us here.

The moon and the stars, the wonders of the heavens bring a Psalm to mind:  "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?"  I am grateful to be able to see these wonders and for the sense of awe that they inspire.

Thanksgiving season Day 2

 

Tuesday, October 14th, 2025:

Today we (Ember, The Prisoner and I) are thankful for full bellies and clean water.  Talk about the basics!  

These deserve visible gratitude not just daily, but with every meal.  

Point to ponder:  does God expect us to offer up a form of polite obeisance?  Saying a grace when sitting down to eat, blessing the meal and the work that went into it is a practice that I need to renew, even when eating alone.  

A polite sit by the pup is her form of saying grace, methinks!  It's something we have practiced to the point of "it's automatic".  I stand holding her dish.  I give her release word from her waiting spot.  She approaches and sits, looking up at me with expectant eyes.  I commend her for her polite sit, then place her "chow" in front of her.

The Prisoner shows signs of being agnostic or atheist... he crowds right in as I fill his dish.  And he hunts, still.

Thanksgiving time - week 1, Monday October 13 - Sunday October 19th

 For several years (more than a decade) I've been involved with the "Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving" gratitude exercise.  While most of us strive to have a specific thought to gratitude every day of the year, this specific practice was "viral" when my brother, some of my sisters and I took it up.  At the time it was a "month of November" exercise, and it involved posting something, large or small (at least one thing) each day on social media.  Back then, it was Facebook.  I think it has migrated to various platforms over the years.

I changed the date range in 2010, to span the six weeks or so from when Canada Celebrates Thanksgiving Day, which this year is Monday October 13th, to the US Thanksgiving Day, which this year is Thursday November 27th.  I did this because there were some rough "memorial" dates for me in early November, and I needed the warmup days before I got to the rough patches.  It's not as hard anymore, as the magic of time passing has smoothed out some of the edges.  Those rough anniversaries still sit there, but since I've been around the block a few times with them, finding the silver linings attached is now a more mellow experience.

So let's start... I invite all to join in, however they care to do so... in comments, blogs of your own, off on another social media space, or even on paper.  Let's put some gratitude in our hearts, and work at healing our world!

Day 1:  Grateful for green grass (STILL!  In October) and pets at peace with one another.

So peaceful on the back deck.  Photo from Sunday October 12th.

Rambling thoughts

Sunday, October 5th, on the deck, watching the world go by.  We had a good "normal" mommy and me morning, with a nice neighborhood leash walk.  We got some extra car ride time to take the recycles to the drop off before going through the coffee drive-through and get her special "bone" (just a Milk Bone, no whipped cream, still trying to get my pup down to the weight the vet has specified).

Putting your dog who is a total chowhound on a diet is not an easy task.  It takes a lot of discipline on the part of the human.

Since I use treats to reward good behavior on walks as well as in training, I have done some adjusting over the months to lesser caloric treats.  One pouch in my bag just has her regular kibble.  Another has a mix of her treats, with only a very few of the "best" ones, the freeze-dried chicken liver.

She also gets a little taste (lickings) of my own 1% milkfat cottage cheese and 2% plain Greek yogurt, and to lick the plate when I've had something "safe" for dogs, like eggs.

Sunday evening:  rain with thunder rumbles overhead and varying intensity of light to heavy rain.  Glad we got some outside yard play in before the skies opened up.

Monday morning: I woke to the sound of rain on the roof around 3:45 and suddenly remembered the automatic sprinklers!  I crept down the stairs with my phone flashlight to turn them off for the day as we're supposed to be getting rain almost all day long, and I don't have those "rain detectors" to prevent them clicking on at 4 a.m. Mondays.  Trying to go back to bed after that was a bit of a joke, so I gave up and got up, thus writing this little snippet.

Observations on a rainy morning:

• It's not rumbling thunder
• It's not windy
• And the rain is falling softly, with pauses now and again.

Observations of puppy's increasing maturity:

• She did not attack my rain jacket.  (She did grab my hat to play "keep away" with it.  She did give it back.  I had not taken the risk of wearing gloves, one of the worst triggers she had as a young pup.)
• She did not need to be coaxed out to do her business with treats, but came willingly, did her thing and went back in at a sedate pace.
• She was willing to go play fetch off the deck, even though it was raining softly.
• She behaved well on a shortened "around the block" walk.  We got wet, but we did not freeze.  The puppy did not freak out over puddles or anything.
• She hopped into the car on the "load up" cue.  She subsequently got her drive thru treat!

However, this "golden" situation did not last the whole day.  We went out for a second leash walk in the afternoon, and a couple of lovely ladies stopped to pet her.  We got plenty wet as shortly after that bonus, it started misting, then as we got further along, it turned into a genuine, if gentle rain.  

We got a delivery that included a "Giggle ball", that makes noises as it rolls or changes angle.  It startled me when I lifted it out of the box, and I think I kind of jumped.  Ember was still in her crate from a puppy nap at that point.  When she came out, I gave her this interactive noisy toy to play with.

The noises it makes almost sound like words or a baby's or animal's cry.  It makes a different sound in opposite directions (i.e. if you have a north pole and a south pole on the globe and you turn it upside down, you get one sound.  If you turn it back upright, you get a different sound).  Clearly it has two axes, making for four distinct sounds, and if you slowly roll it with a spin, it's quite interesting what it sounds like.

Anyway, between and among ALL these stimuli, Ember got overexcited about an hour before supper time and started into her frenzy kind of "go under the couch and gnaw at its underpinnings", "reach for the calendar", "put paws on the counter", and "grab mommy's arm when she goes to refill the water bowl".  I tried to calm her down, with mostly success, but found I had to put first myself outside to calm ME down, then come back in and put Ember outside so I could clean up the spilled water dish, wash myself (3 Band-Aids), and put away the over-stimulating toys.  When she came back in, she seemed ready to be civilized.  I fed her about half an hour early.  Once fed, I gave her a chew stick, and she completed her self-regulation cycle and got her couch privileges back to nap there while Mom watched Jeopardy.

She went into her crate before Jeopardy ended for her puppy nap prior to "last call". 

Tuesday 10/7:  As if to make up for the frenzy of Monday's rainy day, Ember got a nice compliment from her daycare person on Tuesday.  Seems they have a five-month-old golden retriever who was a bit rambunctious for the other pups his age, and they started putting him in Ember's play group.  When the young man brought Ember out to me Tuesday afternoon, he asked if I'd heard about her new "best friend".  I shook my head "no" and as we were packing her into the car, he showed me the video of her playing with Bailey, the golden puppy.  Says the day care fella, "She is so sweet with him."  Guess Carl and Barnaby taught her well how to be an adult dog around a puppy!  I wish I had remembered to ask him to send me the video!

Wednesday 10/8:  Brrrr!  I'm glad I switched from A/C to Heat mode because with all the extra warm days, I'm really not ready to wake up to 43F.  The full harvest Super Moon was putting on a show in the western sky as it was lightening toward dawn.

Despite the significant cooling, I put on my jacket and hat, and even gloves during the walk.  Ember did not steal any of them, nor did she grab at my jacket.  She did try to put her nose in the pocket (where I had tucked the glove while fishing a treat out of the training bag).  But it was a good walk.  Some detours to follow her nose, tracking who knows what, but she was pretty obedient about getting mommy back onto the sidewalk.

We went through the drive-thru for mommy's "special coffee" and her dog biscuit as a reward.

New strategy with the giggle ball.  I just left it in the basement rec room and I did not try to "help" her play with it.  She found it at one point in the mid-day and looked to me for guidance.  I told her it was OK to play with it, it's her toy.  She picked it up and brought it upstairs and investigated it.  

Thursday 10/9:  I felt at loose ends.  Puppy was off at day care, thank goodness, but I was bushed.  Paid bills.  Got a few groceries, refilled a prescription.

Changed batteries in the digital scale and in the smoke detector in the garage.  Yes, I climbed a ladder... at my age... inside a garage.  And lived to tell the tale.

When Ember came home and had her supper, she went into her crate in time for me to go to the family gather for my DIL's mom's birthday.  

Traffic and road construction nightmare.  I was about halfway to the agreed upon venue when I got a message from DIL.  The place we intended to go was closed for a private event.  They were formulating a change in plans.  I pulled into a parking lot and waited for the decision, then drove to the alternate place.  

It was a steakhouse that I had not been to in probably 40 years!  They are famous for their prime rib.  They are also famous for their French onion soup.  It was marvelous!  But I don't have the capacity for even the six-ounce portion of the prime rib, so there's a leftover box in my 'fridge for Friday.  It was Donna's birthday celebration but both of us "grannies" got a gift... our own copies of "Our first year with" FGC... all the photos and little snippets... from adventures with this rapidly growing youngster.  Favorite foods, favorite color, photos with pets and with people, photos with his siblings and auntie.  So much bonding over the course of that "first year", September through September!

I stayed up too late, flipping through the pages of the book, remembering for myself, and savoring the progress.

Speaking of Friday, I slept in a bit.  Didn't wake until about 5:50 a.m.  I had to get up, because the garbage bin needed to be trundled to the curb, something I didn't do Thursday night.  Ember and I had our normal morning routine.  We made it around our neighborhood walk, and through the coffee drive-thru before her first puppy nap.

That wraps the week in Emberville.  Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!

Last day of September and the start of October.

 

Last call moon through the tree branches, taken from the deck.  It was beautiful, but the camera doesn't always capture the essence.

I have been truly savoring these evening deck times with Ember.  She curls up on one deck chair while I sit in the other.  And we just breathe and watch the neighborhood pass by.

Next morning there was a gorgeous sunrise.  While driving Ember to daycare Tuesday morning, I saw a man out walking, stop to take out his phone and photograph the sky.  I had taken a shot pointing East from the deck maybe 10 or 15 minutes earlier, but I didn't get the full flame of the rising sun in my little photo.

I will note that it does not feel like October.  We got over 90F Friday afternoon.

Mid-week was routine stuff.  Ember had daycare on Thursday.  I had a semi-annual meeting with my financial guy to review status that day, too.

Friday was a big day for the across town family.  Court date for bench trial for termination of parental rights of the biological parents of my foster grandson.  Both my son and his wife were subpoenaed to testify, as the current foster parents of one of the three siblings in the case.  Due to being witnesses, they were then sequestered during most of what went on.  Up until that decision was made they were able to observe some of the action on motions, etc.  Biological mom was a no-show, so she will lose her parental rights, with no chance to appeal.  Biological dad chose to contest the action, so that's what this is really all about.

Bio dad's lawyer was 15 minutes late to court, which I'm sure did not endear him to the judge (bench trial, no jury, judge is sole decider).  He got a bit of a lecture over the issue.  He is also at risk of a contempt of court ruling related to failure to provide discovery.  Anyway, my DIL's mom was able to stay in the courtroom as a spectator, during testimony of others.  But it was a long, long day.  The GAL (guardian ad litem, represents the minor children) had anticipated that my son would be called either right before or immediately following the lunch break.

This turned out not to be the case.  Only one of them needs to take the stand, but the testimony of others was prolonged, and it turned out that he didn't get called on Friday at all.  Two more court dates have been scheduled, for November 25 (two days before Thanksgiving), and December 2nd (a week later).  Agonizingly long process, this.  But hopefully it means that all the t's will be crossed and the i's dotted and a good decision reached.  The silver lining?  Nothing changed for FGC until the next court date, at the earliest.  Seven more weeks of a stable life with my son, DIL, the therapist and medical providers he's used to, and his same school and rec center adults.  There's a lot to be said for a stable home life to help a kid over prior trauma!

My own task for Friday was to take Ember over for a mid-day play date with Carl.  Gave me something to focus on and made both dogs very happy!

Meanwhile, the last flag football game, and the last soccer game wrapped up for FGC on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.  Next sport in the hopper is Basketball.  Both FGC and his best buddy have requested one another to be on the same team.  Fingers crossed.  These two boys are just such great companions.  They swap visits at one another's houses in between practices and games, so it really is another part of the whole stability picture for this boy!

That's about it from Emberville this week.  Coming up in the next week is a delayed birthday get-together for DIL's mom.

Keeping reactions to the bigger picture of "the news" which can be quite unsettling out of this blog, for now.  I fall down the rabbit holes of YouTube posts, but don't really completely trust either those OR the mainstream media to be giving us the whole picture.  If the pandemic taught me anything it was that even those outlets that you THINK are giving out facts, and that tend to confirm your own opinions, spin the facts to suit their own narrative.  

LIFE itself is by definition a GOOD THING!  Spark on and preserve yours.  Be kind.  That helps others to persevere through their own struggles.  Matters not the opinions they hold, all humans are worthy of respect and dignity!

Human stuff intersects with Emberville

When we last posted, it was Tuesday.  No rapture, sorry.  Or if there was one, I was not among the raptured, nor was anyone I encounter on a daily basis.  

Out of the blue, maybe to make up for it, I got an invitation from an old workmate to go see a couple of classic bands from "our youth" in concert under the stars on Saturday night.  Of course, I said yes. 

Got into the planning stages for this and decided it would be good to get a couple of things out of the way before hand, and took the risk on Friday.  Ms. Left Arm, meet this year's flu shot.  Ms. Right Arm, here's this year's Covid19 booster.  All set for Fall and Winter.  Except for the side effects, which were about "as normal".  Sore left arm, restless Friday overnight, things clearing up during the day on Saturday.

Little River Band

So I considered myself all clear for the evening's plans.  Ember got bedded down for her evening nap at close to the normal after supper time, then a couple of "little old ladies" went out for comfort food at the local legendary "Lee's Chicken" on the way to the park for the concert.  We joined an audience of mostly gray-hairs like ourselves. We rocked out with Little River Band (on its 50th Anniversary Tour), and Three Dog Night.

I had not been to a rock concert at this venue before.  It's on the airport flight path for landings.  I'd been to Broadway musical style productions there and planes going overhead would drown out the performers.  That was not a problem with these classic rock bands.  

Three Dog Night

In fact, a couple of planes went directly over on their way to touch down, and it reminded me of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", as the concert kept on doing its thing, while the lighted planes made like shapes in the sky.

In any case, it was a lovely night.  Ember needed a little extra time out of the crate when I got home, as she had been confined since about 4:30 p.m., and it was nearly 11 by the time I got home.  

Youth juice is what I call the music that was the backdrop of one's young adulthood or coming of age years.  And a few thousand of us drank deeply at the fount.

Sunday was a quiet day for Ember and her hu-mom.  We had a nice morning "pack migration" while it was still cool enough that Mom wanted a cap!  I resisted trying to put on gloves, and the morning then rapidly warmed up for the afternoon.  It became warm and sunny, and felt pretty good, as it wasn't humid.

When Ember went into her crate for puppy nap #1, Mom stretched out on the couch and fell asleep for a couple of hours.  I needed that.  Ember was happy to have me home and close.  She got lots of extra pets and snuggles.  

This week's new toy, Ollie the Mondo Octopus.  

Life's still good. (It will always beat the pants off the alternative?)

I'm still avoiding the news, hug your kids and your pets!

And Spark on!