50 Days of Remembering 50 Years #14

The Pets

The problem with this blog anniversary memories in 50 days is that I forgot how long it would take to find the pictures for each one. I may have to go back and add pictures to a lot of them later. 

I debated on writing this one, but our furry family members were a part of our journey. Memories are bittersweet because our little ones have all passed away and several had tragic outcomes. 

Our first furry friend was a foster child...when George's mom moved into senior housing, she couldn't have pets so we took in Charley. She was a small black terrier dog. I don't remember how long she lived with us. I have one funny memory (well for us) of her. When George's mother lived in her house, George always went in and immediately Charley would jump on the couch and let George wrestle with her. It was a habit. Well, we all know habits are hard to break. One time the couch got moved and when George walked in, Charley jumped to where the couch had been and hit the wall. She was ok but boy did we laugh about that. 

I used to take her for rides in the car and twice she gave me quite the scares. Tiffany was a baby both times and the first time I had to pull over into the reservoir parking lot and do something with Tiffany. I got back in the car and drove a couple of miles when I realized Charley was not in the car! I panicked. This was my mother-in-law's baby. I couldn't be responsible for losing her. My mind flashed to someone picking her up or her getting hit by a car. I sped back using my flashers to let people know I was intentionally speeding. When I got to the parking lot, Charley was pacing back and forth not knowing what to do. What a relief!

The other time was in Riverton and I don't remember the exact sequence of events but somehow Charley had jumped up to the window when I was outside of the car and she had pushed down the lock button on the car. Tiffany and Charley were locked in the car! Real panic set in!

Fortunately for me, a kind man came by, went to his nearby home and got a coat hanger and was able to unlock the door--a "hack" that we had heard about and with the window open a crack, it worked. 

Charley died on a Good Friday, my parents beloved Sir Lancelot, who I lived with for many years, died on Easter at different year. It is so hard to lose pets.

We decided to wait until we had a house, and the kids were older to let them have pets. Every stupid year the teachers seemed to have the kids write about pets and we always got bugged to get pets. It was a conspiracy. Ben wanted a dog and Tiffany wanted a cat. So, we adopted Patches, a black and white springer terrier mix and Lacy, an adorable black bundle of fir. 

Patches, born on January 8th, Elvis's birthday, was our "hound dog". He gave us all the unconditional love a dog gives. He lived with us thirteen years. I am going to do brief memories of all because I still miss them and will get sentimental.

Lacy was born to a barn cat and the mother didn't have all her vaccinations. Lacy, therefore, had feline leukemia and only lived about 6 or 9 months from when we got her. That was so devastating that Tiffany was hesitant for us to get another cat. 

This time we decided to get two brothers to keep each other company. They were tiger cats who we named Dickens and Linus. They sure lived up to their names. We kept our cats as indoor kitties to keep them from the dangers of living outside and to hopefully give them long lives. Well, Dickens was a Dickens and always found ways to escape to outside. I couldn't understand one day how I kept putting him in the house and then I realized he was outside again. He had found a screen window which didn't latch properly below. 

Linus ended up being our little lion-hearted kitten. It turns out he was born with a bad heart and he died only a few months later. When we knew he wasn't well, we decided to get another cat to keep Dickens company when he was gone.

So, we got our gray striped Joshua. He was named that by the cat foster lady and we kept it because he meowed a lot like Joshua of Jericho making noise around the city.

Dickens developed intestinal problems and after several hundreds of dollars that were only going to mount up to more that we couldn't afford, well, you know what we had to do--a heart wrenching memory that I didn't really want to bring up, but it was part of our lives. 

So, we were left with Joshua and Patches. Joshua stayed with us 17 years. I loved that little kitty and I would love another one so much but I do not want to go through the pain and heartbreak of losing another pet. Plus, at this point in our lives, they may outlive us and empathetic me thinks about how they would feel for the loss. I think way too far ahead. Plus I always felt guilty whenever I left them home alone. For my mental well-being, I am better off without a pet, but I am grateful for the time with our beloved. pets.

 "A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." 

Proverbs 12:10

Day tripping to the Connecticut Shore

Today we took our first summer day trip to the Connecticut shore. We had heard about the Niantic Book Barn and wanted to check it out. What a neat place. Outbuildings of various sizes contain thousands of books. The pathways have you going through gardens and bridges over ponds with koi and turtles. Several cats call this place home and you are welcome to pat them but not pick them up. I got to pat Jake and Blanche. Blanche reminded me very much of my old Joshua. You can pick up a Cat Spotting Guide in the bigger building.

The place is cleverly decorated with a whimsical touch making it a fun place to roam around. We also tried out their buying program. They will buy hardcover books for 50 cents and paperbacks at 5 for $1.00 but they are very selective. You can also get a higher value if you take store credit. They were very quick and efficient in this process. My only complaint about this place is--it's too far away! What a great place to stop by if you are in the area.

Here are the pictures from there, but stay tuned below as our venture continued.




Even an outhouse becomes a bookstore!



Jake
 




They provide you with a wagon to transport the books that you
hope to sell.

After getting our full of books and flowers and gargoyles and cats and such, we went down the road a little way for fish and chips at Skippers. We got to eat outside with a view of the ocean and the train that ran alongside the shore. The helpings were huge and tasty. We always seem to prefer fish and chips that we have had on the Massachusetts shore compared to Connecticut, but this one was very good.

After filling ourselves, we went for a walk along the Niantic boardwalk. We have been to several Connecticut beaches but not this one. The boardwalk is 1.1 miles but half of it is under construction. We walked along it and then wandered down to the water and got our feet wet. The water felt great. I couldn't find any sea glass, but there are many shells there.


Entrance way under the road to the boardwalk.

I don't collect shells any more but I had to pick up this very strange one. I haven't gotten a great picture of it yet, but here is the best I have been able to do. When it was wet, it looked like animal claws. I think it is a number of shells that have melded together. It was so creepy that George did not want to hold it for me when I wanted to put my sandals back on. Maybe it's a rare thing worth a million dollars. Well, I can dream.

 

From here we drove to Rocky Neck State Park. It is great that George has a senior pass that gets us into state parks for free. He wants to see all of the Connecticut State Parks. I think there are 167 (!!) if I remember correctly. However many there are, it's too many in my opinion but I go along with him.
We have been to Rocky Neck State Park but to be honest, we never go to any beaches in season. We always go when there aren't many people around and the sun is not baking us to a crisp and we can get in free.
This was a Tuesday and we were surprised at the number of people. We can only imagine what the weekends are like.

There is a bird sanctuary at Rocky Neck State Park

On our way home we saw signs for Devil's Hopyard State Park. We decided to take a detour. Unfortunately it too a little longer than we thought to get there and we did not spend much time there because we wanted to beat the rush hour traffic home. But the covered bridge and water were worth the detour to me.

 

 

Thus ends our first summer day trip.