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My Coya

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My old dog is...getting old. We got Coya back in 2015 after she was guerilla-rescued off of Craigslist. She loves our whole family, but she's been particularly attached to me ever since. In theory she was born in 2011, and she lived at a backyard breeder until she was rescued, then with us ever since. But she's been slowing down. The back stairs are hard for her — walking is hard for her. She has accidents inside of the house. She slips and slides. She sleeps a lot. She barks at 5:30 every morning to let us know she had an accident in the house. But I still love this dog so much. When she struggles to stand up it breaks my heart. I have nightmares about her dying. When she goes I will be bereft. Adding: In a day when I was thinking a lot about dogs, I found out that Soph Mintz , who took over Wintermoon Summersun after Kathleen passed, had to evacuate her 26 dogs (and 4 cats) due to the Camp Fire. One dog died due to heatstroke during the evacuation. The buildings are gone. S...
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Attending to Your Parents

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This morning I went to the funeral for my friend C's mother. C has been an amazingly wonderful daughter; she lives in California but has visited often throughout the years, and with her mom's recent health troubles has been an incredible advocate for her. I've been so impressed by her. Even today at the funeral she was trying to make sure people were introduced to each there and comfortable. It has struck me in the last week how many people I know are struggling with their parents' health and aging issues (if their parents are still alive.) I know people who have left jobs to care for their parents, have temporarily moved out of their family homes to live with and care for a parent, who are not as close by as they want to be and are finding other ways to check in.  It's been a long time since I have had that as an issue to deal with, but it's not a feeling you forget. I remember the hours on the phone trying to solve things and get answers, the arriving at the h...
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Concussion

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  (photo credit Mel Bowman) Sometimes, these blog posts are mainly to remember what it was like. And right now it's hard, for so many reasons — but the main one is that Beatrix suffered a concussion last weekend at circus and it's a lot right now. It wasn't from an aerial drop or any big trick — she simply bumped her head twice in quick succession in the dark of the loft, and then went on to do the 2-in-a-row acts she had anyway, and by the end it was obvious she was concussed. She was not allowed to perform on Sunday (missing double trapeze, among other things) — which was really hard emotionally but clearly the best move for her brain, which is the important thing. She's been doing the right things (ibuprofen, sunglasses, quiet dark room, no screens), but she's missed a lot of school and play rehearsals and it's been hard. She's trying to get show-ready to perform at circus this weekend, while we are trying to balance that with brain healing. She has alrea...
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Office Workspace

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Since the big storms predicted did not happen last night, and since Beatrix is home with a concussion and was lying in the dark in her room, I finally had a few extra minutes to get my office area cleaned up. I'm bad at keeping up with filing, but got some done, and took on a redecoration project I had wanted to do for awhile (it was harder than it looked, these were pictures I got from the tree board but they were mounted on frames, so I had to cut them off to hang them on the slanted walls). All while taking some calls and fielding some other work! Luckily I had cat help.
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Maida's Little....

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THIS is a bucket-list item fulfilled (and one of the few non-travel related entries on said list). The Saint Paul Academy Lower School does a Bazaar every spring and for many students it is the highlight of the year. There are things to buy (like a big jumble sale), games, face painting, treats — one year you could even pay to pet a puppy and the winner of the drawing got to keep a puppy! (I'm sure parents were thrilled). My first grade year, in the book section, were a few of the Maida's Little books (I think Shop, House, and Camp) which I probably bought for a nickel of my hard-saved allowance each. I fell in love with these books. Over the years, I slowly acquired a few more at various used book places; there used to be an especially good one in the Heritage Village at the State Fair. With the advent of the internet I could locate more, but the end of the series in general is very difficult to find and the books cost a lot. I recently got a few of Facebook marketplace for a ...
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Taking Care of the Administrivia - an Attend Post

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There have been a bunch of annoying "to do" things kicking around my trello list for a long while, but luckily on the last 24 hours I have taken care of two of them. I called the Ramsey County Assessor's offie to clarify homesteading. Years ago, you used to be able to split homesteading if you had two homes, and I knew that had been phased out (unless you are separated or divorced, which we are not). But I DID learn that, in cases like ours where a close relative lives in a home you own, you can file for homestead under a "Non-occupant co-owner/relative" status, so we did that for Winter Street. I wish we had known to do that years ago! We had also putting off taking the "Old Folks Drivers Ed" — you know, the course you can take when you are over 55 to brush up on your driving skills in your decrepitude — or more to the point, to get a car insurance discount. Last night while Beatrix and Patrick had tech/dress I started doing the modules, finishing it ...
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See Art, Feel Better

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I know I've been talking a lot about art events lately. But to be honest, seeing shows and exhibits is one the only ways I am coping with things right now, and I think it might help you as well. It has the added bonus of supporting local, grassroots economic efforts. It builds community; I can promise you that you will feel better when in a room with other people, experiencing art together. Felly recession-y? Many of the things I am recommending are free, or low cost. Seriously, give it a try! I'm presenting a short riff on the importance of preservation at Zeitgeist's new works this week. April 15 and 17  at Nautilus's space in Lowertown, at 7:30. A whole new take on the subject. Want a side of absurdism with your anti-facism? Ionesco's Rhinoceros , by Pangea World Theater , plays at the Southern through this weekend. Similar topic, different take. I've written before about my friend Dan Smith's show of his mother's work, which opens at the former Fi...
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