Posted in dogs

We are safe and sound

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The barking was incessant. Yip, yip, yip, yip, yip. What in the world is going on out there? I looked out the window at the little dog (Winston, the White West Highland Terrier) aggressively yapping at a spot in the grass.

I had to go out and see. It was probably a lizard. Or part of one. Wrong. It looked like a mouse. How in the world did he catch a mouse? Wait. That’s not a mouse. It’s a mole. Winston had caught or found a squinty-eyed, pointy-snouted, long-clawed mole somewhere in our backyard. A mole? I’ve never seen a mole in our yard. Where in the world did you find it? I scooped it up and tossed it over the fence. You’re not going to torment him (or her) any more.

I got back into the house to find the big dog (Willow, the Great Dane) barking and scratching at the porch floor. Now what? I called her away only to find a dead lizard on his back, covered in drool. Great. Just what I need. I tossed him (or her) over the fence.

Suddenly, these dogs who spend most of the afternoon snoozing have channeled their inner hunter and pursued the latest predators in our yard. They have successfully protected their home from invaders!

Posted in Life

An unexpected early morning treat

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The big dog (Willow the Great Dane) and I got out for our walk at sunrise on Thursday. Just around the bend from our house we passed a young, tall, lean, bearded gentleman from the first house on the street. He was dressed for much cooler weather in a knit cap, long sleeve hoodie, and sweatpants. Really? It was already 78 degrees. Temperatures were on their way to the 90s. Welcome to Florida, buddy.

We’ve passed him many times on our walks. But today he had a red, white, and blue rocket popsicle hanging out of his mouth. His hands were on his phone as the frozen treat stuck out from his lips.

My first thought: Breakfast of champions! My second thought: wait a minute, you guys don’t have any kids. You have red, white, and blue popsicles at your house?

I like ice pops as much as the next guy. But I wouldn’t buy them if we didn’t have grandchildren frequenting our home. You’ll find them in our freezer because the little ones visit and stay at our house.

Nutritional value? None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Water, sugar, and some artifical coloring. A quick burst of energy? Of course. Beyond that. Nothing.

I know, he’s probably thinking, “Dude, aren’t you cold (in shorts and a t-shirt)? Where’s your ice pop? (Costco has them by the case.) Come on, buddy, support your country! USA! USA!

We always say, “Hi,” when he walks by, but he never responds. He doesn’t even look up. His earbuds filter out us and the rest of the world.

It’s all about the popsicle.

Posted in trash

That’s no lady, just a dress form

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The big dog and I see a lot of interesting things on our walks. Late Thursday night, we passed by a home that has recently had interesting items on the curb for trash pickup.

I almost didn’t notice it. But my dog stopped to sniff something we don’t see everyday: a dress form. I chuckled and took a picture. I haven’t seen one of those for a long time.

My mom actually had one. She did a lot of sewing at home. I remember her laying paper patterns out on the floor and pinning fabric to them. She made a lot of clothes for herself and my sister. Apparently, dresses were easy; men’s clothes were more difficult. When she died, we found a whole dresser in the basement full of paper patterns she had used and saved over the years.

Anyway, on Friday morning, my wife texted me, “There’s a dress form out for the trash. Can you go get it?” She wanted to use it to display some clothes she wanted to sell online. So, we (the big dog and I) walked up the street and grabbed it. It was surprisingly light, not more than a few pounds.

Everytime I walked through the garage on Friday and Saturday, I was startled by what looked like a person standing there! It was spooky until I moved it into one of the bedrooms.

A few nights before I picked up a guitar from their trash. It wasn’t a quality guitar. Just a cheap one made in China you might find in Walmart. But it was in nearly new condition except for a broken string. I might restring it and give it away or donate it to Goodwill. Or I could teach a grandchild to play.

Today, I saw the U-Haul van in their driveway. The family is moving out of the rental. These are the same folks who have a living room lamp on their front porch, Christmas lights in the shape of a heart in the front window, and five or six free shopping newspapers in their driveway.

I wonder who we’ll get next in the neighborhood?

Posted in construction

It’s just a bit early for that, don’t you think?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
It’s 6:15 and they’r at it already

The big dog and I got out just before sunrise for our morning walk. It was worth it being out early, when the early morning clouds are painted just about every shade of pink there could possibly be.

But it was noisy. Typically at that hour the only thing I hear is bird song and a panting dog. A low roar in the distance puzzled me. When we rounded the first bend in the road, I saw what was going on. Masons had fired up a small concrete mixer, preparing mortar to finish brickwork on a house under construction. I glanced at my watch. 6:15 am.

I said out loud, “I’ll bet the neighbors love this!” I don’t know if the workers heard me. Too much noise. I always thought they couldn’t start work till about 8 am. I know it’s a lot cooler in the morning, but that’s early to crank up the power tools.

Towards the end of our walk, another neighbor was loudly trimming his hedges. I glanced at my watch. 6:45 am.

Oh, come on. Really? You don’t think any of your neighbors are still sleeping? Give me a break.

I know these are hot summer days. It’s so much better to get outdoor work done in the cooler, early morning hours. But this is ridiculous.

Posted in communication, Life

Disconnect to connect

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Luke Chesser on Unsplash

His eyes suddenly shifted away and down. To his wrist. To his smart watch. A second later, he returned to our conversation. A momentary interruption, but a huge break in attention. It didn’t happen just once. He felt the vibration on his wrist and glanced at a message six times in the next ten minutes. Lunch was punctuated by a stream of digital notifications.

As the class leader outlined the discussion for the evening, a phone rang at the next table. The owner dug into his pocket to retrieve his phone. He didn’t answer the call, but his phone rang a few more times. Must have been important.

I cannot remember a Sunday morning worship service that did not include the sound of someone’s cell phone. From the pulpit or the pew, I watch with amusement as the guilty party scrambles to find their phone in purse or pocket to turn it off.

We live in a world where anyone can abscond with our attention. We surrender real relationships to digital imitations. Our devices rule our lives, and the people we care about suffer because of our allegiance to watches and phones.

I only have one suggestion for those who want to wrest their lives from the dominion of non-stop digital communication: Leave your device at home.

Leave your phone in the car. Turn off notifications on your watch. Go to lunch, worship, a meeting, or an amusement park without any connected devices.

What? I know. Everyone is connected. Everyone is one the phone in line for tickets, food, rides, parking, upgrades, and reservations. You have to see it, right? And you have to respond, right?

Well, maybe not. That like, that comment, that response isn’t time sensitive. I’ll bet it’s not urgent. You can (and will) reply tomorrow.

Posted in dogs, Life

The teeny, tiny service dog

Posted on by William Douthwaite

There was no one in line at the paint counter at Home Depot. Sweet! With paint chip in hand, I knew exactly what I needed: two gallons of interior flat.

Just before I described what I needed, a woman held out a white electrical outlet and asked, “Where do I find the paint to paint this?” Caught a bit off the guard, the paint guy pointed and said, “Down that aisle on the right.”

“What kind do I need?” she asked.

The paint guy took a close look and said, “Gloss. Down that aisle.”

“Is it OK to paint this?”

“Sure,” he said.

Her service dog was watching the whole exchange. Her service dog was a five-pound Yorkie, wearing a tiny “Service Dog” vest. I looked down at her. She nervously looked up at me. Neither of us was interested in the situation.

I said, “That is a tiny dog!”

I do not believe English was her first language. She simply smiled at me. I said, “I have a Great Dane.”

Her eyes got big and she said, “I saw one when I was four years old. I remember looking way up at him.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled, “She’s about a hundred pounds heavier than your little one!”

That little dog weighed less than the amount of food I feed my big dog in a day. I now know there’s no minimum weight requirement on being a service dog. That little canine shook so much when I looked at him, I think he needed an emotional support dog of his own!

If he can do the job, more power to him. However, if it were me, I’d want a large dog to be watching out for me. But that’s just me.

Posted in Travel

Countries to visit

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Daily writing prompt
What countries do you want to visit?
View all responses
Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

This is a great prompt. My wife and I are tying to figure out the answer to this question.

We want to visit the British isles. We are going to Ireland next year. We’ll do Britain and Scotland after that. Our family trees both trace back into England, so that is on our bucket list.

We would love to visit Greece (especially Santorini), and some other Mediterranean spots, including Italy and Spain.

I know it is a long, long trip, but I would love to go to Australia and New Zealand. I would love to see places where Lord of the Rings was filmed on New Zealand and snorkel at the great barrier reef off the n northern coast of Australia.

Germany and Austria are on our list of places to visit. We want to see (and spend the night in) castles. Lots and lots of castles.

I’ve only been in Canada for a moment. After an Alaskan cruise, we flew out of Vancouver. I would love to visit the maritime provinces. I would also love to see the Canadian rockies, too.

There are many places we’d like to return to. We’d like to spend more time in Israel, exploring Jerusalem. We have connections in Haiti, and we would love to see them again. We would love to return to Africa, to stay at the Giraffe Lodge and revisit the elephant orphanage in Kenya.

Posted in Life

Another dent and another discount

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The oven went belly up last week.

I had used it that morning to bake bread and it worked just fine. Salmon was on the menu for supper. I heat up and baste the salmon in a cast iron pan on the stove top for a few minutes, and then put it in the oven for another five minutes or so to finish cooking it.

This time, when I went to put it in the oven, the temperature hadn’t gone up in the last fifteen minutes. That’s strange. I turned the oven on and off. I turned off the breaker, waited a few minutes, and flipped it back on. No luck.

We need an oven for our cookie business. I texted my wife, “I guess you’re going to get the double oven you’ve wanted.” I got online, found the one we had looked at in the store, and bought it. It would arrive two days later. Nice.

The delivery guys arrived right on time, carted off the old applicance, and slid the new oven into its space in the kitchen. It took my wife all of five seconds to notice, “There’s a dent on the handle.” It was about the size of a dime. I went out and brought the delivery guys back in. They looked, took pictures, and called it in.

After a brief exchange, the voice on the phone said, “We can offer a discount of $350.” It took me all of five seconds to say, “I’ll take it.” It amounted to a 30 percent discount on the price of the oven. I knew I could buy a replacement handle for much less than that.

I was right. A new handle cost about $100 from a repair warehouse. It arrived three days later.

I’m impressed by the customer service. I’m dismayed by how easily a shipment is damaged. Then again, I’m sure it survived a long journey from China. And what’s a few dings or dents, right?

What’s the markup on an appliance? I don’t know. I’m sure everyone made money. And we have a working double oven. Sweet.

Posted in Life

Wow, that’s a big bowl!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

After a long, leisurely breakfast at Metro Diner, I still had time to kill waiting for a brake job at Brakes-For-Less. I slowly wandered back, thinking I would just wait out front in a plastic lawn chair.

Then my eye caught the sign for Diane’s Natural Market. Nice. I know they have a little cafe. I’ll wait there.

As I walked in, I encountered the smell of a health food store. It’s unique, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. A combo of cardamom, cinnamon, and cumin? I don’t know. It’s just unique.

I ordered a coffee at the cafe and noticed some huge mixing bowls in the food prep area. They looked to be about two feet wide and one foot deep. I commented, “Wow. Those mixing bowls are huge!”

A young lady working in the back glanced at me and smiled. “We’re making big batches of tuna salad and chicken salad.”

Of course. You make big batches of food for the day. I’ve never worked in a restaurant kitchen before, so I’m not familar with the workflow.

That’s not entirely true. I worked at Subway a long, long time ago. I spent a lot of time in the back slicing meats and cheese, shredding lettuce, and mixing up tuna and seafood salads for the subs. A lot of the work was about prep and cleaning, so that we could make a boatload of subs.

After I got my coffee, I thought a lot about food service jobs. I think I would have liked being in the restaurant business. And sometimes I think about how different life would have been in that world.