Life and Times at Cranberry Lake

This blog is about the life, wild and otherwise, in this immediate area of Northeast Pennsylvania. I hope you can join me and hopefully realize and value that common bond we share with all living things... from the insect, spider, to the birds and the bears... as well as that part of our spirit that wishes to be wild and free.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN:

Folks, I'm pleased to say that my iMac is proving itself to be the magical thing I had hoped it would be. There are a lot of things I've yet to learn, but the basic machine is working like a charm. It is all do to the technological abilities of the modern teen. Hire a teen to help when you are working on getting to know how to operate your new computer. I've seen my grandchildren clicking a mouse on a computer game at the age of ONE... they have never known a world without a computer in their home.

So... when everything else failed, I asked a friend who had an Apple computer if her teenaged son was available, and he came over last Saturday and got this computer on track. What was good about this is EVEN he had problems. Yeah... it wasn't just me! There was a definite problem between Lexmark and the iMac OS X that I just purchased, and he managed to find a download from Apple that took care of the problem. As for the email, we just cancelled the free "mac.com" email thing for a month thing that I didn't need, and just have the local carrier's email on the iMac email program. There was probably more to it than that, but it's working well.

Sorry if I almost gave up in dismay, but even though my father was an electrician, I did not inherit any of his abilities in working with anything requiring more than having to plug in a plug and flip a switch. When my son August was in the 5th grade, I read one of the books he was reading. It was about Thomas Edison. As a young man when he was first experimenting with electricity, he asked Alexander Graham Bell how electricity worked. Bell answered him thus: "If you pull the tail of a donkey it will bray at the other end." Aha, I thought, even the experts don't know exactly how it works... they just know how to work with it. This fifteen year old young man who came into my home and sat here straightening out my problems didn't have to know how this all came about... that we can compute now almost as easily as we could talk on the phone... he just knows how to work with the computer to make it happen.

The following should read "Grandma...etc..."
cat
more cat pictures

I thought about this. What if we first had to understand HOW with every electronic item worked before we could use it. How does my voice go over the telephone lines?... worse yet, how the heck does it go out over the wireless airways to some relay tower or satellite from one's cell phone to another phone?... And gets to just the one person's phone out of the billions of telephones that are out there?

How does the electricity come into the toaster to heat make toast out of a slice of bread?

And how does a picture get carried from a television station into that TV set we couch potatoes watch??

The world was mysterious enough from its beginnings, and since man began inventing, and realizing how to capture the power of electricity and radio waves, it has become mind boggling.

I'm no longer going to think I have to understand the computer in order to use it... I'm just going to learn how to take advantage of it's possibilities, and it seems like it's possibilities are endless.

WHAT A WORLD!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

[Following is first blog from my new computer... an iMac. I'm still learning how to operate this totally new computer.]

Chapter 16 Polly Remembers Domino (Freedom and Animals, cont.)

Millie had died... I wasn't too unhappy about that, as she bit me twice when I was a mere pup, and the first time she knocked out one of my teeth and it never grew back... And we don't have Tooth Fairies like you people do... so I got nothing but grief from her attacks. The next time... when still a pup, she pierced my ear, and I didn't get an earring either... it would have gone in nicely... she pierced it right through.

Then the first time I saw the little people she taught me to fear them, but one of my favorite people, Trese, had a baby, and I got to like HER baby, and realized they were just puppy-people. But Millie was so utterly afraid of young humans, as she thought of them as aberrations of nature. What did "I" know... I was only a dog... and a puppy dog at that. So I was afraid of babies too... even young children who looked a lot like the adult version of humans. One of those bigger ones visited and would chase me all around, so I hid behind the couch the whole time she was here. Maybe Millie was right after all--she was older and wiser than me.

While growing up I was so cute that I got much of the attention, so Millie didn't like that one bit. When no people were around, she was nice to me. It wasn't me she hated, just the attention being lost to me. I know she was a prettier dog, as she was a pure bred English Springer Spaniel, whereas I was just a mix.

I guess one of the things I later understood about Millie was grief. She absolutely loved some dog the people here had called Gayle. She never quite got over losing her. For awhile after Gayle died, she was the only dog, and really liked the extra attention. She also was allowed up on the bed. When I came along, they let me sleep up between them on the bed, not down at the foot, where Millie slept. It felt snuggly and safe. But... she didn't like it one bit and would whisper swears that humans couldn't hear.

I will have to admit that the day that Millie died was hard on me. I felt lonely at first. But I became the only dog, and that was good. I was a little worried all the time while Millie was around that I'd get bitten when people would make a big fuss over me. I began to relax.

One day I heard the humans talking... they had gone out to look at another dog. "... a German Shorthair," they said... whatever that meant. Mom was crying, she said she wasn't sure she'd like the dog... she missed Millie. But they went out again with the checkbook, and came back with the funniest looking dog I'd seen yet. He almost made me laugh. His name was Domino... why I don't know... something about his spots looking like spots on whatever a domino is. To me he looked kinda naked. Long skinny legs, skinny body, and a nice looking face. Judging from his face, I didn't think he'd bite me. At first when he liked wrestling I was afraid I'd get hurt, but I quickly realized that this dog was my brother under his skin [which looked like tight long underwear... ha ha.] Domino made me happy all over. I wasn't only in love with him, but we had great adventures together. He was a better hunter than I was, and I had both Basset Hound and Beagle Hound in my blood. He knew how to take a three day trip through the woods and not get caught and brought home again... but, after three days, we'd get hungry and come home again by ourselves. The first time we did this was the same week he lived with us. We hadn't gone far when a car stopped and picked him up, but I wouldn't let them get near me. I went home. Here I had just found the most fun and closest doggie friend in the world, and he was gone for days. I already missed him. Then my people... they refer to themselves as Mom and Dad... went up to the Humane Society and picked him up, and brought him home again.

He didn't go anywhere for about a week or so, but they always took him out on a leash. Then there was the lessons. They took him over to some building while I went to just watch, while they tried to train him tricks like how to walk on a leash... How to sit-stay... And how to come when called. He finally learned, but he didn't listen when we both were outside at the same time and he wasn't tied up. Boy do I miss those hunting trips. We had such a good time... sniffing and just following our noses. We'd run, run, and run. I caught a rabbit with his help on one of those trips. I don't think I could have stayed the whole time without something to eat. We chased deer, but never caught them. Domino just liked the run... like it was a race. He'd run like the wind. I had to follow his scent, as he'd be out of sight in seconds.

When we'd get home from the hunt, Mom would have a fit. She'd yell and at the same time, I knew she was happy and relieved to see us... she had given us up for dead. I didn't want to worry Mom or make her angry, but I couldn't resist, as I had the best time with Domino than with any dog in my entire life. Everybody loved Domino, but I didn't care. He had a great personality and showed everyone he loved them. I never saw a dog get away with so many pranks. He'd chew the rug at the front door. It had to be replaced twice, and even the last rug got somewhat chewed... and we didn't have Domino for that long.

I think Dad liked Domino because they both were great hunters. It's like they were of the same mind. Maybe he got angry with us when we went on our hunts because he wanted to go too... I'll bet that was it. Anyhow, Mom had just about had it. One time after we got back she got ranting and raving about "one of the dogs has to go... One won't run away without the other, and I can't stand them running away for days and not knowing whether they are living or dead!" I was afraid, but Domino said, "She didn't really mean it... she really loves us a lot!"

So life went on ...we went for walks with Domino wearing a special collar... or once in awhile they put it on me. When they couldn't see either of us, they would press a button and the collar would make my neck feel all prickly... it hurt. Once when they put it on me, Mom couldn't see me even though I was nearby, because I'm so short. She kept pressing on the button. When she finally saw me, she felt bad, as she knew it hurt me. So, she usually kept it on Domino, but Domino knew if he got far enough away, the collar would no longer hurt. We were driving Mom crazy, and knew it, but couldn't help ourselves. We were just obsessed with hunting.

We also liked roadkill...especially if it has seasoned for a day or two...or longer. If too long, we could at least rub our bodies in it and sneak up on other wild animals. They would think, "I smell something dead... it reeks, but at least it's dead...," and we could get close enough to give them a good run for their money.

Then one winter's day, we both smelled a dead deer across the road in front. It had snowed, and Dad was shoveling. Mom was careful not to let me out, but let Domino out, as Dad was out there. But Dad knew about the road kill, and had to keep an eye on Domino just in case he caught on, not realizing that Domino already knew and was waiting for an opportunity to run over and give it a chewing... maybe bring back a leg for later. So... I was inside with Mom, and Dad and Domino were outside. Later was to be the heartbreak of my life. Dad came running up to the balcony of the house, opened the door, and said, "Domino got hit on the road... he's dead!"

Mom yelled, "No... No... He can't be! I don't believe it. Where!?"

"Dad had tears in his eyes and said nothing could be done, that he was hit pretty bad. "I pulled him off the road."

Mom didn't want to believe that Domino was really dead, and ran down the driveway. I think she was going to try to save him. I was just sitting there knowing that something really terrible was happening. I smelled the sorrow; I sensed the fear. Mom disappeared down the driveway, and then I heard her screaming and crying. I knew... I knew then that Domino and I would never go hunting again.

Dad took the tractor down the driveway. I didn't want to see, but had to, as I didn't believe it either. When he came back, Domino was in an awkward heap on the front loader of the tractor. I think he was very dead. But I wasn't sure it was him. I couldn't catch his odor... not a live odor of my best friend in the world. I watched from the balcony as they loaded him into a black plastic bag from the front loader, and into the back of the car. I couldn't believe it was him any longer, so I just waited for him to come home while I watched them load the trash bag into the car... the dead thing... the road-kill... the fresh one...not the deer. Couldn't be him, because I saw him last and he was alive when I did. He wasn't dead. We don't recognize death. But we miss that which dies. I missed him right away, and thought I'd get over it. I thought it would be nice to be the only dog. It wasn't. It was so lonely.

It was a long time before Mom and Dad got another dog... it was a new season they call Spring. Three months... seemed like years. They brought home this black thing they ended up calling Bear. Bear was NOTHING like Domino. He didn't know a mouse from a rabbit, and wouldn't stick to one trail or another. He was the damnd-est dog I ever met, and here they expected me to feel like a sister to him. He was no brother of mine. He wasn't Domino. I'll keep waiting for Domino to come home. I know that someday I'll see Domino again... and as I get older and older, I'm feeling closer and closer to seeing my good old friend. I know I'll recognize him, as he'll always be a part of me, and it will be like that part will make me whole again when he's back-- When I'm happily hunting with him again.

--Polly