Wilbur and a Welcome

View from the Willows Motel, Wilbur WA Oct 2010
Originally uploaded by suzipaw

Last weekend was my wonderful visit with Grandma. That semi-annual pilgrimage is one I look forward to so much. It's a comforting ritual. I'm always so glad to reconnect with Grandma, hear how she's doing and what's new with various family members I don't learn about otherwise. She had some new family history and pictures to share this visit, which is always interesting. It's inspiring and humbling for me to visit with her. She has an appreciation and curiosity for people and activities--life in general--that reminds me not to take mine for granted.
It's also pleasant just to get away to Wilbur, which is a little Brigadoon-ish to me--it doesn't change much from visit to visit and I often run into the same characters every time. While I had my annual plain cake doughnut and wandered the cemetery and chatted with the nice cashier at Sandy's as always do, I also tried to mix things up a bit by having lunch at the next town one day. I've never done that before. It was a little awkward being alone there for some reason. I had to resort to gazing at the iPhone for comfort. It was opening weekend for deer season and while there were many camo-clad men in large trucks everywhere, luckily I was spared the sight of any carcasses.

More photos on Flickr.

Two days before the trip to Wilbur, this photo appeared in my mailbox at work:
…with the sad story of how she's worn out her foster home welcome would be going to the pound unless adopted immediately. I forwarded it to M, sure that he would respond with a "what are you thinking?" remark, but instead he said the opposite. He was actually in Sebastopol where Roxy was staying and swung by to see her. His report was that she was large but sweet and he thought she'd do just fine with us. I couldn't believe it. Earlier in the week I'd driven home one evening from work and passed a woman begging on Main Street in Sebastopol, which is just something you don't see, and I thought, "Why doesn't someone help her?" Followed by "Why aren't I someone?" So the idea of being someone, even for a dog, was in my mind. As was our home situation--with M teaching and taking long weekend motorcycle rides, Rex has been home alone a lot lately. I could help a creature that needed it. Maybe it would help with that rut thing too.

So a week ago Friday M picked up Roxy and she's been adjusting since then. I was a little jealous of M being able to bond with her without me, but I think he has a greater affinity for her in general. Frankly, now that the do-gooder glow has worn off, I'm having a little bit of large-dog remorse, particularly now that the rain has arrived and it's becoming clearer just how much more attention and food a bigger dog consumes. And there is some tension between her and Rex, which is to be expected. They got into a brawl over treats a few days ago, which freaked me out--she's at least twice Rex's size. Rex has been teasing her, playing with toys that he hasn't touched in a year and then snapping at her when she tries to take them up. He peed in front of her dog bed, which also happened to be on my new wool rug. They growl at each other when they greet us at the front gate. He hasn't really responded to her attempts to play with him. But the last couple of days have been better. The growls are going away. She seems to be less stressed about her new surroundings and of course is as devoted to M as he is to her. She really is a lovely, loving canine and as long as her relationship to Rex warms up, I'll be glad to have her with us.
In other news:

The burn I suffered on my ankle a couple of weeks ago dismounting from the motorcycle is still icky, but on the mend. I decided I should be prudent and saw the doc about it on Friday. She recommended a 10-day course of antibiotics and a tetanus booster shot. My deltoid is still aching from that stick two days later.

This weekend marks our first fall storm. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and now it's 10:00 in the morning and feels like it hasn't really become a day yet it's still so dark outside. I'm glad for the rain so early in the season. M has promised to take me out for the world's strongest cup of coffee (so he claims), which issues forth from the Clover machine at our downtown Starbucks, so maybe that will help to jumpstart the day. Better go wake him.