In which I solve a problem and create a problem

Ooookay, SO... as I have mentioned, I have been experiencing some difficulty in keeping Kobi in the back yard. In fact, she was barely staying in the yard for more than a few minute before she was over the fence and trotting gleefully down the street. There are a few obvious problems with this: one, she could get hit by a car, which she nearly did last weekend. Two, she could get scooped up by someone a block over and adopted as their own and we'd never see her again. Three, my neighbors could firebomb my house.

Kobi is a perfectly friendly and sweet, non-aggressive little dog in almost any social setting. When visitors come, she might give a couple of warning barks, but then she warms right up. Out in the world, on a leash, she is friendly and approachable by even the grabbiest of small children. But off a leash, and loose in the neighborhood, she is a holy terror. For three mornings in a row, she burst out of the backyard and threw herself, hackles up, barking madly, at a mom walking with her two young boys and a baby stroller past our house. No amount of calling, clapping, shouting or pleading would get her to stop. I apologized and apologized, and the lady was very nice about it, but I know how I would feel if someone's annoying, yippy little dog had come running after me.

Then there's this: Sunday afternoon, Grayson and I were on our way out the door when Kobi jumped the fence and ran across the street to bark at the couple getting out of their car in front of their house. The woman is the mom of one of Grayson's friends. The man, I understand, is the friend's stepdad, and he's a real gem. He turned around and started cursing at Kobi and trying to kick her. "Get out of my damn yard, you!" Like he's somehow threatened by 16 pounds of barking Chihuahua. Grayson and I are standing right there, clearly attempting to call her away and get her to stop. This lovely gentleman didn't even acknowledge our presence, just kept trying to kick our dog. Nice. The world is so full of delightful people.

Actually, had his ill-omened boot made contact, I shudder to think what my reaction would have been. I don't think I would have been a model of self restraint or polite conflict-management. I think I would have gone over there and gob-smacked him.

ANYWAY... this charming person is just another very good reason to keep our dog in the yard. Ironically, on the occasion when he was attempting to kick her, we had been on our way out to the car to go buy an electric fence.

I installed the fence yesterday afternoon. I don't think it's too jerry-rigged. I was supposed to sink a copper grounding rod six feet into the ground. I bought four feet of steel rebar and managed to get about six inches of it driven into the hard soil around the back door. Best I could do. It also recommends that I set up some sort of lightning avoidance somethingorother... Um... no. I just set it up, ran the wire, and plugged it in. Then Grayson and I put the dogs out and went to the park. I didn't want to be around when they discovered the wire.

Well, the good news is that it worked just great for Kobi. We got home and Kobi was still in the yard. This morning I put the dogs out to pee and when I opened the door to let them in... Kobi was in the yard. The neighbor family with the baby stroller walked unmolested past our house.

The bad news is... well, of course the other dogs were sure to experience the wire, as well. I would have spared Flower if I could, but I'm afraid it was inevitable. I don't know when or how it happened, but it clearly made an impression. Poor Flower is now afraid to go in the back yard. I had to literally take her by the collar and herd her out the back door this morning, and she tried energetically to dodge past my legs and get back in the house. I'm sure it's because of the wire.

I feel terrible, but what can I do? Got to keep Kobi in the yard, so everybody suffers the consequences.

On a lighter note... I took Grayson to see "How to Train Your Dragon" on Saturday afternoon and it was AWESOME. Best. Movie. Ever. Made me laugh, cry, cling to my seat... it had everything. But mostly it had this fantastic dragon, Toothless. What a great character! And he never spoke a line. Perfect blend of real animal behavior and digital animation anthropomorphism. Loved it. Can't wait to see it again. I tried to post some pics, but Blogger is not cooperating with me on graphics today... so you should visit the site.

Monday's arrival

Monday landed with a thud. Groaned pitiably and crawled away.

That's my story about Monday. Seriously, if I can't shake these blues, I'm going to have to take drastic measures. What those might be, I have no idea.

It was good to get my boy back yesterday afternoon. We spent an hour or so having Sculpey battles. This entails rolling up a ball of Sculpey and then reshaping it each "turn" to have a different "attack" on your opponent. It taxes my powers of imagination, and frankly I find it a bit tedious, but Grayson really enjoys it, and I remember pretty vividly doing something similar with clay on the dining room table at my house when I was about his age.

Otherwise, all weekend I just lay around being lethargic, inert and semi-depressed. I spent two twenty-minute sessions sitting on the bathroom floor watching Mambo float in his bath. He's been lethargic lately, as well, and the web sites warned of lethargy brought on by dehydration if he didn't get regular baths... which he hasn't. So into the tub he went and he stood there looking at nothing and I sat there looking at him. What a wild pair.

Lately the lizard will eat only mealworms fed to him by hand. Okay, I realize I probably brought this on myself, but this is an animal that used to run to his dish every time I put in fresh worms and gobble up 15 or 20 at a time. Now he never seems to approach his dish of salad, whether or not there are mealworms in it, and only eats when I hand them to him, though when I do so he does seem to eat with relish. I dunno. This little 16-inch lizard is a constant source of worry and anxiety. I'm always afraid I'm doing something wrong that will result in his demise. He does seem a bit perkier since his baths over the weekend, at least.

Also, the spring weather seems to have returned, and my garden seems none the worse for having been buried in snow for two days. This morning flocks of starlings descended onto the seed I had scattered in the lawn. It's funny, they were nowhere to be found over the weekend when it was so snowy. Just sparrows and wrens and a couple of cardinals. I suppose that's a good thing, since the starlings would have just scared everyone else off. I was fun to watch them pig out this morning, though.

Tonight: the gym. Maybe some exercise will cheer me up.

First Day of Spring. Ha.

Okay, first day of spring. 32 degrees, snow and 40 mph wind gusts. My poor crocuses, that just put their heads up last week, are frozen solid, as is my poor garden. Well, radishes and lettuce are "cold weather" plants, anyway, right? Hopefully they'll weather the weather.

I just came in from tossing a few handfuls of sunflower seeds and millet around for the rather disgruntled-looking birds. Poor things, they're more in shock than I am. Looks like the rest of the day is probably a round of reading books, drinking coffee and staring out the window. Not that I had any involved plans otherwise, of course. Grayson is back at his dad's as of last night.

I'm in the doghouse a bit at work. The museum closed for weather today, which I find astonishing. The roads are clear and dry, and there is no precipitation whatsoever. But apparently at 8:30 this morning it didn't look so good, so the associate director made the call to close for the day. Unfortunately, my phone was turned off and I didn't get the message to let the media know, so there were several people inconvenienced by my unavailability, and ultimately my supervisor was obliged to call the tv stations herself and get the closing posted. My assistant was also unavailable (i.e. ASLEEP. It was 8:30 on a Saturday, after all), so the phones were ringing all over town. Sigh. I hate it when something like that happens and it looks like I'm not doing my job. (partly because... I wasn't) No doubt I'll hear about it on Monday and there will be a major discussion about the "break-down of communication." Wish I'd just turned my dern phone back on.

So I'm a bit out of sorts, myself today. No way to make it up to anyone. So I'm just stewing.

I can take comfort in the likelihood that this is the last time this season for the museum to close on account of weather. Surely this is the last freeze and the last snow and it's all spring spring spring from here on.

On Thursday it was sunny and warm and Grayson and I went to the zoo. So did everyone else in Central Oklahoma, unfortunately. I've never seen the place more packed. It was a nerve-wracking experience. There was a slow-moving, stroller-clogged line for everything. Grouchy moms and whiny kids waiting at every exhibit. But we dutifully made our way through the main areas and then headed home to sit in the sun. It was even warm enough to take Mambo out to catch some rays. We measured him, too. He is 16 inches long, nose to tail.

I have spent two afternoons this week with a glass of wine and a book in a lawn chair in the back yard, just soaking in the warmth and light. So I can't complain too much about this cold, cruddy weekend.

Yesterday Grayson and I headed to the park. We had no intention of taking Kobi with us, but she climbed the fence as we were driving away and was very nearly hit by a car in front of our house, so we gathered her up and brought her with us to keep her out of danger. I don't know how I'm going to keep her in the yard. Once she has figured out how to climb the fence, she can do it anytime she wants. I put some wire up over the corner where she initially began getting out, but she only started climbing over at a different spot. Looks like I may be investing in an electric wire. Cause, you know, I'm made of money.

Anyway, we ended up taking Kobi to the park with us, where she was a big hit with all the little kids. Everyone came over to pet her and talk to her. She did very well, considering the numbers of little people rushing toward her with their hands out. I was proud of her. I know these damn dogs are a huge pain in the ass sometimes, but I wouldn't trade them in for anything. They have been my true blue family, through thick and thin. And I count on that unconditional love greeting me at the door every evening and curling up behind my knees as I fall asleep every night.

Grayson had a nice afternoon. I sat on a bench with Kobi and a book and watched him play. For a while he played by himself, drifting around the playground, clearly engaged with some fantasy going on in his head. Then he took up with this little girl. She was only about 4 or 5. He brought her over and introduced her to me as J.C. Then she grabbed him by the hand and said "let's go play!" And off they went again. He seemed perfectly content to play with this little girl who was at least 4 years younger than him. It's tough for him sometimes because he doesn't like to play the type of rough and tumble games so many boys his age play. Earlier this week he went out to play with some boys in the neighborhood and he was back in 15 minutes. I think they just played too rough for him.

But after we got home from the park yesterday, a boy from across the street, Jacob, came over and they went to Jacob's house to play and were gone for a good hour. They probably would have played into the evening together except I had to gather Grayson up to take him to his dad. I was so glad that he has finally made friends in the neighborhood. As the weather warms up, he can spend his afternoons with other kids, not just holed up in the house watching TV or YouTube.

I hope he's out playing with friends in OKC today.

Garden Phase 1.2

Okay, I shoulda known. Yeah, all you people out there thinking "the dogs are totally going to dig up that garden....." You were right. They dug up the garden.

Not all of it. Just the lettuce, radishes and spinach. For some reason they left my little sugar snap teepees alone.

So... teachable moment, right? Last weekend I hustled myself to Lowes and bought some rabbit fencing and put up a little doggie gulag around the garden area. I'm sorry to say I had to cut a few feet off of it because I discovered a large slab of buried concrete just a few inches under the surface, and had to downsize from my initial plans. But at least now it's safely enclosed.

I replanted the radishes, the spinach and the lettuce. Yesterday I saw a few timid radish leaves poking up through the soil, and some feathery things that MIGHT be lettuce... though I've never grown lettuce before, so they could just as likely be weeds or bird seed sprouts. No word from the peas yet... they're still mulling it over.

This past Saturday, after just about giving up on them, I spied the first of my crocus in the front lawn. In the fall Grayson and I planted about 150 bulbs: daffodils, tulips and crocus. The tulips and daffodils are poking their heads up, (though nothing is blooming yet because I'm on the south side of the street, so everything is growing in the shade of the house at this time of year). But the crocus were nowhere to be found. Then, just when I was giving them up for lost, here they are, their stubby little flowers pointing hopefully up at the cold gray sky. Hooray! Spring has sprung!

The weekend was gorgeous. I putzed around in the yard ("Putzed" is code for "scooped dog poop"), then sat in the sun and read a book with a glass of ice cold white wine for a bit. Then Grayson and I brought Mambo out to enjoy the sunshine.

He bearded up at first. Imagine seeing the sky after living in a glass box all your life. But then he seemed to calm down, and spent 20 minutes or so sitting on a piece of wood, listening to things. We plan on making him an outdoor enclosure for playtime this summer. We measured him while we were at it, and he is 16 inches long... but only half of that is body. The rest is tail.

Yesterday I had a book club gathering at our house and Grayson was the perfect little host. He helped me set the table, greeting guests and introduced himself, offered insights into why Roxy is a bad dog, even though she seems perfectly sweet when you meet her, and even brought Mambo out and walked around so everyone could meet him and pet him if they wanted to. Mambo's debut was a success, and we look forward to the day toward the end of the school year when we will pack up his gear and present him to Grayson's class at school.

Garden Phase One

This past weekend was glorious! At long long last we got a full weekend of temperatures over 50 degrees and sunshine, actual real sunshine! Bob and I (screw it, I'm using his name, everyone knows who he is) took the boys to Martin Park on Saturday afternoon to walk the trails. It was so good to get outside and to get the boys outside and see them enjoying the woods and the creek.

Then on Sunday I rolled up my sleeves and started digging. I turned over about a third of the space I'll be using for my vegetable garden and planted the cool weather crops: sugar snaps, lettuce, spinach and radish. It was a pure joy. The soil at this house is a dream. Black and soft and full of ginormous wriggly earthworms! It was a piece of cake to dig it, nothing like the hard pan I was obliged to deal with at the old house.

I gathered fallen limbs from the old sycamore tree in the back yard and tied them together to make teepees for the sugar snaps to climb up. I realize it doesn't look like much right now, but in my mind, I can already see how beautiful it will be in the summer.

The rest of the garden will have to wait until the weather warms up enough to put warm weather bedding plants in. The plan calls for two types of tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, basil, nasturtium, chives, mint and okra. I can hardly wait.

In the meantime, this weekend I will be laying down a few layers of newspaper and watering it down to keep any early weeds from coming up before it's time to turn it over for the next planting. I have a couple of packs of Johnny Jump-Up seeds to toss around the front flower beds and then all I can do is sit on my hands and wait until April.

It is so good to have my hands in the earth again! I so missed gardening last year. I'm finding all kinds of excuses for going out and futzing around. This weekend I'll need to pull all the old leaves out of the front flower beds to make way for the tulips and daffodils that are beginning to poke their way up. I need to get some wire and make a compost bin, and some more wire to build a makeshift fence around the veggie garden to keep the dogs out. Turned earth is just too tempting. I will also need to put out some wood mulch between the rows so I've got a place to walk. I'm thinking of starting a vermiculture bin in the garage. I think Grayson would enjoy watching the worms turn our cast off lettuce and squash trimmings into garden gold.

And speaking of creepy crawlies... today I got a fresh shipment of 500 crickets and 1000 mealworms. Last time a lot of the crickets died, so this time I have to be more diligent in feeding them and keeping them well watered. The mealworms live forever in their little container of cornmeal in the fridge. I still have a couple hundred of them from the last shipment, fresh as crawly little daisies. Makes me wish I still had ducks so I could feed them the old ones and start Mambo on the new ones.

Last week I stayed home with a sinus headache one day and decided to take Mambo out for a stroll around the bed while I was lying there. He clambered around a bit before he noticed the window and started eyeing the gap between bed and windowsill. I didn't think he could do it, but he took a graceful leap and attached himself to the curtain, where he proceeded to clamber right up! I didn't want him tearing little holes in my curtain, so I pulled him off, but he seemed so intent on looking outside that I opened the blinds and held him up to the glass to look around.

He spent several minutes just staring up... straight up at the blue of the sky. And I realized "my god, he doesn't remember the sky. He's never really seen it before!" And I promised him that as soon as the weather gets warm enough, we'll take him out every day to sit in the real sun and gaze at the real sky for as long as he likes. Poor little guy.

After this long cold winter, I think I feel a little like Mambo, gazing hungrily out the window at a cold sun I barely remember. Come on Spring! Come on! Come on!