January Hijack by Hobbes

Hobbes here. Jillian is a bit stressed over a litany of things happening in her life so I told her I’d take over her post this month—actually, I hijacked it. 😀 I know I haven’t helped her out much lately other than to sit on her head in the mornings to wake her up, knock things off the table for her to pick up and constantly assist her in exercising by having her get up and down to open the door to let me out on the porch or back into the house. I’m pretty helpful that way. 

We’re in a new year now but man, did we have some adventure—well, I did—in December. 

It started the month the Sunday after that weekend they call Thanksgiving when the humans brought in the tree. I love, love the tree. I don’t know why they don’t leave it up all the time. They put this brown blanket under it and I love snoozing under the limbs with the scent of pine— or whatever that tree is—in my nose. Maybe a fir? Doesn’t matter. I love it. I never mess with the pretty baubles on it. I’m dignified like that. 

Wrapping boxes is another thing Jillian does while that tree is up. Don’t know why. It’s kind of a weird habit. She hides them under the tree like she thinks no one will see them there. She also gets a bit peeved at me while I help. I mean, she needs that tape and the scissors batted to the floor, right? And the pen she uses to write on sticky little sheets of paper is just so tempting. It rolls quite nicely. Biting the paper and sitting on it to cut it for her is also fun but she fusses at me to get off of it. Testy woman. 

The biggest adventure of the month was this small human coming to visit with his parents. He squealed every time he saw me and chased me. Little terror, he is. I tell ya. I’d get the nerve to venture out of hiding and, as soon as he spied me, he was after me. Crazy little human. He also couldn’t say Hobbes so he called me Bob. Bob? Oh the indignity. 

They stayed for what seemed forever but Jillian said was only seven days. God created the world in seven days but I bet his seven were more peaceful than mine even with all the work he was doing. 

Anyway, they eventually went home and I was able to enjoy free rein in the house again without living in fear of a tiny human chasing me and yelling, “Bob.”

Life is sort of back to normal now. They just took my tree outside after Epiphany so, I’m sad about that and about the brown blanket being back in that cabinet at the end of the hallway. 

Here’s a picture of me hiding on Jillian’s bed on my favorite blanket, with the door closed, so the Bob fanatic would leave me alone. 

Happy New Year to all. Hobbes

Social Distancing With A Sense Of Humor

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Barbara Crawford published this post in our community newsletter and graciously gave me permission to include it in our Over The Backyard Fence blog. Thank you, Barbara. Social Distancing With A Sense Of Humor by Barbara Crawford, Recycler of Old … Continue reading →

Guest Blog – Reminiscing with Linda Shook

Our good friend Linda Shook is here today with a guest blog filled with memories and gratitude:

I recently celebrated a birthday…it was another big one. Funny how they keep getting bigger. One of the people who sent me a ‘happy birthday’ wish on Facebook commented, “Next year you’ll be a diamond Linda.’  So there you have it. Yes, I was 74.  74!!!! It’s hard to believe. It seems like only yesterday I was a kid, going to school, helping out on our mini farm each day. Maybe I’ve lost track of all those years because I still live in the same town I was born in (in fact I retired from the same hospital where my mom was a R.N. before she had me there), where I grew up and where many of my friends still reside.   The first house my folks bought after my dad returned from WWII is exactly 2.4 miles from where I live now. After I finished 4th grade they bought 10 acres with an old house on it.  There they built a new house and that’s where I played and left for school each day until I graduated from high school. The ‘farm’ is exactly 4.5 miles from where I live now. So you can see, I haven’t gotten very far in my 74 years. (So to speak)

I’ve loved living in the same area..I always run into people I know ~ from school, places I’ve worked, people I’ve know from the couple different churches I’ve attended and I feel sorry for those who grew up here but circumstances have taken them off to another town, another state, even another country. Many of them wish they could come home…home to the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

One of the sad things about living in you home town is all the changes over the years. I remember when I was in high school, a BIG adventure was going ‘downtown.’ Now living in the country it wasn’t always easy. There was a bus but it went into town twice a day and came back twice a day. And if you missed it coming home , well it wasn’t good. But usually one of us had a mom or dad who would take us 3 miles to one of Tacoma’s main streets where we could catch a city bus. Then off to town we’d go. Downtown Tacoma was magical back in the late 1950’s. There were the usual big department stores (Sears and J.C.Penneys) and we also had a great store called People’s Store and then Rhodes Brothers Store. I remember being able to get a pair of really neat shoes at Leeds for $5 and then of course there was Woolworth’s, Payless and S.H. Kress. I remember one time several of us were in the Kress store and I opened a bottle of Blue Waltz perfume and it spilled and the whole store reeked of that sickening, sweet smell.  We laughed all the way to the lunch counter at Woolworth’s where we had our BLT’s and Cherry Sodas.

Now there’s no more downtown, no more Woolworth’s, no more S.H. Kress, no more Peoples store and no more Rhodes Bros.  I’m so grateful I grew up when I did, I was born January 4, 1942 and I graduated from high school in June 1960.   Those were truly magical years. My hometown has changed so much. I feel sorry for the kids growing up the last 40 years…they have missed some great adventures.

Each day God gives me is a blessing.  Another day to be in contact with family and friends. And another day to see the additional changes my hometown is making.

Linda

 

Leisure

Today I’d like to introduce a new regular blogger here at Over the Backyard Fence. My dear friend Jane Smith will be posting on the fourth Wednesday of every month. I met Jane when we were both studying for our BA degree with The Open University here in the UK. That was, ahem, a very long time ago, and we’ve been friends ever since. Jane is well travelled, enjoys many interests, and has a great sense of humour. I know she’ll be treating us to some really interesting posts along the way, and she’s chosen to start with a subject we can all relate to in one way or another. So welcome, Jane, and over to you…

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Several of your blogs I’ve read relate to the topic of leisure in one way or another. Do we make time in our lives to spend time on leisure activities? What do we, each individually, consider leisure? One person’s idea of spending time differs greatly from another. I have been thinking about this concept a lot lately, because I am doing too much. But not work as Jillian was talking about earlier this month, since I am retired! A poem I read at school constantly pops into my mind, is it a reminder from my inner self to slow down I wonder? “Leisure” by W H Davies opens with the lines:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare …

Reading through the rest of the poem starts a chain of thoughts for me about my life. I am sustained by love of friends and family. I take two yoga classes a week which ground me and sing with a community choir which gives me a sense of well being, achievement and friendship (that’s me in the photo in a black dress with a purple scarf). I also attend a book group which stretches my mind as well as being another source of friendship and fun. Regular contact with my close friends offers all these things too: grounding, fun, conversations on a wide range of topics and relaxation. Good friendship is a mutual support system, one to the other – especially in difficult times. My grandchildren are another source of delight, a child’s view of life makes grown ups stop and stare in a different way. The continuity from my own children through their children, the family rituals which get passed down repeated at birthdays and Christmas. A pattern resembling a huge tapestry which shapes our lives.

I meant this first blog of mine to be light hearted but a piece of writing for me often takes on its own path. Most of you are published authors, I am an avid reader. I have read through your current blogs and the range of topics is fascinating. The humour and love in your lives shines through and the wide breadth of activities too. Your Country Shows resemble our summer fetes and county shows here in UK, but the family aspect and pride in one another’s achievements, whether showing animals or baking, is again a valuable layer of our lives.

Recently my choir did two concerts. One to help raise money for a 19 year old tragically killed. Max was in a car, as a passenger, racing against his friends on a county lane, unofficial of course. A van came unexpectedly around a corner and wham. The impact on many lives, including the van driver and his family, was devastating. We were invited to perform, nervously on our part as it was open air, to a mainly young audience (most of us are over 50!), and our main song was a request from the youngsters of Bob Marley’s 3 Little Birds. I forgot to mention we are an A Capella choir. We arrived to find a Reggae Band performing “our song” which threw us totally! But we rallied one another, got on the stage and sang our hearts out. Two other songs, one Hawaiian another African, led to the climax of the main song. Well, the reaction was amazing – the youngsters whistled, clapped and sang along with us. It was a wonderful feeling to cross generations in tribute to Max and a worthy cause to educate other youngsters in the risks of five minutes fun.

The second concert was this week in a local church. Family and friends of the choir bought tickets, so did other members of our local community. The pressure was huge to do a good performance. Again it was wonderful. The audience sang some songs with us, we raised money and we all felt great. Both these examples illustrate aspects of my leisure. Enriching, loving and fun. A sense of community. Our lives.

Frisky

Today we’re happy to welcome Linda Shook back with us. Linda has been a guest blogger with Over The Backyard Fence but it has been way to long since she’s joined us. Hopefully this will be the first of many more posts from Linda.

My son, Jim will be turning 44 this next August 12th…..I find myself reflecting back over the years when I think of my two kids upcoming birthdays each year. This is about a special friend who came to the Shook house in August 1974;

Around the time of my son’s 3rd birthday (August 12, 1974), my former husband was working out of town with the railroad. He kept calling me telling me about this cute puppy in the window of a pet shop and he thought that Jimmy should have him. I have to admit I wasn’t real excited about having a puppy…we already had two cats and I felt that was enough. Well, the dad won out and when he came home at the end of the week he brought this sweet little beagle/terrier mix puppy. We named him Frisky~because he was. Frisky submitted to all the things a 3 year old boy could do to a puppy, riding down the swing set slide on his master’s lap, getting a bath in the small back yard fish pond (Frisky always hated water activities), never once growling or nipping. He loved to run, especially when we took him camping with us at Kalaloch Beach. His legs were so short, that when he ran at full speed it looked like he was skimming along on his little round belly. Frisky and Jimmy were inseparable for the 11 years . The last couple years of his life he developed congestive heart failure and we finally had to let him go. He was a great pal to my son, a great friend of our family and a great watch dog….we will always remember the fun times we had with Frisky.

Guest blogger Heather Von St. James talks about a serious cancer – Mesothelioma

posted by Laurie Ryan Hi, everyone. We’re priviledged to have with us today a guest blogger I met through an email conversation. Heather Von St. James is a cancer survivor (mesothelioma) and I found her story to be inspirational. It … Continue reading →