REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Grandsons and Halloween

Yesterday was my Halloween immersion. In the morning I went to 5-year-old grandson Fritz's parade at his pre-school. He was a Roman. 

In the early afternoon it was 6-year-old Henry's parade and haunted house at his school, which is also the school I work at. 

My daughter-in-law Laura has photos on her Lake Dawn Blog: Life at the Foot of the Olympics of 14-month-old Arlo and 3-year old Zach as blue dinosaurs. She actually sewed the boys costumes.  

And then something awful this way comes. The little guys grow up and become obnoxious, although I'll admit I trick-or-treated with Anthony, now 21 (blonde wig), many times when he was a boy. I've known these guys as kids--and as football heroes in high school. Now they are in college and working. Ah, for the age of innocence. Those tats are going to be ugly to remove someday, but no one ever listens to me. 

I'm in a blue dinosaur mood tonight myself although I've sure been to some fun parties in the past. Now I'm a stay-at-home grandma, reading and working on art projects. Turn, turn, turn.  

Red Collage 72 is Finished

For those of you who read here regularly, I just completed a six week class at Summer Studios in Lomita in collage/mixed media. A few days ago I posted a collage of Emily Ann, my mom. 

Here is Red Collage 72 actually in a frame and as completed as I'm going to get it. This was a steep learning curve for me where I learned several new techniques and how to use mediums I had never used before. This piece is 8 x 10 and I must admit, I kind of like it! I usually find fault with most things I do, but I think I will actually hang this one somewhere instead of adding it to the pile of finished work. 

 

What is the Sound of One Tree Falling?

We knew that a mighty wind was coming to Southern California, but little did I imagine that after I left work, a tree would fall into my parking space. A co-worker called about 8 p.m. to forewarn me to park somewhere else the next day.  

Remember this philosophical saying? "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" That was my thinking when I visited the tree in person today.

The phone rang early this morning and it was an automated phone call from UPS telling me that a box from a crematory would arrive today and someone has to sign for it. Ah, Cookie is coming home much more quickly than I had expected. The last thing I always did before bed was to take Cookie out for a quick walk to relieve herself. Last night I did not have to keep my regular clothes on for our bedtime ritual and because the weather was a challenge, I'll admit I was glad. After my art class I came home and got into my nightie, my soft winter robe, and put on my fleecy slippers. Cookie did not like rain or wind and I'm assuming the weather is perfect for herding where she exists now. I imagine her running with Blondie, Wilhelmina, Wolfy, Jake, Duchess and Cena, the dogs that have gone before her. 

Mixed Media Collage: "Emily Ann"

For the past six Monday nights I have been taking a mixed media collage class at Summer Studios in Lomita, CA. If you live in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, I can’t recommend classes—and visits—here enough. You can check out their classes and events at the site above. Their fourth Friday Art Jam nights are fabulous although there won’t be another one until January because of holiday conflicts.

As it turned out, I was the only student in Anita Dixon’s Monday night class, but she faithfully met with me and taught me many things I didn’t know. Anita is "an old soul," and I am always drawn to people like her. Her own art work is superb and at least three of her pieces are currently hanging in the gallery. 

I have one piece completed and framed, another two completed (a key case and a collage box which I had made years ago but now knew how to make them better), and five pieces are in various states of completion.

I call this piece, which is 8” x 8”, “Emily Ann.” The photo is my mother when she was about 16. One of my most cherished possessions is a hand-written baby book my mom kept the first year of my life. The writing you see are snippets from the first entry she made. (I photo copied the original.) That is my handwriting of her name. I am probably going to mount this piece on masonite or some kind of board.

I just laid down some more layers on two of the pieces. Ever since Cookie got really ill, I spent time each day working on my class projects. I am choosing not to work on any Cookie art pieces right now, although I have written every day in my journal about her.

As a dog lover, I sure resonate with the studio's name. David Parsons, the owner and Executive Director, named it after his dog Summer. Summer is always there to greet people with a bark. There is also a large exotic bird in a cage who interacts with everyone and a tiny finch who also trills periodically. 

Summer Studios is a very special place to learn and visit. 

Life Keeps on Keeping On

This past week, culminating in deciding it was time for me to stop hanging on to Cookie for my own benefit, has been a long one. But, I'm so glad I took off work and just hung out with her. And I'm so acutely aware and grateful for all the people who helped me at the end. 

I greatly appreciate the outpouring of comments and e-mails offering comfort. Our four-leggeds (and all our pets, for that matter) are such a huge part of our lives. I learned an awful lot from Cookie about the art of living--and of dying. I am not planning to adopt a new dog soon, but I know that I eventually will. 

I've gathered up all the doggie paraphanalia and washed it, stored it, and in some cases, destroyed it. It's the walk times and the night time that seem the emptiest. Yesterday I did my volunteer shift at the library, and though I missed church this a.m. (couldn't sleep well last night and ended up sleeping until 11 a.m.), I did go to EfM. I have also journaled a lot, recording good memories--and mischievious ones, too. This afternoon I spent a few hours in my patio garden with special time cultivating and replanting the area she chose to nestle into when she felt really sick. 

So, I'm moving on, but my life is at a crossroads. It has largely revolved around her for so long. I can take off for Ojai, for example,  without making all kinds of arrangements. It had reached the point that I dreaded leaving her even though family and friends would come to watch her when I traveled. 

Again, thanks for your support, one and all. People debate whether the cyber community is a "real one." Even though I have not met the majority of you who read her sometimes, I feel very connected to you. 

Cookie Has Gone Home to the Great Australian Outback in the Sky

Cookie went today to the great Australian outback in the heavens where all the beloved Australian breeds go. 

I brought her home from the hospital Tuesday evening to "enjoy her for a few days" as her vet, Dr. Steve Liebl suggested. 

She was very weak, not eating, but drinking water right to the end. She took her last walk last night and was too tired to get up the few stairs into the townhouse complex. My neighbor Julia carried her for me. I took off work to be with her around the clock and I have been sleeping downstairs in the TV room the past few nights because she couldn't climb the stairs to the bedrooms any more. This morning I took her out to the front grass, but another neighbor, Daniel, had to carry her back in the patio for me. 

I sat down on the sofa to write in my journal for a while, a gratitude write about many of the good times (and sometimes frustrating ones) that we had had together. And she mustered the energy to get out the dog door to the patio. But, she didn't come back in. I found her nestled in a flower bed behind some plants; she was conscious, but barely. This incident made it easier to call the vet. My other young neighbors, Jeff and Dana, were home and Jeff put her in the back of his Jeep and we took her to the Hermosa Animal Hospital. They gave us quiet time with her after they sedated her and all three of us petted and talked to her. And then the vet, not the one one I usually use, gave the final dose and just a few seconds later she was gone. Again, we stayed loving her for a while and I signed the papers for cremation.

I have not cried so much in a long time. Thank God for Jeff and Dana and all my neighbors who have kept vigil with me. I slept the rest of the afternoon and am now storing leashes, dishes, toys and washing all the blankets she soiled in the last days. The dog bed will go in the trash tomorrow and I will begin to return to my routine--minus dear Cookie who has largely been my catalyst to keep on keeping on. I don't mean this in a dire way. My schedule largely followed her schedule and her needs. 

This is a very sentimental depiction of dogs, but one that has brought me comfort from my friend Dannie. 

My Dear Sweet Cookie is Fading Away

For those of you who read here regularly, Cookie has been my beloved companion for 13 of her 14 years.  

For the past several months she has had her ups and downs and the Cushings drugs made her sicker. Mid-week last week she began refusing food and could no longer walk up the stairs to where the bedrooms are in my house. 

When I took her to the vet--again--yesterday, Dr. Steve recommended hospitalization for tests and observation. He has kept me informed since by phone. She is very anemic and he suspects cancer in the spleen and liver. He can call in a specialist for a more thorough diagnosis, but at her age, if it is what he thinks it is, she would not do well on chemo. I vacillated about the testing but opted to bring her home "to enjoy her for a few more days." 

I have just brought all my bedding downstairs and will sleep on the sofa where we can see each other for however long we have left together.

I did not want a dog 13 years ago but when I heard her story and then met her, I was instantly enchanted. The legend is that she belonged to a prostitute in the Hollywood area, and when she was arrested, she passed her off to a homeless man named Johnny. He named her Cookie for Cookies and Cream ice cream, but he didn't keep her leashed and she got hit by a car. My son's then-girlfriend had a friend who worked in the neighborhood and everyone chipped in to pay for the vet to get her fixed up. I saw her for the first time at Tiffany's apartment and we took her for a walk in a Hermosa Beach park. I took Cookie home with me that night.

Still a puppy then, she caused some major havoc in my townhouse and for a full year she went to work with me where one of the teachers kept her in his classroom with his two dogs. Back then, we could have dogs on campus. She became the mascot for the student newspaper which I advised at that time. 

We've had a long and good life together, with ups and downs, but I gaze at her sleeping as I type this and my heart is bursting with love and sorrow. 

Palos Verdes Marine LCpl. Chris Kutlesas's Unit To Receive Books for Troops

When LCpl. Chris Kutlesa, 21, a Marine Combat Correspondent currently stationed in Japan, was younger, he introduced his mom, Karen Kutlesa, to the used book sale at Malaga Cove Library. "He was and is a book sleuth and he started me coming," she said, "and I still come as often as I can." Chris was raised in Palos Verdes and graduated from Palos Verdes High School.

So, when Karen and her family dropped by yesterday to browse and buy books, she and Gene Roeder, who directs all the book sales for the Peninsula Friends of the Library, is Vice President for Operations for PFL, and the Books for Troops program, began to chat.

Since 2004 the Peninsula Friends of the Library has been sending books, videos, magazines and CDs to troops all over the world. Gene told Karen that the PFL has shipped more than 68,182 items in 508 boxes weighing more than 336 tons to military hospitals, USO facilities, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force units in 43 countries since joining the Books for Troops program.

He asked for her son's unit's address and said he would especially pack a box just for his unit. Small world, isn't it?

And you can help with a minimum donation of $15 which will send 40 books to our troops.  Donations can be made to Peninsula Friends of the Library, Books for Troops and sent to Malaga Cove Library, 2400 Via Campesina, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274.

Donations of the various media can be dropped off at any of the three library locations and should be marked Books for Troops to distinguish them from our other donations. The most requested genres are: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mysteries, Westerns and Adventure.

Books are also donated to the LAX USO.

As I prepare to push this send button, I'm sending Karen Kutlesa the link for this blog post so Chris can see his mom passing on his book sleuth tradition. And I also cross posted this story to the Peninsula Friends of the Library blog. 

For additional information, call 310-377-9584, ext. 553 or e-mail at friends@pvld.org

It's a Great Weekend for the Redondo Beach Art Group's Power of Art

 If you are in the Los Angeles area, don’t miss the Redondo Beach Art Group’s 2009 Power of Art the next two days. The artists opening reception was tonight and I volunteered at the silent auction. The building that once housed the Red Onion and later Camacho’s, 655 N. Harbor Drive, was turned into “Living Art.” The building has been empty for a long time and is slated for demolition, so the City of Redondo Beach let us use it. It will next become a boutique hotel. So many people have worked countless hours to make this happen.

There were hundreds of people attending tonight and the weather is very warm, but fortunately the building is right on the Redondo Beach Marina so some breezes floated in.

I loved this purse in the silent auction and was glad when my friend Jianulla won it. It’s an upcycled piece created by local artist Penny Richards and features the 1908 image of early feminist Susan Walker Fitzgerald. Be sure to click on the image to read the words.

Here are Jianulla and Penny (right), but I’m too tired to take the glare out of the photo in PhotoShop. It’s time to go to bed with Dan Brown’s “The Last Symbol.”

Be sure to click on Penny's name--a fascinating woman! And she has other purses for sale in the boutique and you can visit her Etsy shop at Pennamite. 

 

 

The Cats of Mirikitani

A friend recently recommended a 2006 documentary called "The Cats of Mirikitani." I got it from Netflix and was literally mesmerized. It's the story of a Japanese-American artist living and working on the streets of New York who is befriended by filmmaker Linda Hattendorf. It won the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007 and was featured on PBS and several other stations, but I just heard about it. I can't recommend it enough.

This is a clip from YouTube: