September Memo 2005

I know summer can’t last forever, but during the first week of September does it have to be so cold in the mornings? You almost want to put the furnace on, but that would be ridiculous this early in the year! However by September 10^th and after several days of rain, we did have to resort to putting the furnace on later in the day, just to take the chill off.

Sometime ago I noticed I had a clicking in my left forearm when I moved it a certain way, my first thought? “I’ve got a lose screw!” Nah, that couldn’t be, they’ve been in there so long I’m sure they’re well grown into the bone by now.

When the clicking became worse I thought it best to check with my family doctor. After feeling my forearm she sent me for x-rays. She said if there was anything to report, she’d call me. I waited for a call but heard nothing.

Some weeks later when I had to take Mom to the doctor, I called ahead and asked if I might see her as well. Even though I go into the office with Mom, I find doctors don’t tell you anything unless you have an appointment booked. No appointment – no charging the government.

The doctor confirmed no lose screw showed up on the x-ray. Great, what’s the clicking about then? Even though the clicking is not getting better, there’s not much we can do. There are times I wrap it with a tensor bandage just for extra support when doing like blow drying my hair. It’ll be interesting to see how things progress.

I’ve been spending time lately with Leone, my adopted Li’ Sis. (Info on this adoption is in my latest book, Too many Speed Bumps: A Journey of Healing.) For some years now Leone has had her faithful Martyn at her side. On one visit, when I knew we’d be awhile, I asked if Martyn was in the car.

“Yes, he’ll be all right,” she replied.

“Nah, bring him in,” I told her. Besides it was warm out and I didn’t like the thought of him waiting for who knew how long in a hot car.

“Are you sure,” she protested.

“Of course I’m sure,” I said with confidence. “He’ll just lie on the floor like he did the last time he was here won’t he?”

Okay, you might be wondering about poor Martyn by this point. Martyn is Leone’s Assistance Dog. He’s Golden Retriever and a loveable beast if ever there was one. Now some of you may know I’m not the biggest fan of dogs, however Martyn is different. Not only is he a very well trained animal he truly is, woman’s best friend.

The minute Martyn came into the house he headed for my ceramic Dalmatian, I suppose he had to check out his competition. When he realized the ceramic dog was no threat, he came over and nudged up against me. I was hooked!! Since he is so well trained I didn’t have to worry about him licking me while I pet him – he just stood there and enjoyed the attention.

As predicted Martyn lay on the floor beside us while we worked on the books, Leone is helping to go through them and checking for typos.

It has always amazed me what Martyn is capable of doing. After all, who’d believe a dog could pick a dime up from the floor? Martyn can, I’ve seen him do it! He even picked up a toothpick I had dropped earlier. Now I wanted a doggie too. Since I’m classified as “disabled” I would qualify for an Assistance Dog, especially considering I can no longer pick things off the floor.

However the more I thought about it, I realized dogs are a lot of work. You have to walk them and take them outside to do their business, even if you don’t want to, you have to. I know you’re suppose to pick up after you dog when he leaves a little gift, but how in the world would I do that since I no longer bend that way? Hmm, could the dog do that too? Okay now I’m being silly, but one has to think of these things. I couldn’t be like many dog owners I see and just leave it there for anyone to step in, that’s just plain rude!

After considering how much work is involved, I’ve decided to put off getting a dog, although a dog would be a great reason to get out and walk more. J I suppose as long I have Mom, who plays the role of “My Martyn” when needed, and I am able to use my other gadgets to retrieve things off the floor, I’ll be just fine for now. By the way in case you’re wondering, no Mom does not pick up dimes the way Martyn does. J

We also had some excitement this month, and this will tell you just how dull our lives are. (Not that I am complaining mind you.) When Mom looked out her window the morning of September 18^th, she saw a small white car parked in front of our house. At first she thought it was Leone waiting for us to get up. (It was about 6:30 a.m.) But then realized she probably wouldn’t sit out there that long.

When I got up Mom told me about the car. I asked if it had a bra on the front of it. I know, I know, cars don’t wear bras. Well that’s what those black things across the front by the headlights are called. She said no and I replied, “Then it can’t be Leone.”

We sort of kept an eye on the car all day but we never saw anyone around it. Strange, if it was a neighbor you’d think we would see something. Besides, our neighbors don’t usually park in front of our place. Oh well, it wasn’t hurting anything.

Through the night I had the thought if it was still there in the morning, maybe we should call the police. I’m not really sure why, I hadn’t thought any further. When Mom and I were having our morning tea together the next day, something we just started doing, she mentioned maybe the car was stolen and we should call the police.

“Is it still there,” I asked. When she said it was, I suggested getting the plate number and I’d call the police. I spoke to a very nice lady and after giving her the make of the car and the plate number she said she’d call back if it was a stolen car. In fact, she mentioned there had been a few stolen cars over the weekend.

It wasn’t long before she called back and confirmed it had been stolen from Vernon. Now why would someone steel a car and leave it some twenty minutes away? What fun do these pathetic thieves find in that? From what we could see there was no damage on the car, which I suppose will be good news for the owners. Before hanging up I was told a Constable would be around to take finger prints and then they’d move it.

A short time later we notice the Constable out front. It wasn’t long before he was heading for our front door! Great! I wasn’t really presentable yet. Well, I wasn’t a total wreck. After quickly running a brush through my hair, I headed for the door. To my surprise it was Don, one of our old neighbors. He returned my smile after I opened the door.

First thing I asked was, “How’s the baby?” Well she wouldn’t be a baby anymore, not at just over two years-old. He said she was doing fine and seemed surprised that I would ask. Why wouldn’t I? She was born pre-matured and if I remember correctly was only three pound when born. They moved away soon after her first birthday, but we could see she was doing just fine.

Back to the stolen car. Don asked when we noticed it; I told him Mom had first seen it early Sunday morning. As he asked a few more questions he kept saying, “So you didn’t see anyone when they left the car here Sunday night?”

“It was Saturday night because it was there all day Sunday…”

He finally got it straight and went about his business. We couldn’t believe how soon a truck came to remove the car. After Don had taken a lot of pictures of it, from inside and out, they began to load the car.

It was interesting to see how they first lowered the flat bed part of the truck. Now it was positioned like a ramp. After hooking chains to the car, they slowly began to pull it onto this ramp. Once the car was completely on the ramp, they leveled it and moved it back into position.

It was amazing how fast this was all done. Mom was especially impressed since she’d never seen anything quite like it. Less than hour after phoning the police, the car was gone and our excitement was over.

Now that my autobiography is finished, I wondered what my next project would be. I thought it might be fun to write a fiction book, after all writing Ricky, the Rickety Rocking Chair was a great deal of fun.

I’m not sure where other writers get their inspiration from but mine came to me through the night. It wasn’t really a dream, it started with a single thought. All I’ll say for now is, suppose a person had given all they possess away because they’d been told they were going to die, then learn they’ve been misdiagnosed. I will say this, the writing has begun.

I haven’t had time to do much reading this month so there are no new reviews. Stay tuned though, you never know. That does it for this month, until next time, read much and be well! J