The past few days have started way too early. It started on Sunday at 3:30 AM. Benjamin, who is our darling one-and-a-half year old cockapoo got sick in his kennel. Read this as diarrhea. Benjamin was mortified. Kennels are their safe place and he “defiled” it. John just accidentally heard him rummaging about and checked on him. He flew out of his “house” to the back door. And John let him out. Now, anyone who has had children should know to clean up the pooch first and then tackle the disgusting aftermath. In defense of John, it WAS the middle of the night and he probably has never cleaned up a kid in his life. I awoke as soon as John discovered poor Benjamin’s plight and expletives hit the airways. He had a handle on it. I could have gone and saved him but I didn’t. Besides John’s language was quite entertaining. One word used as noun, adjective, and adverb all in the same sentence can be an art form at times. Benjamin flew back into the house, straight past John and all, and hopped onto the king size bed for some mommy comfort. Poor baby. “Say, John, is Benjamin messy or not?” How the ______ should I know!” Now I did have to get up. Strip the bed. (I did say it was KING-SIZED!) Start the first of at least ten loads of laundry. I return to the kitchen to see John bathing the dog in the kitchen sink. I was about to say “Seriously, dude…” but thought better of it and just disinfected whole kitchen post bathing. It is now 4:15AM. We are sick tired and wide awake.
I tell this story only as an excuse for why I am up before 4:00 AM every morning since then. John seems to have been able to reset his sleep-o-meter. I am not doing so well. The good news is that I started a new book that I am just enthralled with. A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena De Blasi. I bought A Thousand Days in Tuscany awhile back and just could not get into it. Finally I decided to google her and see what else she may have written. Good thing. The Tuscany one follows the Venice one. It is a memoire or sorts. I think. Or maybe it is an internal journey of life and spirit. Whatever. I am so enjoying it that I don’t mind being up too early. I am a foody wannabe and dabble at decorating and like to do new things–but she is the real thing. Chef, food critic, food writer, traveler, decorator. Wow. She meets and marries this Venetian guy, like later on in both of their lives– and moves lock stock and barrel to Venice. Kind of like I picked up and moved to Mantorville, MN when I married my own good-ole-boy. Well, maybe not so much. Still I do identify a bit. I mean, I have chickens for god sake.
Seamus, my 15 pound cat, just moved off of my legs and the feeling is coming back into my feet. It must be time to start coffee. Oh, wait. I have to be at the County Seat Coffee House in Mantorville at 8:00 to commune with my friends and colleagues about the happenings in town. Movers and Shakers. Probably to protect myself from being the subject of conversation. I fronted the discussion of putting wireless internet into the Opera House. It goes in on Friday. Most under 50–of which I am not one–think it is a fabulous idea. Some others, not so much. I think it is going to be great. This is 2013 and even little Mantorville, historic as it likes to think it is, needs to join in.
I have been chatty. Guess that is what it takes. Getting up very early. It is hot here. John has the a/c cranked down to 70 and the windows are steamed up. I have a sweat shirt on. Oh well.
MusingsfromMantorville 