Chateau Retirement’s Reflections series highlights the rich life experiences of our residents. This month, enjoy an autobiographical account by Terri Weiner, told through her many loyal dogs.
Captain January
You were my first as I was theirs
a soft-haired Springer Spaniel
bounding
licking
chasing,
then momentarily still in a
pre-war sepia print,
your black-and-white spots
amidst my tumble of dark curls.
I’m two – then three – always a
snowsuit
mittens
and muckamucks.
A Fairbanks baby,
And her warm burrow of fur.
The Team: Buck, Spud, and Mike
Huge working huskies
Not pets,
(but to me).
A mining camp deep in the Alaskan terrain
where a pigtailed 7-year-old
turns to them
as her friends.
Hours of
roaming the woods
fly-fishing the stream
running toward the plane*
and its weekly supplies.
Red
Part Cocker, part Dachshund
A tomboy’s best pal.
Run with the gang
along the dike
that keeps the Columbia
from Southeastern Washington’s
atomic town.
Sneak her into
Saturday movies
Lure a pure-bred male
into our basement
(my mother’s way of
avoiding stud fees).
Peek later to watch
Red in her new home.
Mom, don’t tear little girls
Away from their dogs.
Skipper
From a San Francisco pound
to 7 lush acres
a laughing Border Collie –
Thanks Dad!
With me on horseback
through Woodside trails
past homes of the rich,
parties at their pools,
cabanas,
tack rooms,
gardenias in the punch
kisses in the hay.
The Admiral’s fishpond
swallowed Billy
so we moved.
But not Skipper.
Kate’s Shepherd: fancier
Billy’s collie: all that was left.
I opened the ground-level night-deposit door
at Palo Alto’s pound
and sobbed to Skipper
“you’ll be fine.”
Tag
Twelve years married
three kids –
time for a dog.
Been putting it off for
Air Force moves,
but the Indiana fields all around Purdue
were perfect for a bounding,
playful shepherd.
Tag hasn’t come home.
Maybe
lured away for science by a
female in heat?
Al came home.
Then left for good
definitely
lured away by
Nancy in heat.
The Puppy
Divorce
too much to handle.
Time to add a puppy to:
Three kids – 5, 7, 10
School – try to finish the degree
Work — after not for 12 years
Baths – Al used to give them
Dating – old at 32?
The day the puppy
trapped kids screaming
high on a fence
is the day he went
back to the pet store.
Tasha
A German Shepherd puppy balances on my leg
as I drive her home through
Tampa’s heavy air
for Cindy’s 9th birthday.
Tasha came to nurture
as I, too, tried
had a mind of her own
as all of us did.
She’d trot first into garage late at night
when I’d hear strange noises –
my substance paranoia of that time.
Chetley
“Can I keep him? He’s a guy”
Pleads 13-year-old Kevin.
A houseful of women had
Reached its peak
the day he rode his bike
to the store for Tampax.
“I’ve named him Chetley, only 2 lived.”
A devil dog
Rich black lab-husky mix
He quickly trained
Tasha to nip his fleas.
Chetley raped, gobbled, jumped
in the dog-catcher’s truck.
A wild dog for my wild years
as I’d: sail Tampa Bay,
golf with gators near,
fly private to Bimini
Drive my MGB
always the top down
Once, mine was too.
Truffles
Kids all in college
stood up for lunch
black & tan Cocker in a pet store
my treat to me –
Mothers’ Day replacement.
Truffles – sweet and calm
the men sweeter now
with the sweetest yet to come.
When Truffles was 6,
my business now broke,
“It’ll be OK” I stroked her
again,
and again
“It’ll be OK”
“We’ll move back to Seattle
You’ll get to chase squirrels”
Then we did and she did – lovingly.
carless, we walked Capitol Hill
Pioneer Square
savored the city
I’d first met at 16.
When we met Richard
Truffles’ stubborn side showed:
“He’s not going to walk me”
Then he did.
“This won’t be his pillow”
Then it was.
“I won’t play with his new puppy”
Then she did.
Now — puppies after puppies –
and as each of them grew,
they wrestled and nipped
with the next.
*The Alaskan plane, a ’30s Stinson, was flown to the camp by bush pilot Maurice King, whose son Jim King resides at Chateau Retirement Community, Bothell, WA as do I.
