In memoriam

We lost Boo Tuesday evening. She was the best dog we ever had.

She was a Valentine's present from Pat to me in 1995. That day in February we had gone to the Guilford County Animal Shelter because our home had been broken into and the police officer told us the best advice he could give was, "Get a dog." From the moment I saw her, I knew she was it. This cute little ball of black fur with a white chin sat smack in the middle of her kennel and looked up at me with smiling brown eyes and a wagging tail. We walked out that day with our "first baby" and learned very quickly that she loved listening to Gordon Lightfoot, hated squirrels, and had to always be touching either Pat or me.

She was the smartest dog I'd ever owned...housebroken in two weeks! Boo loved chasing a tennis ball and quickly evolved into an awesome frisbee catcher. She also loved going for car rides and went with us nearly everywhere.

When John was born, her feelings got hurt. But after a few weeks she must have realized that he wasn't going anywhere, so she may as well make the best of it. While she didn't exactly warm up to him, she became very protective and would make a low, menacing growl whenever anyone walked past the house. When John became mobile, Boo was the first thing he went for. Why not? She was a gigantic, living, breathing stuffed animal! He would crawl all over her and I never once heard her make the slightest sound of protest. When she'd had enough, she'd just get up and move to another place in the house.

In early October of this year, Boo was diagnosed with lymphoma. The vet gave us some prednisone to keep her comfortable and it really did seem to make Boo feel a lot better. Her appetite returned and she got playful again. But on Tuesday she couldn't even get up off the floor. When her breathing became labored, Pat rushed her to the vet. She died on the way.

Boo-girl, we will always love you as our "first baby." I hope you're chasing frisbees in heaven.

It's always fair weather!

It's as if God knew it was fair time! The temperature has finally dropped to comfortable levels, with that fall chill in the air. Friday was the first day of the Dixie Classic Fair, so the family decided to spend a night out. Even if you don't ride anything, it's a terrific place to people-watch. What always strikes me about the fair is the fact that you see all types of people: the fair doesn't discriminate and it appeals to everybody. John drags his parents out onto the midway to try his hand at the games of skill(?) and make me ride the Scrambler while Pat sits on a nearby bench. Pat enjoys the Village of Yesteryear; I always head for the livestock barn. I'm funnel cakes, he's Polish sausage and John always wants a hot dog and ice cream. One thing we can all agree on: the demolition derby! What's not to love about cars crashing into each other until their radiators explode? And when the evening got late, we even got to see a couple of girls in a fight and the police throw them down and put them in cuffs. It doesn't get any better than that...at least until next year. See all the fair action here.

Oh, what a relief it is!

Whew! At last, some cooler air. For the first time since I don't know when, we turned off the a/c and slept with all the windows open last night. Woke up this morning freezing! (It was in the mid-50s, but when it's been over 90 for the past month, 55 is freezing.) It was too pretty to stay home today, so we drove up past Yadkinville to our favorite little winery, Laurel Gray. They're running low on the 2005 barrel-fermented Chardonnay, which is as good - if not better - than many California chardonnays I've tried. We even got to sample some of the Cabernet grapes which were just harvested. Very sweet and delicious. Support your local NC wineries!

Strange things around town

I've been meaning to mention this for a while... we talked about it on the radio this morning. There are some weird goings-on around here. When Pat & I lived in High Point, I used to call High Point the "vortex of weirdness" because every time you opened a newspaper, if something strange happened, it seemed it always happened in High Point. Now I'm afraid the weirdness is overtaking Kernersville.

For the last several months, some mornings when I'm going to work around 4:45am, there's this guy who walks (and occasionally staggers) along Kernersville Road in the pitch black, wearing only his pants: no shirt, no shoes. He walks not on the shoulder, but IN the road and WITH traffic. Where has he been? Where is he going? Needless to say, he has scared the wits out of me more than once when I come over the rise at Hastings Hill and realize I'm about to hit a pedestrian in the dark.

Another weird thing, which my neighbor Tonja reminded me of today, is the cell phone guy. He's an older man who stands in the parking lot of the trailer park across from the Kangaroo station -- all day, no matter the weather -- and talks on his cell phone.

We also had a listener who wrote in that she regularly sees a woman driving a yellow Mini Cooper on I-40 in Greensboro who brushes her teeth while she drives. Chuck brought up a good question this morning: where does she spit?

I'd be interested to know if there's anything else weird that you run into on a regular basis.

Waiting to inhale

Enough with the 100-degree heat already!

Actually, today's not too bad... it's about 80 and looks like it might rain. Might. The humidity is stifling, though... like trying to breathe through a hot, wet blanket. I talked to the folks in Pittsburgh last night and they've had an absolute deluge of rain, yet we can't get a drop. The grass is crunchy again and I'm making an extra effort to feed the birds now that they're bringing their brand new babies to the feeders. Seems like they're not finding a lot of things to eat in the woods these days.

All together now, we're gonna pray for rain.

The best day ever!

We sure didn't expect this when we started out today. John wanted his grandparents, visiting from Pittsburgh, to see one of his favorite places -- the Richard Petty Museum in Randleman. Weeks ago as we lay snuggling before bed, John said to me, "Mom, I really want to meet The King." And today it happened. We went to the museum, never expecting it to be the day of Richard Petty's monthly meet & greet! John was sitting in the back room, coloring yet another picture of "The King" character from the movie "Cars" when through the front door walked the man himself. I told John he might want to come out of that room for a minute. We stood in a line of maybe 20 people before it was our turn for autographs. That child was so starstruck he could barely breathe. Richard couldn't have been nicer. He took time with each fan and truly made every one feel special. Thanks, King, for what John says was his "best day ever!"

What I did on my summer vacation

We just got back from a week-long vacation to Utah. All I can say besides, "Wow! What gorgeous scenery!" is that I learned a lot. So I decided to make a list of What I Learned About Utah:

- It's VERY family-friendly and the people are just soooo nice.

- The liquor stores have an extremely limited selection ("What do you mean you only have six types of red wine?").

- Everybody has either a camper or a boat and uses it regularly.

- Utah drivers are the most polite bunch. Only once did I hear a horn honk and it was probably an accident.

- There doesn't seem to be much in the way of ethnic diversity, just a lot of white people.

- Never, ever try to run at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

- Don't swerve your car while doing 80+ on the interstate.

- Watch out for BIG potential roadkill - moose, elk, bears, etc.

- Not many tattooed or pierced people.

Some vacation pictures are posted here and more will be uploaded once they let me.

Still, there's no place like home... First thing I did when I got back was to go get some BBQ and sweet tea!