A fall Saturday like this might find us taking one of the menagerie to the vet for shots or checkups. Shown below, a photo of Laura, two years ago, holding her beloved cat, Pepper, in the vet's office. I love this photo: Laura is looking well, and her hair growing back nicely, gently waved in a nice sandy color. Laura knew Pepperidge Road to be a place where animal life abounds, where most households have dogs, usually several, or cats instead (or in addition!) and where a wide variety of wildlife roams the woods, wetlands and grassy areas all around.
And so on Pepperidge Road, you might come home from work, as I did on Friday evening, to find a bear on your cul-de-sac. The bear heads into the woods where he is promptly treed by neighbor
Ed's three huskies. The bear soon tires of clinging to a Tulip Tree 20-30 feet above the ground. He decides to descend despite the dogs and bolt off further into the woods as fast as he can. It's all like a another chapter in the stories of Buster Bear by Thornton Burgess.
On the domestic (or should I say bucolic side), a belated welcome to the neighborhood to the trio of Shetland Sheep: mother "Lilac" and two similarly flower- named progeny. I read up about Shetland sheep and have to say I am fascinated. (Laura and Suse would not be surprised as I was picking out for them stuffed sheep and other sheep-themed trinkets frequently over the years.) Shetland Sheep are of sturdy ancient stock (a "landrace") are easy keepers and very well adapted to harsh conditions. They come in a multitude of colors with captivating names like "emsket", "musket" or "moorit," terms from the Shetlands dialect with origin in the extinct Scandinavian language of the islands called Norn. They also come in a variety of markings, all with additional specialized names, with an end result of a profusion of color and markings possibilities.
Photos (still having trouble getting them to go in the correct order): Lilac and progeny; Buster Bear in the Tulip Tree (photo by neighbor Ed Marshall); Laura and Pepper at the vet's office, October 2006.
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Mara,
ReplyDeleteMy mom enjoyed your lovely note on her CB, and enjoyed hearing all about Laura from me :)
I can give you extremely easy instructions for putting a stat counter onto this blog, if you'd like. I know that it can seem very daunting, but there is a website that makes it easy, and it only took a few clicks for me to add one to my own blog.
I love the Laura stories that involve animals... she was obviously a huge lover of all things living. When I first started reading, I remember the photo of Laura, reading on the couch with Pepper. What a beautiful memory!
Let me know about the stat counter - my email address is Knsmith5@uncg.edu -- I can very easily give you directions on how to add one, should you be feeling adventurous one of these days!