Blogging on the Powwow

Washington, D.C. May 26, 2017 Dear Drake: You didn’t know it, but last summer you were about to face the hardest year of your life, because I went away to Washington. You didn’t know that I would leave, but I did. I left you in the very capable hands of Neil, who even though he would never choose to have a dog, is perfectly capable of caring for you and is only willing to do so, because he would probably do almost anything within his power for his wife. We have been so lucky to have so much help with you this year. Nora, who, as you know, we met in puppy class in April of 2009, has taken care of you on and off since that time. This year has been no exception…well, there has been no “off” time for her. I know how much you love her and her sweet-natured golden retriever, Baxter. And, even though you routinely bully him and push him around, he is your best buddy. (But, Baxter does have his limits. Remember that time that you pushed the limit with him over and over when we ...

Can you believe it? I wrote this post on Thanksgiving weekend and before I knew it, Christmas was here and over. But, since I wrote it, I'd like to post it, even if it is late...and it's all still true! -------------------------------------- It has taken me a while to get around to writing a blog post about being thankful. I am thankful. Of course, I am thankful, is my most common response. I am thankful for all the things that I should  be thankful. I love and I am loved in return, by humans and my canine. I have a home, and even better, a home that I like and cherish. I am warm. I have a job and an income to cover my basic needs, and then some. I am healthy and no one in my life has a chronic or life-threatening health condition. I can go about my business without interference from law enforcement or government. This is the condensed version. The expanded version addresses the aspects of my life for which I am most thankful weekly, if not, daily. I am most thankful f...

I have written before about our wonderful neighbor, Bob . He's the neighbor who is endlessly patient with his great-granddaughter, and the neighbor who does all of that gardening, in his yard, on the street, and in the Amesbury community garden. He shares his produce with his neighbors and plants special crops when he hears that someone likes a particular vegetable. Just ask Neil, who easy received 10 pounds of beets from Bob last summer, because of a casual comment that he made in Bob's presence, about how he likes pickled beets. Last summer Bob had a few herbs growing in containers at the end of his driveway. His basil was like a sapling and it would reach out and slap you as you walked by, grabbing you, drawing you into its leaves. Bob said that he didn't even really know what basil was... It's just there. No one's using it. Get some whenever you like.  So, I did. Come late summer, I would often find myself in the middle of dinner preparations, realize that the...

I know that other people are busy with truly important care-taking tasks, such as who will provide after-school care, figuring out how to care for a sick child and still maintain a job, or how to sneak away to see your child's soccer game...I ended my parenting duties relatively early in my adulthood and my primary concern now is our black Labrador Retriever, Drake. I usually pride myself on thinking things through before jumping - weighing the consequences, seeing the potential pitfalls, etc. I didn't do that before we got Drake. Perhaps it's because we had been dog owners for the nine years leading up to when we got Drake and I assumed that everything would "run fine" like before. Or, maybe I just missed our previous black Lab, Blackberry, so much and wanted a "replacement dog" so quickly that I didn't see the one major flaw in my thinking: Neil and I are both 90 minutes away from our jobs and although we don't have to "go to the office...

We are often asked why or how we chose to move to Amesbury. In truth, it was the furthest south on I-95 that we could get and still afford a house. Part of our criteria was buying a house that we could support on just one income. We pretty much achieved that with our house in Amesbury. We'd have to have a much leaner life style than now, but I digress. We were richly rewarded for moving to Amesbury, even though our criteria was pretty narrow. We had no idea how much we would love this town. I have written about our neighborhood and the joy it brings other postings . I suppose that this blog starts a small series on the wonders of Amesbury itself. Amesbury is home to many small wonders, indeed. We have a small, locally owned movie theater in the downtown, which serves dinner. Amesbury is on the mouth of the Merrimack River and of course, our own beloved Powwow River runs through town, dropping 90 feet in the falls of downtown, rushing to meet the Merrimack. Like most New Engl...

We love to watch the ducks on our little river. In fact, Drake is named after the many ducks that visit our yard. We occasionally have other more exciting avian species, such as a Great Blue Heron and Canadian Geese, but mainly we have ducks, and mallards at that.  Last week, Neil spotted an odd-looking duck. He had all the markings of a drake mallard, but he was much, much lighter - almost cream-colored. Neil said that his coloring reminded him of a confederate soldier's uniform and so he set about naming him Sterling - after Sterling Price, a confederate general.  I have sought help from many sources to properly identify Sterling (who would want to go around without an identity, right?). My friend, Nancy, saw me post about Sterling on Facebook and she asked two local authorities on birds for his identity. The consensus was a  leucistic  mallard. Leucism results from reduced pigmentation and is distinct from albinism, which is the absence of melanin. I contacted...

Sometime in the middle of the summer, I heard children outside our house, in the churchyard that is adjacent to our street and home. I looked out the window and saw two school-aged children, a girl and a boy, digging in the untended churchyard. They were there for quite a while. I watched through the windows without making myself known, so as not to disturb their adventures. They were making a small garden plot. They dug up a tall weed and replanted it, poured a canteen full of water over it, and used a pile of bricks along the retaining wall to mark off their new garden. Neil, delighted, took pictures from the second story. The first day of the garden. They were back within a few days, this time with packets of seeds. They dug in the dirt, planted seeds, and raced back and forth from the river (for water), to the garden plot, to their home at the top of the street for supplies, and back again. Their enthusiasm and excitement was palpable. I enjoyed being a "fly on the wal...

Our neighbor, Richard, is one of the most helpful neighbors a person could ever want. He gives willingly of his time, knows the area and resources available to residents, is endlessly patient, and has a house full of tools, supplies, household items, and small machinery that he is willing to lend to anyone on a moment's notice.  My readers might remember me saying that within a couple of weeks of moving into our present home we decided to take down a small bundle of trees. Richard showed up and saw that Neil was missing a tool. He said unassumingly, "I've got that tool. I'll be right back." He was back within 10 minutes, with said tool and spent the next three hours helping us cut and discard of our trees. This scenario has been repeated about 50 times over the past 4 years. Richard - helping us cut down tress in our new yard, summer 2008. Despite last year's light snowfall, the years that preceded it brought us significant precipitation. Richard likes ...

I'm not sure that anyone could ask for a better neighbor than Bob. He and his wife, Ovaline -- or, Ovie, for short -- have lived on our street since 1967. Bob is a retired maintenance worker who grumbles daily about getting ripped off by our town, state, and federal governments; who has the greenest thumb of anyone I know; who loves to chat with the neighbors; and who showers his great-granddaughter, Ava, with love, attention, and most important -- patience -- for 40+ hours a week while one of his granddaughters works. Bob and Ovie, at a recent neighborhood cook-out that we hosted at our house. Anything that Bob plants springs to life, both in his small, in-town lot, and in his double plot in the community garden. In his small yard, he grows blueberries, apricots, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes and herbs. Many of these plants are grown in pots, especially the herbs. Just walk past his house and his oregano will reach out and slap you.  Bob loves to share his gardening with ...