Tom and Patti Saunders
Dog's Breath Acres 2004 Annual Report
2004 Annual Report
January: Feline Takeover of Dog's Breath Acres Thwarted
I guess it first started when Phoebe arrived on the scene, but the takeover of Dog's Breath Acres by foreign (feline) forces gained momentum when Mandy died in September last year. Around Christmas the attempted occupation really began with the arrival of Cryptoleucus. We had noticed him wandering in the woods a bit, no doubt scouting and determining his plan of attack. He took the easy route and came in through the dog (now cat?) door: we woke up one morning and he was asleep on the couch. He's a large black cat with a smudge of white on his chest. Three cats and zero dogs at Dog's Breath Acres: the situation was becoming untenable. But then....
One morning Patti found an ad on the web for a standard poodle, and the price was right: free. He had recently been rescued from the pound, but his new owner realized she couldn't give him a real good home; four kids, nobody there most of the time, and she was moving shortly. He's fairly old, probably around eight, and has a wonderful disposition. Doesn't mind the cats a bit, although Phoebe and Cryptoleucus were at first terrified of him, but they now seem to get along. Simon, on the other hand, walked in, took one look at him, figured he's nothing to worry about, and they ended up great friends. His name is Reginald the 1st, King of Dog's Breath Acres (Reggie for short). We've bought some clippers and are learning how to give him a haircut.
February: Democracy in Action
In her efforts to get me at least a little bit politically involved, I was dragged by Patti, kicking and whining, to the local Democratic caucus. The Washington state primary had been declared unconstitutional, so this year caucuses were used to pick the delegates for the local, state, and national conventions, and there was a tremendous turnout, for a change. Patti and I were at a table with nine other people from our small local precinct, and we had to pick 10 delegates and alternates for the next higher meeting. Well, the rules were pretty complicated, and before I knew it and nearly unwittingly I was elected a Dennis Kocinich delegate to the legislative district meeting, a few weeks hence. At that one I managed to avoid being elected to the statewide convention, but it was interesting seeing how the caucus system works (very haphazard and perhaps a bit unfair), and to also see that we weren't the only bleeding heart liberals in the neighborhood.
March: Trip to New Mexico and the Desert Southwest
May: Patti and Nancy March on Washington
With a little time on her hands, Patti has started doing things with the local chapter of the League of Women Voters, who sponsored the March for Women in Washington, D.C. Seemed like a good excuse for a trip back East with Nancy (Joelene's mother), with a few days spent in Connecticut with the kids, Scott and Joelene. They had a blast in Washington, seeing the sights and museums and making our opinions known (apparently with little effect on the state of things, as it would turn out.) Scott and Joelene are continuing their residencies in and around Hartford, with big decision time coming in a year or two about where they want to live and practice. Speaking of practicing, Scott has enthusiastically taken up the piano. Joelene got to spend a month doctoring down in Guatemala, great for learning Spanish, and they managed a side trip together to Costa Rica.
June: Another trip to Washington
When one of the local League of Women Voters members could not go to Washington for their annual convention, Patti volunteered, and off she went for a whirlwind week of seminars, meetings, and tours. She stayed in D.C. with her good friend from the local chapter, Barbara Bush (no, not the Barbara Bush!). She got to hear talks by Helen Thomas, the AP reporter, and a member of the 9/11 commission, and visited with our senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and had a great time.
July: Trip to New Hampshire for Aunt Caro's Remembrance Weekend
October: Sienna Arrives
Our second grandchild, Sienna J. Zuercher, arrived healthy and beautiful and fine in the early morning hours of October 2, but not without some excitement and daring-do. Late in the evening of the day before, Allison, having had some previous experience, realized that the time had arrived, so Mike and she headed off to the hospital in Everett, about a 30 minute drive. Arriving there, the nurses said oh no, nothing's happening for 5 or 6 hours, so why don't you go home and come back a bit later. Well, shortly after they got back home, things began to speed up remarkably (wishing to remain inexperienced, I've avoided learning the details). It took Mike 12 minutes to drive back to the hospital, and Sienna arrived 10 minutes later. We think she's going to be very smart.
And Some Other News:
Throughout the year, we (well, really mostly Patti. I'm still practicing my child-rearing skills.) have been looking after grandchild Kiara a couple days a week here at Dog's Breath Acres. She's a wonderful child (but of course), and great fun to have around. Patti takes her to KinderMusic every Tuesday, to listen to music, play bells and xylophones, and do some dancing. I've encouraged Kiara to try a little civil engineering, and we are working on her golf game.
In July Kate and Ger spent a few days here while they manned her Lewis Creek Glassworks booth at the Edmonds Arts Fair (one of her pieces was on the cover of the program!)
Mike and Allison have added a couple of goats to their menagerie over in Machias. When Reggie went up to meet one for the first time, the goat didn't take Reggie's standard canine greeting too well (a butt sniff), and gave Reggie and standard goat greeting in return: a butt to the head. No serious injuries, luckily.
Ger is having another book of poetry published, by Parlor Press. It's called "Signs Following" and here's a blurb from the publishers:
Ranging across various landscapes—the American Northwest, Ireland, pre-European British Columbia, Guatemala--Signs Following discovers not so much landscapes as inscapes in which a sensous [sic?], epiphaniac vision is forced to come to grips with the ineluctable recognition that “history is grief.”
I'll have to get a copy, as soon as I find out just what "ineluctable" means.
In August we took a short day trip with cousins Kristi and Ramsey to visit another cousin, Sarah O. Richards, at her lavender farm on Whidbey Island. Turns out Sarah's kid Ben and Ramsey are both physics grads of Reed College down in Portland, so they had some talking to do.
In September Patti went to a John Kerry rally down in Tacoma. We will avoid comment concerning our reaction to the outcome of the election.
In our continuing migration to complete reliance on the internet for all our shopping needs, Patti has created a virtual model of herself (who she named "Athena") at L. L. Bean.com. She can try out clothing selections and colors on her. Let's hope Patti didn't fudge too much when entering Athena's sizes. Reggie has asked for a virtual dog for himself at PetSmart.com, who he'd like to name "Bruce".
Patti and I once again spent Thanksgiving down in Oregon with Kate and Ger and Carol and Ken. We brought Reggie along, who didn't seem to mind the drive at all and got to meet Huxley. The dinner was scrumptious and we once again took a picture.
Very reluctantly we had three of the big trees around the house cut down; they were growing old and leaning precipitously. Another project was to enclose part of the upstairs deck in screening, makes a nice spot for contemplating nature and feeding the cats. Other projects around the house have been keeping us busy.
And finally and sadly, old Simon finally died in November. He was the third longest resident of Dog's Breath Acres, after Patti and me. He's buried in the yard out near the spot where we first saw him wander in from the woods about 17 years ago. He slowed down considerably in his last years, but remained very affectionate and got along well with the new additions, particularly Reggie. We'll miss him.