October 26, 2002
Okay, so I've been neglecting my website. It's sad. You want to know what's even sadder than neglecting a Geocities website? Owning your own domain name for a year and not doing anything with it! Don't say it. I already know.
Summer was great. I finally got a garden in, and even though I was still used to gardening in the midwest (where the tomatoes practically grow themselves), I managed to do pretty well with it. The only problem is the nighttime temperatures; despite daytime highs in the upper 90's (or higher), the temp would still drop down to about 50 at night, and tomatoes like to stay warm. I bought them some Wall 'o Waters (or Kozy Coats) and they were very appreciative. The heirloom varieties I planted did very well, and we all went crazy for Don's homemade salsa. Mom and Katie and I even managed to can quite a few quarts of tomatoes.
Speaking of the hot weather, we bought season passes to nearby Hagg Lake, which actually had water in it this year since there wasn't a drought. The dogs loved it, and Lady actually went swimming for the first time ever. She walked right into the water and swam away, like a little trooper. (Not bad for a dog who was abused by her former guardians, and was afraid of men and loud noises when we adopted her!) Bernie, of course, was in his element, especially when we rented a boat with an electric outboard motor. He loves anything mechanical, and anything wet, so when you put the two together, watch out.
We had a very close call with Luke in August. We had to rush him to the vet after he became suddenly ill, and found out several things. First, that he is actually probably closer to nine years of age, as opposed to five or six, as we had previously thought. Second, he has very severe spinal arthritis. Third, he most likely had been hit by a car when he was living on the streets in Chicago, because he had some trauma to his spine, which caused some boney growth to form on his spine, which eventually grew so large that it obstructed his rectum. His colon was impacted, and he was unable to move his bowels. Katie rushed him to the emergency vet, and we all spent a scared and miserable night, not knowing if he would survive the night, or, if he did, what his prospects were for the future. Luke came home the next morning, and he has been on stool softeners three times a day since then. However, his colon has been stretched so severely from being impacted that it has lost its elasticity; his body is no longer able to efficiently expel wastes. Hopefully, surgery will be able to correct most of this problem. We're certainly hoping so. We all love him very much. |
