The writing process is exhausting for Henry. (Photo courtesy L.D. Porter)
Hello and holiday greetings to all my friends! It sure has gotten cold! The first snow of the season was pretty cool. Mom was super psyched.
Mom found our perfect Christmas tree. It is a balsam fir that has a lot of space in between the branches. It smells great too. She found it in front of a favorite store. The owner offered to give her one, but Mom wouldn’t hear of it, and insisted on paying. It is apparently the tree of her dreams.
I am super excited cause my “hooman” brother and sister will be here for Christmas! It’s been kind of quiet lately, well, except for the Brodster’s disastrous encounter with something that had stingers. Mom let us out back after dinner to run around for a bit and, you know, do our business.
We were out for maybe 15 minutes. She called us in and Brodes went flying by her. He hopped up on the couch and when Mom got a look at him, she freaked out a bit. Dad said he looked like a boxer after a prize fight. His face was totally swollen. To say he looked pathetic is an understatement.
Mom called our awesome vet, Dr. Tichy, and was told to bring him right in. She couldn’t find any stingers, but it was clear he was stung by something, probably wasps. Dad had been raking out back. It was one of those weird winter 52-degree days and our best guess is dad disturbed some wasps that were trying to hibernate. (Do wasps hibernate? If not, they were trying to stay warm.)
Anyhoo, yeah, the poor Brodster. Dr Tichy and her tech, Madylyn, got right on it. After an injection of Benadryl and a steroid he was good to go. Mom was instructed to pick up Benadryl tablets and give him three twice a day. He was pretty much cooked for the rest of the day and the next. Two days later he was back to his old goofy self. It was pretty scary.
Boo, Brody, and Henry hiding off to the right, by the Christmas tree. (Photo courtesy L.D. Porter)
Lesson learned; don’t rake leaves in winter when it is 1,000 zillion degrees out. Mom tells Dad that it is good to just let the leaves be. There are lots of critters that hunker down under them and their sleep is interrupted, and they must find a new place. Kind of like when you get up from your nice warm bed to pee in the middle of the night and you’re groggy and stumbling around. We sure are lucky to have an awesome vet. We just love those guys.
So, now I am curious and well, it seems a good a time as any to look up articles about wasps to see if they hibernate. According to a Google search, Mom landed (no pun intended) on an article from The Magic Number that reads, “As a general rule, wasps stop flying when temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, 10 degrees Celsius. They tend to become sluggish and less active. Their bodies just can’t function properly when it’s too cold.” Tell me about it!
Oh yikes, I also read that they can recognize faces for up to a week. What the hey? And they can come back for revenge! Poor Brodster, he didn’t stand a chance.
Well now, enough of this. Let’s talk about something else – me, for instance. So, I turned 3 years old last month. It seems like yesterday that I was rescued from a cage in Louisiana. It was during a weird snowstorm that I was found and saved. I shudder to think of what my fate may have been. It all seems serendipitous. Mom usually goes for great big Rottweiler type dogs. She saw my photo and, well, that was that.
When I took over the monthly article from Chunk, my predecessor, I knew I had some huge paws to fill. His was a doggie advice column, so I thought I would do things a bit differently and write about my life here in the great state of Maine. I don’t remember much about Louisiana, and I am loving life here. I have made a lot of friends.
Brodes and his poor swollen punim. (Photo courtesy L.D. Porter)
A shoutout to Golda, my mom’s basset hound friend. We haven’t met, but I do see her and her mum walking up to their mailbox. She looks like a very classy girl. Also, to my cool neighbors Rose and Angus. We like to exchange greetings with each other through the woods. A super huge shoutout to my doggo cousin Zeke. He is recovering from ACL surgery. His mom says he is groggy and fast asleep on his comfy bed.
I was watching my mom go through some Christmas packages; OK, I was peeking. I didn’t see anything that looked like it may have been for me. Mom is usually good at finding super awesome cool stuff. I must admit that her latest Facebook find, a ball that flattens out and springs up and rolls was a total dud. I felt bad because she had been so happy when she ordered it. I guess she didn’t learn her lesson from the last disastrous Halloween animatronic “thingy.” She says she is done with all that. We’ll see, I guess.
Well, I guess that is all for now. Till next year! I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season. We are going to check with the local animal shelters Christmas lists. I imagine there is a great need for donations. Our food pantries could use some help as well. Please, let’s remember those in need.
Love and hugs, Henry.
