There are a lot of things I’d like to do/start/finish: several abandoned knitting projects, a few long overdue emails, Wednesday’s crossword, two impending freelance deadlines, the neighborhood newspaper, homemade yogurt, the dirty bathroom, the bills, those promised mix CDs to all of you, a giant batch of vegetable stock for the freezer, the two books I’m in the middle of, the latest Wordpress upgrade, an unedited interview of my aunt for the blog, planting winter veggies, making a cork board out of old wine corks and sewing patches on the holes of my favorite jeans.
Call it my list of “THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU’RE BORED AND THINK THERE’S NOTHING TO DO.”
That list stresses me out. This is kind of how it makes me feel:
Two peas in a pod: MDIC and Chelsea, circa 1996
Speaking of Chelsea: I miss her a lot. I’ve been getting a lot of ’signs’ (if you believe in signs, which I generally don’t) that it’s time for a new dog. First of all, I’m seeing Springers everywhere. Oddly, they’re all liver-and-white (The Stink was black-and-white) but they aren’t a common dog to see and yet two weeks ago I saw at least three, two of them on consecutive days. Secondly, I keep seeing pictures of Springers. Well, okay, so it doesn’t really count if I’m standing in a pet shop and the picture is on a bag of dog treats. But still. Thirdly, I have just agreed to two extended pro bono dog-sitting sessions, one of which begins tomorrow and the other of which involves two dogs. Fourth, Chelsea has been showing up in my dreams regularly—almost daily—for the last few weeks.
It’s either Chelsea telling me she’s OK with another Stink in my life, or it’s me telling me that it’s time for a Stink in my life. Not that I could ever replace The Stink. But I sure do miss her.
Chelsea would wait until the second the front door slammed behind my mother on her way to work before leaping into her bed and illicitly nestling under the covers. Above, circa 2000, The Stink snoozes as yours truly catches her in the act. The object in the foreground is her out-of-focus paw.
Snoozing was always a favorite pastime of the Stink. Here she is dreaming away on my bed, where she was allowed to sleep. Circa 1998/1999.
MDIC and Chelsea at the Oregon Coast, late 2005 or early 2006.
So maybe it’s time to add “get a dog” to the to do list. Then I would never be bored.
7 responses so far ↓
1 michael5000 // Oct 3, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Oh god, picture #1 is toooo adorable.
What I would do with a list like that is, I’d put it in that notebook I mentioned. I’d probably come up with a fancy little system to designate levels of priority. And then I’d feel better. Maybe some of the items would get done, maybe not, but I feel better after I’ve captured them in a list.
Aren’t you worried that if you got a new dog, it would be jealous of your nom de web?
2 lizzy // Oct 3, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Ah, there is only one Chelsea, but limitless room in the heart for dogs.
3 sharfa // Oct 3, 2007 at 8:25 pm
You’ll know when you are ready to accept the responsibility of parenthood again. Plan it, or not….. when it’s time - the universe will present the opportunity…..at just the right time.
4 TimsHead // Oct 4, 2007 at 3:56 am
You? Bored? I know the feeling. I aspire to being bored one day, but doubt it will ever happen.
The Stink. Such beauty. Such pictures. Such memories.
5 fern // Oct 4, 2007 at 11:59 am
awwwww. love it. i’m happy for you that you’re getting ready to get another dog. yay! of course there will never be another The Stink, but i’m looking forward to new stories about the next one! i love naming things. i would get a dog if i could just to name it.
ps. throw that list away!
6 Brandy // Oct 5, 2007 at 6:48 am
I’m with sharfa on this one, when you’re ready it will just happen. You can’t always force these things.
Great photos, it sounds like Chelsea was a very dear, good friend.
Oh I love making lists! Even if I don’t get anything done on my to do list, it makes me feel better knowing I wrote it down.
7 Lisa // Oct 24, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I had my cat, Pepper, for 16 years before he passed away. After that I had dreams about him and saw him outside for a while. I chose to think of it as his way of telling me he was ok. Then, six months later, before I was really ready to get a new cat, a lone motherless kitten showed up in the woods across from my house. The neighbor’s kids found her. So I kept her and I like to think that Pepper sent her for me. I guess he sent her early so I wouldn’t go to the pet store and pick out the “wrong” cat. Anyway, my Coco and I are BFFs now. There will never be another Chelsea but you will love other dogs.