PiZZaZZ ShortZ! presents “Go Get The Paper.”

Some background on the film follows:

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On a particularly nice day a while back (before Stout) Kathy drove Danny to church for a retreat with the Wrangler’s top down. She brought Clyde along for the ride. When Danny got out, Clyde moved up to the passenger seat. Still in the Wrangler, Kathy saw a friend, and they talked a while in the parking lot. The friend then said, “I can see you are having a mid-life crisis.”

“How is that?” asked Kathy.

“You are riding around in a convertible with a blonde.”

In Ted’s recent collage of banner photos, the kangaroo banner is one of my favorites. There is one (which I’ve highlighted below) that looks a lot like Clyde in the front yard, doing his business, and looking over his shoulder to see if anyone is watching.

I’ll see if I can sneak a photo of him for a side-by-side comparison.

Clyde and Stout turned 3 on August 12th. Since we really don’t know Stout’s birthday, he adopted Clyde’s birthday. They both got to sit at the dinner table. Clyde remembered and immediately climbed up in the chair (having a better memory and done this twice before.) Stout could not believe he was supposed to get up on the chair, but he quickly caught the hang of eating at the table.

An actual conversation when five of us drove home from celebrating Nicole’s Dean’s List achievement. (Pizza and iPod.)

Jeb: “Kelly, did you go on poop patrol?”

Kelly: “Yes. I picked up 18 poops.”

Jeb: “That’s not divisible by four.” (I pay a quarter per, so I like it when the number is divisible by four.)

Kelly: “No, so that’s $4.50.”

Jeb: “I’ll give you $5.00 and you can give me fifty cents.”

Kelly: “OK… you know I’ve noticed every time we do poop patrol, it always is an even number.”

Jeb: “That’s interesting. I think you are right.”

(Pause.)

Kathy: “Well we do have two dogs.”

(Much laughter.)

Congratulations to Nicole!

Clyde and Stout were playing outside yesterday. I went out to rake the yard, and Clyde was standing in the driveway looking worried. He had foam coming out of his mouth, and was squatting a bit. I went to pet him, and I could feel he was shaking. He seemed to want to go inside, so I led him in, where he immediately went to stand next to Kathy. We’re pretty sure he had just had a seizure. This would be the second one we know about. The last one was in September.

Or, he could have been having a reaction to candy or nuts. A couple of the neighborhood boys set up camp in the back corner of our yard and ate a bunch of candy and pistachio’s. I found about 20 Tootsie Roll and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup wrappers along with over a hundred pistachio shells. I found Stout and Clyde rummaging through the remains. No telling how much they ate.

I don’t recall ever sneaking food into the woods as a kid. We wouldn’t have had pistachios to sneak. Too expensive. Maybe peanuts during football season.

Those of you with weak constitutions may not want to press the link going to the extended entry. I am not responsible for any uneasiness or pain this may cause you. There are no refunds which means no, you will not be getting your money back.

–Kelly Elizabeth J. Cashel

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The Triops have all died, true to the estimated 30 day life cycle. They grew at an amazing rate and swam constantly. When one would die, the others would eat the carcass. The last one got a burial at sea last night. (Toilet.) There were requests for photos, so here are a few:

Ted writes about the game Susan and Beacon play called The Pine Cone Game. There is some parallel to Clyde, Stout, and my morning ritual of “Go Get the Paper.” This is how that ritual goes:

1. On every business work day, except Thursdays, I get up and poor a cup of coffee so it can start cooling. Clyde and Stout are very excited to see me. I then say “Let’s go get the paper.” Both dogs run to the front door. I open the door and leave it open.

2. We all three proceed to walk up the sidewalk and then the driveway. Stout runs ahead and back, ahead and back. About 6 feet from the end of the driveway, both dogs stop. This is where the radio fence stops them. I proceed to the paper which is generally in the grass or on the driveway near the mailbox and on the outside of the radio fence.

3. I return down the driveway where both dogs are wagging their tails. Sometimes Clyde will take the paper from my hand, or sometimes I put it back in the grass so he can pick it up. He is happy either way. Stout watches.

4. Once Clyde has a good grip on the paper, Stout rushes ahead. Clyde follows proudly retrieving the paper and wagging his tail. I follow Clyde.

5. Generally both dogs beat me back to the kitchen. Sometimes Clyde drops the paper in the hallway, sometimes in the kitchen, and sometimes he still has it in his mouth when I get to the kitchen.

6. I then reward both dogs by letting them share a cookie-bone. Clyde gets a 2/3 piece and Stout gets a 1/3 piece.

Since I actually retrieve the paper part of the way, and Stout does nothing, I’m not sure why Stout deserves a reward, but needless to say, he as excited as Clyde about the entire ritual and feels he is making some important contribution.

The Thursday paper is packed full of advertising flyers, so it is too big for Clyde to pick up. Clyde is not sure why I don’t hand it over, although I offer an explanation… “It’s too big.” I just bring it in myself, and both dogs wonder why they don’t get a cookie.

I’ve considered trying to figure out how to make the radio fence wire extend to the end of the driveway just so Clyde (with Stout) could go get the paper without me. It would require putting a crack in the pavement somehow and then filling it over. Bob would know how to do it.

Kelly bought a Triops kit, which reminds me of Sea Monkeys, but these things are huge. We now have four of them. They have grown at an incredible rate in a week.

More than most would want to know…

The Triops Information Page

I think we should try moving the four monsters to a new dish and see if new Triops develop. The article suggests bigger ones eat newly developing ones.