The Southsider Voice
Visit us at these places!
  • Home
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • Sports
    • Car Nutz
    • Stilley Goes Trackside
    • Southside Deaths
    • Personal Recollections
    • Reminiscing
  • About the Voice
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • Newspaper Archive
  • Classifieds

July 15th, 2015

7/15/2015

0 Comments

 
Sometimes my columns take us down memory lane to my elementary and high school days, as I enjoy remembering those times and the opportunities that challenged us every day. This week’s piece is playing out Sunday afternoon while I sit in my little outbuilding office (aka The Hideout) and mash together a bunch of words for Southsider Voice Editor Scott Mohr, who will skillfully mesh them together for us to read.

It has been a full week that I have been operating under what I’m calling “camp conditions.” My wife, Lyn, is in Colorado, and I am home alone ... well, not if you count the pets.

Lyn is assisting her brother, Tom, and his family. Tom is having some serious health issues, and some of these problems are the same ones that their mother experienced years ago. Lyn remembers these well and knew that she would be able to help.

Before she could go it took her about a day to find folks who could  cover her volunteer work at various agencies. Since Lyn was leaving over the Fourth of July weekend, booking a flight was a challenge; she had to settle for a departure time of 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Alarms went off at our house at 4 a.m., and we were heading to the airport an hour later. 

Our therapy dog, Stuart rode with us. On our drive home I explained to him what was going to be different for the next couple of weeks.  

There are a couple of things that cause Stuart distress: thunderstorms and fireworks, both the norm lately. We didn’t get much sleep over the Independence  weekend. Most of the time I would have been the second choice as a human to console Stuart during these scary times, but he had to settle for me, and he seemed to be pouting as he did so. 

The young hens – Alberta, Betty and Jackie – that live in our backyard are also distressed by Lyn’s absence. If my wife is going to be doing some yard or garden work, she will release the chickens from their cage so they can roam. They behave well for her, but I can’t say the same for when I let them out.

Stuart and I have worked things out over the past week. He loves routines, and I struggled with the distribution of his treats for a few days. I generally only give him a treat when I need to leave the house and will be going some places that he wouldn’t be welcomed. Sometimes when he doesn’t want me to leave without him, he will turn his head away and won’t accept the treat. If I tried to give him a dog cookie at the beginning of last week, he assumed that I was going to leave and wouldn’t accept it. 

The only other creature that sometimes hangs around our house is the neighborhood cat, Guessie, who enjoys Stuart’s company. I haven’t noticed Guessie recognizing any changes in our routine.

One more week and Lyn will be home. All of us here will be doing the happy dance when she returns.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Fred Shonk

    Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools. 

    Archives

    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

 DROP OFF: The Toy Drop 6025 Madison Ave., Suite D
Indianapolis, IN  46227  |  317-781-0023
MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 17187, Indianapolis, IN 46217

ads@southsidervoice.com | news@southsidervoice.com
Website by IndyTeleData, Inc.