THE SUBARU BUCKET LIST COMMERCIAL

Posted on May 4, 2016 by BigFootClub

I’m not a fan of television ads, or internet ads, etc., generally, but I love this commercial – still!

I woke up this morning hearing Willie’s voice, but it kept morphing into another song:

You’re my buddy, my pal, my friend.
I’ll be with you until the end.
I’ll love you until
The rivers run still
And the four winds we know blow away.

(see Jud Strunk:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5AzmEX-txw)

You can’t go through old age with your Newf without feeling this, or missing them forever after.

When we moved into the cabin, I washed Parker’s frog and put it beside the bed, on my side.  It’s lovely to touch it’s softness, or once in a while, to do what Parker did and wrap your arms around it and feel that comfortableness that was present with him.  There is some silly new debate going on about whether dogs like hugs, but with the astute observation that not all dogs like hugs and you should check with the dog before assuming.  Parker gave warm hugs.  Holly loved to give hugs, from the time she was little, when she would reach her neck up as long as it would go, without climbing on you.  Most of my Newfs have given hugs.  Jade loves to give hugs, and when a hug is bestowed on you, it livens you inside.  Banner is doing this now too, when she can be still long enough.  ; )  And once in a while, she gets in that kind of mood, to indulge in being warm and sweet.

Parker’s frog has been the star of a couple of other commercials, so there are some occasional nice reminders too.  In one, at the senior phase of life, when the couple is camping in an open canvas tent in a remote tropical area, the lady wakes face-to-face with this large, happy-looking, plump green frog with a big yellow belly.  I thought the stuffed frog was created from fantasy colors, but that is him – real, slimy, but not soft and cushy.  I have a fondness for frogs and toads anyway, but this one is special.  It appears in another commercial as a ceramic figure.

Memories are very welcome, as that will have to do now.  Whether our needs ever transition such that we acquire a Subaru in place of our Newf limo (big van), this commercial has added to the lasting memories.

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“CAT” GOT YOUR TONGUE?

Posted on March 30, 2016 by BigFootClub

Here is an interesting, funny article on cat “language”:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/30/cat-got-your-tongue-scientists-pets-adopt-owners-accent?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1

Doesn’t it make you wonder the same about dogs?  And what about non-verbal language?  My Newfs have each had different vocabularies (including body language), although there are some commonalities, such as the “Pfffsssshh!” as a Newf thinks a human takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r, or the sudden stop and stare when a Newf thinks a human gets it right (but is looking for some confirmation), or the Paw maneuver (“Oh, come on!  Let’s play.”) – and there are many others.

They don’t all go to the same school of etiquette, and they don’t arrive with the same styles, aptitudes and tendencies for a range of behaviors.  There is so much to minds and personalities that originates with genetics; we can shape and reshape, but a lot of it is there from the beginning, good, bad and funny.  So each Newf is an individual, and their uniqueness is what makes each learning process more interesting.  It would be quite comical for someone to take on a study of Newf language and provide an interpreter device.  In Banner’s case, there are many times when that would require a lot of “bleeping”.  <g>  Such as, when I take too long to put the collar over her head for a walk, or to open the door when she’s ready to go out.  Or to do most anything that requires patience – humans are soooo slow!  She eventually gave up on “cussing like a sailor” when we walk as she tries to “speed” in a “no passing zone”.  But you should have heard the complaint a couple of days ago about putting the collar on when she’s not in the mood for patience!  It makes you want to say, “Are those the same lips you kiss your mother with?”  <g>  Those deep low rumblings and growling would make someone unfamiliar with her freeze, with the hair on the back of their neck standing straight out.  However, she has no bad intention, she’s only verbalizing her complaint – her form of rude humor, SNL style.  It’s quite amusing, but I try to not react.  I don’t want to encourage it, but I hope it never completely disappears.

The two girls are polar opposites in many ways, but especially in their communication methods.  Jade is very quiet, similar to Banker, although there were times either of them will/would tell you what is/was on their minds.  You learn to pay attention, to watch their responses.  Banker invested in teaching me to watch and listen.  It was good preparation for when Jade arrived.  Banner is more like Parker in that she is very vocal and uses a wide range of vocalizations, but she’s the only one I’ve known who used her vocal capacities in this style.  And there are times when she can leave you speechless – make your jaw drop, figuratively speaking, and maybe even blush a little.   ; )

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A CUP OF COFFEE

Posted on March 4, 2016 by BigFootClub

This morning I had a new lesson, and it brought up an old, fond memory.

I make my cup of coffee carefully.  It takes approximately 10 minutes to produce one cup.  It’s something that I sometimes go to bed looking forward to.  So, upon a carefully invested 10 minutes, the brew was finished, and cream was added.  Reaching to put away the second special ingredient, I bumped the mug.  Coffee, rich, brown, aromatic coffee, spilled all over the range and the floor, my sweats and shoes, the nearby cabinet doors with splatter that reached far and wide.  Banner was lying nearby, puzzled at the purpose of this change in the sequence of otherwise normal steps in a very routine process.  When I give the girls fresh water in the morning, I call it their “coffee”.  They seem to tolerate my confusion well.  Banner had no interest in *my* version of coffee, fortunately, as she doesn’t need any additional energy or momentum, on any day, but this was Friday, the arrival of Happy Days, the one that only occurs in one day out of 7.  She had already chased a cat, twice, and it was still early.

So, there lay my cup of coffee, spread across the floor.  I felt sorry for myself for a moment, needing the steam treatment of the coffee for added recovery from the respiratory infection earlier this week.  Then, in an instant, I had a memory of another spill episode.  It was many years ago, but one I won’t easily forget.  After getting home late, from working late, a hungry crew of four Newfs needed to have their dinner prepared.  Broccoli was on the menu, purchased in large bags, to feed all hungry Newfs.  I prefer to buy the broccoli in full stalks or florettes, but that brand tended to have a lot of loose small pieces of florettes.  I pulled the bag out of the freezer and when I opened the package, broccoli pieces and broccoli dust went everywhere!  Being very tired with no desire for delay or a crowd of volunteers offering to help, Banker must have read my expression with sympathy.  He wasn’t usually interested in frozen treats, but he looked at me sincerely, then gently came over and began picking up pieces and eating those.  He kept eating until, between the two of us, each piece had been picked up.  This may seem like a small thing, but it was a defining moment for the concept of friendship, for someone to quietly observe and offer to help with such gentleness and such genuine compassion.  In the moment that I saw him look at me and begin helping, my attitude was transformed from frustration to awe, and the problem was gone.

He didn’t show interest later in frozen treats either.  Any situation can have good lessons.  A couple of years later after a blueberry spill, when Parker offered to help, I learned about that very odd consequence of eating blueberries on a dog’s stool, after a fast trip to the vet, one where you pay for your veterinarian’s entertainment for the day.

This morning’s lesson:  I learned how to put the color back into brown suede house shoes that have been through the laundry a few times, and I enjoyed the reflection on how attitude shapes perception of problems and on the life-changing value of genuine friendship.  Some of my best friends are gone, and others are in the making.

It’s a good Friday.  Remember that adventure is where you find it, and enjoy the day!

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WHO NEEDS A CAN-OPENER?

Posted on January 7, 2016 by BigFootClub

In the earlier days of the Newf list, when I read about this kind of story, it was usually “someone else’s” Newf, with sometimes much more expensive items, and it rallied an annual calendar:  Newfs Gone Bad.  And perhaps it inspired a bank commercial of a Newf in a shredded sofa.

I had an appointment in town, along with some errands to run, and out we set, the girls and I.  The plan was that when we returned, we would go to the office and finish some work.  Upon loading the girls to leave, I noticed that something had caught Jade’s attention.  She was lying quietly, oriented in the direction of a stack of boxes on the back steps.  This is a form of body language, and I understood her wishes.  I’m sure the boxes had already been inspected, and she seemed to surmise that those were not for her.  (Note to self:  have shipments delivered to the office next time.)  Good girl.  She loves to open boxes, and I hadn’t noticed this stack, left by the UPS guy.

I didn’t have time to move the boxes before we left, and when we got back, it was starting to rain, so we went to the house to move the boxes and pick up the mail.  It was already 4:30, so not much office time was left.  I had developed a longing for a pot of chili while we were out, so one of the stops was for the extra ingredients, some beans, tomato sauce, crackers and a new bottle of chili powder.  There was a box in the mail, also, three packages of ornamental bronze push-pins.  Those work well when all of your walls are wood and you need to hang a calendar, for example, and with delight, I had found some dark bronze ones that fit the rest of the dark bronze things like lighting fixtures.

After moving the boxes, I allowed myself to get caught up in a perusal of the new Newf Tide.  Oh my!  This is an exceptional issue!  Great photos (this is the photo contest issue) – an issue full of joy and tears, and show results.  When I get a Newf Tide, the world stands still for a moment, or so I’m fond of thinking.  In reality, a bored young girl and a party-hopeful big girl were stirring up their own party, behind my very eyes.  I barely noticed the rumble in the background, as the girls “played” – by getting into the box with packages of pins, opening two of the packages and scattering those around.  They didn’t touch the box of Town House crackers.  I don’t know who started what, although it is the big girl who has a knack for daring someone else to get naughty and the little girl who has a “can-do” attitude and “goes on a tear” from time to time, but “someone” found a can of chili beans.  In the many years I’ve been living with and learning about Newfs, I have never seen one swipe a new can of anything and puncture it.  Perhaps they were playing “football” with the can, not realizing there was good stuff inside until someone punctured the can.  This can, by appearances, had been carefully selected, and the rest of the bag’s contents were intact.

I carefully counted the pins as I picked those up and put them in my pocket.  When I took them out again, I recounted – one was missing!  Did I miscount the first time?  Did it come out of my pocket when I pulled my gloves out?

Those things (Newf Tides) should come with a warning label!  (and perhaps a human should put boxes that aren’t for Newfs behind closed doors until the contents are stored, and put groceries away before looking at the mail!)

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