Sadie and the Flood

In the middle of a massive flood, the likes of which this part of the country hasn't seen for at least 100 years, we, the card carrying cat people, adopted a dog.

Prior to a few days ago we never considered owning a dog. We've had all manner of cats but never has adopting a dog entered the picture. Not even once. But then Colorado started flooding and the world seemed insane and we did what any deeply committed cat people would do. We adopted a poor little homeless dog.

Meet Sadie

 

Sadie is young, just a puppy really, but her short life has been pretty challenging. She's already had a litter of her own puppies, learned a new language, been abused, and spent most of her life in a shelter. Sadie was on death row in New Mexico but granted a stay of execution by a benevolent woman who runs a no-kill rescue in Colorado.

Logic would say she is a flood refugee. Why else would non-dog people adopt her? But, logic doesn't have anything to do with this story. Nothing about the flood threatened Sadie's well-being. Yet everything about the flood prompted us to take her in.

The day the flooding started, I awoke to an alert on my phone. It said: Flood Alert only I didn't have my glasses on so I thought is said: Food Alert and hoped there wasn't a salmonella outbreak involving the strawberries I had just eaten the day before. It took a while before I realized that there was an increasingly serious situation brewing in Boulder and Parker was trapped in the middle of it.

I was able to keep in touch with Parker by cell phone through the days of flooding. I knew that he and his roommates were doing everything they could to keep water from filling the house they are renting. They had stored provisions on the roof in the event they were forced to escape and await rescue but none of this prevented me from worrying. Parker kept things light and funny. He didn't tell me some of the more harrowing tales like the fact he was driving down the street when the flash flooding started and was literally seconds away from having his car swept away in the river of rushing water. Even though I didn't know that until later, I couldn't help but feel concern for his safety.

For three days I watched the news and cried. Worried for my son and seeing the massive destruction, loss of property, and death, I felt sad and, like everyone, helpless to do anything but watch as the bewildering scenes worsened.  Entire towns were underwater. Parking lots turned into lakes.  Local roads became raging rivers. A young man caught a carp in a street typically reserved for cars.

It was much too surreal.

Nothing about the situation made me think, "we should get a dog!" But in the midst of all the mayhem we met Sadie, heard her sad story, and impulsively decided to let her come and live with us. I don't claim the two events connect clearly but I do have a theory.

When the flooding started we had no idea how bad things would get. Our home sits high enough up that we felt relatively safe but as we watched the news we saw familiar places ravaged by rising and rushing water. We could do the usual and immensely valuable things such as pray, make financial donations, and give blood. But there was little more we could offer.

I think when we met Sadie and heard her story, it felt like we could make her poor sad dog life better. It was something we could do.  Granted, it wouldn't help the people who had lost their homes and family members. It wouldn't make any difference in the clean up process or any aspect of the recovery.

It was simply giving a dog a second chance.

Yet it felt right. It felt like we were making a difference, in whatever small way, toward goodness in the midst of so much that was bad.

I know it sounds a little crazy. It is.

Had we consulted our cats they would certainly have thought we were losing it. And I'm pretty sure they would have advised against adopting a dog. She's here though. They are getting used to the idea. They may not love having Sadie around but they are adjusting.

As for Miss Sadie, she knows nothing of the flood. She's oblivious to the sorrow and destruction around us and she is learning to tolerate a house full of cats. At this point all Sadie knows is that she's loved and fed and walked.

And for the first time in her life, she's home.

.

Making Lemonade...with Salt...and Tequila

I've always liked the trite little saying about what to do if life gives you lemons. Although, I admit, I like the one about adding salt and tequila better.

We had the opportunity to put all this lemon business to good use when we were planning Anna's graduation party recently. We've known Anna was going to graduate from high school for some time. Eighteen years to be exact. But we didn't start thinking much about having a party to celebrate her graduation until spring. When she asked if she and her friend, Anna, could have an Anna x 2 party I was, of course, more than happy to throw it. It was a party, after all.

 

We assumed most of the party would be held outdoors in the backyard, but you can't always count on the weather so we knew it might also end up being held indoors. Either way, the party was good motivation to do something about the dreadful, old, carpet that remained in our hallway and stairs. This was very old carpet. Very old carpet that needed to go away a long time ago. It hadn't, because we couldn't decide what we wanted to replace it with. But, the party was coming up so we finally decided to just replace it with new carpet.

 

The plan was to have the new carpet installed in time for the party. As the party date drew closer, however, the plan started to unravel, a little like the nasty old carpet in the hallway. It wasn't going to happen. At all. The carpet delivery had been delayed and the installation couldn't happen until the week after the party.

 

Well. Dang.

 

We considered what to do. We could cancel the party. (Cancel? A party? Are you kidding?) We could postpone the party. But the invitations for June 1 had already been sent. We decided to weave the lack of carpet into the party.

 

Recently I wrote a blog post about writing our family story on the floors of each room as we replace the carpet. You can read it here.  Anna suggested we modify our tradition and use the ill-timed carpet mishap as a way to include the party guests in our family story. 

 

What a great idea!

 

I immediately went to work removing the carpet and pulling out the tacking strips. I put a fresh coat of white paint on the floor and stairs, bought a package of 12 colored Sharpie pens, and wrote a little explanation in case party guests wondered why they were invited to write on the floor in permanent marker:

 

"Ours is a house in transition. At any given time there is a renovation project in process. The plan was to have new carpet for the graduation party. But, plans don't always happen the way they are supposed to. Our new carpet it somewhere in the United States. Just not in our house.

Plan B.

As we have replaced flooring in our home I have written a bit of our family history on the sub floor in each room, which has later been covered up but creates the story of our lives within these walls.

It is our belief that a house is a dwelling, but the soul of a home is created in the lives and relationships of those who both live here and come in as our guests.

So...about the carpet...

...since there isn't any, we are inviting our graduation party guests to take liberty on our stairs and hallway floor. If you would like to, we would love to have you write your name, a message, a thought, or whatever on the floor. Next week, when the carpet is installed, your message will be hidden but will become a part of the soul of our home.

Thank you for sharing our joy at the Anna x 2 Graduation Party.

And thank you for adding to the story of our family...and the soul of our home."

 

Our friend Spencer got things started by declaring the date of the party. Debbie added that it was also her birthday.

 

 

And people kept adding things. Some messages were simple.

 

 

Some more wordy.

 

 

Some drew pictures.

 

 

Some were random.

 

 

Some strategically placed.

 

 

Some wrote for others who were halfway around the world.

 

 

And after a while some started responding to what others had written.

 

 

When the party was over, we had a sweet masterpiece that, even covered with carpet, we'll always know is there. Expressions of love and friendship grace every step.

 

 

And exist outside every bedroom door.

 

 

It turned out that not having carpet was a blessing. The guests had fun and I'm pretty sure ours was the only party this graduation season that included floor writing. I think that might make me cool. Finally. I've always wanted to be cool.

 

Or, maybe it doesn't. I'm not sure.

 

Regardless, we loved reading every message over and over. We spent the next couple of days savoring the words friends had written because we knew it would be just a few days before it was all covered up; like a secret hidden message only our family would know was there. Well, plus the 50 or so other people who wrote things. But anyway, the point is we loved it.

 

Although it was a fun and creative way to have a party, I am ready for the carpet to be installed. We are expecting guests for a long weekend and it will be nice to have new, plush, carpet when they arrive at the end of June.

 

Except it has now been two weeks since the party and we still don't have carpet. It seems it got lost. And then found. While our new carpet was off having some sort of religious experience the days kept ticking by. Today the installation company told me it won't be installed until July.

 

So much for having things nice for our guests. I guess they'll have to sign the floor too. 

 

Pass the Sharpies.

 

And the tequilla.