When we first moved in here into this house in January, one of the neighbors brought us a list called "Denizens of Devon Drive" which was a very nice and handy list of the names and addresses of everyone on the cul-de-sac. We love this house for other reasons beyond the fact that it was Bea & Henry's home for over 40 years. The neighborhood, so close geographically to our former house, is entirely different in character. Almost every home is occupied by a relatively long-term owner. The majority are middle-aged and older, which means there isn't a lot of party noise on weekends and no 24-hour basketball bouncing next door. One neighbor has a band that meets in his detached garage, but they are more like "Mid-life Crisis" (a real band here in Beaumont) than heavy metal or rock & shock rap. So I only hear them if I am in the kitchen which I rarely am at night- and they play good music. The downside to an older neighborhood is that I can't find a young person (meaning middle-school or younger) to weed my flower beds. My cousin Cullen & his wife gave us a landscaped backyard for my birthday, complete with some really lovely flowers, and I have a man who mows & edges, but I need a weeder! Bea used to have one- he lived 3 doors down, and for several years he kept her beds looking great- and it did not cost her an arm & a leg. His family still lives there, but he is now in college or married! My blog reader Ranger Wright is supposed to be looking for someone for me (LOL)- actually, he just asked what he could do for me and I said "find me a kid who will pull weeds for $5 an hour." Believe it or not, when I was healthy, I loved weeding! There was something very therapeutic about it, and I used the time in various ways- since it is a mindless chore. If I had a problem I was wrestling with, it was a good time to wrestle & many solutions arose from the weeded patch. Or if everything was going well, I used the time to sing the Doxology and thank God for my blessings. Now, I wrestle with my only problem (staying alive) and thank God for all the wonderful people and doctors who are helping me and all the friends and family I love, and I do it all from this chair- the green recliner. The atrium which sits just to my right is another reason why we love this house- I think I mentioned the mammoth job that Stratton did on about 4 separate visits, cleaning it out after it had been allowed to overgrow for years. The first day when he was just beginning was back when the weather was cool/cold, and since my oxygen cord reaches easily, and I have a little stool, I sat on it & pulled weeds that first night for quite a while. I was much stronger then, and still it taxed me. Today it is gorgeous, and if I ever take the time, I want to read how to upload a photo of it so you can see. I had always thought of atriums as part of really expensive homes until I saw this one- the man who designed this house built in just those things that were important to him, and I am so glad that he liked atriums! It has a skylight for a roof and walls on 3 sides- the side between it & the den where I sit is glass with a sliding door, and the fourth side, which faces the sidewalk, is screened, so I can always see who is walking up to the door (which is helpful, because I am not always what I would call street-ready!) We recently installed a bamboo shade which allows me to cut off my own view AND that of anyone looking in!
Well, I called this "Denizens off 566 Devon" because I always thought of denizens as animals, for some reason. I'll have to look it up- I think it means "natives" or maybe just "residents". But here at 566 we have two 4-footed denizens. I know that many of you know Bo Peep- if you have been to see us in the past 14 years, you are familiar with Bo. She is our Old English Sheepdog, and we are devoted to her, as she is to us. You know they are often called "shaggy dogs" because one was used in a movie of that name- and when they are allowed to have their full coat, it is over 12" of topcoat, rough & slightly curly, wiry, and if you do not groom it daily, it mats. They also have the characteristic flop of hair over their eyes, given to them by nature to protect their sensitive eyes from too much bright light and debris from the rough English countryside where they were bred to guard and herd sheep. Well, Bo Peep's name says it all- you know Little Bo Peep lost her sheep- well, this one never had any- and our little Bo Peep doesn't live in northern England but in Southeast Texas. So in the winter, she has about 5" hair, but in the spring we have the groomer take it down to 2", and she always has those bangs pulled up out of her eyes with 2 little bows because she has cataracts and runs into things, so she needs the little bit of sight that she has. Steve says she has outlived her warranty by 4 years- soon to be 5, because the breed life span is about 10 years. Thus we treat her very well (always have), and today she needed her shots plus I had the vet run her blood work which is does twice per year to check her liver & kidney condition. (Most dogs who do not succumb to accidents or cancer eventually die of liver and/or kidney failure, so it is important to spot it early when you can do things to preserve existing function.) Well, Bo has severe arthritis- she's an old lady, even though much of the time she doesn't act like it, so she has a hard time getting into a car. The front feet go in, but even a low car like the Mercedes is too high for her to get her rear end up on her own strength. Before I got unable to do just about anything, it was no big deal- I got down & lifted her rear end and she was in. So when my cousin Susan Ramsey called yesterday and asked me what she could do, I said "You can come take Bo to the vet tomorrow." Thus at 9:00 this morning, Bo was limo'd to the doctor in Susan's SUV- and that was a chore, even for Susan, because her car is REALLY high! When I go after her, they will put her in the car, and she can get out by herself, so we are set.
The other 4-legged denizen is Hei Mao the 13-year old black cat. Steve & I have almost always had at least one cat to go along with Bo (and our previous dog, Chock the Sheltie), and for years we had an Aussie named LeStat as Bo's companion animal, but he had to be put down in 2008 at an indeterminate age of at least 17. (Steve's sister found him in a ditch and he was already a young adult. She had him for 3+ years and then we had him for 12. Curtis Wilson, our vet, said he was probably at least 6 when he saw him the first time, so you get the idea). Our last cat made it through the Ike evacuation, staying in a kennel in Dallas for 3 weeks, only to come home & run out into the street & be hit by a car. It was just so sad- he normally didn't leave the yard, but he was just so glad to be out of a cage. So when Bea died, I was left with not only all her assets to liquidate, but also her diabetic lab and Hei Mao. Barbara Beard, one of the city librarians, who was Bea's "supervisor" in the adult literacy program, adopted Folly the lab, and she had 10 months of a decent life after that before she had to be put down from too many complications of diabetes. We adopted Hei Mao. The name means "black cat" in Chinese. Bea, you know, never wanted to stop learning, and she also wanted someone else to live here- just a presence, not a caretaker. So shortly after Henry's death, upon the advice of her grief counselor, she advertised at Lamar for a graduate student who wanted a bedroom, bath & kitchen privileges to rent from her @ $200/month. Her first student was from Taiwan, and she stayed 4 years getting as much chemical engineering as she could- I think it was a PhD, but I'm not sure. Lan Fu was legally here on a work permit, and she successfully obtained a student visa for the time she was at Lamar, and after that, she applied for permanent residency & is now employed somewhere in the Chicago area. I was last in touch with her when Bea died. Well, long story a little shorter, Lan Fu was the first of about 5 or 6 Asian boarders who lived here. All but one were from either Mainland China or Taiwan, and the last one was from Thailand. I'm not sure who was here 13 years ago, but that was when Bea acquired this little black kitten and needed a name. Oh- in addition to the boarders, Bea served as "grandma" to the daughter of one of the Lamar professors who was Chinese. Lulu attended the Academy at Lamar that gives students 2 years college + 2 years high school all in 2 years, and Lulu did it fresh from China at 15. She was whip-smart, and she went on to graduate from the University of Texas and most recently, from Yeshiva University School of Law- now that was a strange one! Anyway, Lulu might have been the one who told Bea that black cat was Hei Mao in Mandarin, and that is how she got her name. For years she was a typical aloof cat- she did not want to be picked up, never got in Bea's lap, and was just as independent as they come. Towards the end of Bea's life, Hei Mao changed. She still didn't want to be forcefully picked up, but she started getting on Bea's recliner (which sat where I am sitting), and she started "talking" to her. We took her to Rosine in January 2009- I had left her here but came by daily until then, because I wasn't sure if I could train her to a litter box. Bea has a pet door, but we did not, and Hei Mao was used to going in & out on her own. Once I saw that she would use a litter box, I moved her. She has been the most affectionate cat you can imagine for the last year- and when we moved here, which was her true home, she just blossomed. Bo has always been around cats- Bo is absolutely non-confrontational, and she will just turn and leave if anything threatens her. (She's different if she senses any threat to us, however- then she watches (LOL). She has never even growled in anger, and she would lick an intruder to death. Her most embarrassing trait is crotch-sniffing because she is just the right height. Anyhow, evenings around here are about as mellow as they come- a dog & a cat, both elderly, snoozing on the floor or on Steve's chair or my recliner (cat only), Steve alternately reading the paper, watching a game or napping (he swears he can do all three at once & not miss anything), and I am usually curled up here with my Nook or the paper. I fade rapidly and am in the bedroom by 9:00 or 9:30, and Steve puts the animals to bed- Bo now sleeps at the foot of our bed, Hei Mao on Steve's chair (he says she is just waiting for him to leave so she can occupy it, and he's close to correct).
We had a wonderful weekend with Kathy & Alex. Already I have forgotten whether or not I reported that- I don't think so, because they didn't come until last Friday. Kathy worked with me at Entre until 1993, when she went to Houston to work for Compaq. She now works for Centerpoint Energy. Alex was born the year after she moved- Alex's dad was a cad whom Kathy was smart not to marry. However, he put his name on the birth certificate, and Kathy tried to get him to pay child support, so he left the country. Kathy has done the most wonderful job of rearing Alex, who is now 15, that one can imagine. I have seen her through thick & thin, and it's just not easy- to work fulltime and be the only parent, and she has had many moments when she despaired. But I always told her that she would come out the other side, and for years I was able to go over & stay with her for a weekend, to take a bit of the burden off her, especially a couple of times when she & Alex were both sick, because I remember how that was and I DID have a husband. And now, with her freshman year behind her, Alex is set to enjoy high school in a big way. She sings- beautifully- and has a strong interest in Musical Theater. We tried to get her into a camp last summer for budding theater artists, but they cancelled it at the last minute. This year, our Christmas gift to them was a pair of tickets to see "Wicked" which came back to Houston in July. Alex was so crazy about that show- Steve found a book all about it which he sent so that Alex would have something besides the promise of a play 7 months down the road, and she started hauling it around. So of course she is in the choir, in a select group, and is already doing UIL solos. She became our goddaughter upon her birth, and she calls me Nana just like my grandchildren do.
I guess I've gone on enough- I have an appointment next Thursday in Houston! I will be there all day- my cousin Cullen is taking me over since Steve is on call, and since this is mostly routine stuff- it is the last piece that they need in Houston before deciding about listing me. I'll be sure to let you know what they say!
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