Author: Cranky Crone

First, let me thank you for all of your responses about the dog story.  Your suggestions have made it a better story, and it is going to be titled:  Katie and the Pest.

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I often started conversations with Larry by saying, “I was just      thinking …”  Larry would interrupt me and ask, “Don’t you ever stop thinking?”  Well.  No.  I don’t.  Ever stop thinking.  Do any of us ever stop thinking?  And, so, today was no exception when I saw what is described here.

Today, I was at the grocery store that I like to frequent.  As I was leaving, there in front of me was an out-of-control dog; big dog – its shoulder came up to my knees.  I keep wondering why I see such dogs in the market, so to validate my thinking, I checked with the ADA definition of “service dog.”  The federal rules provide guidance on the term “service animal.”  I’ve included a portion of that information below.  (The State rules are similar.)

“How “Service Animal” Is Defined

“Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

“Beginning on March 15, 2011, only dogs are recognized as service animals under titles II and III of the ADA.

“Generally, title II and title III entities must permit service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go.”

In other words, a dog being cuddled in the arms of the owner should have been left in the car.

I also think about the store owners or managers don’t seem to understand that these are the rules and require that the owners of those non-service dogs be asked to remove their dog from the market.  In this same category of stores is the restaurant owner who does not require that the dog owner remove the dog from the premises.  I’ve been told more than once (after talking with the store manager) that he/she can do nothing about the dog.  Of course, I always remind them about the federal and state rules regarding this issue.

I frequent only one location (a health services business) that has a poster on the door explaining their policy about service dogs and what they really are.

All of this thinking caused another “bout of thinking;” Thinking about this issue in reference to a slightly different situation.  I have a friend who trains dogs to be of service to returning military service personnel.  As noted in the information above, these canine companions are trained to do some special activity for the person with whom they will live.  They are trained to specifically give the needed emotional support.  For me, this presents a true quandray.  What do I do when I see a dog in a place where I think such an animal shouldn’t be?  And, how do we know that the animal has had specific training to be emotional support for returning military personnel?

Another happening that makes me think a lot is the family that comes into a restaurant for breakfast or some other meal.  I personally don’t understand the people who arrive for their meal, do not talk, and spend their time using their thumbs.  It always pleases me when I see a family (parents and other adults and kids) carry on a conversation rather than having their noses and fingers attached to their phones.  When I see such a family, I attempt to make a quiet effort to pay for their meal.  I talk with their wait staff, pay for their meal, and ask that they hold off letting the family know that the meal has been paid for until I’ve left the restaurant.  And, I ask the wait staff to tell them that their meal has been paid for because I think that “good parenting” should be rewarded.  I always hope that it is a pleasant surprise for the family.

The passng. during this year, of so many of my friends and relatives (and of friends and relatives of friends) has caused me to think about the future a little more seriously.  Do you ever wonder how you will be remembered when, after a life well-lived, you leave this veil of tears?  I am thinking that I’d like my legacy to be this:  she is a child of God; she was a wife, a mother, grandmother, and a friend; and, that for thirty years, she was an educator.

Be Safe and Be Well

The Cranky Crone

Thoughtful comments are appreciated.

Here is a true and recent dog story for you.   I am currently taking a wonderful class about writing for children – specifically, writing picture books.  When our name comes up in the roster, it is our turn to submit a story for critique by the other students.  Although I have a “ton” of children’s stories to submit, this past week I watched Kate, the Border Collie who stays with me, occasionally.  So, I wrote about that event, and here it is.  The story that I submit for the reading won’t have the photographs, but I couldn’t resist putting them in the BLOG.  Feel free to critique it and tell me how it can be improved.  Thanks.  (Oh, by the way – you can tell that I don’t know what the story’s name will be because of the two possible names.)

Remember when Mr. Rogers sang that song on his children’s program?  Once in a while, as an adult, we get to have such a day.  And, last Sunday was such a day.  A friend and I made plans to go to a rocks and mineral sale.  Another friend joined us.  My Tahoe is a little better for fitting in three adults, so we took it and drove a far distance from the center of town (where I live) out east to the edge of the metropolitan area.  A far piece, indeed.

Dear Readers:  This is getting to you a bit late.  We had an almost eight-hour power outage.

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I really like Chinese food.  Thai food.  Any kind of food that ends with a cookie – a fortune cookie.  What fun it is to crack open the cookie to pull out the little paper with your “fortune” on it.  Sometimes, the words make sense, but even if they don’t you usually pretend that they do

Can anyone tell me what has happened to civil discourse?  To being polite?  Last week, I spent much of two days watching the confirmation hearings for, possibly, our new Supreme Court Justice.  (I know.  I know.  I promised no politics, but I think this is not politics.  I think this is the disintegration of politeness in human interactions – the situation of one person being inconsiderate toward another.)

What is it that gives you pause to cry?  Is it ducks on a pond?  Is it birds in the blue sky?  Cute kittens?  What is it?

Lying awake, listening to the radio that I use as “white noise” the other night (that obviously wasn’t working, that night), I began thinking about the act of crying and why it occurs.  For me.  I know that some of my crying occurs when I am so frustrated with a situation that I think I cannot change what is happening.  I cannot make some move to send a happening onto a different track.  NOTHING I can do will help.  Then I cry.

And, then, there are other times.

This article will be published the day before St. Patrick’s Day, 2022, my favorite non-religious holiday – my absolute favorite.  Time was, I made sure that on St. Pat’s Day, I always wore something of green.  Children love to catch someone without green – pinching becomes the art of the day, and school kids are no exception.  Today, I sometimes forget that it is the 17th of March.

Before we begin:  Tallying snowfall in the metropolitan area is anybody’s guess.  Sometimes, it’s measured at the airport, and that is usually less than what falls on my yard.  Sometimes, the report is from the Foothills.  Sometimes, that is more than falls on my yard.  My measurement for the past month (February and part of March 2022) falls between 20 and 24 inches.  Fortunate for us, it melts somewhat quickly – just not in my front yard.  It snowed, again, this past week; after we’d cleaned the snow from the storm in the preceding week’s storm.

This past weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) was a really wonderful weekend for lots of folks.  And, a lot of hard work.  Not so much, hard work for me, but hard work for many.  This was the weekend of the show and sale of the Denver Gem and Mineral Guild (DGMG) at the Jefferson County Fair Grounds.  The first show and sale since the beginning of the pandemic.

Never, never, let a machine know that you are in a hurry or on a deadline.  Earlier this afternoon, as I was starting this week’s blog, my computer screen didn’t look right.  In fact, it looked really wrong!  So, of course, I called my computer savior, Roger, who kindly took things in hand, fixed everything, and got me back into work mode.  Thank you, Roger.  I had a few ideas about what this week’s subject would be, knowing that I had several in mind, none of which was worth an entire blog.  I decided to write about just a few of them; a little piece at a time.