This is a little family in the making, if you wonder what one looks like.

If you wonder what the life of Riley looks like, just take a gander at this little chickadee, all kicked back and taking it easy. 

 Now here we go just having a little peek at Grandma Lou.  This is the little angel that Grand Daughter Deven chose to weave a blanket and give it to her for Christmas.

And there she is hid behind all the toys that it is necessary for a tiny baby to tote around just to get through the day. 

And there is mom and soon to be dad.  I just wanted you to meet them.  I emailed her for the correct spellings on the names, but have not gotten an answer yet.  As soon as I get that I will formally introduce you to this little family who is slowly becoming a vital part of my life here in Pueblo. 

I do know the mom is Kimmie and her favorite food is Sloppy Joes!  I do know she is working on getting her Diploma and then going to school to make herself into something the Little Princess will be very proud of, and so will we!  Going to be there to see her walk up and grab that diploma and make us all proud!

Watch for them more in future postings!

Five words no mother wants to hear, ever.

Always in my mind, the 5 words I never wanted to hear were, "There has been an accident."  I heard them years ago when I lost my brother.  And then I heard them yesterday.  They held the same paralyzing fear yesterday as they did back in 1965.  Only this time I heard them through my mother's ears and there were other words, motorcycle, son, ambulance.  Each word was tearing me apart and I had to pull into a parking lot to make sense of them.

Lou, this is Carolyn and I was on my way to town and there has been an accident.  Bret, Amanda, motorcycle, Cruiser, ......."I need to know which hospital you want him transported to.  They will want to know."  A million questions rushed through my mind, but I asked none.  She had no answers, so it was not fair to ask.  My first instinct was to race to Santa Fe Drive to the scene, but a cooler head prevailed.  I would go to the hospital and wait.  So I did.  I left my car with the valet and went immediately to the ER.  No ambulance yet.

I would call my minister.  Phone book was in the car.  So I called the church.  Answering machine.  In case of emergency call.....my pen was in the car.  Why is it that we delude ourselves into believing we are organized right up until the moment when we need to lay our hands on information and we find we are like Babes in the woods.  I knew I should call some one, but I did not know who.  Oh, wait.  He has sisters, I have kids!  But what would I tell them?  What did I know?  Motorcycle, son, ambulance.

So, Lou Mercer, the woman with so many friends stood in an empty emergency room staring out a window all by herself, the loneliest woman in the world.  And like so many mothers before me I turned to the one person who could and would listen.  I had never faced anything like this with any of my children before, but yesterday I did and yesterday I remembered why I had spent my whole life clinging to this man.  So I called on him,  "Oh, God!  I know I am always wanting something, but this time I really, really need you to do this for me.  Make it right.  Make this go away and if you choose not to do that then give me the strength to deal with what I must."  I am sure there was a lot more said and I bet I made promises, but God knows me pretty good.  We have been there before and while some of his greatest gifts were unanswered prayers, I knew in the depths of my being that he would answer this one.

It was orchestrated from the beginning when a friend came upon the accident and she chose to call me instead of letting the sheriff call, and she was allowed to call.  Things always come easier when delivered by a friend.  I want to thank her for doing me that favor.  I will not use her last name, but she know who she is and she also knows that I loved her when she was my daughter in law and I love her today, because she is a beautiful person.

So, as you have guessed by now, little Bret is alright.  He is alright because all the things that usually happened did not.  The speed limit there where this happened is 50MPH but it was moving slow.  Amanda saw a wreck ahead so she slowed down and changed lanes.  Bret passed her and then he saw the accident so he cut in front of her and slowed.  Some one ahead hit the brakes, Bret hit his brakes and Amanda hit hers.  She hit the back of the bike which shot out from under Bret.  All speeds were reduced or the boy on the bike would not be here today.

Later Bret was recounting the accident and he said " I seen Amanda coming behind me and I knew she was going to hit me, but I had to brake."  I asked him, "Did you at that point in time wish you might have been a little nicer to her?"  His answer was, "Oh, yeah!"

So today we are getting through the "what if " phase of this.  Will he ride his bike again?  Sure!  Will he wear a helmet next time?  No!  I never wore one.  It restricted my vision and my hearing.  On long trips I guess they are all right.  Will Amanda drive again.  Sure!  I hauled her to work today, but that is not going to happen again.  Things happen.  Life goes on.  What will I do different?  Keep a phone list in my purse or make sure all the important numbers are in my phone.  But the most important number is burned in my brain and that is the hot line to Heaven.  And the best part is that no matter where I am, it is still a local call!

Hey! Wait just one minute here!

This is not fair!  No way is this a fair thing to happen to me!  Yesterday it was 70+ degrees.  Day before that it hit 80.  Now  this morning there is snow.  Stop this madness.  It is Spring.  The Daffodils are blooming and everything!  The ducks are mating as are the geese. Now I have Robins playing in the snow.  What is wrong with this scenario?

Oh, yeah, now I remember, I live in Colorado!  Beautiful Colorado in the foothills to the Rockie Mountains.  Kenneth and I were on our way to a place near Durango many years ago to get a load of coal for some one.  Being the end of May and hotter than the dickens, I wore my shorts and we did not bother taking a coat.  The first problem we encountered was that the pass had the chain law in effect.  Usually we called and checked things like that, but rarely, if ever do you worry about it when it is 80 degrees.  Course there is that little altitude thing we should have thought about.  A lesson learned, but not retained, although we did make it a habit to carry chains and coats no matter where we went or when we went.

See, I should have known when I met that man what I was in for.  Before we ever did the "I do" thing in front of the minister in the assisted living center in Canon City and had a celebratory doughnut as our wedding supper, there were signs of the future.  Take for instance, the weekend camp out and boating trip the weekend AFTER Labor Day. 

We loaded the camper shell, boat, fishing tackle, lots of food, camp stove, two kids and my poodle/chihuahua, Sysnyck  and headed for Turquoise Lake, about as high up as you can get without going clear to heaven.  It was late when we got there so we immediately pitched the tent and went to bed.  It immediately began to rain.  The bathrooms were locked up, being after Labor Day and all, but it was a big forest.  Morning broke to show a beautiful view of the lake, ice floes and all.  Fuel had leaked out of the camp stove.  Kids were wet and frozen.  My bottom  and the forest floor did not take to well to each other.  But we had come to boat and fish and by jeepers that was what we would do.  And did it we did.

The worms were frozen, but the boat was not.  We boarded the seaworthy vessel and cranked it up;  fishing poles remained on the bank.  My stalwart Captain roared away from the dock, the dog jumped overboard, the daughter burst out in tears because she was going to die.  He idled, turned  around and picked up the dog and headed back to shore.  We arrived home early that afternoon and it was again 80 degrees, but we were still frozen.

The year on that was 1982.  Perhaps you recall that being the year there was a sudden spike in antibiotic sales?  Both kids had raging fevers the next day.  I am a firm believer that such things are brought on by a virus and not getting cold and wet, but I did make an exception in that case.

The following summer, July 4 weekend to be exact, we took a 3 day weekend, same boat, vacation to the high lakes in the Rockies.  Kids refused to step foot off the place after the first vacation.  When we got home I was so sunburned I had to sleep standing up.  Not really, but it was bad!  So I now know, but still occasionally forget what Colorado is all about.  Check my car.  I have blankets, coats, sunscreen, water, an emergency stable food source, and my Bible.  I am taking no chances. 

The kids are grown up and gone.  Kenny has passed to his much deserved  reward and I am here alone.  I do still go to the mountains, but only for the day.  I go with a friend or sometimes just drive up to Beulah to see my friend Jan.  So I stay in Colorado.  It has become home to me and I expect when I close my eyes and see Kenny coming to pick me up, his silhouette will be against the back drop of Pikes Peak or Turquoise Lake or something else quite as beautiful.  When that happens I will not look back.  And I expect you all to be happy and wish me bon voyage!  Cause I will be tripping the light fantastic with a man who never had a lick of rythym any where near his body, but he could catch a fish.

I saw a sign........

Men who beat their guns into plow shares, will be ruled by men who did not beat their guns into plow shares....(Or something like that!)  Thomas Jefferson.

Dougie Do and Elvira too!

Last Wednesday I had a date.  Well, Elvira and I did.  We had a date with Doug Poll who owns Doug's Grooming Salon.  What a delightful little fellow he is!  Elvira loves him.  See her there in his arms and see him kiss her.  Hard to believe that I have to take second place to a dog, but there you have it.   If I have to share the fellow, I am glad it is with my dog.

Elvira does not really like to go to the beauty shop, but she loves to go see Doug.   Flips me a look and off to the back room she goes.  Don't blame her for that.  When she comes back out she is going to be one pretty little girl! 

My first encounter with Doug was back in December.  My son's boss had been taking Cosmo to Doug for several years so I thought I ought to give him a try.  He is located at 2320 Thatcher here in Pueblo.  For many years I had lived right around the corner on Scranton, but moved to the Mesa before Doug started there.  But stranger yet, is that he started Doug's Grooming in that location on October 1, 1987!  Know what that is?  October 1 is my birthday!  Small world huh?

Want to get smaller?  His birthday is October 6.  I am not going to tell you the years cause I for one, am a tad bit vain!  Suffice it to say I am several years older then him.  What that has to do with anything, I have no idea!  But let me tell you this, I have always had a dog of some sort that had to be groomed so I am fairly wise to the groomers and how the doggie relates to them.

Take Elvira.  Lady groomed her here at the house.  The little rat ran away, jumped off the dryer, and almost ended up completely bald on one side.  She is definitely a dog that needs a groomer with a firm hand.  Doug has that.  I do not stay to watch the process, but I know that this drop dead gorgeous little groomer will take her in hand and I get almost all the way home and he calls to say she is done.  So I go back to get her and Doug is holding her and look at how he smooches around on her.

Doug has 2 favorite charities.  The first is Multiple Sclerosis and the other is the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.   Can't fault a boy that supports causes like those!  And businesses in this fair city do not usually open until 9 or 9:30.  Not Dougie!  I can drop the dog off at 7:30.  Most people are not usually up that early, but he has his day pretty well started by then.

What I like best about Doug is that he is always such a happy little guy and always glad to see me.  Well, glad to see anyone.  And I am a firm believer that animals have a sixth sense about people.  The dogs all seem to like Doug, which means he is a good person deep down where it really counts.  If Elvira were to drag her feet and act like she did not want to go, you can bet I would be looking for a different groomer.  But she is always happy to go, so we have found a home with Doug.

My recommendation to you, if you have a poochie dog, is to grab up the phone and call Doug at 719-545-7300.  You are going to have to wait on your first appointment because he is in high demand.  But then you make your appointment when you pick the dog up and you are in like Flynn.  Just be prepared to take a back seat to your dog.  Doug and the dog will want to get to know each other.  That is the way of the world.

All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all....or something like that.  ;)

A sad state of affairs.

   See this wretched looking pooch here?  This was taken at the dog pound about a year or two ago.  The tech out there thought this dog was about 2 1/2 years old, female, Llaso Apso/Shitzu, and had just had puppies.  She was very matted and her hair was falling out.  Sad little species.  I brought her home and named her Elvira, Mistress of the night.

See this little wretch here?  This is her prison picture.  Probably should have named this one Bandit, but we named her Daisy.  Daisy is probably about six now and is the old lady of the bunch.  Elvira is about 4.  I always get my dogs at the pound because I know they need homes and I have a home.  Cool, huh?

              

 Now this is Lyn.  I did not get her at the pound.  She is my friend.  She is also the one who just gave little Elvira her bath and trimmed her hair.  Doesn't she look pretty?  I actually meant Elvira, but that goes for Lyn also.  Course Daisy wanted held also.  It is hard to imagine those two healthy looking pooches were once on their way to the execution chamber.  But now they are mine!

Now, you know there is going to be a point to this, don't you?  And here it comes.  I had to run into town to have lunch with a friend today.  Would rather have stayed home, but you know how it is some times.  So I zipped up South Road, which I have got to quit doing as the boy got a ticket for speeding and I don't want one.  But I then turned on Aspen headed for town.  In the middle of the road was a big black Lab.  Probably not full blooded Lab, but a big dog.

Oh, he was alright, but he was on a mission.  He was smack in the middle of the road and he was plodding his way toward town.  He did not have a collar.  He did not look happy at all.  He looked like what we see all to often out here in the county.  He looked like some one had driven him out and dumped him because they were, for what ever reason, no longer wanting to care for him.  So some one loaded him up and dropped him out in the middle of nowhere hoping what would happen?

Was it you?  Did you think he would just drop in some farmhouse and live happily ever after?  Most farms out here already have  dog or 2.  Maybe a cat.  These animals see the new dog as an interloper and chase it away.  Or, gee, maybe it could find some where to sleep and catch  mice or something to eat during the day.  It is a trained hunter?  I think not.  The dog I saw walking up Aspen was not a happy dog.  He looked like he was looking for you.  You are all he knew and you left him, quite by accident, I am sure, and he was just wanting to get home to you.  You may not have been the best master, but you were his and he remembers that. Probably a moot point as he was only about a mile from the highway.  You know, the one where cars drive 50 miles an hour through Blende and never think to watch for dogs looking for their masters.

We have a new dog pound.  Why didn't you just drop him off there?  At least that way he could have something to eat.  He could have some where to sleep where he felt safe.  He would have at least had a chance at being adopted.  And if he did not get a new home the worst that could happen is he would be euthanized.  At least that is a lot quicker then being hit by a car or starving out on the prairie.

I wish there were some way to make you people understand that the cute little puppy you bring home is dependent on you.  Even when it grows up and isn't so cute, it is your responsibility.  You picked, you played with it, and it is yours until one of you dies.  When I see a dog dumped like this I wonder what kind of people we are dealing with now days.  What kind of Father will you make?  What kind of mother?  The fields and the prairies are for the animals of the night, you know, coyotes, foxes, skunks, snakes, spiders.  That sort of stuff, not domesticated dogs.  Dogs we have bred and trained to be docile little creatures. 

I had a short lunch and when I came home I looked for the black dog.  Don't know what I had planned if I found it, but I did not see it.  I am sure I will be thinking about it tonight when I should be sleeping.  And I hope you are thinking about it also.  I hope you realize what a stupid thing this was and I hope you at least regret your decision.  It is my fervent hope that you spend a lot of sleepless night and then one day, look up out of what ever gutter you are in and see your beautiful black dog ride by in the back of a mini van with a little girl hanging on his neck, with his tongue hanging out and a big smile on his face!

Always remember "When you dance, you got to pay the fiddler. " or "What goes around, comes around."

A day at the bowling alley in Midtown! or And a good time was had by all!

Well, remember when we had the walk and raised money for Pueblo SCAP? Linda, John, Erik and I decided we would like to do something fun with our funds. And so you see what we have now dubbed the once a month fun time. Well, I actually think it has a more formal name and that it has something to do with our team name, which was Loosey Goosey, but I do not remember at the moment and I can not call anyone because it is not to the crack of dawn yet.


First we have our humble lunch and then we are off to some where. This time it happens to be the bowling alley in Midtown. That is a fun place. It is under ground and has been there forever, I think. I used to bowl occasionally there with my third husbands ex-wife. She was really good. I forgot his name. But that has nothing to do with now.

We take clients, friends, volunteers and just whoever thinks they would like to join us and away we go. Next month is going to be a cook out in the park. But back to the bowling party. Now, if I was a tad bit smarter I would have all these pictures with labels, but I am not. Little disclaimer here. I told all the clients to turn their backs so the faces showing are some of my huge following on these outings. We really do have a very good time. See those two guys setting with me and smiling? They were a couple guys that let me take their pictures and told me they would not smile. Silly boys! Looks like the cat that ate the canaries to me!

And see that baby? She did not bowl. She just took it pretty easy with the feet all crossed and laying back in her little car seat thingy there. Oh, you should know those carriers are heavy! If I would have to raise a kid now, it would be one of those throw the baby out with the bath water days at my house.

Now, do not think that any of these people are actually super bowlers. I think only one or two out of 8 bowlers actually broke 100. I did not bowl for reasons unknown to me. Oh, wait, now I remember, I did not want to be laughed at. We reserved that for John! ;)

I bet that old bowling alley will remember we were there. They furnished shoes at no cost, which helps make our dollars go further. If you happen to get by there, tell them Linda from SCAP sent you. Makes them smile favorably on us. We have decided that next time we go we will have them put up the bumper things as there were an inordinate number of gutter balls thrown!

I will continue to report in monthly on our little forays. I am pretty sure several of the case managers at DSS will be joining us. Maybe we will invite the head office in Colorado Springs down! Got to start working on a menu since I am always in charge of that. Then shopping. Since the meals are paid for by an anonymous benefactor, next month will be a freebie on our funds. So, here is the deal. The Walk in the Garden has become an annual thing. So next fall when I hit you up for donations, remember these little outings and how you are helping people who need it to relax and forget for a few hours at least, how serious their lives actually are. Laughter has always proven to be the best medicine and that is my job at SCAP. I am there to make people happy and I do hope it is working!

Have a good one and remember, You can not sprinkle showers of happiness on other people without getting a few drops on yourself!