Been baby-sitting our daughter’s Cairn. A difficult time.
The dog fidgets. Is it thirsty? Does it want to go outside pour faire le pi-pi? Or does it merely want to dump its sense of unease on us?
Going walkies requires a plastic supermarket bag leading to the unspeakable detection of warmth as one fulfills one’s obligations as a good citizen. But this is a story with a happy ending.
It became obvious that the dog (It’s a bitch actually but that word carries semantic risks) needed to be corralled briefly in the kitchen where the tiled floor would provide a more hygienic alternative to the carpets elsewhere. But the kitchen door hasn’t closed properly for ten years and the dog could bounce it open. So I took the door off its hinges, placed it on trestles in the garage, sawed 4 mm off the bottom edge and re-installed it. And now neither of us can get over the sheer pleasure of simply shutting that door.
WRITING: CRAFT NOT ART
Eclogue 1. Easy writing, hard reading (Not mine, alas)
Example: Emotion should be implied, never described. As in Hemingway’s wonderful short story: “Baby shoes for sale. Never used.”
Note 1. All my novels remain unpublished.
Note 2. I sort of have Lucy’s (implicit) permission to stop apologising for the misuse of “eclogue”.
The dog fidgets. Is it thirsty? Does it want to go outside pour faire le pi-pi? Or does it merely want to dump its sense of unease on us?
Going walkies requires a plastic supermarket bag leading to the unspeakable detection of warmth as one fulfills one’s obligations as a good citizen. But this is a story with a happy ending.
It became obvious that the dog (It’s a bitch actually but that word carries semantic risks) needed to be corralled briefly in the kitchen where the tiled floor would provide a more hygienic alternative to the carpets elsewhere. But the kitchen door hasn’t closed properly for ten years and the dog could bounce it open. So I took the door off its hinges, placed it on trestles in the garage, sawed 4 mm off the bottom edge and re-installed it. And now neither of us can get over the sheer pleasure of simply shutting that door.
WRITING: CRAFT NOT ART
Eclogue 1. Easy writing, hard reading (Not mine, alas)
Example: Emotion should be implied, never described. As in Hemingway’s wonderful short story: “Baby shoes for sale. Never used.”
Note 1. All my novels remain unpublished.
Note 2. I sort of have Lucy’s (implicit) permission to stop apologising for the misuse of “eclogue”.
11 comments:
Another canine soap to worry about?
The door episode has epic potential. Could your vistor slowly drive you to a complete refurbishment of your house?
Did the dog assert its own right to sit on the leather seating or did you give it permission? From its appearance I wouldn't dare tell it to do anything!
I feel as she lies there with you for one last night she is thinking "My work here is done"..
Totsl control that dog has over you! Sounds normal to me........
That would be TOTAL control
That dog looks a little like what one might imagine Rosemary's Baby must have looked like...
Congratulations on the new door, sometimes it takes a crisis.
Lucy: An incubus or possibly a succubus! So that's what we've been harbouring.
I notice that the supporters of the Dog Domination Party (above) have discreetly avoided the other doggy topic I raised in the blog.
... and they blame cats for being pushy and imperious. Dogs take over just as fast, and with more excreta.
Word verification, ademic. Sort of like academic, but not.
Zhoen: How about oedemic (edemic in the US 'cos they hate dipthongs)for those of us in the know about medical words?
Re dog domination....fortunately we don't have the same problems with our male dog. One of the reasons we took him home:)
Yes - we have adopted the word "bitch" to other uses for good reason.
Still - typical woman; she made you get on with a job that's been hanging around for yonks.
Surely you enjoyed that "suggestion of warmth" in your hand, or pocket at this cold time of year?
I am afraid that, on seeing her photo, I immediately thought of the demon in that seminal film "the Night of the Demon". (As usual James's story, "Casting the Runes" beats the film hollow.)
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