Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 04:38
Duke
My old friend Duke is not doing very well. The last couple of days, I have noticed that he seemed weaker and not able to get around as well. So, Tuesday afternoon I took him into the vet clinic to have his red blood cell count checked again.
Duke is very anemic once again, in spite of getting Procrit injections twice a week. I now have to bump up the Procrit to three times a week. The last time I talked to the vet, he was thinking it was possible I could go to Procrit once a week, but that is absolutely not possible. I suppose Duke may be at the point where the Procrit will not help him anymore.
I also ended up taking two of the barn kittens to the clinic with me, too. One little long-haired tom was vomiting Tuesday morning and did not want to eat. The other one has an infected eye. The little tom was running a fever. He was also dehydrated, so the vet gave him some subcutaneous fluid and an injection of antibiotic. I have to give Mr. Puffball antibiotic twice a day, and the little one with the bad eye needs antibiotic twice a day and eye ointment three times a day.
When I got home, I fixed up the dog cage I used for Henry, Katerina and Dora. I was planning to keep the two kittens in the house so I could find them when I need to do medicine for them.
The one with the infected eye is a little scaredy-cat. She was trembling and shaking with fear while she was at the vet clinic. Poor little thing. The other little long-haired kitten is pretty laid back anyway, but right now he does not feel too good, so it would seem that he doesn't much care what happens to him or where he is.
As it turned out, the one with the infected eye was really homesick for her momma. If one of the other cats, MaryAnne for instanced, chirped -- then she was screaming and crying for her momma. I ended up taking her back down to the barn Tuesday evening. I made her promise first, though, that she should let me find her when I need to do eye meds.
The other little tom, as of Tuesday evening, was still very sick. He vomited up the antibiotic the vet sent home for him. He also vomited up the dewormer the vet said I should give him. And he still didn't want to eat anything. The vet gave him an injection of antibiotic while we were at the clinic. He wanted me to start him on oral antibiotics, too. I hope the injection will kick in enough to calm down his stomach so he will be able to eat. I have will have to see what the vet wants to do if the little feller can't keep meds down.
Tuesday evening, we hooked up a heating pad and put it in the box for the little sick kitten. Randy thought he felt too cold to the touch. Without another kitten with him, he will need something for added warmth.
As for Duke, when he got home Tuesday afternoon, he ate a little snack, used the litter box and then had to lie down to rest for a while before attempting to jump up in his favorite rocking chair. He is lying down frequently to take rests as he moves around the house.
If this is the beginning of the end for Duke -- well, I suppose I can say that at least I tried with the fluid, Procrit and Petinnic. I know the end will come sooner or later, as it will for all of us. It's just that I am such a wimp about these things. I was hoping not to lose Guinevere, Winifred AND Duke all in one year. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Monday, June 16, 2008, 19:41
End of an Era
I took my books to an arts and crafts fair in Amery on Saturday. Only half the vendors were there that have been there in the past. Less than half of the attendees were there that have been there in the past. I would imagine the high gas prices kept them away. The first year I went two years ago, many vendors commented on the lack of people wandering around the arts and crafts fair that is held in a park in Amery. Those in attendance on Saturday were far fewer than were there even two years ago.
Gas prices impact the arts and crafts fairs in two ways. It is too expensive for the vendors to get there because once they are there, they don't sell enough to make back their gas money to get there and to pay for their booth fees. The vendors don't sell enough to make back their gas and booth fees because people are staying away from the arts and crafts fairs because gas is too expensive to get there and because any discretionary income they might have had to spend at the arts and crafts fair has already gone into their gas tanks so they can get to work and run errands.
It's a vicious cycle. And I suspect that it will mean the end of many arts and crafts fairs.
And that, of course, has far-reaching implications. Many of the craft sales I go to with my books are sponsored by a non-profit organization as a way to make income. The one in Amery is sponsored by the women's club. Others that I go to are sponsored by high school booster clubs (sports parents, music parents -- that sort of thing). The organizations use the booth fees they collect to support community or school activities. Many of the booster clubs use the money to buy athletic equipment or supplies for kids or to purchase uniforms or some other things the kids might otherwise have to go without or to sponsor something like a music trip (where the show choirs perform, or something like that). The money is used for all kinds of good causes.
But now, since vendors and attendees are staying away, the non-profits are going to be making much less income.
The end of arts and crafts sales also has implications on the local level in other ways, too. I would imagine that in the past, when the Amery arts and crafts fair was a booming place, many of the people who came from out of town to attend the event stopped in town to shop, as well, and probably bought lunch or dinner or filled their gas tanks or some such thing before leaving town. This is by way of saying that the high gas prices have an impact on tourism, too.
And the end of such craft sales also has implications on the statewide level. If vendors are not there to sell, or are selling less, they are collecting less sales tax for both the state and the county in which the sale was located. This isn't a matter of just one arts and crafts sale -- it's a matter of many of them adding up together all across the state.
The state of Wisconsin has already been trying to deal with a budget deficit made worse by the fact that less sales tax was collected than the legislators had counted on. To which I say, "Go figure. Didn't it ever cross your mind that high gas prices are going to have an effect on the amount of money people have to spend on items that generate sales tax?"
I should not have been surprised they didn't think of that, though. It seems to me that state and federal politicians have no idea what-so-ever how the average person lives. Because they are wealthy, they think everyone enjoys the same standard of living and have as much money to spend or more. Some of them might even be surprised to find out that they are considered wealthy. They obviously do not think they make enough money as politicians because they give themselves pay raises every year. They do not realize that perhaps 75 percent of their constituency (or more in some places) is getting by on much, much less.
Be that as it may, the non-profits, local tourism and the state treasury are all being impacted for what?
For the rich oil companies to get richer yet, that's what.
Still, Saturday wasn't too bad a day for me with my books. I sold 7 books all together. Not a huge amount. But not bad, either, as craft sales go. One gentleman whose wife had a booth there bought a copy of "Preserve Your Family History." Later on, he came back to tell me that he had been reading the book and reading through the questions and that the questions had made him remember things he had not thought about in years. Which is exactly what it is supposed to do!
The man said he wanted to write down some of the things he remembered from his childhood so that his children and grandchildren would know what life had been like for him and his family. He was a delightful gentleman to talk to. A very good story teller. He told me that his dad was always saying things that got him into trouble. Case in point: one day while he was growing up, the man's sister had been playing at the neighbor's house (they lived in the country on a farm). The neighbor lady called to ask if his sister could stay for supper. She had gone there to play with the neighbor lady's children. The man's mother said, yes, it would be fine for the sister to stay for supper. "I was sure it would be," the woman replied. "She said that her dad had told she should never, ever turn down a free meal." When I had finished chortling, I said, "I bet the neighbor lady had fun with that one!" He laughed and said she got mileage out of it for quite some time.
The man coming back to tell me that my book, "Preserve Your Family History," had made him think of things he hadn't thought of in years made it all worthwhile for me to go to the Amery craft sale. Other vendors are not that lucky, though.
I guess this means I ought to enjoy the arts and crafts sales while they are still around, because I don't think it will be long before they disappear.
Native American Dancers
A family held a family reunion in the little town down the road over the weekend, and one of the family members had hired a Native American dance group to perform in the evening. I went to take pictures for the newspaper. The man in charge of the dance group had brought the children dancers with him. He said it would give them good practice for what they were learning to do.
I was amazed by the costumes -- oops, regalia. The man said their ceremonial clothing was not called a "costume" but rather, regalia. Their regalia were made of eagle feathers, yarn, ribbon and other material.
I was particularly fascinated with the the "jingle dresses." Two little girls were wearing dresses with brass cones sewn on them. They jingled when they walked. The jingling was meant to call the spirits. An adult jingle dancer dress has 365 cones, one for each day of the year. The dresses weigh between 50 and 75 pounds. The man said the jingle dancers dance all day long for the tribe to help people get past tough times or a bad day. Jeepers. They must be in great physical shape to carry around 50 to 75 pounds all day, every day, and then dance wearing 50 to 75 pounds to boot.
LeAnn R. Ralph
