The last time I did a “Best of the month” post was March. April & May… yes, apparently, they happened. Maybe it felt like the wrong time to be writing about what was good? Mostly the months passed in a pandemic blur, I think, so picking out one good day from a succession of similarly strange days just felt impossible.
In a way, the same is true for June 2020. I did have one overnight in the van, at a KOA in Willets, but it was a utilitarian trip in which the highlight was not being stranded on a mountain for the rest of my life. (Suzanne later put the odds at 40% that we were going to be walking down the hill and looking for help, which was actually way too high — I’ve been in worse situations, although none quite so scary. Getting stuck in the dirt involves more adrenaline when you’re on the side of a mountain. But it was definitely not Peak Fun.)
On the other hand, the month definitely included good moments (as did April and May, actually.) This was one of them:
The backstory to this is long and painful and hurts my heart, so I’m not going to share all of it. But in the past few weeks, there have been times when the only food Zelda has been willing to eat is food that I have pre-chewed for her and if you think that’s gross… well, at least I’m not the one who’s eating the food. It’s gross for her, but for me it’s just spitting food out into my hand. 🙂
Anyway, at the exact moment of this picture, the plate on the floor holds wild-caught sockeye salmon which Zelda is scorning, and the spoon holds fancy chicken dog food that Z loved a few months ago but will not deign to taste now. And Suzanne is pretending to eat so that Zelda might be willing to try a bite.
It so totally warms my heart. It is a seriously good friend who will both spoon-feed your dog and pretend to eat in order to encourage her to do the same.
But that is not what makes it the best of the month. No, what makes it a highlight is that about two minutes later, Zelda — being Zelda, being a dog — having said, “Ground beef? Eh, really just not in the mood. Chicken? That’s for dogs. I don’t eat that. Sockeye salmon? Well, a bite, maybe. No, no more, thank you.” — turned around, found a piece of dirt on the floor and said, “Oh, yum, delicious,” and gobbled it down.
WTH? Suzanne and I both laughed in disbelief. And then laughed some more, because WTH, Dog?!?
June 2020, a weird month. But one that I was fortunate enough to share with Zelda and Suzanne, which made it a very good month in so many ways.
OMG!!! Zelda!!! You nut! ROFL here… oh my word… I do wish she would find something she likes to eat — and EAT! Hugs to all… T
Hugs to you, too! I hope you’re feeling better!
You are definitely blessed in your friends ! When one of our dogs got to the point where he would not eat our vet recommended 1 part cooked white rice, 1 part cottage cheese and a raw egg or 2 all mixed together . Augie ate it enthusiastically after turning away from everything else . I hope you find something she likes besides dirt but that was too funny .
I have to remember to try the cottage cheese. It’s not a food I eat and she generally isn’t willing to eat cheese, so I haven’t tried it. But she also doesn’t like rice and is only sometimes willing to eat egg, so I’m not too optimistic. I’ll feed her anything, though. If she’d eat steak every day, I’d feed her steak every day. If she’d eat ice cream every day, she’d be on the ice cream diet for the rest of her days. I feel like she’s just forgetting how food works, though. Every once in a while she eats something enthusiastically, but mostly she just sniffs and rejects it.
Having been in your shoes one wants to offer some concrete help of any kind…..my thoughts are with you as you and Zelda go through this passage of your lives together. You. are blessed to have your friend with you .
No words of wisdom here. Just bearing witness to your life. And Zelda’s. And Suzanne’s.