Mona Mehas

Father's Day 2023

 

Since neither my daughter nor I had a father worth a damn, we sometimes spend Father's Day weekend together. Unfortunately, her sons inherited the same condition. They were with their dad (such a term when a man doesn't deserve to be called that). My son-in-law took his daughter to a bug-infested family outing at a lake in Wisconsin with no air conditioning or running water. Daughter and I went to a hotel in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

 

On the way, we stopped at Pet Rest Cemetery in Ossian, where I have three pets interred. I'd never been there before. My cats from 2004 and 2005 are in nicely sculpted gardens. My dog, who I'd had to 'lift up' in 2020, was in a weedy patch with a dead tree. Seriously. The two so-called garden spots next to him didn't look any better.

 

Pet Rest has a slightly different name now, but you can still find it online. It was purchased by someone new last August. My cat, who passed away in April of this year, is being held in their mausoleum in a nearby town until close to the end of the year. Then they will bury the urn with all the ashes of the year's pets and plant a garden for 2023.

 

I called Monday morning and spoke to the manager. I told him how disappointed I was with the weeds and dead tree. He said he would walk back there and look at those areas and call the groundskeepers. I assured him I would return next summer because of the cat who passed away this year and to see how the gardens have improved. I pay for their services. It's not right to let the place go like that, even this close to the pandemic.

 

Some of the stones had little nameplates for the pets. I was curious, so I asked about the price—$ 115 for a nameplate. Well, I have three pets there now and the one in the mausoleum, so I can't see myself doing that anytime soon.

 

I hope that when I return next summer, the gardens for 2019-2023 will be as well kept as the rest of the place, which is beautiful.

 

In memory of my cat Roswell Buckhead 1998-2004

     cat Zammiss Psycho 1995-2005

     dog Barkley Billy 2008-2020

     cat Esse Diamond 2005-2023

I was out late last night. When I came home, I heard a strange sound like water hissing. Being deaf in one ear, I couldn't tell from what direction the sound was coming, so I looked everywhere. I noticed a wet footprint on my carpet in front of the utility closet and opened that. The floor there had at least half an inch of standing water. Something had happened, and one of the hoses was leaking. Hence, the hissing.

I called the emergency maintenance number, and Dale came right away. I apologized because he said he'd been in a deep sleep. "It's part of the job," he said. My carpet is soaked in front of the utility closet in the living room and around the corner to the kitchen tile. Two boxes I'd packed of books were sitting there. I had Dale move them. They were slightly wet on the bottom. I'm relatively sure there's no damage inside. He got his wet vac and soaked up what he could. A dehumidifier ran all night and will probably continue to run all day. Dale will be in and out all day, checking on the progress. Someone else may also have to come in to ensure it is all dried.

I don't buy bottled water. Unless there's a good reason, I think it's a waste of money. I had an empty jug left here from when I had distilled water for my humidifier over the winter. Dale brought me some of his bottled water and filled that jug for me. This morning I went to Kevin-across-the-hall and filled my bucket for toilet flushing purposes. How did people do this in the old days?

FYI - There is also a maintenance man here named Kevin; he's actually the head maintenance guy. Thus Kevin-maintenance-man and Kevin-across-the-hall.

I should probably learn Kevin-maintenance-man's last name. That might be easier to say.

 

Is it age or sinuses or pain or a combination of all these things that makes sleep so difficult? I might get 5 hours of sleep a night if I'm lucky. Last night I fell asleep sitting up before 11 pm. I sleep-texted an ad I found on Facebook to my daughter. I know this because I woke when I almost dropped my phone. After I told her why she received that weird text from me, I went to bed. Of course, I was awake by 3:30 am. Back pain and sinuses won't allow me the luxury of lounging so after dozing for about an hour, here I am. 

I'm attempting to write in this space more often. My friend says she reads other people's blogs and she used to keep one. The key is consistency, she says. I'll try to write every week but I'm sure no one wants to read about my sleep issues all the time. Between now and next Monday at 5:30 am, I'll come up with a few ideas.

Thanks for reading.