The day after

Continuing the saga of the sick little pup....she went into another seizure that lasted two hours this time. It was enough to freak the vet out completely. After a battery of tests and observation, there wasn’t anything that could be definitively diagnosed. What they’re calling it is a severe manifestation of White Dog Syndrome which, apparently, can be particularly severe in tiny white dogs—as in the Maltese breed. They are a high strung little breed, particularly susceptible to stress. And now Maggie is on a daily low dosage of Valium. She was more like a normal dog today...not spinning in circles and racing to and fro. Just a chillin’ little dog. I hope this is the solution for her.

Maggie’s mom and I went out this afternoon. It was a nice break away from the ordinary. While I didn’t buy anything other than the book (Machiavelli on Modern Leadership by Michael Ledeen) that I’d ordered a month ago, we did a lot of window shopping.

Our little town goes in for Christmas in a huge way. All the street lamps and shop fronts are decorated with greens, ivy, holly, and little white lights. Oh, and lots of red velvety ribbons. There were a lot of people out today, but not as many as usual for the day after Thanksgiving. The local merchants won’t be happy about that.

I wonder if any of the avoid-commercialism boycotts were behind the lower than usual numbers of shoppers. Or perhaps people have started tightening their belts already in anticipation of an economic downturn. I don’t know. But the shop managers weren’t happy today. Ordinarily they worry about snow keeping shoppers away. This year, the economic forecast is on the tips of their tongues. They are worried and they don’t mind saying so.

One shop owner, with plenty of time to stand around and chat, said she felt that there is a revolution in progress. Of some kind. But she has hopes that it will, in the end, benefit her kind of shop. Small, owner run, and catering to the local trade. She thought maybe the time of big-means-better may be on the way out. Wishful thinking maybe, but she could be right.

After trotting around downtown, we headed to the local Mexican establishment where we swilled down Margaritas and ordered a sampler platter. Lots of discussion about everyday life and kids, but also finances and the future. Jo almost convinced me that maybe I should sell my house now and salt the cash away until my lad leaves and I can go someplace where the cost of living is a little more reasonable. Where I can buy a modest house for cash and ride out the inevitable economic hard times. She, who is not the most savvy of economists, even sees the handwriting on the wall. She almost convinced me, but not quite. But it is something I think about daily anymore.