|
Grandpa B. lives in Kansas where houses
have a great thing. It??™s called a ???sump hole with a sump
pump.??? Where I live in Texas there is no such thing. We
don??™t even have basements. I don??™t know what that word even
means; but Grandpa??™s house has another house built under
it! Is that weird, or what?
I love going to that sump hole. I will
stand on point for an hour never moving. Yes, Schnauzers
can point! I peek over the side into the dark hole and for
some reason it has water in it. If it??™s raining water drips
in from the sides ??“ how odd is that? After awhile the sump
pump makes a terrible commotion, and it sucks up my water!
When it??™s done ???sucking,??? a little water splashes back into
that deep dark hole ??“ that??™s when I get really excited. I
even get brave enough to lower my head over the side just a
tiny bit.
If it??™s not raining I have to stand
down there until someone will come make that sump pump work
again. I wonder why it breaks when it??™s not raining? I
know sometimes my people ignore me thinking I will give up
and come back upstairs, but I always win! I can hear their
shoes on the floor above me and know right where they are,
and when they are finally headed down to fix that stupid
pump that keeps breaking.
Sometimes my people close the door at
the bottom of the basement stairs so I can??™t check my sump
hole. I get really stubborn and mad. Yes, Schnauzers are
stubborn because we are German you know. Sometimes I even
fall asleep about 4 steps from the bottom waiting on them.
It??™s a pretty good place for a nap, but a few times I??™ve
turned over during my nap and rolled down and hit the door.
Oh well, it doesn??™t hurt and when they hear it they feel
bad. That means they will take me to my sump hole! Yippee!
One time when we were visiting Grandpa
B. my uncle taught me how to spell. He must have been tired
of saying ???Do you want to go to the sump hole???? It only
took a couple of lessons and I had it down pat. At first I
needed to hear all four letters, then three, then two, but
then I really got smart ??“ if anyone says ???H,??? I??™m down the
stairs as fast as my legs will carry me. They all laugh and
think I??™m so smart. My Grandpa says I not only know how to
spell, but now I know shorthand ??“ whatever that is.
Mommy and I spent 10 weeks at Grandpa??™s
starting in Jan. because he got a new knee. I don??™t know
what that means either, but for some reason he wouldn??™t go
to the sump hole with me anymore. I missed that because we
used to have good visits down there. I still don??™t know why
or how you get a new knee, but I was happy to have so much
time visiting my sump hole. One day Rev. Dudeck came to see
how Grandpa B. was doing. He finally asked why I kept going
up and down the stairs. Mommy told him I was ???obsessed
about the sump hole??? and that maybe he should pray for me.
They also told him about my spelling and shorthand ??“
whatever that shorthand stuff is! Pretty soon, right in the
middle of a sentence the Rev. said ???H??? and away I went. He
laughed so hard, and then even came down to visit my hole
with me. Can you imagine that? I thought Reverends had
real important stuff to do.
I was still down there when the Rev.
got ready to leave. As he started to say a prayer he
stopped and said, ???Shiloh is still down at the sump hole but
I know she??™ll be able to hear me from up here.??? It was hard
to concentrate on that prayer since I was waiting for that
sump pump to turn itself on again, but I did try.
We finally came home when Grandpa was
better, but we??™ve been back to visit once. Yep, the first
thing I did was go visit my sump hole. I don??™t think that
prayer worked because Mommy and Daddy say I??™m still
obsessed.
(P.S. I can spell and Grandpa says I
know shorthand (whatever that is), but I had to ask Mommy to
type this for me.)
(C) 2004 Kathleen S. Baker
*********************
I was born in Augusta, Kansas which is only a few miles
outside of Wichita. My childhood was spent growing up in
the country. After marrying a native Texan he moved me to
Dallas in 1978. A large city has a lot to offer, but I miss
the simple life and slower pace. Pets have always played a
huge part in my life and I cannot imagine a home without
them. My hobbies are varied, but cross-stitching is by far
my favorite. Quite to my surprise, I've had stories or
poems featured by Petwarmers, Storytime Tapestry, Inspired
Buffalo and Starfish in the past year. I have stepchildren,
but none of my own. Possibly that is why I have such an
attachment to animals. I've always felt my mission in life
was giving love and homes to these dear animals God provided
for us,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May you be blessed today
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher
To read archived stories, click on this link:
http://archives.zinester.com/9516/2004
|
