My dad and Jean made a whirlwind Upper California trip this last week, stopping to see friends in their old neighborhood in Yosemite Lakes Park (near Coarsegold 1/2 way between Fresno and Yosemite), my sister's considerable family in Fresno (including all nine great grand kids), daughter Kathy and her husband, Rex, in Loomis (about an hour from here on the way to Sacto), and us--all in 5 or 6 days, starting from their home in northern San Diego County.It was fun to have them and their dinky doggie, Shu,shu, seen here on her personal pillow--the sofa not being quite soft enough, apparently. They all arrived mid-afternoon on Sunday and--poof!--they were gone by noon on Monday. Actually, the first in a big series of storms arrived unfashionably early on Monday morning and they wanted to get out ahead of the worst of it.
Good thing they did, actually.Dad and Jean moved to San Marcos about nine years ago from Coarsegold (said YLP), after which time, 1. my sister Terry's kids--all now living in Fresno near her and H--began to have kids of their own, and, 2. we left San Diego to come up here. Therefore, they are thinking about migrating back into the Central Valley to be a little closer to the family action. We'll see how it all unfolds.
Shu-shu is a little Yorkie with a past. More than a year ago, Dad and Jean found out about puppy mill (bad! bad!) that had been shut down (good! good!) and the possibility, therefore, of giving a home to one of the adult dogs there. They went and fell in love with a little 3-year-old female that had been used as a breeder. Coincidentally, she had been given the same name as another teensy dog they had owned and loved some years before.
Shu-shu had given difficult birth to a litter by botched C-section, apparently, and it ended up costing Dad and Jean much time, money and emotional energy to bring her back to health. They almost lost her at least once. Then there were the behavior problems with a dog who hadn't been socialized or housebroken and who had generally been treated poorly. Patience. Not Dad's long suit. Fortunately, Jean had enough for both, but just barely. Gradually, Shu's become calmer, mostly housebroken and one-third heavier, weighing in at a hefty 6 pounds. Of course, some cheese (picture) from time to time has helped some. From what I can see, she has them both pretty well-trained.
We're glad they came, if only for a short while. They'll be back. I think Shu-shu likes me.
