A steamy blur.

Guess I’ve been scarce around here. Guess my calendar is all messed up. What day is it? Why is it 90 degrees outside? Why haven’t I been outside all day? (Because it’s 90 degrees.) And so on.

Also, there was a party, and too many drinks and snacks and birthday cake. I’m in the mood for a week of eggs, lean meats, leafy greens and nothing more exciting than ice-cold Topo Chico. Also, somewhat cooler temperatures. Friday was perfect, though, and a friend and I went over to Ann Arbor to welcome a mutual back to Michigan. It was nice to see the ol’ town again, especially without those annoying students. But I need to rest up before Shadow Show’s first show since March 2020, which is coming this weekend. Looking forward to that, oh yes I am.

So far, the summer has been pretty much exactly what I wanted — social, outdoorsy, and the hell with the housework, although I did clean the bathrooms today because I HAVE STANDARDS. But it’s more important to see people again, so that’s what I’m doing. And it’s great.

I’m so tired. How about the weekend in pictures? Here’s Friday’s view from the pool deck:

Less boxing this summer, more swimming.

Sunday I took a bike ride to my friend’s new eight-lot planned farmette in the city. It’s slow going, but in a year, it’ll be aces:

We should buy that old corner store, open an after-hours venue. Perfect neighborhood for it.

Met this dog at the Sunday party. I wanted to steal her. Look at that eye patch:

Any bloggage? Let’s see…ah, that greasy little shit J.D. Vance is falling in line nicely. I guess that’s enough irritation to get us into Tuesday.

Posted at 8:45 pm in Current events, Same ol' same ol' |
 

42 responses to “A steamy blur.”

  1. Mark P said on July 5, 2021 at 10:00 pm

    Vance. What a Republican tool. But I repeat myself.

    Our summer has been fairly cool, as summers go in Georgia. Our highs up on the mountain are usually a couple of degrees lower than the official temperature, but we pay for it in the night. Last night (Sunday night) had a forecast low of 57, and I was planning to open all the windows and dance naked in the front yard, because 57 on the Fourth of July is something to celebrate. But we got down only to about 70 because of the temperature inversion, so no dancing. I’m sure the neighbors would have appreciated it, but they can’t see our front yard anyway. And I’m sure it would have scared the dogs.

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  2. LAMary said on July 6, 2021 at 1:40 am

    Plum torte version 2.0 was fab. So were the lamb burgers with mint tomato relish and roasted corn with rosemary and thyme.

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  3. Dexter Friend said on July 6, 2021 at 2:48 am

    Massive changes here. I decided to let my troubled grandson, age 29, move in with me to avoid homelessness. He makes good money as a warehouse worker but has fucked up his life so badly he cannot rent anywhere due to horrible credit and how he runs from debts. The court keeps him busy with probation’s hammer hovering , plus he has court ordered drug and alcohol mandatories every day. His year with his aunt nd uncle ended; they told him from onset they’d give him a year, but as the time neared, he didn’t find another place, and leaned on me, again…he has lived here like 5 different times, each ending in sort-of disasters with cops coming here and one ambulance run coming here for an OD. But the man can clean house and scrub the dog piss outta the carpet.
    Then yesterday daughter Lori from Las Vegas showed up with her husband and we bagged up like 7 or 8 huge bags of Carla Lee’s clothes for the donation bin, and cleaned out 8 additional bags of worthless junk. Carla Lee saved every document from all her medical problems and all that was shredded and sent away. I was so tired Monday morning I had to drag my ass to the counter to make a double Peete’s coffee just to get rollin’. For me, fireworks were from New York City via television, plus asshole neighbor’s M-1000s. I know they were M-1000s because of the casings that drifted into my yard. I had only heard of M80s as a kid. M1000s? They must have been the loud ones.

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  4. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 6, 2021 at 7:37 am

    Dexter, along with weariness I hope you get some peace from putting that necessary work behind you. My wife and I are putting most of the rest of July into pre-emptive disposal of a ton of stuff around here so a) each other doesn’t have to do it if/when something happens to one of us, and b) so our son doesn’t have to, after spending last summer doing it at two houses worth for my parents. As for your grandson, I gather your county doesn’t have any EMD options for him to wear as opposed to coming in? Here we have about one in ten prying them off and picking up a new charge plus a deposit forfeit, but the other nine say it’s better than having to do check-ins in person. We’ve got an adult day reporting program that’s got some good programming, but it’s mostly aimed at those who aren’t working yet or are under-employed. Art and music and other creative work to help them with self-image and putting together a new vision for their future alongside of recovery meetings, plus soft skills group time to help them keep jobs once they find them. Our day report and drug court groups have less problem finding jobs than they do in not saying to a boss request “oh, farg it” and walking out, but the next day not being able to really explain to their PO why, just that they were getting on their nerves.

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  5. Bitter Scribe said on July 6, 2021 at 9:21 am

    Every time I read about this JD Vance, he seems more despicable. What’s especially silly is that all this kissing of Trump’s ass won’t do him the least bit of good, because he’s being outdone in that regard by Josh Mandel, who is far in the lead. Mandel is going around howling that Trump really won, which apparently will be enough to get him the nomination for a major office from a major political party from a major state. Disgusting.

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  6. Jeff Borden said on July 6, 2021 at 9:34 am

    I’ve never been happier to be an ex-Ohian. And a pox on phony J.D. Vance, a mediocre author angling to be a tRumpanzee. Fuck him.

    The front page of today’s Chicago Sun-Times reads: “City’s Most Violent Weekend of 2021: 99 Shot, 17 Killed, 11 Kids and 2 Cops Hit.” Guns are everywhere these days and shooters don’t give a tinker’s damn who they wound. The nation’s attention is focused on the rubble in Surfside, Fla. and the scores of missing residents. Guns will kill an equivalent number of people here over four or five weekends.

    Damn the Second Amendment.

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  7. Suzanne said on July 6, 2021 at 11:18 am

    I found out over the weekend that my sister-in-law’s very right wing husband who had refused the COVID vaccine is finally going to get vaccinated. Why? Because of the news that almost all the hospitalizations and death from COVID are people who are unvaccinated.
    Perfect summation of the right wing brain. “I won’t get vaccinated to keep you from sickness and death. But I will to keep me from sickness & death.”

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  8. Julie Robinson said on July 6, 2021 at 11:37 am

    Dexter, bless you for taking in your grandson; I’ll be praying for you both. Things in three-generation Orlando are going a little more smoothly as mom seems more stable, for the moment. I’m happy because I’ve been able to swim two days in a row. It looks like Elsa will only bring thunderstorms to this area of the state.

    The addition isn’t finished. Drywall is wretched, as our architect agrees, and we were told to put blue tape on the spots that bothered us. Blue tape is everywhere. I’ve helped with repairs before, and I could have done a better job myself. I’m anticipating the contractor getting bent out of shape about the amount we want redone, but he put level 3 in the contract, and the architect agrees this is nowhere near level 3.

    If the drywaller really comes tomorrow and finishes, and the painter really comes Thursday and finishes, we could move in Thursday night, and we need to, because the moving truck is coming Friday morning. It’s a delicate balance, and if it doesn’t happen, we will have to rent a storage unit move everything twice.

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  9. Sherri said on July 6, 2021 at 12:17 pm

    This thread has so much to say about the expectations of rich old white men, and about doing the work, and, yes, about Nikole Hannah Jones and UNC.

    https://twitter.com/JoekillianPW/status/1412388863985819653

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  10. Jim said on July 6, 2021 at 12:53 pm

    Hannah-Jones has chosen Howard rather than UNC: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/07/06/howard-nikole-hannah-jones-tanehisi-coates/

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  11. Sherri said on July 6, 2021 at 1:51 pm

    JD Vance shows that he still doesn’t get it. To be a good Trumper, the first rule is Never Apologize! He’d be better off just denying he ever said anything bad about Trump than apologizing for saying something bad about Trump.

    You can’t own the libs if you go around apologizing and admitting you were wrong about something.

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  12. Mark P said on July 6, 2021 at 2:09 pm

    I don’t know what it is about some grandkids. My 82-year-old widowed aunt has taken in her grandson, who is on probation for a couple of minor offenses, because he has no other place to go. But he constantly fights with her, and has used her debit card secretly, among other things. He hid her keyless car remote in the car so he could drive (without a license) but she didn’t think she could. But when he’s nice, he’s really nice.

    She talks about moving to a one-bedroom apartment so he can’t stay with her.

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  13. LAMary said on July 6, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    I’ve got a good grandkids story. A good friend became a grandfather for the second time. The older grandson is 2, new grandson is 5 months. The two year old has never seen Star Wars or anything associated with it. He’s never seen a movie. New grandson is named Arthur, after his great grandfather. Their babysitter speaks Spanish as her first language and she calls the the new grandson Arturito. The two year old has started to call his little brother R2D2. The proud grandfather sent me a little video of this and it makes me smile every time I watch it.

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  14. brian stouder said on July 6, 2021 at 4:04 pm

    Thread Win for LA Mary, I say!

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  15. Deborah said on July 6, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    We have a neighbor, not within the condo, but a house on the other side of the fence who has a grandson who lived with her for a while, we gave him the nickname Hee-bee-gee-bee, which for us stood for “He Be Grandma’s Boy”. He was creepy, the grandmother screamed at him for keeping drugs in her place and he screamed right back at her. She isn’t mentally stable and we hear her screaming at no one from time to time, but screaming none the less. It’s disconcerting and upsetting to hear the screaming but then we figure out where it’s coming from and relax. We haven’t seen the grandson there for a few years, he didn’t seem to live there very long. We think she’s a relative of the couple who own the house, they’re very nice and don’t seem to know about the screaming. We haven’t complained (so far) because we feel sorry for the elderly lady.

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  16. Jenine said on July 6, 2021 at 4:46 pm

    Viva R2D2! Thanks, LAMary.

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  17. Deborah said on July 6, 2021 at 9:46 pm

    We are having a lovely cool evening in Santa Fe, had a hard rain, then LB and I walked down to the river (about the distance of a half Chicago block from us). The river was bone dry last week but it’s white water now. Also the wind is coming from the east so we can clearly hear the Railrunner train coming in. We’re about 3/4 of a mile from the Santa Fe depot, love it when the train horns and bells sound drift over to us. The Railrunner runs between Santa Fe and Albuquerque and then a little more south of Albuquerque. It’s down to 64 degrees after a high of 82. Sigh.

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  18. Deborah said on July 6, 2021 at 10:01 pm

    I thought this was an interesting series of maps because it clearly shows that the beaches of Miami are islands off of the mainland connected by causeways. I grew up in North Miami, which shows up on the map where the collapsed condo is, west and a little north. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/04/us/south-florida-condo-maintenance-violations.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR2g4FFEGwcVOqWHG1uSxrRYxxuI5bIMaMkQUGdpRv2NXqJLU5QlzNEbB9U To be honest it’s much more clear to me now.

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  19. Dexter Friend said on July 7, 2021 at 3:36 am

    Jeff MMO: The neighbor who causes so much grief was wearing a bracelet but went into the regional jail for a month to finish his probation. Bliss, only 23 days until he comes back. My grandson nearly died from a fentanyl OD right in our driveway 2 years ago. He owes a ton of money for all that, plus he had the drug in his wallet, enough for a felony. Recently he was sent to jail because his CBD oil had traces of THC in it, violating his conditions. Why chance that when on probation? Addict. He was supposed to come Monday, then Tuesday, here to finish readying his room to move in. No show. I don’t know. He wanted help finding a good cheap used vehicle, so I found one for him. He never checked back with the owner. I’ll do the best I can with this. 4 hours ago Lori and Aaron arrived back home in Las Vegas. Since Lori’s kids all moved back to Columbus, now she’s again strongly talking of moving back to Ohio after she gets her psychologist nurse practitioner credentials. I was mistaken; she won’t be a doctor, rather a different kind of nurse practitioner.

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  20. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2021 at 8:05 am

    If Lori’s a certified psychologist nurse practitioner, we can keep her plenty busy in any part of Ohio I know of! Yep, weed is “only” an issue for PVs in Ohio, but that means plenty of people still end up in county lock-up for THC related charges. It’s odd for older cops to deal with finding baggies full of 6-8 ounces of pot and shrugging it off, but they all say “if I find more than a joint or two the odds of there being something more in the vehicle are pretty high.” Usually a stolen handgun. But fentanyl related charges are what’s packing our facility; it’s incredibly cheap, so powerful, and as I keep hearing “there’s never a bad high, except for when it kills you.” Which tells you all you need to know about the power of addiction: hey, the worst it will do is just kill you!

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  21. Julie Robinson said on July 7, 2021 at 11:55 am

    Dexter, here’s hoping he’s not off on a bender.

    Elsa fizzled out though we’ll get heavy rain later today. She did prompt us to get out our hurricane kit. check batteries, replace items, and order more battery operated fans, enough for all five of us.

    If you want a feel good story like Mary’s R2D2, I have a lovely obituary; a woman I volunteered with at a community theatre. It’ll take five minutes to read, but I guarantee you’ll feel better about humanity, laugh and cry, even without knowing Marilyn: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/daily-chronicle/name/marilyn-james-obituary?pid=199350015&fbclid=IwAR0cz93SvoqefoyXpW2SgzqV20J0fB8uNAW0qQ-FDJOuJSGyrWln_lo1Gi8

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  22. Sherri said on July 7, 2021 at 1:01 pm

    This Poynter interview with Walter Hussman allows him to present his side of the UNC J-school debacle as if he has no ideology and just believes in objectivity. It’s just an instance of “you are ideological, I’m objective.” Hussman’s Arkansas newspaper was very ideological and unobjective when it came to covering Bill Clinton. Where did the nickname Slick Willy come from? Hussman’s newspaper.

    UNC sold themselves cheap, for only a $25 million pledge, most of which hasn’t even been paid yet.

    https://www.poynter.org/educators-students/2021/unc-donor-says-he-has-no-regrets-about-his-role-in-the-journalism-school-losing-nikole-hannah-jones/

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  23. basset said on July 7, 2021 at 4:08 pm

    And, as I have mentioned here on several previous July 7ths… it’s Ringo Starr’s birthday, number 81 this time.

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  24. Dexter Friend said on July 7, 2021 at 5:37 pm

    Grandson JT checked in…he’s coming, definitely, to actually buy the vehicle I found for him and then finish up his room. He has been working long hours in the warehouse. If he missteps in any wrong direction, next time it’s a lot longer than 3 days in the clink. He’ll be in danger of being carted off to real state prison, not the regional jail.
    And damn! Pogo Labbie has to pee and it’s pouring down hard, like 3 seconds out in it will soak a person down to the skin.

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  25. Dorothy said on July 7, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    Ringo was born on my mom’s 18th birthday.

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  26. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    Hat tip, grandson JT. Prayers with you that he stays the course! One day at a time.

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  27. LAMary said on July 8, 2021 at 12:12 pm

    I know I’ve mentioned my 17 year old Lab, Smokey. Best dog in the world. Kept me sane during an ugly divorce. Gave me a reason to keep fighting to keep my home. Shared long walks to clear my head. Showed me how complex a dog’s understanding of human nature is and that a dog can have a sense of humor. This afternoon I am taking him to the vet to say goodbye. He’s been declining for a while, weak back legs, failing eyesight. Now he can’t stand for more than maybe thirty seconds. All the usual cajoling and attention isn’t working. Right now he’s lying on his bed, no reaction to the smell of food or the sound of a delivery guy. This is heartbreaking. I just had to submit more documents to the background check company for my new job. I had to log in and I forgot my password so I had to answer my security question. It was,”what’s the name of your best friend?” The answer I gave a month ago was Smokey.

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  28. alex said on July 8, 2021 at 12:40 pm

    Seventeen’s an unusually long life for a Lab, but still too short. You have my condolences.

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  29. ROGirl said on July 8, 2021 at 12:48 pm

    Sorry about your best friend, LA Mary. It was time to do that for my 19 year old kitty in April. A hard thing to do, and I still miss her little monkey butt.

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  30. Deborah said on July 8, 2021 at 1:54 pm

    So sorry LAMary, that’s so sad. He had a good long run, you treated him well.

    I seem to be the last to know things like this: did you know you can get sunscreen that doesn’t burn your eyes? I just found out and I’m going out to find some. Since I’ve got to watch my skin from now on, sunscreen and hats are the belt and suspender routine for me from now on. I’m on the lookout for cute, comfortable hats too.

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  31. David C said on July 8, 2021 at 2:39 pm

    So sorry, LA Mary.

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  32. Sherri said on July 8, 2021 at 3:35 pm

    You’ve shared so many times about Smokey, LAMary, that we’re all going to miss him. So sorry for your loss.

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  33. Suzanne said on July 8, 2021 at 3:55 pm

    Oh, LAMary, my heart goes out to you. Labs have such gentle souls and big hearts so full of love.

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  34. Julie Robinson said on July 8, 2021 at 3:59 pm

    Mary, I’m so sorry and so sad; we are all mourning with you. Thank you, Smokey, for being Mary’s super special best friend.

    Deborah, I’ve been searching for that kind of sunscreen too, so let me know what you found. I get brown spots near my eyes and of course when I swim they get lots of exposure. I read an article about the kind to buy and ordered some, but in our current chaos I can’t find it!

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  35. Deborah said on July 8, 2021 at 4:08 pm

    Julie, I got sunscreen for babies, it’s broad spectrum 45 spf and contains zinc oxide and titanium oxide as the active ingredient. The brand I got is Alba Botanica at Whole Foods because I happened to be there for groceries, but if you look it up on google there are lots of other brands. It’s hypo-allergenic and water resistant. The only draw back that I’ve read about is that it turns your skin a bit whiter shade while it’s on, but the stuff I got says it’s a clear mineral screen (?). I haven’t tried this stuff yet, I just got it and I’m not going outside again until much later in the evening and I’ll be in total shade then. Tomorrow morning I’ll check it out.

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  36. David C said on July 8, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    I have a mineral sunscreen called Ghost Democracy – Invisible Lightweight Daily Sunscreen. I like it. It’s SPF 33 and it doesn’t give me that cadaverous look. It doesn’t leave me feeling sticky after it’s washed off like most mineral sunscreens either. With a name like Ghost Democracy it has to be good.

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  37. Sherri said on July 8, 2021 at 4:51 pm

    Among the things I’d like to see less of: white men running for office against women of color who talk about how great they are on diversity and equity. If you can’t get out of the way, then please shut up about it.

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  38. Julie Robinson said on July 8, 2021 at 6:21 pm

    Absolutely, Sherri. It’s like saying you have *a* black friend or *a* gay friend.

    Here’s a Washington Post article about hyperpigmentation, which I believe is causing the brown spot on my cheek. https://tinyurl.com/m9a2jfnk

    There are several sunscreens mentioned, and I ended up with Aveeno Positively Mineral Sensitive Skin SPF 40+ Sunscreen Face Milk with Zinc Oxide & Titanium Dioxide, Invisible Oil-Free Liquid Facial Sunscreen, Paraben & Phthalate-Free. I’ve only used it once swimming which isn’t really a great trial.

    Incidentally, A Steamy Blur pretty much describes my life the last week.

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  39. Andrea said on July 8, 2021 at 7:40 pm

    RIP Smokey. Our neighbor has had to put her dog down this week also. I did not know there are services that will come to your home and do this for you at home. That seems kind.

    On a separate note — have been fascinated all day about the Cat Person story and story behind the story, and following it all on Twitter too. I have to say I am pretty sympathetic to the Slate author and frustrated with the original author (and her editor at The New Yorker!) for not changing the most obvious of details. Seems like a super easy fix that would not change the impact of the narrative in any way. Especially for a story that is about power dynamics and consent in the first place.

    I am even more sympathetic now that I learn that the original author received a movie deal out of it all.

    https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/07/cat-person-kristen-roupenian-viral-story-about-me.html

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  40. Deborah said on July 8, 2021 at 9:27 pm

    We had our last cat put down in our condo in Santa Fe, the vet was fantastic and a little woo woo, which was fine with me. She said we should keep our cat, Ursula, for awhile in the condo after she was gone so that her spirit would know where to return, then she sat with us and comforted us as we held Ursula for about 30 minutes. It was very moving. Then she took Ursula away in her pickup on the passenger seat, wrapped in a blanket, and she delivered her ashes about a week later with a beautiful note. Makes me tear up just thinking about it. I was very appreciative of how much time she spent with us. I think she was a vet who mostly dealt with farm animals, but she sure knew what to do and say.

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  41. Deborah said on July 8, 2021 at 9:29 pm

    I agree with you Andrea, I thought the same thing about the weird twist of the Cat Person story. I remember reading that original NYer story when it came out.

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  42. LAMary said on July 8, 2021 at 9:38 pm

    We took.Smokey to the vet where all my pets over the last 40 years have been cared for.Aside from having to wait a long time in hot muggy weather it was ok.I had both sons with me. I gave Smokey a good brushing, something he really enjoyed, before we left home.

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