Pride Followed By Panic

This afternoon I had a rare attack of energy and decided it was time for a thorough cleaning of the refrigerator and freezer. Things inside there had gotten to the frightening stage. I have been sliding by with the lick and a promise cleaning for too long and today I did it right. Every shelf came out for a good washing, the walls were scrubbed clean and everything out of date was tossed.

This kept me occupied for the better part of a couple of hours. In the background I had an old movie on that I had somehow never seen before. If you haven't caught A Face in the Crowd, starring Patricia Neal and a very young Andy Griffith, you should do so the next time you have a chance. But, I digress.

While I worked, the dogs and cats napped. Mojo was curled up on the chaise, sleeping peacefully.

I had just finished the cleaning job and was patting myself on the back when the dogs suddenly erupted in Mother's room. This is a normal occurrence when anything moves outside that window. A dog passing by, a squirrel, a leaf blowing in the wind. I was at a good stopping point, so I went to see what was going on and to check on Mother before taking the dogs for a walk. Mojo was hopping around, perfectly normal, and then the next instant was having some kind of spastic fit.

Mojo was terrified and his Mommy wasn't far behind. A fear that is always forefront in my mind is that Mother will drop one of her Parkinson's pills and that one of the animals will find it. I was frantically trying to decide what to do and at the same time holding a shaking, shivering, scared little dog and trying to calm him down.

I finally realized that the fit had come on too suddenly to have been something he ate. One moment fine, the next moment not. And they had been having jumping, barking fits at the window just before. I decided he probably had jumped wrong and pinched a nerve or thrown his neck out of place. I sat on the floor and held him and continued to try and calm him. It took about 5 minutes, but he gradually stopped shaking and started moving normally. His eyes never lost their awareness, another sign I took as favorable. But he was still scared to move, afraid it would come back.

So, we are sitting on the chaise, with Mojo cuddled up beside me in a blanket. A 30 minute nap ought to do wonders to cure what ails him. Coco has joined us, but is a little miffed that her promised walk didn't materialize.

I think Mommy will have a nice toddy after awhile and try to settle her own nerves.

Just took all the fun out of having a clean refrigerator.

LSW