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Monday, September 25, 2017

Martin Agronsky to Earth


When I was a child and walked uphill to school, both ways, my mom got up about six a.m., I’d guess, packed a lunch box for dad, filled his thermos with coffee, made breakfast for dad and me, and went back to bed. Dad and I ate our oatmeal while Dad listened to the news. I must have listened too; I remember learning AF of L/CIO, and, later on, there was a war in Korea.

Dad would push back his bowl, drink his coffee, smoke a cigarette, stub it out in the cream left in his bowl, and stand up to leave. Every morning he said, “When Martin Agronsky ends, you must leave for school.” 

Every morning I took the bowls to the kitchen, emptied the remains into the garbage, rinsed the bowls, and then sat on the arm of Dad’s Barcalouger, until Martin Agronsky said “…brought to you by the AF of L/CIO. I left for school.

That is a test; at the end there will be a multiple choice question.

Friday evening I introduced the cats, and there seemed no problem. Toby spent his night outside my door, keeping me safe; Gypsy spent her night on top of the kitchen cupboards, keeping away from Toby. 

I slept fitfully, and woke up Saturday with a gorilla on my chest, completely unable to breathe.  In my fiber career I spun pounds and pounds of dog and cat hair until I was too allergic to animal dander to carry on spinning hair.

I did wonder briefly, when I told Gypsy she had acquired a home, if a thousand square feet were adequate to house two cats. Now I can definitively say NO. Laura put out the cat; I texted my neighbor, and went back to bed, until time to take Laura to her homecoming festivities. Cathy and I agreed to start the cat removal business all over again, this morning, at ten a.m.

At eight a.m. I called my vet and tried. “Dr. Mike, I’ll have her spayed; can you see if some foster service is taking cats to re-home.” Dr. Mike was as blunt as the Humane Society and Summit County Animal whatever—a plethora of cats this year. He would spay and return her. That's not part of the test. I like Dr. Mike; I just said "No".

I asked Cathy to check with her vet, and spent the rest of the morning between the repair shop and my insurance company. The former failed to notify me my car was pushed out from today to Friday because the wrong hood had been sent. 

The latter wasted half an hour of my time attempting to talk me happy, until I hung up. Then the body shop called back and said my car actually will be ready Wednesday (at closing). I said if the paint was not dry, it would not change my rating of them.

Then it was time to play cards with the Methodists, and I had no intention of staying home. Right in the middle of a game of gin rummy, Cathy texted me she found a home in Richfield for Gypsy. That will amuse some readers, but it will not be on the test.

The test will be true or false: A rising tide lifts all boats. No, it can be multiple choice. Who told me that, my dad, or Martin Agronsky.




20 comments:

  1. MA, because your Dad was too smart to believe that.

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  2. I don't like trick questions when I don't know the trick!! No idea . . . maybe because I didn't grow up listening to Martin Agronsky.

    I wonder why you reacted to Gypsy and not to Toby? Doesn't matter. I'm so glad there is a home for her in Richfield, wherever that is, and that you watched over her until that home was found.

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  3. Martin Agronsky? The AF of L/CIO? Colour me clueless.
    I am very, very happy that Gypsey has a home, and that you are able to breathe again.
    Of the ten most common allergies dogs and cats are the only ones I am not allergic to.

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    Replies
    1. AFofL/CIO--wonderful letters, and I spent a couple of years puzzling on them. American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations. They were marvelous words to puzzle upon for the twenty minutes I walked to school.

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  4. I'm going with Martin Agronsky but I have no solid proof to back up why I chose him. I'm sure Gypsy will do great in her new home!

    betty

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  5. I can never have any cats....When I tried my eyes were swollen shut in 24 hours....But there was a three-legged Abyssinian who belonged to the neighbors who used to come and sit beside me when I gardened. Very friendly cat, and I never seemed to be allergic to him. (We were always outside.) I'll go with the flow and say Martin Agronsky. But I don't remember him, really. The horrible strident tones of John Cameron Swayze terrified me as a small child.

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  6. I've never even heard of Martin Agronsky, so I'll pass on the quiz. Let someone else get that "A".
    Sorry to hear you're allergic to Gypsy and hope her new home and owners will be good for her and to her.
    One of my grand daughters is allergic to cats, so she can never visit and stay for more than five minutes.

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  7. Hari OM
    Given that is a catchphrase of ecomonic theory, I am swinging towards M.A.

    Yeah, a new cat can do that to you... but am glad it was the trigger for finding the new furever (hopefully) home. Richfield looks a little bit 'Stepford' to me... YAM xx

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  8. Your dad. It was at least a decade too early to have come from radio.

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  9. well, since I've also heard that phrase and I didn't know your dad I'll go with Martin even though I never heard of him. well, I'm glad Gypsy has a home even if not with you. I was terribly allergic to cats and dogs as a child and we always had both. sometime time around my mid-20s I outgrew the allergies I guess because they don't bother me anymore.

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  10. I'm afraid I wasn't tuned in to the same show you were tuned in to. No clue as to the test results lol. I AM extremely glad that your little feline friend is going to have a forever home.

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  11. Your dad said that. I know because I read it in one of the other comments and you said "the winner." I'm glad there was another home for the kitty. My dad cooked his own breakfast and made his lunch. My parents once owned a restaurant, where he was the cook so it made sense for him to continue cooking. My mom always got up with us during the night so they had an understanding: she stayed in bed for a while when morning arrived and he took care of himself. We all took care of ourselves until it was time for her to take us to school, unless the weather was nice enough for us to walk.

    Love,
    Janie

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  12. My daddy told me that. He may have heard it from Martin Agronsky, I never listened to him on the radio. My daddy came home from work and napped on the couch. I Napped with him. Mom made supper. My dad knew everything and never blew off any question. If he didn't know the answer, he pointed me in the direction of the encyclopedia collection. Oh, and I did not eat oatmeal, I ate toast.

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  13. Your dad! And I'm glad you found another home for the cat!

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  14. Everybody is saying MA, but it sounds so much like a dad saying. Good for you and the cat btw.

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