{"id":5621,"date":"2020-09-01T16:35:37","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T20:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5621"},"modified":"2020-09-01T16:50:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T20:50:44","slug":"episode-107-daisy-i-will-miss-you-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5621","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 107 DAISY, I WILL MISS YOU FOREVER."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/div>\n
EPISODE  107    DAISY, I WILL MISS YOU.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
August 2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NOTE:   DAISY DIED A LONG TIME AGO\u2026MAYBE 1983 OR 1984.   <\/div>\n
SHE WAS A WONDERFJUL DOG.  WHEN SHE DIED I DID A SPECIAL<\/div>\n
MEMORIAL FOR HER ON CBC RADIO.  A LOT OF PEOPLE CRIED.<\/div>\n
ONE MAN, DRIVING ON HIGHWAY 401, HAD TO PULL OVER ON THE<\/div>\n
SHOULDER;   OUR STUDIO PEOPLE SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED  AND<\/div>\n
I FOUN MYSELF ALONE.  WHERE DID THEY GO?  THEY WERE CRYING<\/div>\n
AS WELL.   PEOPLE WHO LISTENED TO ME ON THE RADIO OFTEN REMEMBER<\/div>\n
MY MEMORIAL TO DAISY.   SO  HERE IS A PART OF IT FROM MEMORY.\u2019<\/div>\n

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THE DAY THAT DAISY DIED\u2026THE MUSIC STOPPED<\/div>\n

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WELL this is a sad day Daisy.  Tears  are flowing at our house.\u2019<\/div>\n
 You are gone and there is a gaping hole in our lives.<\/div>\n
You were a good dog\u2026a great dog\u2026a loyal dog\u2026a smart dog\u2026but most of  all<\/div>\n
you were  our dog.  And now you are gone leaving us with the memories.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
YOU were born in Meaford when they still made cannons at the place.   The nights<\/div>\n
were lit up with molten metal.  Cannons for historical sites. You were <\/div>\n
Not exactly pure bred\u2026mostly Labrador with other genetic sweetener.  I wonder if<\/div>\n
the mixed breed result was why your were so  intelligent.  You  bore us two<\/div>\n
litters  of pups whose progeny might be still around.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
You know what I remember best?  Sure, you do.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The day I bought that old tread mill near Cooperstown, New York State.<\/div>\n
You showed  an interest right away\u2026nosing the machine.  I thought some<\/div>\n
previous  owner had left a scent but that was not the case at all.  You<\/div>\n
knew how  the machine worked  and  were anxious  to give it a go<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

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It took me some time to  be aware of your interest, Daisy.  But by pure<\/div>\n
chance i asked  \u201cWant to get up on the treadmill, Daisy?\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I expected you to balk.   Expected  that training a dog like you<\/div>\n
to run a treadmill would take time and patience and loads of<\/div>\n
rewards.  Not you, Daisy.  You jumped up right away\u2026lucky<\/div>\n
I had the hand  brake locked or you might have spun off backwards.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
You walked  up the treads to the top and  looked over at me<\/div>\n
as if to say, \u201cLet\u2019s get going, we  have work  to do.  We are now<\/div>\n
a team.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So I hooked the giant tuning fork to a fanning mill handle\u2026put a load<\/div>\n
on the break mill and said  \u201cUp you get Daisy.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
No more  prompting.  You hopped up and  I released the brake and<\/div>\n
presto\u2026we had two  19th century machines in all operation.  You moved<\/div>\n
those treads with slow  and steady certainty.  We were in the grain<\/div>\n
cleaning  business so to speak.  Lots of nice  rattling noises.  That did<\/div>\n
not bother you Daisy.  Your tail registered  contentment.  Swish\u2026swish.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
In those years Daisy we went to a lot of  small fairs.  Those were<\/div>\n
the 1980\u2019s when  many retired farmers  spent their idle hours getting<\/div>\n
ancient machines humming for summer tourists.  We were part of<\/div>\n
that showmanship.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Here is Daisy at the Canadian National Exhibition with Marjorie and Andy. Do you <\/div>\n
ever look contented Daisy.  Your treadmill is hooked to a fanning mill.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Daisy, do you remember that blunder I made at Sherwood Gladys<\/div>\n
Hume\u2019s Family Farm Festival?    I should not have let my mouth<\/div>\n
talk while my brain was disengaged.    <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Remember  Daisy?  We had a  large crowd clustered around ready<\/div>\n
for your performance.    I said, \u201cOK , Daisy, up you go.\u201d<\/div>\n
 And you  performed perfectly as  usual.  No indication of fatigue.<\/div>\n
Very proud  of  your work.  Tail wagging at first and then serious  grain<\/div>\n
cleaning.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Remember that woman in the audience?  She was  mad  as a  wet hen.<\/div>\n
Mad at me, not you.  She loved  you and  was certain  I was abusing <\/div>\n
you.  She did not know much about dogs, did she?  She did  not know<\/div>\n
that dogs  like to feel valued\u2026to feel helpful\u2026to feel  important\u2026to be<\/div>\n
understood.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Remember how incensed she was Daisy.   Remember how<\/div>\n
she demanded  I stop the tread  mill.  Demanded I get you<\/div>\n
off the machine.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Remember how  I ignored her at first.  Kept you on the machine.<\/div>\n
as it clattered away.  Remember her yelling,  \u201cHow long are<\/div>\n
you going to leave that poor dog on that machine. It\u2019s abuse.<\/div>\n
Stop.   How long must the poor dog labour?\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Remember my  stupid  answer.  \u201cI leave her on the machine<\/div>\n
until she drops  dead, then I go down to the SPCA and get<\/div>\n
another dog.\u201d   A  smart ass comment.   Really wish I had not<\/div>\n
said it but the devil got my tongue.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Remember her reaction.  \u201cI am going to get the police\u2026the<\/div>\n
Humane society\u2026\u201d  And away she went.  Of course she never<\/div>\n
came back.   I said \u201cThat\u2019s  enough for now Daisy, take a break,\u201d<\/div>\n
And I engaged the brake leaver.  You  jumped  down and some<\/div>\n
of the crowd  came over to pet you.   Remember how important <\/div>\n
you felt?   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I was  always so proud of you Daisy.  I will miss  you forever.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept   2020<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
NEXT EPISODE       HOW ABOUT OUR FANNING MILL COLLECTION\u2026LARGEST COLLECTION OF  GRAIN<\/div>\n
CLEANING MACHINES IN THE WORD.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
WINTER IS COMING <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE  107    DAISY, I WILL MISS YOU. alan skeoch August 2020 NOTE:   DAISY DIED A LONG TIME AGO\u2026MAYBE 1983 OR 1984.    SHE WAS A WONDERFJUL DOG.  WHEN SHE DIED I DID A SPECIAL MEMORIAL FOR HER ON CBC RADIO.  A LOT OF PEOPLE CRIED. ONE MAN, DRIVING ON HIGHWAY 401, HAD TO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5621\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}