Lofty thoughts and noodle knowledge

I’m behind with my blog, and time is short today.  So I’m relying on updates from our children for this post.

First Zach.  Last weekend we were in Manhattan, Kan., where we helped Zach build a loft bed for his new off-campus digs – a house that he’s sharing with a bunch of guys this summer and into the new school year.

Zach and frat Beta buddy Dragon.

It went together pretty well. Apparently we miss-measured along the way, because the actual mattress – which arrived after we left – ended up being about a foot and a half narrower than the aircraft-carrier platform I constructed.  But I think that’s okay.  Zach will find uses for the extra space.

“The bed leaves plenty of room for shelves eventually,” he wrote me.

So ample room for many books!  (Okay, a not-so-subtle hint.)

The bed also is as sturdy as a rock.  They say if a tornado comes it’s best to hide under a strong table or other, similar structure.  This is one of those. The bed is on the second floor vs. the basement, so if The Big One hits, it’s not ideal.  But I’m confident of its suspension capabilities short of that.

Dimensionally challenged, I was.  But it works!

Zach’s proud of his new room; it's his alone.  It’s decorated with yellow flowered wallpaper ... the kind that  married Manhattan women of the '70s might have loved, so a bit out of date. But it’s a big change from the sleeping rooms at the frat, where dozens of guys cram into bunk rooms like sailors in submarines.  Clearly a step up.

All in all, Zach has settled in well at K-State.  I'm  proud of his house.  I’m especially proud of him. 

By the way, this is the second loft bed I’ve built for the kids.  The first went to Meghan while she was in an apartment at the University of Tulsa.  Zach’s bed is about four feet off the ground – not too high up.  Meghan’s was a towering structure … up where the air was thin. I’ve wondered what life is like for squirrels in treetops.  I think Meghan lived that life, especially when her room fan was at full blast.

So now to Meghan.  Readers know that she lives in Bellingham, Wash., where she’s doing graduate work.

She sent us a lengthy email this week. It concerned our small dog Linus.

As a family, we’ve long wondered about Linus’s pedigree.  He’s an odd guy, a mutt with a cork-screw tail, bulging eyebrows and beard like Albus Dumbledore, but he's oh-so-cute so that during our walks strangers always say, “Oh, so cute!”   Then they ask, “What kind is he?!”

“Dunno!” we say.

Meghan and Linus

But this recent report from Meghan could, at last, provide the answer.  I’ll let her tell the tale … tail … whatever.

“Sooo,” Meghan wrote, “I have discovered, by being in the right place at the right time, that Linus must be half Havanese.”

(Before she goes on … to me, half Havanese is a quarter of something, though goodness knows what.)

“I've never really seen a Havanese before besides in dog books, “ she continued.  “plus most Havanese owners keep their dog’s hair long. BUT I had the fortune of meeting a Havanese on the streets of Bellingham today that had his hair cut just like we cut Linus's. 

“This dog looked JUST LIKE HIM! Same face, same stance, same walk, same CURLY TAIL. HE EVEN SNEEZED IN FRONT OF ME LIKE LINUS DOES! MULTIPLE TIMES!!!

“So did I take a picture, you ask? Well, I talked to the owner, but didn't try and take a picture with my phone because my phone's camera lens is all dusty and the pictures would have turned out blurry. So I didn't ask to take one.

Linus with a nose full of Michigan beach.

“And then the owner walked away, and two minutes later I remembered I had my camera in my purse. So I sat there for another two minutes debating whether to run and find him again. Finally I decided to go for it and went running down the block.

“I tried to find him. But I couldn't. And I was really bummed.

“BUT … right as we were leaving the guy rounded the corner down the street and I just barely caught him out of the corner of my eye. I stopped short and was like YESSSSS I FOUND HIM and chased him down.

“The owner and his wife very graciously let me take the dog's picture. Well, multiple pictures.

Meghan's photo. Note the cork-screw tail.

“So, family, I put before you my evidence that Linus is, in some way, related in breed to this mystery dog on the street. I mean, for God's sake, they have the SAME SNEEZES.

“I'm telling you. This is it. I've solved the 12- to 13-year (however old Linus is) mystery. I seriously don't think that anything besides a blood test would convince me that he is not half poodle, half Havanese.

Both also have splayed front paws. Here are Linus's.

“What do you think??? This has totally made my day!”

I think she’s right.  The proof is in the pictures.

Two other things:

First, after doing some research, I learned the Havanese were spawned in Cuba.  The breed is that country’s national dog, and they are sometimes referred to as Havana Silk Dogs.

Most Havanese are hidden by hair.

Second, Linus doesn’t seem impressed that he might be kin to Fidel Castro.  But he’s never been concerned about his background.  He lives for the here and now – the white cat, the chipmunks, the occasional rabbit and squirrel, not to mention his daily biscuit and his walk in the fields behind the nearby schoolyard.

But still, the discovery is good to know.  As Zach and Meghan both are learning at their respective schools, knowledge is power.

A Havanese may be a cool Cuban dog.   

But knowing we own half a Havanese ... and maybe even a rare Hav-a-noodle? 

That should get us something, sometime. 

I’m certain of it.