It is Christmas Time!

RUBY, THE FOURTH MUST-A-TEA-ER!

(By: Karla Wagener, written on December 20, 2019)

You have all heard of the three Musketeers, of course!  This story is about the three Must-a-tea-ers!  Needless to say, they were three friends who got together once a week to have a tea or two, some snacks and chat about the week´s events.

Ruby loved this activity because there were always some delicious cookies and she was given more since none of the three friends noticed how much the others were giving to Ruby.  Also, the friends petted Ruby a lot and gave her a lot of attention.

As you know in the tale of the three Musketeers there was a fourth associate and they had many adventures.  So Ruby was considered to be a member also, just to add a little fun to the get-togethers.

For every occasion, birthdays, Friend´s Day, Christmas, or special moments, gifts were exchanged along with special cards and much affection.  Ruby usually got a special bone on these days.

The problem was Harry.  Harry was Ruby´s dog friend.  Harry was very old.  His teeth were beginning to rot and it hurt very much.  He had to take a special medicine and Harry hated that.  He tried to escape and run away when it was time to take the medicine.  There was no food that could cover up the bad taste of the medicine.  Not ham, ground beef, fish or even chicken (which he loved dearly).

So it became necessary for all three friends to corner Harry.  One would grab his back, another his snout and the third put the syringe deep into his mouth and pushed so that the medicine could go deep into his throat.  The first time they did it the medicine ended up all over the floor, counter and wall next to Harry.

Harry had a fit every time the process took place.  He was too old to run about so he stayed in one place and squirmed on the floor, crying and trying to spit out the medicine.  Ruby watched in perplexity.  There was nothing she could do to help her dear friend.  So Ruby also whimpered and tried to comfort him.

One day as this process was going on, suddenly, Horacio came home un-expectantly from work.  He happily opened the door.  ¨Surprise, I came to give you all a special gift for Christmas¨!  Horacio wanted to show his appreciation since they had given him a sculpture he really liked.  But when he saw his dear pet, Harry, wrestling with the three friends, and Ruby whimpering, his attitude changed.  He started to yell and scream and he grabbed Harry.  Harry got more nervous than ever, and Ruby got hysterical!

Suddenly, a rat came running down from a tree that hovered over from the terrace.  Myriam was terrified of rats so she ran out of the door and down the stairs out into the street.  Horacio grabbed Harry and left to take him to the Veterinarian.

At that precise moment two water pipes exploded and the house was flooded with water two inches deep.  The two remaining must-a-tea-ers had no idea what to do.  They did not know where the water shutoff was and Myriam had run off without her telephone, so they couldn´t ask her about it.  Graciela was more practical and screamed; ¨We must save the electrical devices¨!  They began grabbing electrical appliances and other artifacts and put them up high on tables or safe places.  Then they calmed down.

As everybody knows, there are no reliable plumbers in all of the City of Buenos Aires so it was useless to try to call one.  So, what could they do?  They began searching all over Myriam´s apartment for a suspicious switch which might turn off the water.  In the meantime, the rat, herself quite frightened, began running up and down and squealing in a high pitched voice.  The two friends were terrified and looked at each other in panic.

Ruby had already eaten all of Harry´s food and she had eaten cookies and treats so she was not hungry, something quite unusual for her!  But she found the little rat entertaining and began to chase it around the living room.  Furniture and appliances went flying!  All the dishes in the cupboard fell down and some broke.  The noise scared the little rat even more and she tried to escape.  The two friends screamed.  Ruby was perplexed.  What had she done wrong?  She only wanted to play!

Ruby nipped at the tail of the rat and a piece of it came off.  Then the rat disappeared into the branches of the tree from whilst it had come in the first place.

At that moment, Horacio came back and immediately turned off the water.  Myriam also showed up.  ¨Harry will be okay.  ¨The Vet has extracted his bad tooth.  Horacio informed them.

Horacio shrugged his shoulders and picked up the present he had brought.  Myriam was pleased to find three beautiful tea cups, one for each of them, accompanied by an array of fine British teas!  One cup had Ruby´s image on it, the second had Harry´s image and the third had an image of Graciela´s cat, Romi.  And there were three pretty bowls, one for Ruby, one for Harry and one for Romi!

Horacio left to go back to work as the three cleaned up the water mess and sat down once again for a delicious cup of lemon and ginger tea with honey on that terribly hot pre-Christmas afternoon in Buenos Aires!

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS FOR ALL!

A MOST UNIQUE CHRISTMAS

(By: Karla Wagener, December 12, 2019.  This story is especially dedicated this Christmas for my Granddaughter, Zoe, and my Daughter, Andrea who inspired me for the character, Kiara.  And for Ruby who is always herself!)

Ruby had so many adventures, but this one really stood out! 

She went with her owners to their cabins for the summer where Kiara´s uncle lived in a small town in Argentina.  One night while she was sleeping in the living room up on her ¨throne¨ a big, old shaggy pillow on a huge couch, she discovered that the electricity suddenly got cut off.  She had spent several hours barking at the thunder or any noise at all because she was very frightened.  But this silenced her completely.  She didn´t enjoy sleeping in the next room from her owners, and even less with all this noise, rainfall, thunder, lightning and now everything completely dark!  This place was not at all like her apartment in the City.  There she had her own fluffy comfortable pillow and where noises from the street rarely invaded her territory.

Ruby finally managed to make her owners get up to see what was happening.  Even though the lights came back on the owners decided to go from the house which was under two gigantic willow trees to one of the two cabins.  It could be dangerous in the house because of the large branches which might fall on the roof.  The cabin was safer.  There were no trees near it.

The willows hung down and seemed to be crying over the dangerous situation.

In that precise moment the lights once again went off.  Ruby was terrified.  She didn´t want to go into that dark ominous place!

Kiara called to Ruby, ¨Come on in.  Come quickly¨.  But Ruby ran in circles and away from the cabin.  Everybody was tired from working in the yard all the day before and wanted to go to sleep again.  So everybody, mother, dad, Kiara, grandma and Kiara´s uncle pretended to go in the cabin so that Ruby would follow.

There were branches all along the walkway and Ruby had to jump and manipulate herself to be able to get to the cabin.

The days had been very hot, but this was better here in the open air compared to the oven of the City and the rain would cool things down.  There was always a breeze to cool things a bit, with shade from the trees and with open green spaces.  Ruby missed her pillow in the City, but she loved everything else that the small town offered.  She spent most of her time sniffing the herbs, flowers and bushes, prancing about the lot next door, careful to avoid the huge horse that grazed there, but always disposed to get together with her numerous neighborhood dog friends.

Things settled down and everybody went to sleep again.  Then at about 3:30 am the lights went on again and woke everyone up.  The refrigerator jiggled from the jolt of electricity, the radio began to play and the television blurted out with Christmas music… ¨Rudolf the red nosed reindeer, you´ll go down in history¨.

That late spring and summer the lights would go off periodically.  What a disaster!  What could they do to avoid the heat and pass the time more or less in a good way?

Kiara felt that she needed some kind of spiritual retreat that summer.  She wanted to contemplate and pray, get deep into the great philosophical questions of life and find something special that was already growing within her – some kind of inner tourism, a journey within and a need to be surrounded by healthy elements.  This was, however, the summer she must decide what career to follow.  What would she decide?  There were so many professions to follow!

And the lights kept going off every once in a while!  How to deal with that?  How to tolerate that?  Light was just the element that was needed to be able to illuminate the mind, the way to show what was to come.

In the darkness, Ruby felt secure while lying beside Kiara.  She no longer tried to escape.  Confidence was more than darkness, or any trial.  Confidence was like a light in its own right. Something even more than physical light!  Ruby was sure of her wellbeing when she was next to Kiara who she trusted and who assured Ruby, ¨It´s okay.  We are okay¨!

The fireworks were another matter!  Ruby could not understand how people spent so much money on fireworks and how they could tolerate all the noise and horrible smells.  Every year it was the same!  ¨It´s okay.  We are okay¨, Kiara assured her, and Ruby calmed down.  As you know, Christmas takes place in the summer season in Argentina.  There are few decorations and people eat heavy winter type foods even though it is boiling hot outside and they say awake partying until the wee hours of the morning because of the weather which permits it.  And they shoot off many fireworks.  Ruby never liked it and it was a torture for her.  But Kiara stayed near her in those moments.  ¨It´s okay.  We are okay¨.  And Ruby would calm down at least for a little while.

In the festivities of Christmas in 2018 there were 31 burn cases in the City in the burn´s hospitals caused by fireworks.  What would be the toll this year?  There was less in 2018 than in 2017 when there had been 83.  People have begun to realize the dangers and the press and word of mouth has educated people.  ¨Thank goodness¨, Kiara thought.

Kiara spent a lot of her time in a quiet corner of the garden where she grew many herbs, spices, and some fruit.  Ruby loved to accompany her there and Ruby smelled the oregano, basil, cedron, parsley, mint, lemons and avocados.  She didn´t like the garlic or chili too much.  They burned when she tried to eat them.

So what can we say about Ruby and what could be done in spite of the many electricity cut offs that summer?  Ruby didn´t notice anything.  What were the foreign debts, change of government, and the medical and alimentary urgency, the FMI?  It was smoke in a cookout!

She only knew she ate good foods here in the countryside of Argentina, beef, chicken, pork, and fish, all of her favorite foods!  They were so fresh and flavorful here!  This was much better than the polluted City!  The last time they took her back to the City she dug her paws into the pavement outside the door and resisted going back to a stifling apartment in the cement cemetery of the City.  She resisted, but Kiara said, ¨It´s okay.  We are okay¨, and she reluctantly allowed herself to be drug back to the old grind.  Eventually, she accepted the change and settled back down on her familiar and comfortable pillow.

Kiara was determined to have a really beautiful Christmas this year despite all the problems, a county in economic disaster, several relatives with really serious health problems, and not to mention a whole world which seemed to be falling to pieces…

She put Christmas music on while she worked in the garden, cooked or whatever.  It gave her a feeling of peace and prepared her to be receptive to good things.  Was that so bad?

¨¡Oh, night divine, Oh night divine¨, sang Andy Williams.  ¨¡Oh hear the angels´ voices¨. Or, ¨Ding a ling, hear them ring.  Soon it will be Christmas day¨.

Every time she put Christmas music on it seemed her uncle would appear and shut it off, changing to jazz, blues or rock.

¨Oh, this Christmas music¨, he would sigh as he came and went.  He wasn´t even listening at all to any of it!

As soon as he would go out of the room, Kiara changed the dial again to Christmas music.  ¨People should celebrate each season´s festivities¨, she thought.  She knew it was of no avail to discuss it with her uncle and, after all, she was as tenacious as he was.

Kiara believed in some kind of spiritual presence.  She wasn´t sure just what that was, but the music elevated her thoughts and put her in a good mood.  She found it easier to go about her projects and work while listening to this agreeable music.  ¨No grouchy uncle is going to get me down¨, she told Ruby. ¨But, why was her uncle in such a bad mood.  He had always been so supportive and generous¨!

Ruby observed all of this from her raggedy, smelly, old pillow.  It certainly got to her!  She loved the Christmas music and she loved Kiara so much.  She wanted to protect Kiara and noticed the uncle´s behavior.  It upset her even when Kiara was not completely aware of it fully.  Ruby usually didn´t bark, unless she was afraid, but when the uncle grumbled about the  music, she began barking, almost out of control.

What Kiara didn´t know was that so close to Christmas her uncle was having troubles at work.  He could possibly get laid off and just at a time when he had wanted to give her an expensive, special gift for Christmas.  Things had been going so well and suddenly everything turned around.  The problems at work were caused by scrupulous people and he thought he knew how to fix the electric problems, but they didn´t let him work well to do what needed to be done.  He was facing a major crossroads in his life and he was at middle age when it was not at all easy to go looking for another job.

Kiara spent her afternoons decorating, making decorations and hand crafted gifts for Christmas.  She was immersed in her projects.  This also put her in a festive mood and gave her a lot of satisfaction.

Her uncle helped her with the projects and especially the electricity for the illuminated objects that Kiara made with ceramics, wood and other materials.  He was an electrician.

One evening he confessed his problem to her.  ¨We are having troubles at work.  Many of the workers have been laid off and I suspect I am on the list to be expelled¨.

Kiara was devastated.  How could she help her uncle?  Ruby sensed her preoccupation and nuzzled close to her cheeks, sniffing at the glue and wood or plaster smells on Kiara´s hands too.¨

¨It´ll be a blue, blue Christmas without you¨, played on the radio.

Word got out about the beautiful, original creations Kiara was making.  It was mostly because her uncle bragged about her work to the neighbors and townspeople when he managed to step out of his worries and go chatting with them.  This activity gave him an incentive and helped him to forget about problems.

Orders to buy Kiara´s pieces started coming in.  It was getting nearer to Christmas and she was overwhelmed with work.  What could she do to be able to comply with the demands for her items?  Even though there were so many electric cutoffs everybody in town wanted to by the fascinating gifts.  She enlisted the help of her uncle of course!  He was more than willing to rescue her efforts and it kept him busy and his mind off his trouble.  She made enough money that she could contribute some to him too so his economic worries were minimized.  When people found out about it they ordered even more of the figurines.

On December 22^nd, a few days before Christmas her uncle´s old boss came knocking on their door.  He was a proud man, but he had finally realized that the problems were administrative and that he had made a grave mistake in letting his employees go.  Kiara´s uncle was the only expert who would be able to fix the town´s electric problems because he was not only an electrician but a capable management organizer.   So, needless to say, Kiara´s uncle was taken back to work and he miraculously fixed the town´s electric problems that year.

The windows in every corner of town shown bright with the imaginative electrical figures Kiara had fashioned with so much care.

Kiara´s uncle gave her an expensive do-it-yourself electrical kit on that most special and unique Christmas morning.  Kiara enjoyed the gift, but decided to study International Business law.

And what about Ruby?  She got a beautiful, soft, patchwork pillow handcrafted by Kiara herself, with bone and steak motifs.  Ruby tried to bite and chew at the images.

Now Ruby could listen to all the Christmas music possible!

MERRY CHRISTMAS – 2019!

¨WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS!¨

"THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL¨

By: Karla Wagener (Written on November 1, 2019)

The World would never be the same without telling the story of Ulysses and Ruby!  For this reason I have decided to relate this incredible story of love and loyalty!

It all began a little at a time, of course, like most love stories begin.  A look!  A moment of encounter!  An outing!  It is hard to remember the exact moment this special relationship began.  Basically it happened on Saturdays when we all got together to sing Karaoke. 

Of course, Ruby was beautiful, with shiny red fur and elegant and well trained.   The people who saw her used to say, ¨she doesn´t just walk, she models down the avenue¨!

One day Ana brought Ulysses to meet Ruby.  This happened long before the afternoons of Karaoke.  Ulysses was still just a puppy!  They were excited about the outing, the freedom, an adventure outside the home, going to the park.  They didn´t really seem to pay attention to each other at that moment.  They did gallop around the park, played in the free, fresh air, and sniffed everything they could find.  They ran close to their owners, without much confidence still at that first encounter.

Ulysses was unkempt, shaggy, but full of energy and willing to make a special relationship!  It was all similar to ¨Lady and the Tramp¨ except that they both had loving families and shared with them like one more member of the family.  Later, Ruby started coming with her owner to afternoon Karaoke at Ulysses´ house.  Ulysses was excited and desired Ruby´s attention.  He followed her around all over the house as she investigated and smelled every detail!  Steve, Ana´s son, gave Ruby food and even attention, but Ruby was indifferent and only thought of the food! 

Ruby was anxious, however, and Ulysses didn´t know how to receive her, or how to please her.  He gave her free reign and allowed her to go and do whatever she liked.

The second time Ruby went to see Ulysses she was more relaxed.  She actually noticed Ulysses and they began to build a friendship. 

The third visit was more disastrous.  Ruby smiled with a huge, wide smile and was happier than she had been in months!  Not only was this a familiar place, but there was food, affection and a lover who followed her around smelling her behind and totally infatuated with her!  They began getting into trouble, tearing dog toys apart and looking into everything, every corner of the house.

Ruby was in bliss, and jumped up and down to show her joy to Steve and his brother, Matias.

Then Ulysses came close to Ruby´s owner and did not let Ruby get near.  Ruby didn´t seem to notice and kept sniffing all the Peruvian smells, rice, ceviche, avocados, lemon, and cilantro.  ¨Food¨, she must have thought.

Suddenly, Ruby´s owner screamed out ¨Ulysses peed on my foot¨.  Ulysses, in his excitement and happiness had peed on the owner´s shoe.  What a disaster!  It all ended with a big laugh and water and detergent!  Ana joked, ¨It was time to clean the floor¨.

The great love affair of Ruby and Ulysses, both characters who had particular and special traits, kept developing.  Despite all the work to care for them, it is well known that pets help us live longer and especially give a better quality of life. 

Everyone who dropped by on Saturday attested to the events and positive energy.  People dropped in and out as Karaoke, coffee and cookies went around.  Ana´s sons were usually there; nephews and nieces came and went, Aunts, an uncle or two and perhaps a weary friend who happened to be in the neighborhood.  The neighbors began to complain about the noise, but it was the mixture of smells that they really couldn´t tolerate, dog smells, etc. It was something else that really made them complain.  They really wanted us to invite them to enjoy the afternoon with us.

Time went by and Ruby and Ulysses began to know each other better.  Ulysses kept peeing on the floor every time he saw Ruby.  Ana would laugh and say, ¨Time to wash the floor again¨. Ruby could care less and seemed only interested in smelling for food and gobbling up what she could.  At some moment Ulysses tired of this situation and decided to go up the stairs to the terrace where her true owner stayed.  He went with Alicia.  He barked to Ruby to follow him and tried to get Ruby to go up.  Ruby nonchalantly looked around as if she wasn´t paying attention and was dead set to stay down stairs where the food was.  She sat down beside the table where possibly a nib of food would fall and her owner sat.  It seemed as if they both had a battle over who would dominate.

However, on the next visit a neighbor dog, Pipa, a male, came by to the house.  He was Ana´s sister, Rosemary´s dog.  They lived next door.  Of course, he fell for Ruby immediately and Ulysses did not like that.  Ulysses came down stairs to protect his interests.  Ruby tried to keep at a distance from them both, hiding under the table and protected by the legs of the people gathered there.

Pipa stayed just outside of the table without moving an inch and sat there like a marble poodle statue staring at Ruby.  Ulysses was more confident and went about his business; sure that Ruby´s fidelity was his.  ¨Ruby and he had a history¨, he must have thought.  They had gone to the park when he was just a puppy and after all this was HIS house, his people.  Without Ruby there he didn´t even allow Pipa in, but to show his good manners he conceded to this intrusion.

Time passed by and Ruby´s tummy grew and it wasn´t because of all of the food Steve had given her!  She was to have puppies!  ¨But she is castrated¨, her owner exclaimed.  It seems the castration had not been done quite correctly.

Ana, Alicia and the rest of the crew were too busy laughing, singing, drinking coffee and chatting to watch over the dogs and the dogs socialized unwatched.  The children had been busy playing and Ruby´s owner was sure she was castrated!

What a surprise the day the puppies arrived!  Two were golden haired with cream colored  spots, exactly like Ulysses and one was a white poodle just like Pipa!  Oh, what a shame!  Ruby could not decide between the two!  She loved them both, Ulysses as well as Pipa!

Soon after the puppies were born the teenage nieces and their mischievous friend, Joyce, decided to go ¨Tee Peeing¨.  Of course, any young person in those days knew what ¨tee peeing¨ was.  It consisted of a person taking many rolls of toilet paper (T.P.) and throwing it up and down and all about the trees of an unsuspected person´s trees.  They decided to ¨Tee Pee¨ the trees at the house of the neighbor who had been unkind to the dogs and had complained.  ¨They make too much noise¨.  ¨They are a bother¨.  ¨The smells from those dogs is intolerable¨,  they had complained.

So one night at 2:00 a.m. the three adventurers snuck into the cabinet where Ana kept the toilet paper.  There were white rolls, 30 meter rolls, flowered patterned rolls, perfumed ones and even 60 and 80 meter rolls.  Ana had bought them at a discount.  The girls gathered as much as they could handle in a big black plastic bag and sneaked away into the night through an open window in the living room.

When they got to the neighbor´s house they were scared.  A few cars were passing by.  Joyce screamed ¨Get down¨!  ¨ Let´s hide under this big pine¨!

They all stooped down and covered their mouths.  Not a sound could be heard.  The pine tree smelled so good, so clean that they could have fallen asleep if they were not so scared and their knees didn´t hurt so much.  They were all cramped together in that small space.

Then, little by little, they got up and began the work.  They threw the toilet paper up into the pine trees.  It fell down, curling amidst the branches.  They twisted the paper about the lower branches and threw the rolls up again and again to cover all of the three trees in the yard.

A light came on!  Someone had heard their noise.  They quietly hid under the branches of the pine until the light went out again.  All of the cars were gone.  No one was in sight.

Suddenly, at that very moment Enrique arrived in his station wagon.  ¨Get in¨!  ¨Get in¨, he whispered.  ¨The dogs were making so much noise I had to bring them to find you¨.  ¨They missed you and began to bark and make noise¨.

The girls peeked out, bent over and sore from their squatted positions, and got into Enrique´s spacious car, trying to quiet the noisy dogs.  Actually, in truth, Enrique did all of this for the sole reason of getting into the story!  He is continually trying to get into these stories about Ruby and her dog friends!

The next morning as the three friends walked to school they saw the neighbors angrily cleaning up the mess.

Later, after a heartfelt confession from the girls while the puppies barked in the distance, the neighbors also confessed the puppies were very cute and asked for one.  They no longer were traumatized by the barking and smells!  In fact, they admitted that they had complained about

 the noise and smells with the hope of being able to share in the Saturday afternoon activities!  And so it was that friendships were made that would last long into old age!