Happy Halloween and enjoy the day without scaring yourself. As I write this it’s either early on Sunday morning or an hour later than early on Sunday morning.
My napspouse Martha is comfy in a recliner. She’s asleep under a print afghan, Benchley the tortoiseshell cat and, appropriately for Halloween, I guess, Annabelle Bob the black cat.
I, however, am wide awake and, as I type, watching TV. Important news story on, you ask? Sensational breaking news about the giants of our times -- the Survivor contestants or the keen businesspeople on The Apprentice? Heck, no. I’m watching the cable network TV Land because they’re showing my favorite Dick Van Dyke Show episode, “It May Look Like a Walnut.” It’s the one where Rob and Laura go to sleep after being scared witless by a horror movie on TV. Rob awakes and discovers that Earth has been invaded by walnut-loving people from Twilo led by Kolac, portrayed by Danny Thomas. (I‘m unsure of the spellings -- I’ll have to look them up in the Encyclopedia of the Alien Universe.)
I remember as a kid being terrified by a film called Not of This Earth and another named Invasion of the Saucermen. It probably didn’t help that we lived in an un-air-conditioned home and had to keep the windows open for ventilation and I convinced myself that monsters were going to reach through the screens and get me. This may be the source of my insomnia, doctor. …. Well, time to get off the couch and review our swell Saturday!
Martha and I had a great Saturday. We went to the Mutt Masquerade at Stratos Global Greek Taverna (www.clubstratos.com) in Dallas. Dawn Rizos, who with hubby Nick, owns and operates the restaurant, set up a giant tent with dozens of round banquet tables covered with white tablecloths, black napkins, exceptional centerpieces (round plots of tall grass with tennis balls and dog toys). It was kind of high-toned but appropriate for regal mutts in costume!…..Piano genius Steve Hulse had flown in from Atlanta to help Dawn put on this benefit for Operation Kindness (www.operation kindness.org). Steve's nimble as a cat on the keyboard and when he touches the keys, music comes out -- he's a cool cat. … (I’ll do more on the totally entertaining dogs later -- Martha has some photos we’ll post once she adjusts to the time change and awakens back on earth.)
We didn’t bring a dog to the event -- we knew Dawn had arranged for a big revival-sized tent and Vera the Chihuahua likes nothing more than to wrap her leash around a tent pole and yank. She’s prone to dramatic hijinx.
An update: The Dick Van Dyke episode has ended with Rob and Laura in their pajamas and in their individual twin beds separated only by what was probably a pretty lamp in 1963 when the episode was filmed but what in 2004 looks like a glowing trashcan on a creosote post.
Back to the Mutt Masquerade: Dallas City Council Member Steve Salazar was there -- he spoke briefly about the economic upsurge in the area around Stratos. Laredo Bank is there now. Restaurants are thriving. Traffic is high. And, as the council member noted, the area has been the beneficiary of a municipal redistricting so that it is served by a single council representative that has only its interests at heart rather than being divided among 5 council members with fragmented focus.
Andy Allen of the Dallas Animal Shelter Commission sat with us and had her two sweet older dogs dressed as Animal Services officers -- Andy was dressed as a cat and claiming to have been caught by the officers! She’s a great animal advocate and a hard worker for such causes as shelters and spay/neuter programs.
And Greg and Carol Autry were there with the legendary Loco, the little dog who was blinded by some fiend several years ago and became the driving force behind Texas’ stronger anti-cruelty law, the Loco Law. Loco’s former canine companion, the loveable Boston Terrier Pooch, has gone on, as animal people say, “to the Rainbow Bridge.” Greg and Carol have a new companion for Loco, a tiny Chihuahua named Sweet Pea -- Sweet Pea, who has only stubs for back legs, is as congenial as a politician on the day before election.
More on all this later. Mister Ed is on TV now. I was half-watching while typing and my brain thought, “They’re showing a political ad.” But, no, it’s just a show about a talking horse -- the camera’s focusing on the front end of the horse, so as soon as I turned to look at the TV I realized that it wasn’t a political ad.
