WELCOME! I hope you will enjoy reading my blurbs.

In addition to the Blogs, I hope to encourage and inform poets and writers at Siggy’s Cafe For Writers & Poets, www.siggyscafe.com.  Here you will find many pages of articles, poems, suggested reading, and more, plus a special section devoted to my love of music.  Siggy

October 8, 2019

Eulogy of Tilly, My Best Friend

Tilly passed into Eternity today, early in the morning. We knew he wasn’t quite right; he was slower in the last three days. I suspected he was on his way out. At least he did not suffer like Pumpkin, one grey, sweet cat who got along with everyone. He had moaned and groaned for at least two days. We tried our best to get him into the vet, but they could not fit him in.

So, at least Tilla did not suffer. I loved Tilla. He revered and adored me and he was the most special and intelligent dog I ever had. He had his trials, required two knee surgeries but the surgeon did a good job. It wasn’t all that surprising this morning, when I was somewhere else and called my wife and she told me he died. I cried sotly throughout the conversatio,

He always had his own bed alongside my bed, with a pillow to lay his head on and mats to make him comfortable.

When I called this morning I was afraid of the news, and cried for about two minutes. He treated me well, and I did, particularly in the beginning, give him many belly rubs. He lived a full life for a large dog, about 14 years, which was a long time for a dog his size. He was athletic. When I called his sister and him in from the yard, Cocoa could be half way back and he would run at a gallop and pass her. He was the only dog that learned to pop the screen door to get out by himself.

He had some funny habits, like locking himself up in the bathroom. And in the end, he did it because he couldn’t tolerate any loud voices from us when we fought. And if there was really heavy tension he of course felt it and wouldn’t even come in from the yard until the tension left. He was very sensitive.

I will miss him terribly. He was one smart, athletic dog. I have written about him a few times in this blog before. He was openly affectionate, more so than any dog I had. At least he’s free to run in the meadows Upstairs with all his buddies.

Goodbye, Tilla, I will miss you terribly.

Love,
Siggy

What if you scattered your love as freely as Johnny Appleseed?!

Love Is Not Enough

Author: siggy

Love Is very complicated. Sure you need to have a healthy respect of yourself but that is not enough. You have to expose yourself to the maximum mot holding anything back, expecting nothing in return. Otherwise, if you can’t do that, it is manipulation. Of course, you’ve got to proceed at a pace both of you are comfortable with. Nevertheless, if you expect something in return it’s manipulation. Sure, sometimes you have to proceed slowly. Each man or woman is different. During this process you have to forget about yourself and give without expecting anything in return. And Each woman or man must do this slowly. There’s no magic about it. Each person is different. You have to be genuine. You have to give it away with no expectations.  There is no other way.  It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved.  That’s the only way it goes.

Why I Love My Animals

Author: siggy

March 31st, 2018
Siggy

They never pretend to feign emotion. Each dog I have has a soul and personality. I find it comforting when I go into my den in the morning and usually one my three dogs  sits a few feet away from me. All that is very comforting. My animals do not care if do not have a degree. The animals you love, love you back, but each is his/her own way. I did not have a pet growing up. I now feel blessed with seven cats and three dogs. Pax, Tilla’s father, died a few years ago: we kept two of  his kids. Sweetie our dog rescue is their Mom and  Sweetie, still defers to her two pups, Coco and Tilla, even though it has been a long time since she gave birth to them. I just love petting all my animals and treating each one individually, for each animal has their own personality and I have to respect that.  They are gifts to me.  It is all serendipity!

My wife and I had a big fight one Sunday morning.  The tension was so thick that the dogs (three) could not stand to be in our house and we let them out.  Awhile later when things calmed down a bit and the dogs wanted to come back in the house. When Tilla approached the house, he turned on his back, tale wagging furiously:  he wanted his bellied rubbed before he came back in the house.  Then five feet closer he did the same thing, turned on his back, tale wagging furiously, again.  I obeyed him and rubbed his belly again.  He made me laugh and laugh with his behavior.  I then realized he wanted me to “lighten up”.  And this was his way of doing that.  He likes to make me laugh.

The two goldfinch feeding on my thistle were an harbinger of spring.  They fed for a few minutes until my dogs scared them away.  Every early spring they come in droves.  Sometimes there are over a dozen at one time, many on the ground.  Spring is still five week away;  but those two birds gave me hope the warmer weather was too far away.

A Preview OF Spring?!

Author: siggy

It was sixty-two degrees this afternoon four weeks into winter after having extremely frigid temperatures.  I quickly clipped three plants in the garden knowing the freezing temperatures were about to return and stay for awhile.  The “spring” weather was a fluke.  Anyway, I will enjoy it while it is here and be ready to bundle tightly up again.

One day this week, while going into town the back way, I noticed this big, brown draft horse in a field.  I wanted to be his friend, so I began stopping along the road, making sure that no car could hit me accidentally, and whispered to him softly.  I did this every day for a few days.  Once, he was 100 feet away and after I talked to him he actually came up to the fence and faced me.  Finally, today, he was right by the fence waiting for me to arrive.  I got out of the car and spoke softly to him, and offered him an apple on the palm of my hand.  He did not take it, but I reached out and petted him on the nose, being scared at the same time that he might bite me.  He didn’t move.  Next time I pass him, I will try giving him a carrot.  I have never made friends with a horse before.  I am thrilled we are getting to know each other, and that he was waiting for me today.  I don’t know his name yet, but it doesn’t matter.  He responds to my soft tones.

I Read In Bursts

Author: siggy

I read in bursts, a paragraph here and there. Sometimes I amaze myself and actually read a whole page. To read a book is a miracle, but to read a novel I have to be mesmerized and turn page after page in wonder.

Knowledge is a circle I had to realize. All knowledge is connected. I do not learn by reading a book sequentially. I usually learn in bursts. That caused me some problems in school. The teacher expected you to make it through a book, then another, etc. Anyway, I surround myself with books. A burst here, a burst there. I even occasionally read a book from cover to cover. Most times I open it anywhere and start reading. I am not compelled to read a book from beginning to end. Novels are difficult. One type of book I do read from cover to cover are interesting memoirs.

I can’t imagine a life without animals. Each dog (I have three) and even my seven cats enrich my life. They give me more reasons to get up and greet them each day. Each pet has their own personality. Of course, I have favorites and so what?! Everyone has friends and certain friends who are favorites. Tilla is the dog I never expected. I lost the first dog I ever raised from a pup, Daisy, who died from cancer and then a golden retriever came our way.

Our one male dog, Pax, impregnated her before we could get her fixed and seven pups came our way, most of them born on our bed. We sold four (one died) and I did not have the heart to tell my wife to separate the last two, which we kept. One male, Tilla, and a female Coco both who I have learned to love dearly. They certainly complicate our lives but we had the means to build a fence around part of out property.

We did have one problem:  Tilla the most athletic of our four dogs could jump the fence so a year later we even built the fence higher now it was too high for him to make it over.  As time went by, I developed a close relationship with Tilla.  Maybe just by giving him belly rubs whenever he wanted them.  Wouldn’t that be something if we can make friends with other humans by just giving them belly rubs?!  Anyway, the human equivalent.  Whatever that might be?

Words Are Two-Edged

Author: siggy

Words are two-edged. Each word has its corollary. There is only another side. Realize that when someone attacks you for a statement you gave. And do not be surprised when that happens. Even in the bible one truth is balanced by another. Yes, there is absolutes.  For example first in the bible it says ,’There is a time to die and then to live’ in the same section.  Jesus also says Whoever believes in me shall not perish.  They shall have ever lasting life.  There is time for every action under the sun. The people who think they possess the truth have to be aware of that–their words always have another side to them.

Pink Floyd

Author: siggy

I saw Pink Floyd a year or two (before they released “Dark Side Of The Moon”) at the Philmore East in NYC on a Sunday afternoon and the theater was barely a third full. It might have been with the original guitarist Syd Barrett. I remember hearing stories that I never verified that they had a full time psychiatrist accompany them on their tours. They truly was a progressive sounding group at that point with long jams characterizing their music.

In fact, the best song they ever wrote was “Wish You Here” on the same titled album (released right after The Dark Side of The Moon) was about the disintegration of Syd Barret, who they loved and had to fire from the band. He went off the deep end. He died not that long ago.