Black greyhound with white and grey muzzle curled up asleep on a dog bed

Bisbee pics and saying goodbye (Weekend Coffee Share #10)

October 15, 2021 /

Good morning and happy Friday! Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Grab a drink and a nibble, and let’s chat.

When this post goes live, I’ll be in Flagstaff, a town in the Arizona mountains where I used to live. My husband is seeing his knee surgeon up there for a final post-operative visit, and I’m tagging along. Flagstaff is not what people think of when they think of Arizona. It’s almost 7000 feet above sea level, and it gets *cold*. I enjoyed the six years I lived there, but I so don’t miss shoveling snow. They got their first snow of the year this week, just a light dusting, but still… snow.

Farewell, sweet Maddie

Content warning: death of a pet. Please feel free to skip this section if you need to.

  • Maddie modeling husband’s Call of Duty cap
  • Picture of author with one fawn greyhound and one black greyhound, both wearing parkas
    Me with Maddie and Fergi, March 2020
  • Black greyhound with grey muzzle sleeping on a dog bed
    Maddie looking deceptively nonthreatening
The many adorable faces of Maddie, who, like most greyhounds, spent most of her time as a tripping hazard–unless something small and possibly tasty moved in her vicinity. See this post for an example of the latter.

As I write this paragraph, it’s Wednesday morning, and the house is quiet. Too quiet. Normally, Maddie the greyhound would be scratching at her bed or going back and forth through the dog door or materializing by my side to remind me it’s time for treats and a walk. But we lost Maddie yesterday.

Over the weekend, she started having trouble eating and drinking. On Monday, the vet found a large mass under her tongue. Bring her in on Tuesday, the vet said, and we’ll biopsy.

So we take her in Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon the vet calls. They haven’t done the biopsy, because Maddie’s kidney disease has progressed to the point that they don’t think she can handle the anesthesia. They’ve also looked more closely at the mass, and they think it’s inoperable. Take her home, give her fluids, spend a few days with her. We did that once, back in 2020 when we lost our first greyhound, Fritz. Two days later, we ended up at an emergency vet late at night with a dog in terrible pain. So we made the difficult decision to let Maddie go.

She left this earth the way I hope to go when it’s my time: peacefully, surrounded with love, and with the remains of her last meal (cheese pizza!) still in her mouth.

The last of the Bisbee pics

On a much lighter note (because this section was written before we lost Maddie), just when you thought I couldn’t milk last month’s trip to Bisbee for any more blog content, I bring you: the last installment of the Bisbee pics! We’ll start out with some fun building shots, before we get to the really creepy stuff.

Now for the creepiest thing I saw in Bisbee (and that’s saying something): A shop window that appeared to be untouched since before the pandemic. This thing had an amazing post-apocalyptic horror vibe. Here we go:

Gotta love the deflated, half-fossilized balloons, spider webs, and creepy doll face. *shiver*

But it gets better.

Now we have a beetle cruising around our formerly-festive hellscape.

And finally:

This one is just… WTF?

After that, we need a wholesome, non-creepy palate cleanser:

And that’s it for the Bisbee pics. Next week I should have Flagstaff pics. Give your pets a hug from me (unless your pets are rattlesnakes or scorpions or some other creature that will fend off your advances–then toss them a treat from a safe distance and tell ’em it’s from me).

What are you up to this weekend?

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17 Comments

  • Bobbiem91

    October 15, 2021 at 9:22 am

    Sorry to hear about Maddie. It’s always hard to lose a pet. As for Bisbee, it was an interesting place. I which I could have done the trip down into the mine, but it was going to take took long and I needed to get back to my campground. I do plan on going there again along with the a couple of the parks in the area. So you don’t miss the snow? I love it and am looking forward to it this year.

    • Janet Alcorn

      October 15, 2021 at 9:31 am

      Thanks. No, I don’t miss the snow (though it’s beautiful) and I really don’t miss the wind. I’m actually in Flag now (husband has a medical appt here), and the wind is annoying.

  • Natalie

    October 15, 2021 at 2:46 pm

    I’m sorry to hear about Maddie. I hope you husband’s appointment goes well and you have a good stay in Flagstaff. Thank you for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare.

  • Susanne

    October 16, 2021 at 6:45 am

    I’m so sorry for the loss of your dog. That shop window looks like way before the pandemic – like Halloween 2019? Here shop windows displayed St Patrick’s day decorations in the summer…creepy in its own way, knowing the reason, but nothing like the one in Bisbee!

    • Janet Alcorn

      October 16, 2021 at 10:27 am

      Thanks. I don’t know if that display was from Halloween 2019 or if that store always has creepy displays, but either way, it was really eerie.

  • Gary A Wilson

    October 16, 2021 at 8:51 am

    Hi Janet, I was so sorry to read about Maddie. It sounds like you two made a hard but right decision. Now, if only I knew the words that would comfort someone after such an experience. . .

    I really do have to find a way to visit both Flagstaff and Bissbee.
    Regular snow in AZ would be such a cool memory and your photos from Bisbee could make it a destination.

    Thanks for the visit.

  • Inspiring Max

    October 16, 2021 at 11:11 pm

    Hi Janet it is also difficult to lose a much loved pet especially when they get sick. Maddie looks beautiful and a lot of fun. Sorry for your loss. The window shots are surprisingly creepy It will be interesting how long they stay like that.

    • Janet Alcorn

      October 18, 2021 at 7:06 am

      Thanks. The house is so quiet without Maddie, and then I’ll hear a noise and think it’s her. Or I’ll walk by her water dishes and think, oh, she drank all her water, I need to fill them, and then remember she’s gone.