Murphy's Hideaway by Murphy Doodle

i had a hideaway

UNTIL JACK CUT IT DOWN where i would run and hide my toys and self

i could tell that letty liked my hideaway, too, since she could sing her funny songs even if i do not know what the words mean

sometimes when i would hide letty would sing these words

I KNOW A DARK SECULDED PLACE

WHERE NO ONE KNOWS YOUR FUNNY FACE

IT'S CALLED HERNANDO'S HIDEAWAY, OLE!

Letty even made a funny wiggle and tossed my frisbee in the air when she sang Ole! i like to see her laugh when i run after the frisbee

One day Jack cut away my hideaway and i hung my head and pouted

still he played frisbee with me everyday and so would Letty, i kept running to my hide away and they laughed

one rainy day when i could not run and chase squirrels and rabbits and birds and frisbees and toys i had to stay inside

That was my lucky day because now i have a new HIDAWAY.

Hernando's Hideaway from Pajama Game

What I Am Learning by Murphy Doodle

I am Murphy Doodle, writer and people lover.

I am two years old now whatever that means to people but I am still the same writer I have always been

Letty said I had to use CAPITAL letters when i write...it is hard for a dog to hit two keys at once but i am learning

I like to write about what I see and smell...mostly smell

one day letty turned to jack and said that I had a keen eye for squirrels

I think she meant that I could smell squirrels and see them run on the fence and in the trees…I think that is what keen means

There are little mice running in letty's garden and i try to catch them everyday so they will not hurt letty...once when i caught one she screamed like it was wrong...i dropped the mouse and ran away

Once maybe twice when I was a puppy  and very small I saw a square flat thing on the table and mice where on top…they didn’t move and I couldn’t smell them but it bothered me to see them in the house…

I decided to sneak up on the mice and kill them before letty got home…it was very difficult to kill them…worst of all they didn’t move or even smell like mice…I chewed an chewed on the corners of the box until I was tired of the taste…the mice didn’t move so I guess they were dead  

When Letty came in the room she picked up the box and scolded me in a loud scary voice that made me hang my head and feel really bad on the inside…she didn’t understand  that I wanted to protect her from the mice

Next she picked up boxes everywhere and said these are BOOKS, MURPHY…do not eat BOOKS and she pointed a finger in my face and hugged the BOOK (box)  i think that means i need to learn a new people word called books...she has books everywhere but i will not eat them ever again

One time I chewed on letty’s purple eye glasses because I was lonely and wanted to be by her side…when she saw what I had done she shook her head sideways (that means no in body language) and then she scolded me again and said NO NO NO

Later she invited me to sit on her lap and she petted me….so she did not stay mad at me very long

I have chews everywhere now so i do not get in trouble

 

I wag my tail a lot now that I am older because I am always happy to be in my home and I do not chew up things like I did when I was little

 

 

 

 

Mr. Rogers in the Neighborhood

my real name is MURPHY DOODLE, but sometimes jack and letty confuse me and call me other names like mud foot and shaggy dog, i guess that is just how people talk

one day when it was windy enough to blow my tail, jack let me off the lease at the park to run because no one was there, no dogs to play with me made me sad and happy because i like to run free to chase squirrels

i like to play with other dogs, even when they hide behind brown fences i bark and say things like WON'T YOU BE MY FRIEND

sometimes they bark back GO AWAY, GET AWAY FROM MY HOUSE

at the park that day i ran all over chasing birds and squirrels and then i heard a dog bark saying  COME SEE ME, COME SEE ME, COME SEE ME

i ran all the way down a fence line and saw a little dog who has black and white hair but not curly like my hair, she has straight hair and funny hair cut

we ran up and down the fence line but she wore out after two laps, i think her short legs were tired

letty found out one day that her name was NOLA and i saw her pink collar, 

that day there was another small dog visiting NOLA, he could not run very well and sometimes he fell over, jack said he might be a puppy

one day NOLA did not want to run so instead we barked at each other through the black rod fence,

NOLA whined I WANT A FRIEND

i barked CAN I BE YOUR FRIEND

now sometimes when i go to the park we run together on separate sides of the fence, and sometimes we go the corner and bark at each other,

that is so much fun, she makes me happy

now letty calls me mister rogers when i bark at other dogs to play, i do not know what that means but her voice sounds happy

i have a lot of other friends, too

PENNY is my favorite fence friend, and we can play in her yard and swimming pool or in my big backyard,

when CASH  comes over he tinkles on all of my bushes and i have to go tinkle everywhere after he leaves, when i go to his back yard i tinkle on the trees and bushes, so i guess that means we are friends

my big brother OLIVER comes over sometimes, he tries to make me behave but i just run run run all around, finally he lays down and we get to roll around on the ground just like we did when we were puppies on the farm

i think it is the dogs we love the most that makes us the gladdest

**letty is trying to teach me punch uation about capital letters, now i use capital letters when i talk, she said it sounds loud like my bark 

Buffalo Dog by Murphy Doodle

i like the shade and the dirt

i have learned a new word this summer, it is called hot and hot burns my feet on the sidewalk and hot makes me feel lazy, i do not remember hot last year when i was a puppy

i have a new short hair cut but it is still hot

i thought shade was the best thing about summer and then i discovered dirt, the best thing about dirt is that is is cool, it makes my skin tickle all over when i roll in it, it is even more fun when i shake because the dirt flies in the air and letty and jack laugh at me

letty says that i am a buffalo dog because i like to roll in the dirt, i looked at her with my brown eyes and asked her what a buffalo looked like 

then she told me all about a big buffalo who used to be a pet and lived inside a house, like me, but she said he was born bigger than i am now when i have all of my hair on me

on the land she said the buffalo make large dry beds of dirt and then they wallow in the dirt to get the flies off and feel good like i do, i hope i have a wallow someday

Stormy, the Buffalo from Sandy Spring Farms

i sure hope i do not see a buffalo at the park, i would have to bark to protect letty and i might be afraid he could chase me

sometimes when it is hot i play in the sprinklers, even though i am not suppose to

i get in trouble a lot when i play in the water but i do not know why

when i played in this water, it would not hold still so i put my paw on it to make it hold still, it still wiggled, so i chewed on it to make it hold still, maybe that is what i did wrong, next time i think i will lay on it

when i get really wet i jump on the chair or swing to feel some cool air, i can swing by myself but i like it better with jack or letty

when jack is on the swing he tosses the ball or frisbee for me, except when i am wet, but when i am wet i am cool and like to play toss or chew, so what am i supposed to do

roll in the dirt like a buffalo

play in the water sprinkler

bark to go inside where it is cool

or hide away from the sun and every body

Hide and go Peek.

i need to write a footnote

if you know letty please tell her to stay home with me

when she plays golf and gets in the car to go places

i do not get to be with her and i do not feel my hugs and rubs

i miss her and my hugs and rubs and all of the stories i want to tell

Murphy Doodle's Favorite Place

 

this is the best place in the world

hi, my name is murphy doodle, and i have lived in this house for a year,  i don't know what a year is but that is what letty tells people and then she smiles and hugs me all over

i love this house and especially the blue couch they bought for me to sleep on and play on, it is so cool and comfy

i am too big to sleep on the back now, but i can curl up and lean on it, i can pose on it, jump over it, jump off of it and chew my toys on it

sometimes, letty scolds me when i jump up from behind, or over the side where the table sits........i don't know why?

one day i jumped over a pretty lady named jonya and i really scared her, but i didn't hit the drink in her hand, i didn't knock over the books on the table, i was careful, but suddenly they asked me to go outside and play......that was just fine with me, i really like to play with toys in the backyard, i can even throw a frisbee and make it roll

i like to play in the mud and dig holes, it is  so much fun, then I have to take a bath,  i get baths way too often.....my puppy mother showed me how to lick myself clean, so why does letty have to wash me? 

my favorite thing to play in the house is chase the toy, i can chase whatever jack throws, it is so much fun to jump off the couch when the toy rolls by me, i pretend it is a squirrel

letty yells my name a lot when i chase toys in the house but jack and i keep playing because it is so much fun

when i am outside the squirrels run by me and around me but i cannot catch them, one time when i ran really fast i slid into the tree and bumped my side so hard that i barked at that big tree, and the squirrel barked back at me

that is when letty and jack really laughed at me because they said the squirrel barked louder than i did...someday i will catch a squirrel and show those animals that this is my yard

i have a secret....at night when jack gets up to walk down the hall way i sneak along behind and crawl up on the couch in the dark, he doesn't know that i have left the sleeping room for my couch......then i get to sleep on my soft couch until the light wakes me up

this is how i sit when i am writing with letty

sometimes i have to use my paw on her arm to get her attention i think she likes to look out the window at the bird feeder and watch the birds when she is thinking about words 

i am so  OH OH OH  HURRY LOOK THERE IS A SQUIRREL IN THE BIRD FEEDER OUTSIDE...QUICK LETTY....HIT THE GLASS...NO LET ME GET IT...MOVE OVER...I CAN GET IT....

Murphy, stop. Settle down. The squirrel is gone. 

i ran all over the house and chased that squirrel off the the feeder and over the roof, but i still didn't catch  

now i need a bone to chew on

the end

 

Murphy Doodle's Winter Day

this is the most fun day of my life

letty and jack played in the white grass with me and i ran and jumped and ran and jumped, i even chased a ball and a frisbee but it was not easy

letty did not want to stay out and play with me, she left me outside and i found a bone to chew on while i rested on the cold white grass, i wanted to bury the bone but the dirt under the white grass only let me scratch it, that was strange

then it was time to eat

"No, Murphy, it is not white grass it is called snow. Let's practice snow, listen to me.  Snow, want to play in the snow?"

i nodded my head, i like this new word snow, i hope i get to play in it again and again and again

after we ate lunch letty stood by a the hot hole in the wall with scary flames in it, I walked to the window and barked to go outside

she said, no murphy, it is cold outside, we were just out there playing frisbee and now i am cold and standing by the fireplace to warm up

no, i howled

then i begged jack to go outside, I like to sit on the couch so i can watch jack all day long, he loves to play ball, but now i want to go outside so i gave him my most pitiful look, 

even please didn't work

he took me outside but then he slipped away from me and went back inside by the fire in the wall place where letty stood, 

i can watch them from outside because i have a table to jump on top of and sit in the window

i like being outside when other dogs are nearby so we can bark at each other, over the fence where i can not see lives quinn, my friend, we get to bark a lot when quinn stays outside, he tells me about his neighbor winston who runs up and down the fence, like i do with penny, my dog friend, on the other side of the fence

Murphy and Quinn, an Australian Shepheard 

quinn used to come over and play with me, we loved to chase and roll each other, sometimes we would take naps together in the shade 

one day quinn did not bark at the fence

quinn is gone now, letty said they moved away, whatever that means, it means that they took my friend, i still bark for quinn everyday but he does not bark back

quinn, i will miss you

Murphy Doodle will be a year old on March 8. He came to live with us May 1, and we have laughed and played ever since. He has even learned to write a story about his life.  I originally named him Happy Dog before we picked him up and carried him home. Then he became Murphy Doodle, but I still call him Happy dog when I hug him.  Happy Birthday, Murphy.  

Stories of Love

 

This is how we started, young and determined.

I've been thinking about "tapestries of life" this morning, it sounds much more articulate than scrap-booking. A weaver begins with a vision, a pattern, and thread by thread interlaces the colors to create the design, but a writer relies on words, words spoken from the heart.

1Corinthians 13:8.  LOVE never ends. LOVE is like the wind, it never subsides.  Without this LOVE that is patient and kind, like a mother’s love for her child, we have nothing.

When I searched my blog for the word of the month, Love, I found over a dozen previous stories that expressed love in words and pictures. Looking back I smiled, realizing that my life was filled with a tapestry of rich and royal hues (thank you Carole King).

Remember these from a grade school autograph book:

* Roses are red, Violets are blue, Pansies are lovely, just like you.

*Roses are red, Violets are blue, You have a nose like a B-52.

*You are 2 sweet
                2 be
                4 gotten

It has been seven years since I reflected on those grade school years and childhood love...Wardogs Pieces of Memories

It seems impossible to think of grade school days without seeing my mother in my life. She was there for every moment and now I cherish those simple days and acts of love I never recognized. As a PTA President off and on for decades my mother involved herself in every party, and Valentine's was a favorite. 

Somewhere in her 40's and 50's she found time to reflect and take college classes. She loved learning. How ironic that as I searched for words and thoughts about weaving and tapestry I found a poem by Corrie ten Boom, an author and woman my mother respected for her acts of love in saving Jewish people from the Nazi's in World War II.

"Life is but a Weaving"  

My life is but a weaving

Between my God and me.

I cannot choose the colors

He weaveth steadily. 

   by Corrie ten Boom         

I've been so fortunate to have family, friends, students, author's words, musicians, and acquaintances pass through my life.

 

"Love and time are the only two things in this world that cannot be bought, only spent."  --Gary Jennings

 

On. that fall morning in the parking lot outside the hospital, Sue reached in her trunk to pull out a basket of scrape booking materials. "Would you like some help with the basket?" I asked.  

"No, I'm fine today. Thank you." With a heavy breathe she continued, "I may not feel this good after the treatment today. The days get really long for me."  

My heart took a double beat with her heavy sigh. Here she was smiling and looking at the sunlight. With a joyous expression on her face and a glisten in her eyes, she looked around at the hospital complex, of concrete, bricks, and asphalt, and then the sky. "I love living. I love life Letty. I don't want to die."

I Love Living Sue's story will linger in my heart forever.

 

I can't resist a great love story. Dave Isay collected stories from Story Corp and published "All There Is." I cried and laughed as I read this book. Here is why...

The stories of love cover the ages, cultures, and circumstances of love. You can read about Hunny Reiken, 80, who talks with her husband Elliot Reiken, 86. Hunny speaks:  "I have a twin sister, Bunny.  And you have a twin brother, Danny.  When we met we were sixteen and a half, and we were waitresses in a hotel.  You and Danny were musicians in a band." The story of the two sets of twins marrying the same day brings a smile to the readers face but it is Hunny's reflection I like best, "When two people get married, they say two people become one.  No, I don't agree.  Two people should remain two people and walk side by side.  I've not become Elliot.  Elliot has not become Hunny.  We remain Hunny and Elliot.  And to me, that's important." Elliot responds, "You made my life complete.  And I hope we'll go on for another fifty years."  Hunny, "I'll take five good ones.  Five good ones, and I'll say, 'Thank you, God!'"

Love Stories and Story Corp

Jack and I began our marriage with three preteens, a lot of love in our hearts, and a small house . Michael, Katy, and Matthew are grown, gone from home, healthy, and busy with their lives. Love, devotion, support of each other, consistency, and adventures together as a family kept our love alive and provided a home for our children. 

We are now two, and a dog, always a dog. Before Murphy Doodle, there was Lucy, and before Lucy there was Woofer. We loved them and they loved us. However, Lucy is the only one who has sent me a Valentine card. Puppy Dog LOVE

Happy Valentine's to all and may love lift your spirits today.

Murphy Doodle Walks

Good Murphy Doodle 

Good Murphy....

it sure is hard to be a good dog, i like to walk and sniff and p and pull and tug but letty likes slow g e n t l e walks, and i like letty

she does not know how hard it is for me to walk slowly,  but if i do not walk slowly and gently then my neck gets sore from tugging all of the time, i am strong and want to walk like a man dog, when i do sometimes letty just stops and talks to me, i hang my head, i don't want to hurt her, when i walk slowly she surprises me with a treat, i wag my tail and walk gentle after that 

actually jack walks are better and lots more fun, he lets me run ahead of him on a long lease and i get to sniff and p on every  mailbox and tree, but jack doesn't give me treats like letty does on her walks

i smelled a cat here but could not find it, when i see it i will chase it away 

on a day called christmas when there were children everywhere on bicycles, i walked a long way with jack and barked at that big reindeer with a red nose, i do not like to see him when he jumps around in the wind, i bark and bark and he will not go away, i bet he would like to fly away someday, if we were friends i would teach him to fly like i do

then letty took me for a gentle walk in the afternoon, i have noticed that the yards have objects all over them now and i get to p on little white trees, toys, and green trees, 

how can we have little trees and gigantic reindeer, it does not make sense,

i did see a new little white house that i wanted to smell but letty said no, no no,  i stopped and look and it was quiet all around, i did not even bark at it

what happened to the cold weather, my body felt so good when the cold wind blew but now it is back to summer and i am hot, even in the house, i want winter back

after letty rearranged the furniture so i could not fly around the room, she moved a table and put up a tree, she shook her finger at me and said no p, no p, off, off, off

i sniffed the tree and then pulled the blanket away from it, so i could sleep on the under the tree, she forgot that my bed has always been in that corner, so now i sleep beside the house tree

once again i heard Bad Murphy, when i ate a hole in rudolph's bag of gifts, whatever that means, i ate a hole because it tasted like candy goodies

i woke up on a special day and found a new blanket under the house tree just for me and there was a chew toy with it

i hope you found chew toys and blankets on your special day and a big bowl of food