Meeka skipped the liiiiiight fandango...

Today I bought "The Big Chill" soundtrack and was instantly rocketed back to sixth grade. Back then I could sing at the top of my lungs with my eyes closed and not even think twice. Our family owned and played out the cassette tape for about 4 years straight. From third through seventh grade I can only remember listening to that tape, The Beatles, and Fleetwood Mac. So it's not that shocking to discover that I know every word on the CD. Or that each song shuffles me through emotions I didn't expect. I found myself belting "If I have to sleep on your doorstep, allll night and day, just to keep you from walkin' away..." and dancing by myself in my car. It must have looked a little weird to nearby drivers since I was laughing really hard at myself and making embarrassing singing faces. And bobbing my head around like an idiot. The memories I flashed through each involved my mom driving us around in her magenta Toyota Corolla or her green minivan (since we listened to the cassette through two cars' lifetimes). Currently the Four Tops are playing "The Same Old Song" (the very same one) in my headphones because Adam almost killed me earlier.



Meeka, our golden retriever, did not always have a positive reaction to car trips. Normally she is not a drooler, but in cars saliva oozes from her doggy lips constantly. Somehow she even smelled like she was going to vomit. We opened windows, stopped to let her out often, and let her roam around the car freely in an attempt to get her to like the car. What dog doesn't like cars?


This is Wyeth and me in 1993. Rockin' the side ponytail - a little after its time.

One summer day we were heading home from Neskowin (about a two hour drive) and blasting "A Whiter Shade of Pale" from our minivan speakers. It may not have been quality, but it was loud. Meeka and Kitty were accompanying Wyeth and me in the back seat. Meeka was only a few months old and was sitting on my lap. I sang to her, "And so it waaaaaaaaaaas, that layyyyayyyyayyyterrrr, as the Miller told his tale, that Meeka's face at first just ghostly..." And Meeka turned a whiter shade of pale and blew chunks on my lap.

I can still smell it. I was wearing a blue t-shirt that said Lincoln City Swim Club 1994 on it and it was one of my favorite shirts. I've never seen so much vomit come out of something so small. I dry heaved a couple of times and Wyeth and I begged Mom to pull over. An eternity later (you can't hear very well when that cassette is cranked up apparently), we pulled over and I climbed out, holding my shirt out. The pool of partially digested puppy food was gathered in my shirt like I was collecting rocks in it. It was steaming. I didn't have another shirt so we just dumped the puke and WIPED OFF THE SHIRT I HAD ON AND GOT BACK IN THE VAN!!! Horrifying. As you can guess, the smell lingered. Meeka was tiny and cute though, so I forgave her.

"Meeka was feelin', so bad! She asked the family doctor just what she had. She said Doctor (Doctor!), Mr. M.D., Doctor? Can you tell me, what's ailin' me? Doctor?"



All she needed was good lovin', it turns out. Poor Meeka.