Skip to main content

A Note About Dogs...and Books

Yesterday I noticed a  bus for a doggie day care going by.  It looked like a small school bus except that it was purple.  At least one of the several doggie day care places around here will pick up dogs and then deliver them at the end of the day.  I realized that I never saw a doggie day care place in Venice, Florida.
Now, Venice is dog paradise as far as I can tell.  The sidewalks are abuzz with people walking their dogs each morning and evening.  Many of the dogs seem never to even have to touch their feet to the ground since they are carried or carted in strollers or bicycle baskets.  Dogs have their own beach.  They have a downtown parade and an official day in the park.  There are dog grooming places and even higher end salons for the pampered canine.  No day care facilities, I'm guessing because the population is so heavily skewed to the retired who don't need day care or a bus to transport their pets.
What I did notice in Venice in the dog "business" vein, though was a taxi service for dogs--to get them to vet and grooming appointments.  (How about a limo service to get the purebreds to dog shows?)  Also some enterprising individual started a pooper scooper business proudly advertised on his/her car.  They will come and clean up your yard on a regular or a one basis.  Now that is a business that would not fly in rural Vermont, but I could definitely see it filling a real need in a place like Venice.
There is a bakery in the next small town that produces special dog treats.  I didn't happen to notice anything like that in Venice, but I'll bet that would take off on the main street--a little cafe type place that served coffee or wine to humans and bowls of fresh water and a crunchy, fresh-baked treat for the dogs.
I just think it is really kind of cool when someone sees a need and makes a going business out of filling that need.
I am not looking to start any kind of business, but I did fill a need today.  I spent four hours at our town library today sorting through books that were donated for the fund raiser book sale, but too late.  Some of the books can go into the library's holdings and a bunch I put on the sale shelf.   Will it surprise anyone to know that I reordered that shelf, putting the books in alphabetical order, separating fiction/non-fiction, etc.?
Next time, I will color code with a sticky dot all the sale books so we can get rid of things that just don't sell after a certain amount of time.  Some of the books are just ready to be thrown out, but most will be passed on to another library book sale.
I wonder, with the popularity of electronic readers and the ready availability of books to use with them, how much longer used book sales will be much of a draw and a viable fund raiser for libraries.  I do hope there will always be a role for our little community library though.

Comments

  1. Here in SoCal some of the drive through restaurants give out doggie treats when they give you your order if they see that you have a dog in the car with you. The treat is always in its own little baggie, so the owner can decide if and when the dog gets it. Doing this brings lots of people to that drive-in!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope there will always be at least some people who like to hold a book in their hands, to feel the flat surfaces and the edges of the pages, to smell the age of it.

    That pooper scooper guy is a genius!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The businesses are genius. People will pay who need those services.

    I hope I am gone before all the books are. It really scares me to think that we aren't teaching handwriting, and we are seeing a decline in print books. What will become of our grandchildren in such a world?

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are right in the thick of it, even though you've just arrived back home. Good for you - hit the ground running, Olga!

    ReplyDelete
  5. If there is such a thing as reincarnation, my choice would be to come back as a dog to retired folks. Must be the life!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sometimes I wonder what the rest of the world thinks about the way we treat our pets.

    I'll bet a lot of folks would gladly pay a pooper-scooper to come once a week.

    If you have room it's nice to have your own library. As apartment dwellers that's the last thing I want, lots of books to move. I try to keep paper books to a minimum by reading books on my Kindle.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Here in Atlanta we also have all sorts of businesses catering to dog lovers. My theory in midtown Atlanta is that people have dogs so they can walk the streets without looking like homeless people. No surprise at all that you have ordered the books in three different ways. I have the sweetest mother who comes into my classroom every month or so to try to put my classroom library in order. She just about has a heart attack each time.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I always wanted to be a dog walker. Cute companions and great exercise. Almost always living in the country has made that remain on my dream shelf.
    I do love my Kindle but kind of miss the trips to the library. I saw my librarian the other day while shopping. She thought I had passed away. Goodness.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the business idea, but I couldn't help thinking about people who are struggling to make ends meet. I wish there were a way to smooth out the financial issues.

    I love my Kindle also, but unless I'm traveling I only download a book if the wait at the library is too long, or www.paperbackswap.com doesn't have it. I have a stack of real books by my nightstand and it's a comfort.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I appreciate readers' comments so much. You don't even always have to agree with me.

Popular posts from this blog

Updates

 On September 29, I had the closing on my condo. Everything that was not going to the buyers was out and packed in the ABF moving truck which had by the been taken over to the storage units. Don thought it would take him until Wednesday to finish packing the truck with the help of his son. It took him until late Thursday with Chris' help and mine. Kevin was supposed to help load as well but he was in a mountain bike accident and wrecked his shoulder the week before. That added driving him to doctor appointments to my to do list and dong some shopping for him plus jobs around the house that might need two functioning upper limbs.  We stayed with Kevin on Friday night after the closing and then had a suite in an extended stay place for the coming week. This was the worst possible time to have to get a room because the prices balloon during leaf peeping season if you can even find a room at all. But it was close to the storage units where we were working and it was dog friendly. We ju

Wedding

 Don and I drove to South Carolina to attend the wedding of my step-grandson, Will. Will Will and Katie The wedding took place on Dataw Island, a beautiful outdoor ceremony followed by a reception in the country club. We stayed in a tiny cottage in the historic center of Beaufort, rented from Vrbo. Since the wedding was at 5 p.m., we had time to explore the area a bit. I really like the low country scenery and historical charm. Sitting quietly in the curtained gazebo I was visited by multiple cardinals. They came to visit the feeder, not me, but I can always pretend! How I will always remember Will!

Rest In Peace

 In a summer that has been so wet, Sunday was a reprieve. The humidity dropped and the sun came out. It was a day that could have been special ordered by the family of a friend's husband. It was the day they had arranged his celebration of life ceremony set on the shore of Lake Champlain. I was not looking forward to the gathering, even couched as a celebration. This is a family fraught with relationship tensions. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony. A Catholic priest gave a brief but meaningful homily and two Air Force members played "Taps" and presented the American flag to my friend. I am not a Christian, but I do know about Christ Consciousness. That priest's word's filled me with such a sense of peace and love. I hope it did the same for the family members and neighbors who attended.