FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

Please don't stop putting photos of Smokey up - the first thing I do every time I get your email is scroll through quickly looking to see how he is today - so glad he's making such good progress - lots of strokes and hugs from the Limousin where we have warm rain and 18C today.

p.s. Ce matin: blue skies and cool in southwest Virginia.

I, like many of your readers, think of little Smokey's progress, even when we are not visiting your site. Please do keep his updated photos and info. coming!

And regarding your photography....each one seems to be more poetic and impressive than the last! Kudos to you and artistic eye : )

Although, I've been out of school for nearly 40 years, I still have dreams about my classes. My worst dream was: I know there is an exam coming up, I can't find the syllabus, I don't know where the class is held (I haven't been to class yet), and I don't know anybody in the class ('cause I haven't been to class yet). My most recent dream about classes was last week. The (dream) exam was in Math (my major) given by a religion professor. The first question was a fairly easy math problem, the rest of the exam was all word definitions, none of which I recognized. I think these dreams are the result of guilt for not taking my studies more seriously (especially French).

It's good to see Smokey bouncing about, but I agree with Kathy's advice to get the dead tissue removed.

Clear, heading to 50 in St. Paul. It's hard to believe this is November in Minnesota.

The older you get the wilder your dreams become. I can't even begin to relate to you
my dreams, they are in color and are just
like watching a high-def movie. Lately I have been dreaming alot about my first husband (that should get me in alot of trouble if his wife is reading this)- I always wonder when I dream of someone if they dream about me.

Always in my dreams near the end I am searching for a bathroom...I have finally realized that my dreams are telling me I am full of $#!& - so now I don't place alot of
concern on my dreams - but I do when I have a vision. I have had three visions in my life and I can feel them as clearly today as I did then (one is 30 years old.)

Does anyone else have dreams where they are someone else? I know it's me, but it doesn't look like me and sometimes in my dream I realize it isn't really me. Dreams!! They are so strange. I have a friend whose dreams are prophetic. hmmmm. I think mine are just a form of creativity and imagination. Merci, Kristin, for your lovely perspective on life - with your words and with your lense. I sooo look forward to my morning ritual of "tea with Kristin". And, PLEASE, keep those photos of Smokey and Blaise coming!

A cool, crisp, frosty morning in SW Kansas. I'm ready for lots and lots of snow!! (remember I'm a displaced Colorado girl!)

I'm betting it is the caffeine in le chocolat chaud that is aiding your reves.

When I flew over my handlebars and landed face first in gravel, the folks at the ER numbed by face and then debrided it with a kitchen scrub brush. I recovered rather quickly.

Debriding the wound for Smokey makes a lot of sense. This is the typical treatment for diabetics when they have wounds that will not heal (or, as happens with diabetics, the wound will close up but fester and continue to be infected under the skin.) My sister was a diabetic for many years and frequently this was the only way to keep her from being fatally infected from even the smallest cut or burn. I would see if the vet will go for it, but I would suggest that you make sure he has a good amount of experience in this kind of procedure.
As for the dreams...of course you are working out and reliving your little Smoky's experience! He was chased down and didn't get away in time....you are reliving it for him so that it will work out this time! BTW, my mother always felt that there were certain foods that when eaten before bed, lead to dreams or, in some cases, nightmares. Peanut butter before bed was always a 'no-no' unless I wanted vivd nightmares!
Best of Luck with Smokey!
xoNancy L.

Do you have the same sort of dreams when you don't drink le chocolat chaud??? I have wild dreams sometimes following anything caffeinated too.
About Smokey......cats and dogs heal differently from humans in that their skin heals faster than ours and thus a lot of "debris" is trapped under the skin with no way to get out and this is what causes the infections they get. The idea of a good debridment to remove all that debris makes sense - and maybe using a bit of sterile gauze or something in the incision to keep the skin from closing so fast (the vet. should know how to do that). What you are aiming for is for the wound to heal from the inside out....so that the skin seals last.......Ask the vet how to best accomplish this.......we had to do this often with our cat and it always worked!. Best wished to you all......Barb

Interesting comments Barb left on how cats and dogs heal differently than we do. Still, my sister had to have several severe wounds debrided and that was the only way (the doctor said) to help the wound heal. Another relative has had to have a small medical vacumn attached to his big post surgery wounds, and the vacumn stays on for weeks at a time and sucks out the infection to help the wound heal. I imagine that would be completely impractical for Smokey the active puppy though (if they even use medical vacumns for dog wounds). Monica

Debriding is probably what an American veterinarian would do. It will clean up the site and remove any junk and dead stuff that is impairing the healing. Even with booboos Smokey is adorable Please keep posting photos and updates on him.
Heavy rain, lots of wind and 52 degrees in Seattle.

BTW< the weather here today is currently 31 degrees and fog advisory. Should clear up and be a crisp,cool Autumn day...highs in the upper 60's...from Northern California.

Oh how I feel for poor smokey. When our bridgette lost her leg and was subsequently burned I did hydrotherpy on her wounds every day-debriding (de bride) to remove infection and dead tissue. She is a happy and healthy girl today albeit with 3 legs. After my 5 year stint as a vet assistant here in canada I don't understand the clay but water therapy and keeping it clean will eventually work. Take care and keep those pics coming.

I hope Smokey gets well soon. What a process! I dream in English, wish I could dream in French and then maybe I could speak it better... It is cold but clear here in Denver Colorado. It snowed yesterday and this morning was on -18 celcius or 0 degrees f. at my house...burr...I do miss the Arizona winters. I grew up in Peoria, Az. but don't miss the summers :)

"Rever" always means "to dream." I always thought that "songer" could be a dream, OR a daydream, or even sort of a plan/hope. "Je songe a aller en France" could be that I am hoping/thinking about going there - is that correct?

I always dream in color. I have dreamed in the three foreign languages I know, more in French than German or Russian.

Some dreams clearly incorporate things that have happened to me, either events or such things as TV/movies.

Usually I am myself. A couple of times I have been someone else, or in a different family. Once I was a boy. I don't know what brought about me-not-being-me.

Once I had a perfectly normal dream, but at the end, instead of walking around it, I jumped clear across the swimming pool! Maybe subconsciously I was hoping to "leap" forward in skill or something.

The strangest dream ever was when I was a cat, A man picked me up and told a friend that I was a special breed that could swim.

I used to remember dreams much better than I do now. I often don't get enough sleep, so maybe I'm moving faster to the "delta" stage, rather than remaining in the "REM" (rapid eye movement) phase where dreaming occurs.

So far, I haven't found that any particular food lends itself to dreaming.

It's a sunny, breezy, pretty day today, with the high expected to be about 60.

My Dear Kristin: First about Smokey - yes, I think a debridement IS probably necessary, especially for the wound beneath the chin. I know the idea of it is unpleasant for him, but it is probably worth considering. I would also suggest that you begin giving him some probiotics (since he is taking so many antibiotics.) The probiotics will restore the good flora in his gut and help him grow stronger. You would give the probiotics at least 2-4 hours apart from the antibiotics (so that the latter would not "kill off" the probiotics.)
Michael I. & Suzanne P.

Hi Kristin. PLEASE don't stop updating us about Smokey's progress (and posting the "dog photos")! It's literally the first thing that I look for when I open your page. Bisous to Smokey, Braise and your entire family. :) Amy in Dallas.

Hi Kristin: Creative people creatively dream. Why do you drink hot chocolate before you plan to sleep? You can also incubate a dream by phrasing a question to which you want an answer. (I wrote a newsletter on it at www.ilovemypsychic.com) just look at the psychic newsletter section.

Your emails are so good. Love the pictures. You're a talent!

...xoxo...Lorrie (in Redondo Beach)

I have never seen what my dreams are like after drinking hot chocolate, but they are crazy if I have any cheese before bed! I don't honestly think I can recall any normal dreams I've had--ever since I was little I've dreamed about riding a giant swan to Leprachaun Land to buy Hallmark cards, or observing stampeding African animals in Egypt from across a bridge in Turkey (my geography skills don't seem to translate very well in my dreams). I haven't done much traveling yet but my dreams don't seem to care--they always take me away somewhere. I always dream in vivid color, and usually in English (when I studied for French tests before bed, then half of my conversations were in one language, the other half in another).
As a dog lover, I too love getting the updates on Smokey! I hope he is healing well!
It's chilly, rainy, and very windy here in the Seattle area today :-) I'm hoping our power will stay on all day!

re: songe et songer vs. rêve et rêver

on peut avoir des rêves en train de dormir ci-inclus litéralement ou par extension métaphoriquement/ á mon avis, songer c'est plus général. par exemple JE SONGE DE M'INSTALLER EN FRANCE SE TRADUIT EN ANGLAIS: I KEEP ON THINKING (unrealistically) OF MOVING TO FRANCE. IT'S JUST A 'DREAM' OF MINE because I can't do it but not what I actually dream about asleep or in a daydream. I am not a native French speaker. plz check this out and return a comment. Feel free to copy or post this...gnr

Kristin,
I recently lived in Paris for a few years with both my dog and cat. The vets I went to cooed and cared for my pets HOWEVER, I found French veterinary medicine to be wanting of urgency and up to date care. The care given to humans does not translate to their very beloved pets.

At any rate, please be "up" your proactiveness in Smokey's care, even if it means forcing the hand of the vet to debride this wound. A necrotic wound being pumped with antibiotics that is not healing is just suppressing his immune system. You do not, and I repeat, you do not want a head infection to travel to his brain or nervous system.

I totally agree with Nancy regarding finding a vet that has done this type of cleaning before. When my dog needed to be retested for heartworm (she is a Katrina rescue that had to be treated for it), our 60+ yr old loving Parisian vet looked wided eyed not just needing to figure out what lab could do the test - but when the results came back inconclusive. He called a Vet hospital in Marseille for advice, I called my NYC vet. My French vet went with the NYC vet's advice and all went well.

Our thoughts are with Smokey every day during his recovery,
Maryli & Dixie (our Katrina rescue)

To Diane Scott: I am guessing that the dream of the child in your home that you don't remember may be your very own soul who most of us forget to nurture in our busy lives ... yet it is always happy to be remembered and loved. Les reves are the subconscious unresolved matters making an appearance when we rest. Les songes are the conscious considerations we are able to contemplate when we are awake. Be good to yourselves mes amis. I am still sunbathing in 75 degrees briefly every day in sunny Santa Barbaa, CA. We need rain.

I'm surprised yet comforted by the similar themes in so many of our dreams. Panic-stricken, arriving at a Math exam for which I never studied is my repeating nightmare and has been for over 30 years. Some of my favorite dreams include beloved family members who have passed away. They're once again so alive and vibrant ... and wise.

It's 42 and clear here on the east end of Long Island and beginning to look a lot like winter. The two day nor'easter over the week-end brought down our last remaining leaves.

Good luck with Smokey, with all that love around, he will mend - it's just a matter of time.

Whew! Just made the airplane after forgetting my boarding pass, (still gold), having to run all the way back to the ticket counter,losing my luggage somewhere in the strange terminal, getting into the wrong, abandoned mostly dismantled boarding gate, and finally being the last one welcomed aboard by the flight attendant. OK, time for breakfast.

Dear Kristin,

I've been following the "guerison" of your puppy with great interest. I guess I'm quite lucky to live in a university town with a good vet school. When my dogs have had problems that my private practice vet couldn't handle, I've taken them there. These have been eye issues but they see everything at a vet school and are "au courrant" on all health developments. Additionally, I have dear friends living in La Cadière (just east of Marseilles). They have kept a kennel of dogs for decades and are experienced in treating dog injuries--or getting proper treatment for them. While I'm sure you are going to knowledgeable vets, perhaps they would know some one else who might help with Smokey's wounds. If you would like their name and contact information you can write me the email address I've supplied.

Best,

Paula

A dream I believe is an insight to the future for me as when we sleep some of us have ability to travel into the immediate future and when we awake we realize the fragments of the dream are in fact a reality so with this in mind I do tend to heed the implications of my dream. Who know what lies ahead no one knows for sure ...