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Red: The color of all that was good in 2009
By Gina Spadafori
December 13, 2009
Lot of red ink in 2009, let’s get that out of the way. It belongs in the Blue Christmas post. But funny how so much of what has helped me through the kidney stone year that was 2009 seems to have something to do with the color red.
Like Faith. The One Who Chose Me was originally “the Red Puppy” — absolutely by chance.
Like the Red Sox. My dad signed with them in 1954, and I gotta tell you, after dad died we heard from a lot of people who played with him in the Red Sox minor leagues or remembered watching him play. Diehards never forget.
Like the Red Truck. After my van decided he like getting visits from the tow-truck driver and spending expensive quality time with the mechanic, I filched my brother’s 1986 Mazda pickup for my daily driver. But that meant replacing his truck with something newer.
Just about then, my former boss decided to retire, and as part of that he also decided to sell his 2005 low-mileage Nissan Frontier pickup. We bought that for my brother to drive, and although he was initially not so much in love with its fire-engine red color, he has since come to love it, color and all. Not the least of which is because bright flaming red is the primary color of the high school where he’s one of the football coaches.
So we bought it, and that very night I went to the grocery store, only to turn the corner on an isle and run smack into a display of Red Truck wine, two bottles of which I then had to buy that very second, one for me and one for my brother.
Then …
Our latest blogger, my friend David Greene, was 3,000 miles away from home doing some consulting work at the University of California, Davis. David came over to see the Red Puppy (and others) and brought with him a CD with a red truck on the cover — “”Sweet Ride,” by his wife, Perry Desmond-Davies. (Click on the image to hear and buy it.)
Of course, David went home with my bottle of Red Truck wine, which I’ve subsequently replaced twice over.
Now, the very last of the “red” stuff:
This morning I’m listening to National Public Radio, and there’s a piece on the artist Nellie McKay, who has done a new collection of Doris Day songs. Doris Day! How perfect, since she was not only a ray of upbeat perkiness but also the founder of her own animal group and a hotel that welcomes pets and turned Carmel-By-The-Sea, Calif, into one of the most dog-friendly of get-aways.
So I pop over to Amazon and not only is Ms. McKay wearing a red dress on the cover of her Doris Day CD, “Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day,” but she’s posing on a couch with pit bulls in pearls!
That’s two must-buy CDs and a bottle of wine for your antidote to a Blue Christmas.
The Red Puppy, you cannot have.
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I got my own red puppy this year, a red with very little white Australian shepherd bitch. So I agree, good things did come in red packages this year!
Comment by Judi — December 13, 2009 @ 11:41 am
The new red metal roof on our heirloom barn (oak siding, 60’ chestnut beams from trees that will never be seen again) keeps the rain out. The 44 year-old originally green asphalt roof had not been.
One does not appreciate having a snug, tight roof until it isn’t.
Comment by H. Houlahan — December 13, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
Doris Day? Seriously?
Surely you haven’t forgotten the PPA (“Puppy Protection Act”) and DDAL (Doris Day Animal League) and their lawsuit - “conveniently” pushed during the immediate aftermath of September 11 (try to get letters to your legislators about the threat to responsible dog breeding taken seriously at a time like that!) - which tried to get Hobby breeders included in the umbrella of USDA regulations which commercial breeders are legally obligated to operate under. The lawsuit which the general public (which encompasses pretty much the entire population of hobby breeders) was specifically PROHIBITED from being permitted to offer input on because they were not an “interested party” or some such weird legal term which I can’t recall right at the moment.
http://www.cfa.org/articles/le.....ml#federal
Thank goodness that attempt failed. But I can’t hear the name “Doris Day” without thinking of sneaky tactics and dirty politics.
Save us dog lovers from ANYTHING with Doris Day’s stamp on it!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — December 13, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
And I always think of “The Man Who Knew Too Much”
Really, it’s possible she’s old, insulated and hasn’t a clue. Or it’s possible that she’s just another Hollywood silly who doesn’t know any better. It doesn’t seem like she was much involved with running the DDAL even before the HSUS took it over.
Either way, I’m not going to be boycotting the songs of Doris Mary Anne von Kappelhoff because of what the DDAL did or does.
If you want to, well, que sera, sera.
(Sorry, couldn’t pass up the chance to say that.)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 13, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
Well, I am thankful our 1994 Red Dodge is still going. It is a perky car which my spouse never would sell.
Parking it in front of our house prevents our neighbors from hogging that space, which they would do in a minute’s notice.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — December 13, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
Actually, I should have written Red Plymouth Acclaim instead of red Dodge(above).
Right now the little darling is the colors of a candy cane because the snow on it makes it a red and white mixture.
We got a red car at that time, hoping that it would be seen better in the heavy Framingham, Mass. traffic! We are still alive, thankfully.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — December 14, 2009 @ 7:20 am
Gina, thank you so much for both the wonderful wine discovery and the album-pic!
There’s definitely *something* about red trucks that just draws us in…I wanted to note how grateful I am to have found that amazing picture on Bruce Buck’s photography site, and give him another well deserved kudo as well:
http://www.buckcinema.com/Palo.....20Gallery/
Thank you again for your dedication to all things ‘pet’; Pet Connection is the best!
Comment by Perry — December 14, 2009 @ 7:34 am
More red trucks and a pretty good read, too.
You know, Truck Love is really an American thing. I guess we all like to think we’re doing something really useful, hauling hay or tossing in sheets of plywood for the next project. As if.
I think “Cowboy Cadillac” is my favorite Garth Brooks song, as a matter of fact:
I’ve never know one better
She’s a real go getter
If you met her you’d be good as gone
She’s a real red liner
Likes it all behind her
She’s the kind that keeps you hangin’ on
She’s a cowboy’s buddy
Even when she gets muddy
Lord, she’s lovely from her front to back
So either comin’ or goin’
Know her best sides showin’
She’s my cowboy Cadillac
(Can you tell I LOVE having a truck again?)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 14, 2009 @ 9:11 am
Red is a great color for all that is good in 2009. Red is the color of one of my dogs….and I luv red trucks.
Comment by Snoopys Friend — December 14, 2009 @ 10:23 am
RE: Nellie McKay-I read (I think in The Bark) that those pit bulls on the CD cover are her own foster pitties. :O)
Comment by Original Lori — December 14, 2009 @ 10:33 am