One chapter ends...

...another begins: Dudley is here

Hey, Potluck subscribers. Our regularly scheduled Monday Zoom Lunch call will have an ‘open’ show starting at noon central time. Join the conversation on whatever topic you choose. The Zoom link will be sent early Monday morning. If you don’t already subscribe, do so here:

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J. Dudley

I might have about 20 minutes before Dudley wakes up, so I’ll grab them to let you know how things have gone since we picked up our nine-week-old, J. Dudley Gilbert, on Thursday, September 21 (the day after the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat wrapped). Dudley does not like it when I am on my computer or iPad; thus, naps (his and ours) will be essential in the future.

This new puppy picked us out when we first visited the litter of Golden Doodles three weeks ago. He came bounding forward, all smiles. We saw the litter twice; on the last trip, we brought him a toy so he’d smell the kennel when he'd left the only home he’d known since he was born.

Dudley sat in the pet carrier we brought along and kept wide awake for the hour's drive home. He whimpered a bit; his tiny heartbeat was rapid, and he panted until we gave him an ice cube.

Before this day, Richard and I both had waves of thinking about backing out of this lifelong commitment to a four-legged person. But there was no backing out now. What have we done? I thought silently.

Dudley was surprised when his feet touched the grass. He looked bewildered and adorable. Neighbors came to ooo and ahh and offer advice.

A resident squirrel sat on a perch on the lowest branch of an oak tree, giving J. Dudley Gilbert hell for being in his yard. The pup cocked his head.

After several minutes of being handled by folks, I scooped him up, and we sat at a picnic table toward the end of the yard.

He settled into the crook of my arm, stretched out with his chest and belly to the sky. As he inhaled the smell of West Lake Okoboji, his nose twitched, his heartbeat quieted, and his eyes closed, opening briefly when he heard the sound of gulls or felt a puff of the lake breeze.

And that was that. He was home.

J. Dudley will have a separate column dedicated to his life and times (in hopes of retaining non-dog-lovers as subscribers to this Potluck column). Those interested in how a sort of retired couple handles a new pup, please join J. Dudley’s World.

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Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member Cheryl Tevis posted a lovely column yesterday about Lakeside Labs, the venue that hosted the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat. Here it is:

Unfinished Business

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IOWA WRITERS’ COLLABORATIVE

Have you ’ explored the variety of writers we have in the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative? Writers from around the state contribute commentary and feature stories of interest to those who care about Iowa. Please pick five you’d like to support by becoming paid. It helps keep them going. Enjoy:

Columnists

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, RWriters'teph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Cullen'sanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moin’s and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny

Nik HGray's: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla

Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters from Iowans, Iowa

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moin’s

Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids

Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, DesMunson'sJane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Price'sMacey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, KalSwander'sSwander: Mary Swander’s Emerging VoicesSwander'sCheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines

The Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.

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