Calling Doctor Daisy, Calling Doctor Daisy!

(c) 2013 by Tom King

We've been training our dog, Daisy as a medical alert service dog.  My wife has suffered severe panic attacks for more than 30 years as a result of an accident in labor and delivery with our youngest child. Daisy is able to recognize their onset and comes immediately to Sheila's side when they start.  She helps Sheila know when a panic attack is coming on and it helps Sheila know to take her anti-anxiety meds quick.  That way, Sheila is not totally alone when I'm away from the house and so that we get an early warning that a panic attack is coming if we're out in public.

Sheila often experiences vivid nightmares and night terrors.  Many times these occur after I get up in the morning and leave her sleeping a little longer.  This morning I was taking a shower and thought I heard a noise.  I got out and threw on a robe.  By now I could hear a strange voice that sounded dry and small, but terrified.

"Dr. Daisy," the voice shouted. "Don't do the surgery yet. The anesthetic isn't working!"

I figured Sheila was having another nightmare, so I bolted for the bedroom.  When I arrived I found Daisy up on the bed with her paws on Sheila's chest, licking her face.  Sheila was spluttering and shouting, "No, no, Dr. Daisy. It's not working. Help me!"

I shook Sheila awake and asked her if she wanted a drink of water to help her wake up.

"Oh, please, yes....."

As she came to, I moved Daisy back.  Apparently the dog had heard Sheila trying to wake from a dream that Sheila was having about being stretched out upon a surgical table and being operated on.  The best we can piece together it went like this.

Sheila's nose got blocked somehow and she couldn't breathe. Sheila is NOT a mouth breather.  She was in deep REM sleep and couldn't wake and began gasping for breath which dried out her mouth and tongue making it difficult for her to speak clearly.  She began to groan because in the dream the surgical team was fixing to start cutting and Sheila thought she was going to be awake for the operation.

She began to shout for help which was when I heard her.

Meanwhile, our faithful, highly trained service dog, Super Daisy, sprang to the rescue, placed her paws on Sheila's chest and began to do CPR (chest compressions alternating with muzzle to face resuscitation).  Sheila's words meanwhile were slurred and thick because of the dry mouth.  Not having opposable thumbs or access to a water bottle, Daisy moistened Sheilas mouth and throat with the only wet thing she had available.

"Hey," Daisy says. "The manual says clear the airway, so I cleared the airway."

Later as I gave Sheila some water to help her speak clearly, she sputtered and choked and then sat up looking confused.  "I think I've been French kissed by a dog," she said.

Daisy looked up at me and grinned.  "My work here is done," she seemed to say and resumed her spot at the foot of the bed.

God Smiles: Daisy and the Blankie

by Tom King  (c) 2012

Daisy the Wonder Dog

They say that if you need a dog, God will give you one. As Wendy Francisco points out in her children's song, God and Dog, dog spelled backwards is God. I think that's more than an accident of spelling.

I always said I'd never be one of those old people who was stupid over a pet dog.  I was wrong.  If you've read this blog much, you've heard about Daisy the Wonder Dog till you're probably sick of it. But something happened early this morning that made me understand a little bit more how God must feel about us sometimes when we try so hard to get it right.

I had a conversation the other day about how my faith is periodically restored when people perform random acts of kindness without there being anything in it for them at all. My wife has been wanting denser foam in the sofa cushions. Sheila is from redneck stock, has virtually no behind and has a bad back to go with it. Whenever we get a new sofa she always stuffs the cushions till they are about the firmness of concrete. I don't sit on the sofa anymore because I actually have a butt and need a nice large depression to accommodate it. For her, hard as granite is comfy.

Anyway, she called the furniture store where she bought the sofa and asked what it would cost to replace the foam in the sofa cushions with a denser foam. She explained that she wanted to know how much she needed to save up to get the job done. The lady asked her some questions, did some calculating and then told Sheila there'd be no charge for the replacement foam. She told Sheila "God bless you," and that she hoped Sheila's back got better soon.

That kind of thing is what I'm talking about. It must make God smile to see people do very sweet things like that.

Daisy, our spoiled, but very obedient half Lab, half Border Collie, half blue heeler, half who knows what else, woke me up early this morning. She usually sleeps on the bed with us, but lately, since Sheila's been having lower back and kidney problems and she's been in a lot of pain, she's taken to sleeping on the floor on Sheila's side of the bed.  About halfway through the night, she jumps up on the bed and sleeps the rest of the night at the foot. After I get out of bed, she takes my spot and scoots up next to Sheila to keep her company..

Daisy had apparently decided early this morning to come up on the bed to join us, but something was wrong. She kept circling the bed and whining. I woke up and found her sitting patiently on the floor beside the bed staring at me. I patted the bed beside me and called her to jump up. She wouldn't. I tried to coax her up several times, but each time she kept running around to Sheila's side of the bed and looking at the floor. I finally got up and went around to see what she kept looking at.

Turns out that during the night, Sheila had woke, decided Daisy must be cold and pulled her plaid blanket off the bed to cover her up with. (Sheila always thinks Daisy is cold - despite the vast amounts of fur I keep brushing out of her winter coat).  Daisy looked at me. Then she looked over at the bed, then looked down at her plaid blanket.  I knew instantly what was wrong.

Daisy napping on her "blankie"

Sheila lays Daisy's plaid blanket over our bed at night so if she (the dog, not Sheila) sheds it gets on her blanket and not on the quilts and bedspread. Daisy's blanket is light weight and much easier to wash. Daisy knows she is supposed to wait to jump on the bed till her blanket is in place.

She had evidently seen that her blanket wasn't spread over the bed, so she figured she shouldn't jump up on the bed till it was. I picked up the blanket and spread it over the bed. The instant the blanket settled in place, sixty pounds of excited pooch came hurtling across the room and leaped onto the bed.  I got a good swift lick in the face, she turned round twice and curled up in her spot, grinning happily.

I understand why God might smile at our struggles to obey him and be very pleased even when we can't do it on our own. I also understand why He picks up the blanket for us once in a while too.

Tom

It's a Daisy!

Man's Best Flower Friend

by Tom King (c) 2011

Daisies have long symbolized simple beauty, innocence, loyal love and purity. Patches of daisies form carpets of white blossoms over green hills and valleys every spring. They tell us when spring has sprung and disappear when “fall has fell”. The perky daisy inspires poems, determines whether or not we are loved and lends its name to babies, puppies, sour cream, Girl Scouts and BB guns. When we are dead we push them up. When something is good, it's a daisy! Always cheerful, always glad to see us, the epitome of loyalty and unconditional love, daisies are the hound dogs of the flower world and as spring has definitely sprung here in the south, I though it might be fun to take a look at our relationship with the humble daisy..

The Symbolic Daisy
Daisies supply the world's poets with a handy metaphor for simple beauty. Poets as varied as William Shakespeare, Robert Burns, William Carlos Williams and Dylan Thomas sprinkle their works with daisies whenever they want to show innocence, simplicity, purity or unpretentious beauty. Hardly a poet worth his salt has not borrowed the daisy at some time or other to perk up his verse. Marjorie Pickthall's “Daisy Time” is typical and has two of my favorite lines about daisies in it – the first one and the last one.

Daisy Time

by Marjorie Pickthall

See, the grass is full of stars,

Fallen in their brightness;

Hearts they have of shining gold,

Rays of shining whiteness.

Buttercups have honeyed hearts,

Bees they love the clover,

But I love the daisies' dance

All the meadow over.

Blow, O blow, you happy winds,

Singing summer's praises,

Up the field and down the field

A-dancing with the daisies.

Girl Scout Daisies

Girl Scouts ages five to seven years old are called Daisy Scouts. The Daisies are named after Juliette Gordon Lowe, the founder of the Girl Scout movement whose nickname was Daisy. The Daisy Scout program has four fundamental goals:

1. To encourage girls to develop their full potential.
2. To relate to others with increasing understanding, skill and respect.
3. To develop meaningful values to guide their actions and provide for sound decision-making.
4. To contribute to the improvement of society.

What better goals could a Daisy have?

Literature



My two Daisys

The name “Daisy” pops up a lot in literature. Often the name “Daisy” is given to a character with distinctly undaisy-like qualities. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's “Great Gatsby”, Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby's love interest is an illusion of perfection. Gatsby sees a daisy. Unfortunately, Miss Buchanan, herself, possesses some rather distinct un-daisylike flaws. Henry James' Daisy Miller is a flower in full bloom. She has no inhibitions in sharp contrast with the European gentlemen lined up to court her, hence the value of the name in setting the story. The Oscar-winning film and stage play, “Driving Miss Daisy” mined its humor from the contrast between herself and Hoke, Miss Daisy's African-American driver. Hoke is a patient optimist, relentlessly cheerful, a wise and simple man and therefore far more daisy-like than the prickly, elderly, sharp-tongued, pessimist that Miss Daisy appears when the story begins. Again, the name Daisy contrasts with the character in a way that advances the story. The daisy is a symbolic staple that will likely be explored many more time before the poets and novelists, playrights and screen-writers are done with it.

Brand Names

The inimitable Daisy has lent its name to everything from cottage cheese to air rifles. Daisy Brands began producing Daisy dairy products in 1920. Since then the company has grown to a nationally recognized brand. Daisy's manufacturing plant moved from Chicago to Texas after the Chicago plant burned down in 1972.

But, the Daisy name hasn't just graced cups of sour cream and cottage cheese. Another daisy brand, Daisy Outdoor Products has been the largest maker of airguns and accessories for more than 120 years. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company, manufactured windmills in Plymouth, Michigan. Inventor Clarence Hamilton sold the company on a new invention in 1886 - a gun-like device that could fire a lead ball with compressed air. Seeing a demonstration of the new air gun, company president, Lewis Cass Hough, exclaimed, "Boy, Clarence, that's a daisy!"

The rest is history.

The Plymouth Iron Windmill Company began making Daisy BB guns and soon gave up the windmills, changing its name to Daisy Manufacturing Company on January 26, 1895. It acquired other air gun manufacturers over the years and with the introduction of its famed Red Ryder BB Gun in 1940 soon became the leading manufacturer of air rifles and guns in the United States. Based in Rogers, Arkansas, Daisy also produces paintball guns and equipment, archery equipment and small caliber firearms.

Divination

Everybody knows the daisy is the proper flower for divining whether the object of your affection truly loves you or not. The daisy probably acquired its status because of its many petals. As you pluck petals, chanting “She loves me, she loves me not,” you want rather a lot of petals so there is at least some suspense to the matter. If you used a dogwood flower, you'd know right from the beginning what the answer would be, even if you have only the most rudimentary of math skills. The daisy adds some dramatic tension. Has this one lost some of its petals? How many petals does a daisy have anyway? I can never remember. The “She loves me/she loves me not” game comes from France (where else), originating as a children's game. The witch community has adopted the game as a legitimate spell-casting to get a magical yes/no answer to your burning questions! Of course they also use M&Ms* for the same purpose, so I wouldn't worry too much about any dark magic being attached to daisies.

Flowers

The daisy's name is a contraction of the Anglo Saxon words “daes eage” or “day's eye” ostensibly because daisies “open their eyes” at dawn. Synonymous with optimism and happiness, daisies come in dozens of varieties, all of them possessing the characteristic simple lasting beauty of the species. One of the more inexpensive flowers available at your local florist, daisies say “I love you” without pretension and what could be more better than that? Unlike a single rose which has more sexual overtones, giving your lady love a single daisy tells her she gives you joy, that she brightens your day or that she makes you happy. In my opinion a daisy is much better at getting and keeping you out of trouble than roses. If you go for roses, you're obviously reacting because you're in real trouble and need to obviously spend some money to dig your way out.

Take my advice, if you want to make her smile send her a daisy. Better yet, send her a whole bunch of daisies once in a while. Nothing says pure, simple unconditional love than a daisy!

Tom King
* Don't ask me to describe the M&M's incantation as I do not wish to encourage chocaholics to dabble in the dark arts. I will say that you probably want to use a small bag of the candy if you are at all concerned about your diet! That's all I'm saying.

References:

800 Florals: Flower Meanings
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Charles Scribner's & Sons, 1953
On-Line Literature: Daisy Miller by Henry James
Daisy Scouts: What Are Daisy Scouts
Daisy Outdoor Products: History
Daisy Brand: The Daisy Story
IMDB: Driving Miss Daisy


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