At Least the Fish Don't Whistle

By Stan Dziedzic

Here are more than a dozen short slice of life stories of a simpler time, of an America before the hectic world of today, told with an easygoing sense of humor in a first person narrative. Enjoy stories of childhood, fatherhood, and just life in the late 20th century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387938414

Book preview

At Least the Fish Don't Whistle

At Least the Fish Don't Whistle

Copyright © 2018 Stan Dziedzic

Cover artwork © 2018 D.T. Davis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Lulu.com

ISBN: 978-1-387-93841-4

Printed in the United States of America

This is a work of opinion. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are recollections of the author’s mind and are not necessarily historical fact. No disrespect is intended to actual persons, living or dead.

Dedication

Dedicated to Laura for being my constant inspiration and for her unfailing

positive attitude. She is the only reason for my happiness during 53 wonderful years.

Title Page

At Least the Fish

Don't Whistle

At Least the Fish Don’t Whistle

At least the fish don’t whistle, I said by way of tacit approval of the latest potential addition to our growing menagerie.

Well, she added, They don’t have to be walked, they don’t need shots, and there won’t be any vet bills. She had a point. Our collection now included furs, feathers, and fins.

I’m not sure I remember how it was before the animals came. It seems we could hold a conversation from start to finish without interruption.

It started innocently enough. Our daughter rescued a Collie from an abusive family and brought it home. The dog truly needed help and we had room and means to nurse it back to health. Sasha became a part of the family, and with some adult dog obedience training we found we had a good companion.

A short time later our daughter’s boyfriend obtained a half Akita, half Huskie puppy, provenance unknown. The short version is that his parents wouldn’t let him keep it, so my daughter adopted it and Buck joined our family.

The noise level increased as passersby triggered their protective responses. That was okay because, we rationalized, the dogs became our home security system.

Our collection grew when the puppy Buck got Sasha pregnant. This was not in the plan.

Our daughter picked out the liveliest of the puppies; the most aggressive and dominant of the group, and sold the rest. The chosen pup had blue, black, white, and brown eyes that resembled glass marbles. Marbles joined the group with her mom and dad.

In the meantime, our son had rescued a deaf cat. Although deaf, Sam has a voice that can shatter fine crystal and always speaks at top volume. He was welcome at their house until the arrival of their first child.

Buck eventually went to live on a ranch in Mississippi and Sasha became the alpha female. A short time later a workmate of our daughter had to give up her two cockatiels. Take them or I’ll set them free, she threatened.

My objections carried no weight and we added birds to the mix. Bob Byrd and Norman contributed to the increasing level of noise with their wolf whistles and general birdy conversations, all done at maximum volume.

They sing a few lines from ‘West Side Story’ if that helps, the wife offered. And they do. ‘I Feel Pretty’ is often rendered as a solo or in duet, usually right after the phone rings.

Sasha ultimately went to the great kennel in the sky, but was replaced when my son’s family