photos – Kevin the Lemon

October 6, 2019October 6, 2019

Faster Than A Ferrari in A F1 Street Race

My mom loves to take pictures. She isn’t a professional, but she will pull out the camera, play with some buttons, choose a funny nose to put on the end of it, then put herself in all sorts of positions to get ” the perfect picture”.

She takes pictures of all sorts of things. Nature is her favorite. Family is a close second. She struggles with nature photos because, if she leaves for a walk, we will all sit in the window or at the door and cry. She says she is NOT carrying her camera bag while hauling three dogs on a walk through the woods. As far as family photos go, lets be honest, getting three dogs, a cat, and some humans to sit nicely for any sort of photo is impossible. So, when Mom takes family photos, they usually just include one or two of us, and they are generally candid shots, moments of us, being us.

On a beautiful fall day, it was much nicer to be outside than it was inside. I chose to stay out back. I wanted to feel my first fall in all its glory. I like hot summer days, laying on the patio, but fall. I didn’t know fall. Fall came in overnight and showed just what it was made of. The temperature went from 90 to 65. I needed to enjoy all the time outside that I could. How long does this fall thing last anyway? Mom happened to be home for the majority of the day. So she decided since I didn’t want to come in, and she didn’t want to be in either, she would grab her camera and start taking some photos that friends had been asking her for. Apparently, I have fans!

Mom let Boy take some pictures first. He likes to play photographer, with us as his muses. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree does it? After Boy finished up, she took the camera and lay on the patio across from where I was laying. I was busy eating the ants out of the cracks in the stones. I don’t have time to look at cameras when there are a plethora of ants to be destroyed.

Let me pause for a second. Did I ever tell you that food is my favorite? Did I ever tell you that if you just say the word “cookie” it will light a fire in my behind, and I will be by your side faster than a Ferrari in a F1 street race. And my final side bar; bugs are food too.

Okay, back to the story. I was was laying on the patio, Mom laying in front of me. She kept saying all the names “Schmoo, Lemmies, Lemmer Loo Loo, Kevin, Smootie Pootie”. I was busy, remember, ants, ants everywhere. I didn’t have time to take a break, I was breaking up an army. But then, then Mom got tricky. “I have cookies”, she said. That got my attention. Ants are good, but cookies are better. I looked at her, she had her fingers pinched together at the top of the camera, click. click. click click. She got her pictures. I did not get a cookie. She wasn’t being honest. She tricked me. She used my weakness against me.

Well guess what. I took note that she never got up. She just stayed put. I wasn’t falling for that twice. If you are going to try to trick me, you better make it more convincing the second time around. She and that camera didn’t let up though. “Cookie! Lems I have cookies for you”. She is a lying, liar who lies, and I am not falling for it. I kept hearing the camera click, but I didn’t look at her. I avoided eye contact, made funny faces, and continued to fight off the invading army. I could actually eat the ants, she can save her fake cookies for someone else. She may have gotten a picture, but it wasn’t going to come easily. She was going to have to work for it.

Don’t fall for the same mistakes twice. That is your lesson. We are all going to be tricked or manipulated into something, at some point. That is reality, but you don’t need to let it continue to happen. You get to stand up for yourself and say “NO!”. It is self care to not let yourself be tricked. It is standing up for you. Stand up for yourself when you need to and maybe enjoy a special snack while you’re at it!

September 29, 2019September 29, 2019

Something From A Crime Scene

A picture is deceiving. You can ask anyone who is house hunting online, they’ll agree. Not only is a picture deceiving, but it doesn’t tell you the whole story. There are websites and memes dedicated to photos that make you ask yourself “what the…?”.

If you did not harm anyone, did not verbally abuse or assault anyone, if you weren’t demeaning anyone’s beliefs, if you, and you alone were involved, then the reaction is on the person having it. Their reaction is their problem. It is not yours to take on. Someone, somewhere, will find a reason to be offended, even from the most well meaning situations.

In our home, we are HUGE Halloween fans. We like to call it our Christmas. The decorations and costumes can’t come soon enough, and the treats and snack often resemble something from a crime scene. We love all things creepy, gruesome, grotesque, and spooky. It’s the one time of year you can be nearly whatever you want, and it doesn’t warrant judgement.

Our costumes are generally homemade, and on the undead, chilling, WTF, side. We like to save the cutesy costumes for toddlers. That said, we don’t have any toddlers living in our house, so let the bloody Halloween nightmare commence. Mom was shopping for my costume online. She found a head band that made it look like scissors were jutting out of my head. Cheap felt and plastic. She ordered it immediately. She was so excited to try it on me. She tucked my ears in, tied it around my chin, and then fed me lots and lots of treats, while she snapped pictures. I have to admit, looking at the pictures made it appear as though I was the victim of a grooming gone wrong, however, I was still being fed treats in all of the pictures.

We immediately were so excited to share our amazing Halloween find. We posted it to my social media feeds, then we put it on some Keeshond forums, for all the Kee lovers to see. We posted it with a caption that said something to the effect of, Happy Halloween, bring on all things creepy, gross, and spooky. On one forum in particular I was reported, apparently several times. The people reporting the photo said that it was offensive; it was particularly offensive to those who rescue dogs.

HELLO!!!! *paws in the air* I AM A RESCUE!!!! so are Scrappy and Frankie. And we are over here living one hell of a good life. And wouldn’t that make Mom a rescuer?

Mom was annoyed that they pulled the picture. She said pulling the picture feeds into the problematic behavior. If it was a person, no one would have been offended. Anyway, Mom says she also doesn’t want me to write about this, because it too feeds into it. It gives it power when you give it attention. But my opinion is this was a great lesson, one that needed to be shared. Sometimes people will be offended at the things you do. No one needs to be hurt, abused, assaulted physically or verbally, demeaned, or belittled for offense to be taken. Sometimes people just need to be mad about something, that day, it was me. No one was hurt or shamed in the making of the photo, so their offense is theirs and theirs alone. I don’t have to take that on as my own.

July 20, 2019September 29, 2019

Reach Out and Touch Me

Mom is constantly taking photos of me. She puts a handful of treats in her pocket and then instructs me to “sit” and “stay”. There are also times that I am going about my daily shenanigans and suddenly one of these distracting objects comes snapping shots in my face. Mom says Boy used to be the subject of all her pictures, but he turned into a “major ham” and candid, real life, in the moment pictures just weren’t a thing she could get from him anymore. I am her new muse. Let’s be honest, while I am easily distracted, I am definitely not phased in the least by a camera in my face.

The most exciting part about all these pictures, is that I get to share them with people. People I know, people I don’t know, people who look at them because they appreciate keeshond beauty, people who are interested in my history, people who just think I am cute, people who think I am hilarious (this one mostly), and so many more people around the world, who for whatever reason, choose to look at me, and my pictures.

I recently went in for surgery. I posted on my social media that I was in need of some good luck wishes. My doctor is incredibly capable. He is an orthopedic specialist (he fixed Frankie’s leg), so the well wishes weren’t because I didn’t have faith in him or his work. They were because we were nervous, all of us, I mean, I am a lemon. I also asked for well wishes because I believe in the power of the universe. What we put into the world we get back. I am not religious, so it wasn’t asking for some higher power to look after me, nor am I superstitious. I just think vibes, feelings, emotions, and energy fill the world we are in and radiate around us.

The support and prayers and well wishes were on a scale I could not have even imagined. Mom was flabbergasted at the response. Emotional really. People checking on me in the following days was also very overwhelming for mom.

The lesson here…

You have the ability to touch people. For the people that sent me all their positive vibes, I have clearly touched them; it might be my toothy smile, my defect, or simply that they are amazing people. I don’t know, but they cared about me enough to respond. They cared enough to ask for updates. THEY CARED! For Mom, the caring mattered. she knew she cared, but had no idea that so many people had such space in their hearts to care for a stranger’s lemon puppy.

You have the ability to touch people. You have the ability to change someone’s day. A smile, a kind word, a prayer to the universe, or God,or whatever you believe in, can make a positive difference. Stink eye, a grimace, an unnecessary opinion can create a void in someone’s day. For better or worse we carry that power. That’s scary, right?!? Personally, I think using this force to make someone else’s day a little brighter is the direction I am taking. I am going to consciously take that direction everyday. I want to put into the universe, what I want to receive back, and I have that power. So do you.

** WORDS FROM MOM**

I just want to send a special thank you out to all the kind, warm-hearted, positive people who reached out to send their encouraging energy our way. You, my friends, are appreciated more than you know. I was a nervous wreck (even with seeing doggo surgeries on an almost daily basis). You all helped me, and Kevin of course, get through this worrying time. I brought Kevin home knowing he was in need of surgery, not knowing how sick he’d get early on, and that he will continue to be slightly defective, because that is just who he is. So anytime he is going through something, I get a little worried knowing that he is that puppy who will likely take a turn for the worst. Worry is a horrible feeling, the unknown is equally as horrible. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for radiating your uplifting energy to us. You supported us in our time of need and worry, and we came out better for it (physically, emotionally, and spiritually). Hugs and love to all you kind souls! Thank you!