Doug the Pug and Dory in the Village for Halloween
00:00Get more, nothing much happens with bonus episodes, extra long stories, and ad-free listening,all while supporting the show you love.Subscribe now.Taking care of ourselves can mean noticing when we need support and letting ourselves ask for it.But figuring out where to begin can feel like a lot.Talkiatry is an online psychiatry practice, offering evaluations, diagnoses, and ongoing medicationmanagement for anxiety, depression, ADHD, and more. You meet with a licensed psychiatristwho gets to know you and builds a personalized treatment plan, which may include medication
00:43when appropriate, and you continue with the same provider so you don't have to start over each visit.Talkiatry accepts major insurers, and appointments are available in days, not months.Head to Talkiety.com slash nothing much to complete the short assessment and get matchedwith an in-network psychiatrist in just a few minutes.That's T-A-L-K-I-A-T-R-Y dot comto get matched in minutes.Tachiatry.com slash nothing much.Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone,
01:33in which nothing much happens.You feel good, and then you fall asleep.I'm Catherine Nikolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens.Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. You are in for a sleepy time treat tonight, my dears.Doug the Pug and his sister Dory have been longtime listeners to our show.And so we decided to invite them to the village of nothing much for a few stories.And we all thought it would be a perfect time to bring some attention to causes that Doug and Dory and I care a lot about.So we're raising money for Tiny Paws Pug Rescue to help more pugs find safe, loving homes.
02:41If you'd like to give, you'll find the donation link in our show notes.Your donation goes directly to Tiny Pause, and as a thank you, you'll receive a digitaldownload of a hand-drawn illustration of Doug and Dory, visiting the village's curio shop.It makes for a fantastic wallpaper on your phone.Our goal is to raise $2,500, and when we reach it,I'll release a bonusNothing Much Happens episode for you to enjoy.Thank you for helping us extend
03:19a little of the village's kindnessto some very good dogs.Now, even when we have visitorsto our sleepy little town,you can bet that just by listening,letting your attention rest on the sound of my voice,you will fall away.asleep. I'll tell her story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.
03:53Our story tonight is called Doug the Pug and Dory in the village for Halloween.And it's a story about an afternoon at the end of October in the village square.It's also about catnip bats and a wagon full of pumpkins,homemade costumes, and apple turnovers, wagging tails, and ruby slippers,and a new tradition made with new friends.There's a particular pleasure in getting your bed ready for autumn,adding another layer, pulling the quilt up, making a place where you can settle in for a bedtime story.Quince is sponsoring this episode, and their bedding is made for that kind of comfort.
04:50Now, we just switched from their premium lightweight down alternative comforter to the regular weight version,since we need a bit more warmth in bed. And I already owned both of them well before Quince became a sponsor,because I honestly love their products and have for a long time.We also have their organic cotton bedding, which gets softer each time I wash it.Make your bed your favorite place to be this season with Quince.Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to Quince.com.Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.Now available in Canada and the UK too.
05:31And when Quince asks you where you heard about them, let them know it wasNothing much happens. It's the best way to support the show.So snuggle down, my little ghosts and goblins.Slide down into your sheets and feel your whole body relax.There is nothing to stay on top of, nothing to keep track of.You have done enough for the day.Take a deep breath through your nose.And out through your mouth.
06:09Let it out your mouth.Once more. Nice. Inhale. Breathe in and exhale. And out. Good. Doug the Pug and Dory in the village for Halloween. In the afternoon light, the village square looked like a movie set.And it was always well decked out. Whether it was with beds of tulips and flower garlands, and flower garlands.draped around the fountain for May Day,or strings of twinkle lights on the lampposts,and cheery, oversized ornaments,sat around the benches at Christmas.But this year, for Halloween,
07:14we had outdone ourselves.We'd brought in wagon loads of mumsand gold and purple and deep claret red.We'd planted them both in the flower bedsand in the stone pots and urnsaround the edges of the square.The pumpkin delivery had been massive.And at first we feared we'd overshot the goal a bit.
07:52But as we began stacking themaround the foot of the fountain, setting them like centerpieces on the stone tables where peopleplayed chess on warm mornings, and even hanging the smaller ones from their curly stems in the trees,the stockpile disappeared in a snap. Beside the benches were stacks of hay bales.and peck baskets of apples, donated by the orchard outside of town,when they'd pulled up to the curb with their truck.They told us they'd brought some heirloom varieties,picked out especially for Halloween,
08:47and had a few hand-printed signs stuck in among the fruit.My favorites were the bloody plowman apples,though the black gilly flowers and the dog snouthad awfully good names as well.And the dog snout apples felt doubly aptfor this year's celebration.Because all of these decorationsweren't just for general enjoyment.
09:25They were to welcome some special,guests. For years, my nephews and I had enjoyed trick-or-treating with their dog, a sweet,aging golden retriever named Clover. When her little brother, Crimson, a goofy Irish setter,joined the family, he came along as well. We'd had a lot of fun going from house to house together.and even dressed the dogs up in their own costumes,Rapunzel and a firefighter, respectively.But that had been the last year the boys wanted to trick-or-treat.They were growing up,
10:25and I think even that last timehad been more for my benefit than for theirs.So I'd cooked up an ideaas a way to keep the Halloween family fun happening.And once I told the boys about it, they even helped out.There are so many pets in our little village.And lots of them, just like crimson and clover,love to dress up for Halloween.
11:05I mean, as far as we can tell.And we thought, what if we invited all of them and their humans to come down to the square and show off their costumes?We could come up with some prizes, ask the bakery to donate a box of their puppy pumpkin cookies, and we'd all get to pet lots of dogs.Well, that had been the start of the idea.But as soon as word got around,it was like a snowball rolling downhill.The photographer, who took pictures for our historical society,offered to snap shots of all the animals.
12:03The bakery was bringing dog cookies,as well as apple turnovers and an urn of their special hot chocolate for the humans.The craft shop made us a box of tiny ghosts and bats stuffed with catnip.And even the Christmas tree farm found a way to participate.After the pets had paraded around the square,and best costume had been away.Their hay wagon would swing through town and take folks for a ride.Now the boys and I were putting the final touches on the decorations
12:54as the treat table was being set up,and the first pets and people were arriving.The boys' dads strolled in with crimson and clover.Who this year were ketchup and mustard bottles.Crimson had already lost his red cap hat,but Clover was picture-ready.My brother and his husband had gray berets and matching sweaters,a white one with an S and a black one with a P,
13:41and I chuckled as I wretched.reached for them with hugs and kisses. Salt and pepper, I cried. Soon the square was full of all sorts ofcreatures. I spotted Clover's best dog friend, Butterbean, a collie who was dressed as a giantstick of butter, and his human girl as a piece of poppy.A very impressive, homemade costume that I'm sure would be in lots of pictures today.The bookshopkeeper brought her dog, Alphabet, who was wearing one of those cones that keep dogsfrom licking their stitches.There were paper-mache vegetable bits
14:44and ropy noodles in the cone,as well as the handleof what I guessed was meant to be a big spoonwrapped in tinfoil.When I leaned down to offer him a treat,she said,get it, alphabet,soup? I get it, I laughed. The animals sniffed each other. Some bowing and barking to get a game
15:20going. Others just watching and wagging. I saw another family I knew and went to say hello,bringing along one of the catnip ghosts for their cat. Marry.Marmalade was tucked snugly into a carrier on her dad's chest.But I could see she had a swash-buckling hat, perched over one ear, and a stuffed parrot beside her.Oh, Marmalade, I said.What a daring pirate you make.No, that's not Marmalade, her dad said.and I raised an eyebrow waiting for it.
16:18That's Armalade.I groaned and reached down to pet their little brown dog crumb.Who seemed to be a porcupine?His squiggly fur made it a good choice.Beside him, his brother, Birdie, wore leg warmers.and sweatbands on all four paws.He had a sporty shirt that said jazzerciseand a neon fanny pack buckled around his middle.
17:00Since he was known around townfor his ability and determinationto sleep nearly anywhere at any time,I appreciated the irony.I heard a shout from the other side of the square,and Armalade's dad raised his handto wave at a group who just arrived.I had a feeling I was looking at the soon-to-be-named winners
17:39of the best group costume award.A few humans dressed as the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch, and the Wizard of Ozhad a collection of dogs on leashes and a guinea pig in a stroller.I'd met a few of them before.I recognized the black pug with a curly tail who was dressed as the tin man.and the guinea pig who had a tiny lion's mane, a fuzzy fur around his neck.They were tablespoon and teaspoon, cousins of the marmalade and crumb crew,and I'd met them around the holidays the year before.
18:36The other two dogs with them whose leashes were held by their,Grandma slash the Good Witchwere also pugs,but the tan color sometimes called fawnwith dark brown ears and muzzles.The bigger one who had a bit of gray in his facewas dressed in ripped flannelwith yarn as the straw.
19:10And the smaller one had a bit of gray.blue-checked dress, and though only three were still on, a set of unmistakable ruby slippers.My nephews had spotted them and rushed over to pet and greet everyone.Soon the whole square was admiring the cast of the Wizard of Oz, and the two new pugsespecially. The scarecrow was named Doug, and Dorothy was called Dory. I squatted down to pet her,and whispered that she was clearly meant to play this role, with her own name being so close. She threw her head back,and let out a long high, a woo, which was echoed by a dozen other dogs within seconds.Doug plopped down onto one hip, panting, and gave his head a good shake,
20:34like he'd just gotten out of the bath.The yarn straw tucked in around his collar.and dog shirt, rippled as he shook, like a little golden halo, and a few strands floated awayon the breeze. His grandma reached down to scratch his back, and his girl tail began to beatback and forth, like a metronome set to Allegro.These two were already the stars of the show.I looked over at Birdie, who'd come to stand beside me,across the square at crimson and clover,
21:31at butterbean, an alphabet.Minow the Chihuahua was here in shiny fish scales.and in another strollerI saw the three catswhose names were FeldsparDolomite and Stevethough I never knew which one was whichI noticed the gardener from the inn
22:00with Sycamore on a leashI wasn't sure if Sycamore would make itsince the big All Hallows partywas tonight at the innand surely his other humans were busy getting ready.Tales were wagging.Humans were laughing and having pictures taken of themselvesand their furry family members.
22:32The setting sun was pouring soft golden light into the square.making the best costume trophies sparkle on the dais by the fountain.A gray cat I'd seen around town sat beside the awards.Calmly watching all of us.My nephews were handing out treats and chew toys.And I had to press my hand to my heart for a moment.and just feel this simple happiness rippling through me.At my feet, my new friend Dory felt it to, and let out another big awoo, and I thought it likely,
23:38that today's event had just become an annual.tradition. Doug the Pug and Dory in the village for Halloween. In the afternoon light,the village square looked like a movie set, and it was always well decked out, whether it waswith beds of tulips and flower garlandsdraped around the fountain for May Dayor strings of twinkle lightson the lamppostsand cheery oversized ornaments
24:43set around the benchesat Christmas.But this yearfor Halloweenwe had outdone ourselves.We'd brought in wagon loadsof mums and goldand purple
25:12and a deep claret red.We'd planted themboth in the flower bedsand in the stone pots and urns around the edges of the square.The pumpkin delivery had been massive,and at first we feared we'd overshot the goal a bit.But as we began stacking them around the foot of the fountain,setting them like centerpieces on the stone tables
26:04where people played chess on warm morningsand even hanging the smaller onesfrom their curly stems in the treesthe stockpile disappeared in a snapBeside the benches were stacks of hay bales and peck baskets of apples,donated by the orchard outside of town.When they'd pulled up to the curb with their truck,they told us they'd brought some heirloom variety.
27:01picked out especially for Halloweenand had a few hand-printed signsstuck in among the fruit.My favorites were the bloody plowman apples.Though the black gilly flowersand the dog's snout had awfully good names as well.And the dog's snout apples felt doubly apt for this year's celebration,because all of these decorations weren't just for general enjoyment.
28:06they were to welcome some special guests.For years, my nephews and Ihad enjoyed trick-or-treating with their dog,a sweet, aging golden retriever named Cloverwhen her little brother Crimson,a goofy Irish setter joined the family.He came along as well.We'd had lots of fun,
29:01going from house to house together,and even dressed the dogs up in their own costumes.Rapunzel and a firefighter, respectively.But that had been the last yearthat the boys wanted to trick or treat.They were growing up,and I think even that last timehad been more for my benefit than for theirs.
29:54So I'd cooked up an idea as a way to keep the Halloween family fun happening.And once I told the boys about it, they even helped out.there are so many pets in our little village, and lots of them, just like crimson and clover,love to dress up for Halloween.I mean, as far as we can tell, and we thought, what if we invited all of them, andtheir humans to come down to the square and show off their costumes. We could come up with some prizes,ask the bakery to donate a box of their puppy pumpkin cookies, and we'd all get to pet lots ofdogs. Well, that had been the start of the idea. As soon as word got around, it was like a snowball
31:37rolling downhill. The photographer who took pictures for our historical society offered tosnapshots of all the animals. The bakery was bringing dog cookies, as well asapple turnovers, and an urn of their special hot chocolate for the humans. The craft shop made us a boxof tiny ghosts and batsstuffed with catnipand even the Christmas tree farmfound a way to participateafter the pets
32:42had paraded around the squareand best costume had been awardedtheir hay wagonwould swing through townand take folks for a ride.Now, the boys and I were putting the final touches on the decorations as the treat table was being set up,and the first pets and people were arriving.The boys' dads strolled in with Crimson and Clover,
33:42who this year were ketchup and mustard bottles.Crimson had already lost his red cap hat,but Clover was picture-ready.My brother and his husband had grown,gray berets and matching sweaters, a white one with an S, and a black one with a P.And I chuckled as I reached for them with hugs and kisses.Salt and pepper, I cried.soon the square was full of all sorts of creatures.
34:44I spotted Clover's best dog friend, butter bean,a collie who was dressed as a giant stick of butterand his human girl as a piece of pop.A very impressive homemade costume that I'm sure would be in lots of pictures today.The bookshopkeeper brought her dog, Alphabet, who was wearing one of those cones that keep dogsfrom licking their stitches, there were paper-machet, vegetable bits,and ropy noodles in the cone, as well as the handle of what I guessed was meant to be a big spoon,wrapped in tinfoil, when I leaned down to offer him a treat, she said,
36:10Get it? Alphabet? Soup? I get it, I laughed. The animals sniffed each other. Some bowing and barking to get a game going. Others just watching and wagging. I saw another family I knew and went toto say hello, bringing along one of the catnip ghosts for their cat.Marmalade was tucked snugly into a carrier on her dad's chest.But I could see she had a swash-buckling hat, perched over one ear.and a stuffed parrot beside her.Oh, Marmalade, I said.What a daring pirate you make.No, that's not Marmalade, her dad said,
37:45and I raised an eyebrow waiting for it.That's our malade.I groaned and reached down to pet their little brown dog crumb.Who seemed to be a porcupine?His griggly fur made it a good choice.beside him, his brother Birdie wore leg warmers and sweatbands on all four paws.He had a sporty shirt that said jazzercise and a neon fanny pack buckled around his middle.since he was known around town for his ability and determination to sleep,
39:05nearly anywhere, at any time, I appreciated the irony.I heard a shout from the other side of the square,and Armelaide's dad raised his hand to wave at a group who just arrived.I had a feeling.I was looking at the soon-to-be-named winners of the Best Group Costume Award.a few humans dressed as the good witch, the wicked witch, and the wizard of Oz,had a collection of dogs on leashes, and a guinea pig in a stroller.I'd met a few of them before.
40:25I recognized the black pug with the curly tailwho was dressed as the tin manand the guinea pigwho had a tiny lion's maneof fuzzy fur around his neck.They were tablespoon and teaspoon,cousins of the Marmalade and Crumb crew,and I'd met them around the holidays the year before.
41:14The other two dogs with them,whose leashes were held by their grandma slash the Good Witch,were also pugs.But the tan color,sometimes called fawn with dark brown ears and muzzles.The bigger one who had a bit of gray in his face was dressed in ripped flannelwith yarn as the straw, and the smaller one had a blue-checked dress.and though only three were still on, a set of unmistakable ruby slippers.
42:19My nephews had spotted them and rushed over to pet and greet everyone.Soon the square was admiring the cast of the Wizard of Eyesard of Eye.and the two new pugs especially.The scarecrow was named Doug,and Dorothy was called Dory.I squatted down to pet herand whispered that she was clearly meantto play this role
43:05since her own name was so closeshe threw back her headand let out a long, high,a woo,which was echoedby a dozen other dogswithin seconds.Doug plopped down
43:35onto one hip,panting, and gave his heada good shakelike he'd just comeout of the bath. The yarnstrawtucked inaround his collar
43:59and dog shirtrippled as heshook like a littlegolden haloand a few strandsfloated away on the breeze.His grandmareached down
44:22to scratchesback, and his curled tail began to beat back and forth, like a metronome, set to Allegro.These two were already the stars of the show.I looked over at Birdie, who'd come to stand beside me.then across the square at crimson and clover at butterbean and alphabet.Minow the Chihuahua was here in shiny fish scales.And in another stroller I saw the three cats whose names were Feldspar, Dolomite, and Steve.Though I never knew which one was which,
45:41I noticed the gardener from the inn with sycamore on a leash.I wasn't sure if sycamore would make it since.The big all-hallow's party was tonight at the inn.And surely his other humans were busy.getting ready.Tales were wagging.Humans were laughingand having pictures
46:20taken of themselvesand their furryfamily members.The setting sunwas pouringsoft goldlight into the squaremaking the best
46:40costume trophiessparkle.on the dais by the fountain.A gray cat I'd seen around townsat beside the awards,calmly watching us all.My nephews were handing out treatsand chew toys,
47:11and I had to press my handon my heart for a momentand feel this simple happiness rippling through me.At my feet, my new friend Dory felt it too,and led out another big, awo.And I thought it likely that today's eventhad just become an annual tradition.Sweet dreams.
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