Christmas 2022
This children’s book was published in 1996. The authoress is Susan Meddaugh, and I have to thank her for one of the most imaginative, impish and fun stories that I, and my Dear Daughter, ever read.
I was informed by my little girl one afternoon, after school, of a new book she’d read about a talking dog named Martha. The plot line was explained to me, and it wasn’t long before I too was enchanted with this tale of downsizing in a business called Granny’s Soup Company.
The new owner seemed to care only for profits. The A man found himself out of a job. Alf didn’t end up in a soup line. He does, however, play a heroic part in coming to the aid of not only Martha the Dog, but the customers of this capitalist enterprise, its former employees — and the new owner, Granny Flo.
At least that grabby Granny didn’t outsource the manufacture of that soup to China! But this book was created in the 1990s, when such corporate atrocities against America had only just begun.
As we valiantly attempt to put behind us several years of the greed-over-lives mania of The Corporations, world-wide, a bit of humor might suffice for a dose of good medicine and holiday cheer.
In true Christmas spirit, I therefore offer a generous vocal interlude in the form of Martha Blah Blah. My reading of this story presents how a dog saves the day for just about everyone, even the greedy capitalists at Granny’s Alphabet Soup.
Yes, from the mouths of babes, or, uh, dogs, comes the unvarnished truth!
I must add that this adorable and audacious dog, Martha, reminds me, enormously, of my beagle, Chance, the royal rascal. He’s a great communicator who oftentimes feels a bit embarrassed whenever the humans have failed to catch his vocalized drift. Surely, he’s not enunciated properly his heartfelt desires!
Whatever your heartfelt desires, and those of your canine (or cat), the ability of one heart to communicate to another is a blessed gift, proving, indeed, that having a heart is the first requirement in caring, in loving, in living.