A soggy-dog tale: poison, divorce and a smell you won't forget
The two men had been on a Canadian fishing trip when Jeffy ate rat poison and died. An accommodating veterinarian flash-froze the body, and the men flew it back — because the friend wanted eventually to be buried with the ashen remains of all his pets. They temporarily put the carcass in a freezer belonging to Morant-Kraus' father on Mercer Island, thinking the friend would handle cremation arrangements soon.
No such luck.
Two days later, Morant-Kraus' husband purchased a small, Jeffy-size freezer.
"We unceremoniously interred him, wrapped him in double lawn bags and stuck him in the new basement freezer," she said.
Then her soon-to-be-ex-husband moved out — leaving Jeffy behind.
"I'm English, I'm a practical woman, so I used the freezer to capacity, stacking stuff on top of Jeffy," she said.
A few weeks later, a security company worked on her 1920s Seattle house. Finding only one electrical outlet in the basement, the crew members unplugged the freezer and neglected to plug it back in when they were done.
"Fast-forward a month," she said. "A new and unpleasant odor began wafting through the house."
Morant-Kraus and her father, doing work in the basement, discover dog soup. They do what any self-respecting homeowner would do under the circumstances: plug the freezer back into the outlet and dash upstairs, vowing never to return to the basement.
"My ex and I argued about the usual — money, kids, the house — and the disposition of dog soup," she said. "Even in his refrozen state, Jeffy smelled pretty rank."
Jeffy became a favorite topic at parties. Whenever conversation would lag, friends would ask, "So what are you going to do about Jeffy?"
The solution came at a party when, after several glasses of wine, a friend from Utah volunteered to dispose of the dog. Morant-Kraus described him as not only brave but also as a man who had lug soles on his cowboy boots.
They promptly rolled the freezer out of the basement and onto the street. Morant-Kraus dumped a pot of boiling water over Jeffy to loosen the dog-sicle from the freezer.
"People left the party gagging while we were putting the whole mess in giant plastic bags," she said. "I had to bleach the street, and my friend had to burn his clothes."
Jeffy's final disposition was the dump.
Ditto the freezer.
Fleet feet: Good thing Ted Klinkenberg likes to dance — and party.
Klinkenberg, who still lives alone in a Bellevue retirement community called The Gardens at Town Square, turns 100 Saturday.
The folks at The Gardens hosted a birthday party for him Monday night. This week two of his ballroom-dance groups are holding parties.
And Friday night the Square Crows, his square-dance club that meets at Woodinville's Sammamish Valley Grange, will help him celebrate once again.
His daughter, Esther Lange of Bellevue, and other family members are organizing a bash on Saturday for an anticipated 118 guests.
Sherry Grindeland can be reached at 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com.