Un-shaggy dog tales (with a feline coda)

My sweet and dear dog Penne (pronounced "Penny") is not at all shaggy as you can see
 
 
 
But here are some un-shaggy dog tales.
 
1.  When we take our first walk at about 6:15 a.m. I have to take a detour of about 100 yards so that I can get a copy of our local paper the "Sarasota Herald-Tribune" from a vending box.  (Of course I could subscribe to the paper, but I have a semi-perverse delight in dropping my 75 cents in the box). For reasons which I do not understand and cannot explain,  Penne is reluctant to take this detour. I have to tug her along.  But once I have gotten the paper and begin to re-trace our steps, Penne perks up and resumes her normal pace.
 
2. We frequently walk around a local pond. From time to time Penne will stop in her tracks and gaze across the other side of the pond, maybe 150 yards away.  Here is the sequence:
 
jmp "Penne, what are you looking at?"
 
No response. Penne continues to stare.
 
jmp  "Penne, that's another dog"
 
No response. Penne continues to stare
 
jmp  "Penne, you have seen dogs before"
 
No response. Penne continues to stare
 
jmp  "In fact, you are a dog"
 
No response. Penne continues to stare
 
jmp  "Let's stop lolly-gagging"
 
Penne moves on with me, but all the while she does that thing which is common to dogs.  She trots alongside me, even as her head and eyes are still looking across the pond.
 
Dogs can walk forward whilst looking sideways!
 
3. We get back to our home.  I am careful to say "this is Penne and Daddy's house". 
 
I have been carrying a filled poop bag,
 
I say "wait here Penne until Poppa puts your poopy bag into the trash".  Penne, sans leash (god bless her), stays rooted to the spot, and will not move an inch until I walk back and tickle her chin.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
My good dog is such a source of joy that I am sometimes (often?) less than active in showing affection to the cats.
 
Junior cat Adelaide is the talker. She is incessant in her "demands", so much so that she must think that her name is "oh shut up", my frequent cry when she mioaws without ceasing.
 
Senior cat Ada longs for attention. Every time I walk by her perch she moves towards me, "asking" for a caress.
 
In all too rare displays of affection I have, within the last hour, cradled both cats,  and showered them with  strokes and caresses. 
 
They liked it.
 
But do not tell Penne. Let my affection t'wards the cats be our secret.
 
 
 
,

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more