Morning Folks 10 09 05

"Strange life a dog's," said Jolyon suddenly: "The only four-footer with rudiments of altruism and a sense of God!"

The Forsythe Saga, John Galsworthy


Meet Whiskey Hall-Smith. This is Uncle Alan and Marianne's dog. Actually, Whiskey isn't their dog anymore. She has been adopted by her foster parents, named Smith, after Alan and Marianne made the supreme sacrifice. Knowing that she would be happier running and playing on Prince Edward's Island than in a motor home, last summer, they decided to let her stay on in PEI with their friends. And now that they no longer are the nomads they once were, dogs aren't allowed where they live now. So they had to make the decision to allow her foster parents to make the adoption official. But, they have unlimited visitation privileges and get frequent updates from their friend who takes such good care of her now. They are hoping to see her this weekend while they are in Massachusetts and Whiskey is in New Hampshire visiting other members of her adopted family.

When I did my blogs for dogs I didn't have Whiskey's picture, so she got left out of that day's posting. So today, she has her very own blog. I am sure I have a few pictures of my dog cousin somewhere. But my pictures are not very organized these days. Putting them in order is one of those things I never seem to get to. It was only a couple of years ago that I put Doug and Bill's baby pictures in albums. Considering they are 28 and 29, I guess I can't expect to have pictures from 2 years ago organized. Someday...

Meanwhile, here are a few more lines about man's best friends that all of us who ever loved a dog will find true.

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MEMORIES

"Not the least hard thing to bear when
they go from us, these quiet friends,
is that they carry away with them so
many years of our lives. Yet, if they
find warmth therein, who would
begrudge them those years that they
have so guarded?
And whatever they take,
be sure they have deserved."

--- John Galsworthy

FOUR FEET

I have done mostly what men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can't forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.

Day after day, the whole day through--
Wherever my road inclined--
Four-Feet said, 'I am coming with you!'
And trotted along behind.

Now I must go by some other round--
Which I shall never find--
Some where that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind.


--- Rudyard Kipling ---

Dog



I talk to him when I'm lonesome,
and I'm sure he understands.
When he looks at me so attentively,
and gently licks my hands;
Then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes,
but I never say naught there at,
For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes,
but never a friend like that!"

--W. Dayton Wedgefarth


There is a story told by the American Indians that the Great Spirit decided to divide
the worlds of animal and man
so he gathered all the living beings on a great plain and drew a line in the dirt.
On one side of the line stood man --- on the other side stood all of the animals.
And that line began to open up into a great crevasse - and at the last moment before
it became unreachable, dog leapt over and stood by man. ~~Unknown

"I have no dog, but it must be
Somewhere there's one belongs to me---
A little chap with wagging tail,
And dark brown eyes that never quail,
But look you through, and through, and through,
With love unspeakable and true."
This Dog Quote From: John Kendrick Bangs
'Foothills of Parnassus'

Although this is Whiskey's posting, I can't read these things without thinking of my Propwash Matilda Bonnie Girl. Or just plain Tildy. And as I write I realize we lost her the Sunday before Columbus Day 4 years ago. I still get a lump in my throat sometimes when I think about how I miss her. But so lucky we were to have had her for 13 years. Here's to all our dogs, past, present and future.

I hope you have a great Sunday.
Love,
Suz