Saturday, November 30, 2013

One Year Later

It's been almost a year - December 6 - since I brought Siri home.  Remember how little she was?

December 18, 2012

Today

Today Siri weighs more than ninety pounds.

Brea is still reclusive, still spends more time alone, in my bedroom, than she does with Siri and Neighbor Cat and me, wherever we are in the house.  She's a lot less fearful outdoors, mainly, I think, thanks to Siri.  Siri's natural curiosity about everything has shown Brea that she doesn't need to be afraid of new objects that appear overnight, like trash cans.  And Brea really really likes to play with Siri on the ball field.  Except for the other day, when she found a lime green softball and decided she'd rather chew on that.  Today she's pooping out small lime green pieces of leather, or whatever that thing was made of.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Fifty Years Ago Today

Fifty years ago today, President Kennedy was killed in Dallas.  I was only five years old, so it didn't make much of an impression on me.  What I do remember clearly is that there was nothing on TV except news about the assassination  - on all three channels! - and it was the day my parents rescued a German Shepherd named Major.

Major belonged to a young couple that lived behind us, and he was kept tied up in their back yard.  They were gone a lot and often Major would get his chain wrapped around a tree until he couldn't move or reach his water dish, if he hadn't already emptied it or tipped it over.  Several times Dad climbed over the fence to untangle the dog and to refill his water dish.

On the night the President was killed the rain was just pouring.  I checked the weather records for that date and learned that more than two inches of rain fell in the St. Louis area that day.  Once more the dog was tangled up and couldn't move, so when Dad came home from work he went and freed the dog.  This time he brought the dog into our house and called the Jefferson County sheriff.  I was thrilled to death with this big wet dog.

In my memory, Major was a HUGE damp dog, and very gentle. He probably wasn't much bigger than Siri but to a five year old that's still a pretty big dog.  Eventually a sheriff's deputy came to the house and took a report, and he took Major away.  His owners moved away soon after that.  I was told that they didn't get the dog back, but I never learned what did happen to him.

I've had a thing for German Shepherds ever since.  I hope Major had a good life.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Closeup

Here's a closer view of a picture that I posted a few days ago:

Friday, November 8, 2013

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Brea's Favorite Game





Yay, Brea!
You can't catch me!
Okay, maybe you can...
Wait, don't go!
Okay, game over.