ROCKEY HORROR

The saga of the dog named Rockey continues. They took him in to have him put down. They couldn't find a vein, so they gave him a sedative while looking for it. They hit the bone with the needle and the dog cried and cried, which made the owners do the same. They were ready to take the dog back home but decided not too. After the dog expired, she wanted to take him home but they left him to be cremated. It, according to the owner, was the worst day of her life. Sad.

Old Trunks thinks this would be much harder than finding the animal dead but not finding the animal run over. Odd, isn't it, that our forefathers and even people of farming communities simply shoot the dog when it is hurt beyond help or sick. I do remember Daddy being upset because he had to shoot a lab who was infected because she tore out her stitches too many times. He said it was hard to have a loyal animal looking at you when you pulled the trigger.

Tom has taken dogs in to be 'put to sleep'. He says it isn't easy.

What would you do?

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IT HAPPENED AT THE LAUNDROMAT

It is not a secret; it is just not a discussion. It is a private thing from another life and another time.

It is the presence of a friend, a good friend. One of those Phoenix friends; the kind that burns off the impurities and leaves pureness.

I love dreams.

Someone had left their laundry in the dryer at the laundromat. Rather than stuff them into a basket, I folded them. The last piece was a pair of white underwear with a pink tinge.

And I remembered the cowboy and how he had washed his whites with a loose red sock and wore pink underwear. Can't help but feel his presence.

Gotta love cowboys.

e

THE EXPLODING GOLF BALL

I love dreams.

Last night, Tom and I were dancing around a burn barrel. Inside the barrel and flames were jumping. We were doing trick shots with golf balls. You know the kind, over the shoulder, 10 paces away, eye closed sort of shots to listen for the ball fall into the container.

THEN, the golf balls all exploded and flames jumped high into the sky.

It was lightening outside, it wasn't golf balls at all. Oh crap.

e

SWANS IN THE FOG

And Val said, "Mother Nature at its finest............"

Old Trunks is hopeful you have an opportunity to be away from all hustle, that is, if you wish to be.

North Dakota winters are long. When spring comes, despite raging storms, snow, and wind, there is hope that fishing will follow.

It isn't all about fishing. It is about the sounds or the lack of them. It is the eagle's screech, the peep and the croak of the frogs in the pond. It is the call of the loons and on this very foggy morning, the trumpet of the swan, which sounds more like a muffled grunt.

Where were they? We could see white foam along the shore. Tom listened, the sound was coming from a small cove. We saw them as they moved past the area and swam in tandem along the shore. Any pictures would have to be manual; auto settings tried to capture only the fog.

I led the camera along the bank, clicking , clicking. The flash spooked them and they started the run on the water. They lifted and landed in another area of the lake, later they would return to the cove. The fog had lifted by then and the shots where full sun. Beautiful swans but not nearly as dramatic as those in lift off in the fog.

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THE PRESENCE

Their poodle was 17 years and then some. The veterinarian said he was suffering. I guess they have a license to say that. The owners had an appointment Saturday to have the dog "put to sleep". In a world of soft terms, I guess we don't say, "Have the dog dead".

For all of us who have 'lost' a pet, meaning, a pet has died, we have the pleasure of their presence now and then. It seemed to help her know that Rockey would be around for a long time, just as Tom and I still hear Max on occasion.

Although this note is just about pets, it happens with people too.

Let it happen, you are in the best of company.

e

POTTY MOUTH

The English language has plenty of words to describe all situations. Yet, while fishing, I seem to have a need to have a potty mouth when I loose a fish and hear the zing of the lure fly past my head. Odd, when I catch a fish, I can reach into my word pool and find a real word.

Wonder why that is.

e

TO LOCK OR NOT TO LOCK

The car was in the garage, the door was shut. Someone opened the door and had a party. Part of the party was to put a tomato on the driver's seat. When I went to work early that morning, I did not think to check the seat for tomatoes. Yes, I sat on it. Then, I started locking the doors of the car in the garage. No, I don't know who did it.

In these days of automatic lock fobs, there really isn't any reason to walk away from your vehicle with securing it, it there? After all, if you have more than one vehicle, the fob can be programmed for more than one.

When I came to Fargo with a car that needed to have the key to lock up, I was poo-pooed for always locking. It was a lesson I had learned from the owner of the company I worked for in Lawrence. I also learned to carry the keys, lest I be an hour away and the wind blows the latch shut while unloading oxygen bottles. Believe me, that on call person was not happy about coming to get the vehicle opened because the town had no lock smith.

Is it called breaking and entering if you leave your windows down and your doors unlocked? Well, yes, because you are taking property that is not yours. It is a good lesson learned the hard way.

Odd, isn't it, for those of us who grew up in small towns where no one even used a key to start a vehicle. It was an open switch. I didn't even have a key for my car. Who needed it?

And what about Donnie J who left his car running in front of the theater on Sunday afternoons? It is now a crime in Fargo to leave an unlocked car running but they will allow it in the winter if it is locked. Odd what weather allows, isn't it?

Several decades ago, it was prime play to go to the welding shop and play gangster in the old cars with horsehair upholstery. Those were all push button start. Which vehicle is it now that has push button start?

Here all this time we could have been playing, "Back to the Future".

Lock up!

e