Subject:
My Dog
George Lehman Williams
Class of '64
I think we all have a dog story, so here is mine.
Some of you remember the dog pen in my back yard that housed a Terrier named Skipper, a Dachshund and two Chihuahua’s. We also had a Monkey named Sloopy – yes, named after the song Hang on Sloopy – who used to go with me on occasion to Jerry’s and sit on the hood of my SS and drink beer, but that is a whole other story.
Fast forward to California, many years and many dogs, until we get to Murphy – a five-year-old yellow lab when I adopted him because his owner was going to give him to the pound because they were moving. Murph Dog lived to be 17 only because I trained him not to cross the curb or the boundaries on each side of our house; therefore he did not run away or get run over by a car. Murph was the best dog we ever had. My wife did not want him when I brought him home, but he became her dog, followed her when she would leave the room and would lay down behind her when she was doing the dishes. She would also fuss at me if she thought I was too rough with him.
Time and age did their thing and Murph could not stand up on his own and when he could not keep his food down, I knew it was time, so I took him to the vet for his trip to doggie heaven. Now this would be the first and only dog that I have ever had to put to sleep, all the others were too stupid to either not run away or to stay out of the street.
Three years went by and I (me – not my wife – all by myself – without approval – because I wanted a dog) decided to get another dog. His name is Jacob and he will be one year old on Dec 20th. Yes, his eyes are green and he is as mischievous as he looks. He is crate, leash and potty trained, but he is still a puppy and has his moments. He loves to stay in the garage and watch any kind of sports, he likes to follow the movement of the balls, and of course, he loves Coors Light, although I limit him to ½ can, per day, more than that and he becomes unpredictable. I even took him with me to play golf but he has been banned from the course (my status is probationary). He did not know or understand all the rules, my fault, especially about not moving your ball, or everyone else’s for that matter. And there is that issue with the ducks and the unfortunate episode in the lake that ended our round for the day. Hopefully I will train him not to go over the curb and he will outlive me, that way I won’t have to go thru the pain of putting him to sleep.
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Subject:Happy Birthday to Someone
James Ballard
Class of '67
On two recent blogs I frequently post, sexualityinart.wordpress.com and huffingtonpost.com, the subject of "love" reared it's fickle head and I found myself caught up in a self created cacophony, an old habit I usually control much better than I used to.
It's that time of year I guess. I can only take comfort in the fact that much greater minds than my own, over centuries, have fallen into the same trap.
I knew a girl once at Lee. We had our strange moments. Like shooting each other with those miniature squirt guns in Jasper Jenkins a capella class, rolling each others yards, climbing TV towers. (Well, she told me she only got to about 10 feet, then chickened out. Like myself, she was always afraid of heights; I was just too dumb to know fear when I should have!) I guess you can say I was a fool for love; I won't speak for her. But of course, love is not always forgiving to the soul.
I recently blogged : "Love is only "proven" by action, and can become a basis for inquiry only by virtue of it's behavior. But once you begin attempts to break it down, love loses it's power. It becomes dry and meaningless, without purpose. Thus, the old adage : In love, the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts." ...or should be. In place of love, we broke each other down into parts, killing off any chance for love. You can be so stupid when you're young; I was no exception.
Today she crossed that big threshold from 59 to 60, the same one I crossed two years ago. I hope she has found peace. This is my Happy Birthday to her.
From: Detroit, Mich.
Web Site: Old World Gallery
Email: oldworldgallery@hotmail.com
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