Old Bullet

My stepfather, Bob, lives on the outskirts of a small town just miles from the La Texas border. He has horses and cows and has had lots of dogs. He even adopted this pot belly pig that wandered up one day. I guess someone decided they didn’t want that pet anymore. My nephew named that pig, Pork Chop.

Bob never bought a dog, not that I knew of, but these strays just kept showing up. They were usually dogs no one else wanted and for good reason. None of them were normal. He named them very original names like Lady Girl, Brownie, Spot and Baby. His favorite was old Bullet. Bullet certainly was a dog no one but my SF could love. He bit just about everyone in town and most people who came from out of town to visit. I think Bob was actually proud of that, maybe because he also wanted to bite people but couldn’t.

Old Bullet got my brother in law when he came down from the PNW to visit. He still wears the evidence of that bite on his leg. Mom frequently threatened to kill old Bullet. I think the highlight of her illness was when old Bullet met his demise. I’m not sure if she had anything to do with it but could be. She certainly didn’t want old Bullet to outlive her.

Old Bullet never bit me but he came close one day. I was standing at this garden fence jawing with one of the farm hands when old Bullet spotted me. It was a cold day and I was wearing this puffy, pink, ski type jacket and I guess it served as a disguise. Bullet was standing a far piece away when he saw me. I saw him come tearing around the garden, headed my way. He had a vicious look on his face. He must have thought I was some new meat in the neighborhood. Something he hadn’t sampled yet.

When I saw old Bullet headed my way, I froze with fear. Just as he came around the corner of the fence, he finally recognized me. Whew! He stopped dead in his tracks and a silly grin came over his face. I could almost hear his embarrassed laughter. Yuk, Yuk, Yuk. I wonder if he could smell what I had just done.

My SF buried old Bullet in the garden. That dog finally found something he was good at….fertilizer. RIP.

No pic of old Bullet but here's one of Pork Chop.

Can Your Pet Save You on Your Taxes?

Hollywood Tough Guy Teams With Animal Rights Groups Push for Tax Change

I read this morning that a bill is making the rounds on Capital Hill that will give a tax break of up to $3500 for pet care expenses. It's meant to promote pet ownership during economic down times, and thinking about the idea has brightened my morning. I don't know how much of a chance it has of getting through, but just think if it did more people would be neutering and spaying their animals, and providing them medical treatment they need.

Tax write offs are a good way to encourage good behavior. Look how many people have taken advantage of weatherizing their homes and making them more energy efficient when there is a write off involved. If we have more laws that make people understand how valuable and important animals are, that make people aware of the importance of their lives, then maybe we'll see an upturn in they way they are treated by the majority of people.

The sad truth is, Animal Shelters are overflowing with abandoned pets, and something needs to be done about that.

Now I'm going to quote what my good buddy, Solar said at the end of the last thread, because I think it also describes our relationship to animals and every thing else in this world, including each other.

"we all are breathing the same air..we are all connected in some way...
even if you don't know it" Paul

Dew Drop Inn

If you happen to be surfing the Net and fall into the "Swamp", do drop in. We are a friendly group of people, who didn't know each other until we happened to run into each other on a different blog. Well, most of us, that is. There are no accidents, we believe, so if you happen to fall in here, stop and stay awhile. Share some of your ideas and beliefs. We would love to hear them.






















I went out to my minnow bucket, shinner to some of you, and there was one minnow left in the bucket. He must have been there for at least a week because that was the last time I bought any minnows. I figured if he survived for that long, he must have mission and I was going to help him fulfil that mission. I put him on my hook and set him out.


A little while later I noticed my line was moving. Rats, I caught a gar. We call gar, a trash fish even though a lot of Cajun people like to grind them up and make them into gar balls. I let the little fellow go.


It has been my observation that when the gars are biting, nothing else is. I may try again later.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gar

Continuation of Last Post

Leave comments here, because last post rolled over.

Sunday School Lesson: Church Ain't All Bad!

Ya know Solar and gang, even though I'm not much for organized religion, I'm glad I had my church time growing up. There were a lot of good lessons there. There might be a lot of hypocrisy but I do think they meant well.


Most of the lessons you learn in Sunday School and Church are good. It is a place for kids to go where they give out lessons on how to be good and why you should. Where else can they go for that? Kid don't always know why they should try to be good except that mom or dad will kick your ass if you aren't. Some moms and dads don't care if your good. They might be too busy with their own lives or struggles or are too lazy to do it. Discipline is a lot of work.

Even the hypocrisy you see in church is a good lesson. Kind of makes your little kid brain go, Say what? You are hearing one thing and watching those big people do something else. I was aware of that as a kid. It's part of the learning.

And it was a pretty safe place to have some fun. I had a lot of fun going to some church events. We had these weekend camping trips called retreats. There were a few of my church friends and myself who tried to entertain and torment some of the adult supervisors with our little pranks. No irreversible damage done.

Nothing is more fun than pulling pranks at church camp. And I could tell the adults were entertained. My little red headed friend, Jamie, was the most entertaining. She was a very creative person. She kind of went off the deep end when she became an adult. I think that happens more often to really creative people. Sometimes I think there is a fine line between really creative and crazy.

If I would have been fortunate enough to have a kids, I would have made them go to church. If for no other reason, it does get them out of your hair for several hours. Parents do need a break now and again. This is just IMHO.

I have a name!

This is my chicken, sausage, and okra gumbo. Come on over for a bowl.

Jealous dogs don't play ball

A dog might be a man's best friend, but only if it is being treated fairly. When a dog thinks it's getting a raw deal in comparison to other dogs, it doesn't shy away from expressing its envy.

Until now, such overt dislike of unfairness had only been demonstrated in primates, but some scientists have suspected that other species that live cooperatively could also be sensitive to fair play - or a lack of one.

To test this theory, Friederike Range and her colleagues at the University of Vienna, Austria, asked 43 trained dogs to extend their paw to a human in various situations.

The animals performed the trick almost at every request, regardless of whether they were given a reward or not; as well as when working alone or alongside another dog.

The dogs' enthusiasm quickly waned, though, when they saw the other dog being rewarded but received nothing themselves.

First time out, I think that I will stop here..will give a link to this, and many other facts about our dog-pals,,how they evolved, and how maybe, they think a little like us...we rubbed of on them?

LOBIE

Last Sunday, John, my husband was the celebrant at our church. It was St. Francis' Day. St. Francis was the Patron Saint of Animals. In celebration of St. Francis Day, our church has a Blessing of animals or as John put it "our animal companions". Many members of the congregation brought their animal companions and at the close of the service they were each blessed, "May you and your human companions enjoy life together and find joy in God who created you." This is probably my favorite service. The pictures published here are of my husband, John in Green and Lobie our animal companion in her own lovely gray and tan coat. I took the pictures. Jan

Posted for Jan