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My "Oreo Cookie" boy I just couldn't let go ~
He grew up to follow me through summer and snow ~
Looking at me so intently with eyes so brown ~
So much love shining through, if it t'were a lake I'd drown ~
Alas, my Sampson, while I was gone, you died ~
No more joyous romps at my side ~
No more kisses and listening to my song ~
Dear God, his death was just so very wrong ...
I love you, my Sampson, and will miss you always and forever until I
can
find you and once more hold my Oreo Puppy in my aching arms ... Mommy
To Be the Parents of Fur-Kids is Truly Wonderful …
Tonight it’s difficult to tell that summer’s gone and Autumn’s here; I can hear the crickets chirping, the cicadas doing their thing, and the ‘good night’ calls from the birds in the trees. I sit on the back deck and listen, and it makes me sad. I think back to when I was a child, and I would lay back on the evening-cooled grass, listening to the same wondrous, timeless sounds that I hear now. Without looking around, I know that none of my neighbors’ children are out enjoying this glorious night that Nature gave us. They’re indoors, watching TV, on the computer, on the telephone, playing hand-held arcade games … anything to totally and yet never interest their inquisitive minds. I give a heavy sigh, worried at what has become of the more ‘innocent’ times. And, I get depressed even though I have all the beauty of an early autumn evening surrounding me.
Sighing, I snuggle back tighter into the cooling cushions on the chaise lounger. Not many more nights I’ll be able to do this. I hear Guy opening the back door to let the ratties out and decide to sit still and see if they notice me. Around the corner they bound, apparently exhilarated by the evening coolness – Smokeyjo, Tiny, Maggy, Mendo, Sissi, Mei Mei, Tigger, Dixie and Bodee. I watch them folic and yip with each other, the three youngest rolling in the grass and snapping at anything that is there, real or imagined. Tigger gets up and dashes in mad circles, round and round, ever bigger, until she gets Bodee to chase her … then Mei Mei takes up the game. I watch these tiny fur-children of ours and my heart begins to lift. A bird takes flight, startled by Smokey’s happy yip as he scents an underground varmint. As the bird flies, Maggy and Tiny watch it, curiosity and wonder on their precious little faces. Sissi hears a Whippoorwill and cocks her tiny face, listening to the lilting song it’s singing to her. Mendo and Dixie played ‘race around the tree’, trying to catch each other without really trying to catch each other. I grin, watching my fur-kids, and sit up straighter, straining to see and hear each thing these kids do. They tumble and roll, snap at air and play with nothing but the sounds and scents around them; they delight in their lives and in Nature.
I’m no longer depressed, but, rather, am totally caught up in my kids’ joy. No, these kids don’t use the computer, although they love to curl up in my lap when I do, occasionally reaching out a tentative paw to tap at a picture on the screen. They don’t use the telephone, although Maggy Mei loves to hear her Daddy talk to her on it when he’s not home. The only ‘arcade’ games they can play are either ‘fetch and retrieve’, or ‘fetch and destroy’, depending on their moods. They do watch television if they are curled up on our bodies, and only if it’s interesting enough – they don’t watch it mindlessly. You know … it’s good to be the parents of furkids!
Submitted by: Sherri Chatterton
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Smiles Everyone!!
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This rat is not growling, snarling or unhappy or mean in anyway. There is a peculiar aspect of dogs that is called "smiling". It seems to be a heretiary trait and what the dog does is lift there lip to varying degrees from a little smile to the ferousicous look on this doggie. What causes this quirk is unknown but is seen in many breeds. You can see them smiling away at the least bit of excitment and sometimes they can even be taught to do it on command. There little tails are waggling away, butt and all moving to and fro with their teeth bared giving the appearance of watch out!!! Too funny.
Smiles Patty
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The average DOG is a nicer person than the AVERAGE person……