Chalow gets philosophical

I was digging through some old files and found this shot of our last little pup, Chalow. She loved to go on walks and pose for photo opps. Here she's sitting on a picnic table where someone painted "We live in a big zoo." When you listen to the news, you realize the accuracy of that statement.

No doubt, I do miss my dogs. We had one or two in various combinations, for 26 of the 33 years we have been married. After she died, we decided not to get another one. But they did add an interesting dimension to our lives.

Peaceful Downtown Feeling

This was taken through a window in an eighth floor corner suite at the Four Seasons Hotel. We had a great suite but it didn't have a balcony. I'm not complaining you understand. We bought the night's stay and a massage treatment in a charity auction. And management gave us a suite, to boot. Project Transitions, one of my favorite charities, got the money. We got a relaxing evening and this great view of Lady Bird Lake. (This used to be Town Lake and I'm having trouble adjusting. Same lake. New name.) So we woke up Saturday morning to this view of boats and the Congress Avenue Bridge.

Friday night, by the way, we saw Ballet Austin's original production: Cult of Color: Call to Color and if you are in Austin you should definitely see it. Unbelievable!

Meet Miss Chalow

Yes, well, the inevitable. Our lovely daughter gets a post. It's appropriate that Linda shot this one of Chalow nestled in bluebonnets in our neighborhood. This shot is a few years old, but Chalow looks the same today.

Chalow is now sixteen years old and her eyesight and hearing are starting to go downhill, I'm afraid. The other day Linda took her for a walk and she (the dog that is) was really tuckered out when they got back. But when she wants her food in the morning, why then she is Miss Ebullience.

We've had her since 1992-- some other people got her from the pound and then decided they didn't want her. A mutual friend suggested us to be her new owners and it took.

It turns out that she was born in April 1991, about a week after my precious Oscar the sheepdog died. We say that his soul passed into her. One theory is that since I used to tease Oscar about being "too big," being the dutiful dog he was, he came back as a furry little girl and then found his way back to his master.