The Spirit World

I watched the movie Young Guns the other night for the hundredth time and the line "They can't see us. We're in the spirit world asshole," really caught my attention. My recently deceased friend David and I had discussed many times about him trying to communicate with me after he had passed on. We never really discussed how he was going to do this but we really did not know what to expect. Evidently the possibilities are endless. David was always messing with Molly and she treated it as a game most of the time and she was always barking and carrying on with him. Ever since his death I have noticed a great increase in Molly's dream activity. She has these barking dreams that will wake me up. She will also be sitting in my bedroom all by herself and she will just start barking. I will walk in the room and she will be looking towards the middle of the room and just barking. They are playful kind of barks. As soon as I walk into the room I will get a cold chill that will make me shiver. I may not be able to see into the spirit world but Molly can.

The Birds And The Bees

Since Molly has been "fixed" I had to give her a much different talk about the birds and the bees the other day. Molly is always biting and snapping at bees until one mounted a counter attack the other day and he really put her on the run. It was a big bumblebee and he was mean. The Bumblebee chased her down the sidewalk until he felt that he had made his point. My talk with Molly was pretty short and simple. Bees sting and it hurts when they do. She took that message to heart and yesterday she about took my legs off running from one. No more biting and snapping for her. She even let a lightning bug back her down. A lightning bug? Molly, please.

Today Is My Birthday

Molly's birthday was last Sunday on Fathers Day. She is 10 years old, a milestone for any dog. I would have had her a party but she doesn't like anyone so who was I going to invite? I can envision a doggie birthday cake, Molly wearing a party hat, and feasting on some doggie ice cream. I am going to buy her some special treats and a new pet bed. Molly deserves to be treated like the royalty that she is. Looking back over Molly's 10 years, she has been such a great companion. Like any relationship, we have had our ups and our downs but I can count the downs on one hand. She has been my therapy dog and I can count on her to be there for me when things go bad or I need a sympathetic ear or a soft doggie shoulder to cry on. I wish Molly would live forever but I know that is not possible in spite of the questions raised in Stephen King's movie Pet Sematary. I guess it is ever dog owners wish that their dog out lives them or that they die together. I have already got a contingency plan in place in case I die first.

Fathers Day

Pops passed his love for dogs on to me and dogs have always been part of the family. I was watching a video of some old home movies that my sister found of us when we were kids and in most of the scenes there was a dog. My sister knew most of their names and I was really young but the videos showed they were part of the family. The dogs were up on the couch with us, greeting Pops at the door, or playing with us. Molly has been part of my family since the day I got her. She is the daughter I never had and I don't even have to buy her a car, worry about her dating, or paying for college. I remember the last conversation I ever had with my father. I was living in Gastonia when he got real sick and they called me late one night and told me I needed to come to Hendersonville. I realized the seriousness of the situation so I didn't give Molly a chance to do her business before I rolled down I-85. Right as I pulled into the entrance to my neighborhood Molly took a humongous dump in my backseat. It was a good, smelly one too. I had to clean it up before I could go see my father. I told him the story of what happened and he gave me intructions on how to prevent it from ever happening again. Looking back on it, it is kind of fitting that the last conversation we ever had was about a family dog. My family dog.

The Vacation Is Over

Molly and I have taken enough time off from our blog. The vacation is over. With tomorrow being Fathers Day and because of my Father's lifelong love and appreciation of all things canine, I would like to honor him in this blog. I have been around dogs ever since the day I was born. Pops always had bird dogs and we usually had a family pet as well- Midnight, Peanut, Sheba, Pee Wee, Trixie, and Bear- to name most of them. Towards the end of his life I think Pops always felt more comfortable around dogs than he did people. I always thought he was a little bit crazy but as time passes on, I am beginning to believe that Pops knew what he was doing. Dogs represent unconditional love. They do not want anything from you except maybe a little bit of attention. An old Irish proverb says that "A dogs owns nothing but is seldom dissatisfied." Molly always wants some dog treats thrown in for good measure but that is a small price to pay for the kind of devotion that you receive in return. Pops always believed a perfect day was one that was spent out in the woods with his dogs, on the scent of a covey of birds. When he could no longer go to the woods, that perfect day became one spent out in the backyard in the company of his dogs. I am sure that Pops joined up with all of his dogs in the afterlife and are roaming the great beyond enjoying that perfect day.

Tourists On A Roll

I finally got to go to my second Asheville Tourists game of the year on Thirsty Thursday, May 31st. I must say that Tourists Manager Joe Mikulik has the team playing great baseball. They are getting timely hitting and solid pitching and they are trying to run away with the first half title in the Southern Division of the South Atlantic League. I don't believe they have as much power this year as they have had in past years but they have several batters hitting over .300. It was the first Thirsty Thursday I had ever been too and it was a lot of fun. It is sponsored by the Wild Wing Cafe and I ate there before the game. I can't wait to go again.