Merry Christmas and A Prosperous and Gourdeous Year Too All
May all God's best be received and enjoyed by those who read this post. Spending Christmas day alone is a first time for me in my sixty-seven years of life. My daughter just went to work at CVS and she was happy too, because she is getting double time. Later today I will have supper with my twin Great Grand Daughters and their Mom. Lord Willing I will get there on time. My wife is in Mexico visiting her aunt's, uncle's and cousins. My other daughters are spending the day at their homes with their family's. This has been one of the strangest holidays I can remember. I have been in perpetual motion since the 21st and got home late last night. Thought I would be taking off again the 26th but my Great Nephew's Other Great Uncle will be bringing him back on Saturday.
This has been a very, very blessed year for me. Many things have happened and I do not know where to start on it all. Financial blessings are always easy to see and remember. Especially when you suddenly become debt free and have your income suddenly rise to meet all your needs and more. Of course I paid some dues to get that benefit. Little did I know that when I was in Vietnam and we were waving at the Air Force helicopters spraying our compound for weeds, we were being poisoned by our government. That is where my blessing came from though. It was my settlement for being exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Anyone who is a Vietnam veteran and has a heart condition and is not getting some kind of compensation should definitely apply for the benefits and let the government see if you qualify. It was a total shock to me that I was and had another veteran not told me to apply I might never have received the benefits.
My favorite dog Scruffy died this year. He was about eight years old and went the same way his mom did. Hit by a car. My daughter found him and his sister along U.S. 41. Their mother had been hit by a car. The irony was my daughter was bringing me a couple pet carriers to sell and my second hand shop. The pen I had built for my German Shepherd years before was a ready made home. Our neighbors adopted his sister. Scruff was an awesome dog and was always dragging up pieces of deer carcasses the hunters had failed to find. He had one habit that I could never cure him of. He hated cats and he killed them. We can now have cats and plan to have many as we have a severe mouse problem living in the country. While I miss him dearly I wanted to travel in the coming year and at least this way I don't have to worry about him. He would never accept a collar or chain, which would have been necessary for travel. When I tried to secure him he would always get it off or loose in record time.
Dogs have always been special to me. My first one was Mike, a Cocker Spaniel, he was with me from before I could walk and stayed with me till I was sixteen. Mike was an awesome dog and he hated cars and would chase them. He would actually try to bite the tires. He spent several months recovering from his attacks, but as soon as he could walk again he was back at it. Mike also hated cats, but he made an exception for my cat George. George just showed up one day and stayed a few years. Then he disappeared. He left many of his lineage behind though. He was a bob tailed Manx and one bad to the bone cat. Mike did not like him when they met, but George put three bloody racing stripes across the end of Mike's nose and Mike decided they would tolerate each other and actually became friends. Other dogs in the neighborhood would walk across the street to avoid George. He did not run from dogs. He would actually attack them. One time a German Shepherd attacked Mike and had him on his back. The next thing I knew George was on the Shepherd's back. The last I saw of that fight Mike and George were chasing the German Shepherd down the alley.
My present dog and the only one I have left is Forrest Gump. He was my youngest daughter's dog and she left him to me in her Will. She passed away in August 2010 after a seven year battle with a brain tumor. It seems all my most memorable pets were given to me. It must be some unwritten rule. My Mom had many dogs, but in reality she never had one that was really hers. They were all left with her by my brother. He would get them and then move and not take the dog with him for whatever reason. Mom always had dogs though.
My brother moved in to live with me for awhile and brought two dogs and a cat. I warned him the cat would not survive and less than a week later Scruff made that prophecy come true. He was here for several months and both his dogs died while he was here. He adopted another dog shortly before leaving and Sheba has been with him a couple years.
Why a post mostly about dogs? I guess because dogs always bring good memories to mind for me. Whether it is Mike chasing cars, following me through the woods or keeping my feet warm at night. Most of the memories are good ones. Good memories is what Christmas is about and as I type this and listen to Forrest laying beside me on my bed snoring, I can't help but think of my daughter Glenda and that starts off a whole lot of memories. So I guess dogs are my window to the past. I wish all those who read my blog A Merry Christmas and A Prosperous and Gourdeous New Year. For those who do not
know I am into Gourds as a hobby.
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