If ever there was a dog who belonged to himself it was Garth. Grown up in a time before leash laws and scooping he was happy enough to accompany us on our walks around town but if he sniffed something interesting in the air he'd say his farewells and be off like a shot.
...and so begins another story. If you'd like to read more it continues here.
Garth Cold Nose Strong Heart. love the name. sadly, i'm allergic to anything with fur or hair, so i've had to have less conventional pets. i once had a huge turtle - a mississippi red eared slider i inherited from a lady whose son had raised it, then gone off and married an amphibian hater. i called him Hunka... ( the turtle, not the young man) from the Elvis song.... hunka hunka burnin' love. he was a very handsome turtle. The size of a dinner plate, he had free range of the house, and spent alternate days in the bathtub under a sun lamp.
ReplyDeletegfid - I was asthmatic. I had a kitten for a week who had to be given away.Then there were 2 little turtles we bought in Buffalo during one of the Niagra Falls trips. They died tragically when I forgot about the sun coming around to where I'd put their bowl on the verandah. Finally, when I was nine, I was allowed a dachshund. She died of leukemia shortly before I went off to Europe. There haven't been any pets since Garth.
ReplyDeleteHunka sounds like a great pet. Was he house trained? How long did you have him? I thought all big turtles lived a hundred years or more.
Hugs. I received a nice package yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI had just come home from the dentist, all woozy from having a tooth pulled. I was holding an ice bag against the swelling. My temporary tooth was bloody. After waiting some months for the bone to heal in my jaw, I'll have to go back for a tooth implant.
I was afraid to even take the treasure from the box, for fear of damaging it. I'm still stunned, not so much from the dental work, but by your kindness.
I'll treasure this.
Thank you Susan!
sera - I hope you're feeling better by now. I know I feel good knowing it made you smile through the pain. All the best.
ReplyDeleteHunka was probably related to the little turtles you had. most of them don't live long enough to get big. i had 2 as a child, who suffered a similar fate to yours, only i forgot mine outside overnight in the autumn, it turned suddenly very cold, and they froze. i've heard estimates of from 50 to 100 year life spans for red eared sliders. yes he was house trained. they only eat and void in water. there were actually 3 of them eventually, as word got around, and they kept turning up. i gave them away to a friend after my kids left home, and they all met unpleasant accidental deaths.... um, the turtles did... the kids are all just fine.
ReplyDeletegfid - I felt guilty for years about those two little turtles so I appreciate knowing someone I respect as much as you had a similar accident. Only as we age do we come to understand that maturity actually means learning to understand the consequences of thoughtless action (or its opposite).
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear the kids are well. So's mine :-)