Sassy Smile

Alaska's Energy

Great Pyranees

Sassy and I learned to calm barking, fenced dogs by asking, "Who's a good dog?" They stop as if wondering, "How do they know me?" I point at the dogs and say, "YOU are a good dog." Barking stops.

Today, Alaska - a Great Pyrenees - was at her fence, so Sassy went over to say hello and play a little tag, with each dog on its own side. Suddenly, Alaska was bounding toward me, as if defeating the physical barrier of the fence with special powers. 

Imagine puppy energy, puppy playfulness, and full-sized dog strength. Alaska played with me, Sassy barking in happiness or jealousy, until one owner came out. She was already frustrated with this giant puppy chewing off his rope. For now, the fence was useless.

Skinny-Bo was like that next door, but he was normal size with a high energy and mischief level. When I blocked Bo's frontal attacks, he ran full speed at me and collided with my back. But after a time, I saw down and talked to him and petted him. He was starving for affection, like many dogs which are bought for cuteness and not given the companionship they crave.

I graded three classes today. Covid sent everyone online, and suddenly each institution needed trained online teachers and supervisors. But I would rather see the masks and capricious fake laws go away.

I am working to finish the Walther book, then garden photos, then the book on Bible texts and translations.

 The Wind in the Willows is often called the best adult children's book, but Nesbit is even better.

Nesbit's "children's books" are read regularly by famous authors. They are in a world of their own, and she had a terrible life.

Sassy Hosts the Military Gardening Group

 Sassy had all her shots and remains in great health.

The Military Gardening Group met yesterday for pour-over coffee with cane sugar, pour-over with whipped cream and Ghiardelli chocolate, and pour-over with sugar, chocolate, and whipped cream. Tis a fussy group.

They arrived with 25 bags of shredded cyprus wood mulch, which will protect and feed the roses through the autumn and winter.

Mrs. Ichabod joined Ranger Bob, PFC, and me to enjoy the cool breezes, hummingbirds, and yellow jackets. Bob gets rather excited when he spots a nest, because they love him as much he loathes them.

The shy roses were starting to bloom, three Veterans Honor and two purple roses. More are sending up their new shoots for additional buds and blooms.

Sassy sat in the garden facing us. Her opening is to bark orders at Bob until he has given her Milk Bones and fiber crackers. Sometimes he starts with a tirade about her being spoiled, overfed, and "nothing but a chow hound," a term used for Army recruits who specialize in eating food. She grins during the speech because it always ends with food - and everyone cheering Bob for being so tough.

I told a Sassy story while she was facing us. At the end, Bob said, "Look at Sassy's face!" She was beaming about her many virtues being described and praised. Often, after a morning walk, Mrs. I says, "Any new Sassy stories?" Sassy listens as I tell how she teases Pat and Bob about kissing one, or the other, or both. Sassy clearly loves to play pranks and get laughs.

After the audience and food, Sassy walked beyond the driveway to guard us and keep an eye on the children playing in the street. She is always alert for danger and anything new or unusual.

Our vet tech neighbors drove by to ask about us taking on their pine needles. We have been doing that for years. Their kids and friends bring them over in the fall. I cut roses for people, pointing out that each snip means more roses will bloom faster, with the energy no longer going to the current flowers.

Like the cardboard, newsprint, leaves, and wood mulch, nothing remains of the pine needles except the biological replacements as they are broken down. The soil is noticeably higher than it was 10 years ago. The garden often feels like a big soft mattress, because the organic matter holds on to so much moisture.

Sassy Greets Army Ranger Bob for Memorial Day

 After Peter Ellenberger died, we put this Veterans Honor rose on the altar. He loved telling us how he was put up for discipline for "threatening an officer" with a potato knife. When the commander saw Peter's 100 pounds of skin and bone and the spud knife, he laughed and dismissed the case.

Ranger Bob came over Sunday afternoon. I wanted him to take the altar flowers to his step-father's grave. Both were Army Rangers. We had a vase of Veterans Honor roses, which were kind enough to bloom on the right day. When I look at photos from previous years, I think, "They cannot be that perfect." And they are, far more than the photos indicate.

Sassy addressed the door knocking with ferocious barking, as if I were not headed for the door -  or  - as if I wanted to throw extra locks on. Her initial stage of greeting Bob is to feign great hurt about not getting her Milkbone, followed by a Pupperoni, followed by some cinnamon cracker. Many chastening barks are laid upon him, so we can hardly converse.

Bob scowls and says, "You chow hound. Can't you think of anything else?" Sassy is in heaven. Like all dogs, she reads the emotion and not the words or feigned scorn. She can hear the slight change in words as he tries to hold back his smiles and laughter.

We had some new dogs move in across Scott. They wanted to do the "Stranger come to kill us all!" bark. I said, "Who's a good boi?" Pause, pointing at each one, "YOU are a good boi." (Animal language is misspelled with bad grammar, so editors, sheathe your swords.) Now the dogs perk up and remain silent. They are good bois.

Try that on strange dogs. They will pull back, as if to say, "You know me? How do you me?"

Sassy sets up a security perimeter after her snacks. Outside she picks a spot where she can see into two back yards, across the street, and over to Scott Lane. No threat has ever come near with her on duty, and she never stops watching and listening.

Five Ellenbergers, German born, served in the US military.

Sassy Sue Is the Sharp Point of the Spear - Walmart and McDonald's

Walmart opens an hour early here, for those of a certain age. I was awake at 5 and decided to make the run. Sassy wanted to go along, so she jumped in the back of our modified Abrams tank, which looks just like a 2002 Voyager.

I was the first to enter at 6 AM, so I saw the largest WM at its best, after the night crew had all night for stocking, without customers to slow them down. Others followed me in, probably to buy what was least available, paper products, eggs, and a few other items.

The produce area looked great. I bought some sweet potatoes for Christina and tangerines for me. I looked for a few other things and went to the two paper aisles. I know how much we took from the back room on normal days, trying to snug everything into place, when I worked at a Neighborhood Market. The toilet paper aisle had about 20 packages (one per customer, please). Paper towels were similar, the aisle mostly empty, with a few packages of one or two rolls each.

 Sassy's favorite part of the evening is the delivery of one teaspoon of "Frosty Paws", but she gets real ice cream.

That is quite a sight, almost empty aisles at 6 AM - at the largest WM in the state. Beer, soft drinks, and snacks were packed full.

Sassy waited in the car, but reminded me with some sharp yips that we needed to stop at McDonalds. She enjoyed a bacon, egg, cheese and an ice cream cone. A young lady - who loves dogs and our dog too - talked to Sassy about her breakfast. Sassy is not sure I will order the complete meal her way, so she interrupts with loud barks. She sees the cashiers at the main point of contact, so she has plenty to say when we drive up to pay.

A Special Day for Army Ranger Bob and Sassy

Army Ranger Bob came over with a special package. He had a complete Meals Ready To Eat (MRE - also called Meals Rejected by Ethiopians). His friend at work got one, so he decided to demonstrate its use and share some Ranger stories.

Sassy demanded her usual round of treats - Milkebone first, then a few training treats, then some cinnamon crackers. Normally she tells off Bob for not feeding her enough and various other deficiencies. She also looks at him with her loving eyes and allows him to give her a tummy rub. Her end game is to stretch on the floor and listen to his stories.

This demonstration, complete with many stories about Army training, had a special meaning. Bob said as he was leaving, "I drove Mike's body to his grave, one year ago, today." He was feeling the loss all over.

He left home at 16 to give his mother one less mouth to feed and Army money to help her along. Since we moved here and got to know Bob, he lost his mother, his Army Ranger step-dad, and his brother. Mike was almost helpless at birth, but his family helped him become an able-bodied man who could work and earn a living of sorts. Mike was retarded but he could offer observations that were on target, very wise and considerate. He called Chris "Mama" and loved to talk to her. He believed in Jesus.

Mike and Bob did all the nursing care for their bed-ridden mother and step-dad, never sorry they had to do all that work. They were glad to, and certainly were models for others to follow. They loved the poverty food their mother fixed them, like wieners and beans with cornbread.

Our congregation helped pay for the funeral and burial. Bob found he could haul the casket himself (Arkansas law) and dig the grave down in their hometown cemetery - so he did.

He said, smiling recently, "There is one verse I really like from the Bible."

Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

He lives it, himself.

Sassy Sue Sings Happy Birthday to a Veteran

When we drive by Pat and John's, we are expected to wave at them. Yesterday we had Sassy in the back seat, saw Pat's son - a veteran - and stopped to say hello. When we were done, John's car stopped and came forward. I said, "John, you had a recent birthday." He confessed that he did.

I began singing "Happy Birthday to John" and he motioned for me to stop. So I sang even louder out our car window. Sassy chimed in with her hilarious singing-howling-barking. We were all laughing at the end, John especially. He and Pat come out in the cold to say hello to her and get some kisses from her.

Later we were at the oncology group for some bloodwork and a pint of IV and potassium. A volunteer named George came by to ease the tedium of dripping saline. He delivered some drinks, too. We had a great conversation about all kinds of subjects, from Dr. Pepper to his combination of disorders and medical history. I said later to him, downstairs, "You were really an angel." It reminded me of what Ranger Bob said his favorite verse in the Bible was -

Hebrews 13:2 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

When he learned another vet, not John, had car troubles, Ranger Bob was over there in a second to repair the car and check out potential problems lurking under the hood. He only needs to hear "vet" and he is there, but he helps wherever he can. Every so often he orders another Chilton repair manual for the volunteer repairs he is doing.

"Professor, I do not need a computer to do my work."

"Bob, that is because you borrow mine all the time. I should charge you for bandwidth." He laughed.

I showed him the magic of the used book market, where almost-new books can be obtained for a dollar. We buy car parts from Rock Auto and discuss military history. "Here's a great book on Soviet ships. Only $600, almost new."

 Today is my name-day in Greek Orthodoxy. 

From January 1 - 2009. Sassy's Foster Parents Story

I stood on the curb at my house and watched my current foster dog, Moxie, drive away with her new family. Moxie watched me from the window of the car, looking confused. At that moment I felt waves of emotions wash over me. First, happiness, after all she had found her forever home. Next came the sadness, tears began to well up in my eyes. I was about to lose a part of my family. And finally, relief. I sighed deeply as I began to think about how me, my husband, and our dogs would spend a much appreciated break from the demanding work of fostering dogs.

I smiled as I headed back to the animal shelter where I work. But as I walked through the door at the shelter my smile faded. There she was: my new foster. I knew it from the moment I saw at her. She was on the floor, curled up in a fetal position, tail tucked completely under her, her eyes wide with fear. She was shaking and every now and again she would let out a little yelp. The man on the other end of the leash continued talking to my co-worker but his voice was just noise to me. I was completely focused on this scared, wonderful, little girl that needed my help. I began to wonder what her life had been like. Did she like children? Did she like other dogs? Did she like to camp or hike or swim? I knew that the answers to these questions would come soon enough, as I had already decided that she would come to stay with us. I quickly snap out of my daze when I noticed something wrong with her back right leg.

I manage to ask, “What’s wrong with her leg?”

“Oh she got kicked by a horse in April,” he replied.

“April? But this is August,” I muttered.

“I know, but we just couldn’t afford the medical care,” he replied.
Such a common answer in my field of work but for me heart wrenching to hear. I began to fear for this little dog’s well being and worry about what the future might hold for her. I scooped her up and took her to the shelter vet right away. The x-rays revealed a compound fracture that had been healing improperly for several months and the doctor informed me that the leg couldn’t be saved. I buried my face in this beautiful little dog’s fur and began to cry. Tears of joy? Tears of sadness? I’m not sure which it was but I suspect it was a little of both.

Sassy, at the very young age of a year old, had her leg amputated later that week and came home with us a couple of days later for a long road of recovery. She was amazing! She put all her trust in us and ran that long road to recovery in a very short amount of time. She quickly learned to walk using three legs, and then how to jump onto the couch using three legs, and then how to jump into the bed using three legs. She continued to amaze us when she chased the other dogs around the park, went on long walks with her foster doggie siblings, and went swimming at a local lake. But we knew that she would be just fine when she went hiking with us and literally had a tantrum when Mark tried to carry her up a very steep hill. She was going to do it by herself. That has pretty much been her attitude during the whole ordeal, it Sassy’s way or the highway.

Mark and I consider ourselves very lucky to have met Sassy and to be able to care for her. For all the things that we may have taught her during her stay with us, she has taught us just as many. Among her lessons: perseverance, trust, confidence, the ability to overcome, and the ability to smile when things aren’t so great. All lessons that each and every one of us should practice. I know that those waves of emotions will wash over me once again when Sassy finds her forever home, but that’s why I do it. Fostering can be the best and the worst feeling. But every time she looks up at me with those big brown eyes I know she is grateful for what I was able to do for her and I look forward to the day I stand on the curb, tears welling up in my eyes, watching her drive away with her new family, with that incredibly silly grin on her face.