Be ready to say "AWWWWWWW"

When confronted with a baby that is not blessed in the looks department it can be a bit jarring. You know what the parent wants to hear, but you almost have to force out the praise. And let's be honest, all you judge about a baby for the first few months is its looks. You have no idea if you're looking at a future Nobel Prize winner; it's looks alone. Seinfeld even dealt with this in a very funny episode; as usual Kramer had a much more difficult time hiding his dismay.

I find I don't have this problem with baby animals. They almost always induce "ohhhhs" and "awwwwwss" from me. They're just so cute and their brains are already developed beyond most babies. You're interacting with them in a way that will be months away with a baby. I give you my evidence.

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Now mind you, if someone sends me links of cute baby animals I trash it before even looking at it. Those images get passed around the net like a bad case of measles in a first grade class. The person will generally even be banned from my email. I like baby animals, but not pages and pages of them.

I can say that I currently have a truly stunning little baby living next door. She makes me smile within and out every time I see her. She gurgles and coos and answers my insane questions with a smile and some sort of baby gibberish that always seems to be the right answer.

A HAPPY DOG...

is a singing dog.

CHERISH your pets

For the past week, since I got home from my vacation, I've been dealing with my little dog becoming partially paralyzed. Fortunately he's back to near full recovery, but a week ago was very stressful with sleepless nights. Three years ago at Christmas time he became completely paralyzed from the neck down and required major spinal surgery followed by 6 months of non-stop care. So when he started having trouble walking last week and would cry out when touched my mind raced back to the nightmare of the full paralysis. I rushed him to emergency on the 4th and the doctor confirmed there was partial paralysis, but she couldn't say if it was temporary or permanent. He spent a few days on pain meds and now is once again running back and forth inside the house, doin' dog stuff. I'm sleeping much better.

I've always had pets. Can't imagine life without at least one. Right now I have a dog and two cats. One of the cats was a feral that I worked with in my backyard for two years before finally gaining enough of his trust to bring him inside. The sweetest little tiny toy you could imagine. Has major medical problems, but he makes up for it when he trills his little call. Wee Bobbie, the Manx.

Photos of pets bring back memories and ultimately some sadness because they're always gone too soon. When I saw this vintage photo at the antique store in Weaverville I smiled, thinking about the joy the little babe probably brought to those who owned it. I hope it grew up to be a happy dog doin' dog stuff all its life.

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I have a photo of a dog that was in one of my dad's squadrons. His name was Boots and he used to fly with the crew and even had his own military ID. My dad always smiles when he sees that photo of Boots and recalls stories of how they sneaked him aboard the flights.

Right now I have a flock of wild turkeys outside my window. Did a head count and came up with 50. They're yelling at each other with some chasing others around and around at the base of trees. Stupid as can be, but I consider them my pets too. They don't seem to feel the same. I think it's time for me to go out and break up a couple of these fights. "Okay, you bunch of turkeys...knock it off!"