Neighbor D really didn’t want to drive his backhoe all the way to Boot Hill anymore, but the shovel-and-tamping-bar method of digging a scavenger-proof grave big enough to hold LB was threatening to put me in traction so he relented yesterday morning and we got it finished with a minimum of further fuss.
I’ve permanently added him to the sidebar…
…and in the fullness of time he’ll have a stone like all the other major pets…
Only unless Landlady talks me out of it LB’s will read
Little Bear
2009-2018
Jeep Hog and Babe Magnet
Cats loved him, Coyotes feared him
(Yeah. We’ve got our own genuine and increasingly weird graveyard)
And then I’ll get on with life.
I’ve spent the past few days learning just how much room a dog half the size of a bull calf takes up in the life of a desert hermit in a tiny cabin. I keep tripping over how the things I do involved him – damned near everything did – and to be brutally honest not all the changes are for the worse. When the time comes, and it probably won’t be long, I’ll probably get another dog. I think I’ll find that on balance I prefer to have a dog around. But I’ll aim toward a smaller and hopefully less maintenance-intensive dog.
Which doesn’t mean I didn’t love LB, because I sure did. But it does seem, upon reflection, that life had become all about taking care of LB.
Thanks very much for all the comments and offers of support. I do appreciate you guys. We’ll be getting back to our regularly-scheduled program before long.
Joel, I hope that you felt all of us standing with you as you interred LB. RIP Little Bear.
I really was moved by all the outreach, ch. Thanks to you all.
very sorry for your loss
Take your time on finding the new normal; your life changed, more than you may realize yet. Take it at whatever pace it comes.
I hear ya on the grave digging part, BTDT a few times myself, and for dogs too. Good thing you have power tools available.
LB will be missed, for sure, as they all are. It’s good to have dogs around. Every time I lose one I swear I’ll never get another, the grief is too much. So far, always have gotten another one.
Those dogs sure do grow on one, even with all the misbehaviour. Which, when I think about it, usually generates a few good memories too.
Not for right now, but there’s a guy I know that does dog rescue from pounds all over, finds good dogs that are on the kill list and tries to save them beforehand. He’s placed dogs all over the nation, usually at no cost. If there’s a time that you’re ready, and nothing’s at hand, he’s always an option.
Now I’ll go have a drink in LB’s memory.
I came across your blog recently and binge read just about everything from 2009 on, not necessarily in order but I felt I came to know your pets and share with you their loss.
Smaller dog would be good, but I somehow don’t see you with an attack chihuaha.
That would probably be too far in the opposite extreme, yeah. But I’m hoping whatever I end up with doesn’t turn out to be another Dogzilla – even if it was kind of cool to have the biggest one in the neighborhood, sometimes it was a hassle.
What you need is a Jack Russell!
}:-]
Right, thanks for the help. Actually I think stodgy ol’ Uncle Joel needs the anti Jack Russell.
Based on our experience, the perfect mid sized dog would be an Aussie Shepherd, but I suspect that your perfect companion will be whatever you can find out in your boonie neck of the woods.
Yup. If I really get tired of not tripping over dogs in the dark I’ll go find the local shelter. But the way things usually go, it’s more likely that I’ll sit quietly by the river and wait for my next dog to swim up to me.
Sorry about your loss sir. Hopefully a new companion will find their way to you. Read the blog most every day, but never comment. This is the time.
Godspeed. you are living the life I dream of.
Actually, when you need something from your loft and don’t feel like climbing, a Jack Russell is EXACTLY what you’ll need. Get ‘im cranked up and he’ll hop all the way up there and get it for you. And he won’t need to use no steenkin’ ladder!
}:-]
Quite sure you have a million little stories about The Coal Bin On Four Legs. Keep sharing them with us. No one will shout you down for it. It will actually help you, believe it or not.