Sad news, good news ...

It was upsetting today to learn that a dog near Sudbury has died after valiant efforts by veterinarians and ordinary people. The dog was discovered last week wandering along a bush road after it had been shot in the face, twice, by shotgun blasts. Remarkably the dog was alive long enough that people driving by were able to pick him up and bring him to a vet for surgery. The dog was nicknamed Buddy and although he seemed to be recovering, his heart failed Friday. It is so sad that somebody would try to kill the animal and just leave him. I can’t imagine how that dog suffered. If somebody doesn’t want their dog anymore there are ways to look after that by having the animal adopted out by the local pound or the Humane Society. It is frustrating that this happens.
Jennifer and Scott and their boys have a dog. He too is named Buddy. He’s pretty special. Every time I arrive at Jenn’s place, he wanders over to the truck and waits for me to get out of the vehicle. This is a photo of Buddy and Neil at Christmas, with Buddy sucking up to get a treat. My best memories of Buddy were when Jennifer was in the hospital and I would visit her. When I came back to the house, it’s like Buddy knew where I had been and he would circle around me several times, nosing and sniffing knowing that I had been visiting Jennifer.
Okay I have some “apartment guy” news to share. I finally have a “door thingy”. In my building, most tenants have some sort of a Welcome ornament on their front doors. I never had one, but thought it would be nice to get one. I just never saw anything I liked whenever I went out shopping. To be honest I never gave it a lot of thought. I was snooping through my bookcase this week when I noticed the eagle head carving. Neil gave it to me at Christmas. It’s a piece of street art carved by a Nootka aboriginal guy in Vancouver. Neil said he always gives the guy a few bucks in return for a piece of unique street art. Suddenly I knew what this was… It’s a door thingy! It's on my door right below the little peep hole. So now, on those evenings when I have sipped an extra whisky and I am tip-toeing home from the pub, I will know for certain what door is mine.