When you spend your days with animals, chances are you are going to have some funny times with them. The problem is, they are probably embarrassing also, but I’m not going to let that stop me from sharing because I figure we’re all human so there’s a better than not chance we’ve all experienced it, we’re just not owning up to it. Every year late in the summer when the mold count is high my allergies kick in, and my most unladylike conduct kicks in – I snore. Not a little noise barely discernable above the fan my husband must have to sleep to but go to the next room and put pillows over your head snoring. Fortunately Tim sleeps on his side and the ear that is open to the room is deaf from years of answering a radio in a manufacturing plant and not wearing ear plugs, so he doesn’t hear a thing because his hearing ear is buried in the pillow in the bed. But twice now I’ve woken to Booger the cat, sitting on his haunches, slapping my face with the soft pads of his front paws, a look on his face that says “what on earth is that noise coming out of your mouth” and “please stop it immediately!” I always thought the only way you got a look like that with a cat was with Photoshop or one of the other photo software packages available, but no, keep them from their beauty sleep and it comes naturally. Nothing like being taken to task by your cat when you have no idea what you’re doing because you’re sleeping right through it, or at least you were blissfully unaware before you brought the cat into your menagerie. I always had a feeling that I snored because my throat hurt in the morning, but the look on the cat’s face told me more than I ever wanted to know. My first dog in my adult life was the cutest Cocker Spaniel ever to walk the face of the planet. She had long bangs that would hang down and framed the most beautiful doggy eyes with 2” long eye lashes (and that’s not an exaggeration; she could have been a movie star). I had her before the days of Eukanuba (I know you think they pay me but they don’t – but whatever they do for a dog’s intestinal system is the bees knees to me) and this beautiful little dog would sit at my feet and pass the most horrible smelling gas you have ever smelled with the longest hang time imaginable. It’s one thing when you’re home alone but this was when I was 18 and newly married, and our house was where everyone came to hang out. What was I going to do, blame it on the beautiful little dog? Right, like anyone is going to believe that. Talk about a lesson in humility. But I tried anyway because no one in their right mind wanted to be held responsible for that odor. That was 35 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday! My dad had a Brittany Spaniel that was supposed to be a hunting dog but DeDe turned out to be a great couch potato. She was definitely more man’s best friend than great hunting companion. One day dad and his buddies went to a bird hunting day camp, and they took DeDe with them (this was many, many years ago). They left the house at 3 am so they could be in line by 5 am with the hope of hunting birds. While they were waiting in line to sign up for the day, a bus pulled in with the Cardinal Football team (yes, that’s how old this story is). So there they all are, all the regular folks that have been standing in line since 5 am when the football Cardinals get off the bus at 9 am and go to the front of the line. Tensions are high already when all of a sudden all you can hear is a car horn blasting from somewhere in the parking lot. And on it goes for five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. Finally my dad turns around, wondering who on earth is making that racket when he realizes it is his very own dear DeDe, standing on the horn of his car in the parking lot. His dog is the only hunting dog that is loose in the car and not in a cage in the back. As I said, she was a great couch potato, never a good hunting dog. But he was happy he was able to irritate the football Cardinals that cut in line almost as much as they irritated him by taking his place from him when he’d stood in line for three hours, so all is fair and DeDe got a bone for being especially obnoxious that day, even if she was the most embarrassing hunting dog of all times. For some reason DeDe was also attracted to men in navy blue slacks and she couldn’t resist humping their legs. We knew what she was thinking because she was giving them a sideways look but it was never outwardly apparent to her target until she made her move. My mom was embarrassed on more than one occasion by not paying attention to the direction DeDe was glancing or the color of her guests’ clothing. DeDe crossed the rainbow bridge fifteen years ago but we still laugh about her antics today. She was purchased to be a hunting dog, and when she didn’t succeed in her purpose my dad could have abandoned her but he didn’t but instead made her a great family dog that is an important part of the fondest memories of his children and grandchildren. I read a saying that God gives us memories that we might have roses in December. Their lives may be short in comparison to ours, but the memories of the times we share with our animals are ours forever and we’ll never forget what they do for us. You can have all of this too if you just make the effort to contact the shelter and tell them you’re ready for the greatest love of your life. And never forget, it is only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
The RCHS annual fall rummage sale is coming up the first week of October. Please call the shelter at 618-443-3363 for info on where to drop off donations. We can’t do it without you.
