Wednesday, March 01, 2006

A Prayer for the Little Dog ...

It depends, I suppose, upon who you talk to, when trying to decide who might be the REAL star of the Fire Ant Gazette ...

Me, I think it's Eric, whose wit and wisdom, words and whimsy never cease to entertain and stimulate ...

My younger boy disagrees ... when he sees me stopping-in at the Gazette, the first words out of his mouth are, "ahhh, the many moods of Abbye!" We then take a moment to refresh the screen a few times, to see if some new additions have been made to the Abbye gallery ... Eric's photo tribute to his canine companion ...

As you can imagine, we were BOTH distressed to read,
in one of Eric's recent posts, that Abbye's health has taken another, and more dramatic turn for the worse.

Although, statistics report, the cat has supplanted the dog as the #1 pet of choice, it's hard to imagine the dog ever relinquishing the title of 'Man's Best Friend.' The dog is our oldest friend, as well ... the first to cross over that intangible line and join us in the realm of domestication ... and the stories of devotion between human and canine are legion, ranging from "Ol' Yeller" and "Greyfriar's Bobby" to Ulysses' "Argus" and the residents of Clifford Simak's "City."

"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog," said George Vest, in 1855, speaking to a jury that was hearing a lawsuit brought by a man whose dog had been killed. "When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. "

CLICK HERE to read the rest of Vest's closing argument to the jury ...

Then, take a moment to say a prayer for a little dog in the Tall City ...

6 comments:

Jeff said...

Welcome back, Eric. My forum has missed you and your input.

As for Abbye's figure in the old photo, I could do something with Photoshop ... maybe remove the proportion constraints ... without adding that individual you and I e-discussed earlier ;-)

Pancho said...

Dogs......AMEN!

As I have permanently inscribed on all my emails.... "The average dog is a nicer person, than the average person"

Anonymous said...

I was just wandering around Eric's neighborhood and thought I'd stop in to say "Hi." That was a lovely tribute to, and prayer request for, Abbye (and indirectly, for her master). It's amazing the love that such a "small animal" can instill. Nice.

Frank Wilson said...

May Abbye get well. She's a lovely dog and she's in in my prayers.

Anonymous said...

A dog brings you your "psychological slippers."

It's awful when a dear canine pal is hurting.

Jeff said...

Wallace, I've noticed that inscription of yours ... and I agree with it 100% ... though mine is a big black-and-white dog, rather than a big gold dog ...

Gwynne, thanks for visiting ... I meet some of the best people in the world in Eric's neighborhood ...

Frank, thanks for stopping in, my friend, and for the kind word and prayers ... and for sharing through your own blog ...

Lynne, very pleased to make your acquaintance ... thanks for stopping in, and sharing your thoughts ...