... and there are quite a few that have had to bid farewell to those companions ... a couple years back, it was Wallace and the Big Gold Dog, and just a year ago it was Jim and Figalwicks. In August of this year, it was Janie and Zoie the Wonder Pup.
And now we read this about Eric and Abbye.
It depends, I suppose, upon who you talk to, when trying to decide who might have been the REAL star of the Fire Ant Gazette. Me, I thought it was Eric, whose wit and wisdom, words and whimsy never ceased to entertain and stimulate. Younger Son disagreed. Whenever he saw me stopping-in at the Gazette, the first words out of his mouth are, "ahhh, the many moods of Abbye!" We'd 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.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
Good dog, Abbye ... stay ... they'll be along someday.
2 comments:
Jeff, thanks so much for your kind words and keen observations. And, as is often the case when it comes to matters of real importance, children like Younger Son have the insights that we adults need to pay closer attention to.
Thanks also for calling attention to the Gazette's 6th anniversary on Saturday. That was, of course, a very trivial matter for me, given the other things going on, but I still appreciate the notice.
Eric, you're welcome. My Favorite Landman and I have thought of you and YLB, and you have been in our prayers. The boys, especially Younger Son, have taken it philosophically ... but sadly, nonetheless.
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