Frequent Flyer Miles

Excuse Me, Young Man, May I See Some ID?

So Liz and I took Nate and
 Sam.............

to Happy...er....Yappy Hour at a local tavern

where they have outside seating and serve dogs, too!

On the menu that evening were "Puptini's"

a lovely (if you're a dog) concoction of chicken broth garnished with a hot dog on a pretzel stick.

..

Sam U.L. Fraser sips his first puptini...

But decides to hell with the chicken broth...pretzel be damned!  Give me the hot dog! (bars are notorious for encouraging bad language in puppies)








Oh, my aching puppy-head.  I'll never drink like that again!

The Story of a Pony

This is the story of a pony:  Silver's Bonnie Lass, a registered Shetland pony, who came to live with us many, many moons ago.   Stewie* bought Bonnie as a yearling and gave her to us when Emily outgrew her.  Bonnie was fourteen, and Jess was four. We've had Bonnie for 16  years.  Add it up.  What a lucky pony to have belonged to only two families, and how lucky we are to have Bonnie.

Bonnie was Jess's first pony.   We had Bonnie shipped down to us from Chico when we still lived in Lakeside.  We gave Bonnie a day or two to settle in, although Jess was dying to ride her.  On about day 4 or 5, I got Bonnie out and lunged her around the front yard before I let Jess get on her.  Bonnie raced and jumped and bucked and farted before she finally settled down.

I knew I was in serious, serious trouble...I knew I was in deep s**t...I knew it was the end of life as I knew it because Jess ran up to Bonnie --  who was starting to sweat -- threw her arms around the pony's neck to hug her, and exclaimed: "Oh, Mom, she smells soooo good!"

*Stewie is one of Diane's best friends, who in turn, has become one of my best friends -- we have played horsie-swap more than once.  Emily is Stewie's daughter, who has grown up to be delightful.  Thomas is Stewie's son, Jess's first-and-always-love, who is delightful, but needs to grow up and remember how much more delightful he used to be....