Ram-Sam-sam

March 9, 2009.

This is Sam. Sam is a Flat-coated Retriever. Sort of a cross between a black lab and a Golden Retriever. Sam, like many humans, turned prematurely grey. I have better pics of him, but they are on my other computer. He started turning grey around the muzzle and eyes at about 5 years. About six weeks ago, he began losing weight. A lot of weight. Then he wouldn't eat. Then we found some things he would eat. Like soup, leftover pasta, eggs. One of his favorite things is to go for a ride in the car.

This morning, Sam took his last ride in the car. You see, Sam passed away last night, peacefully at home, with his family by his side. Sam had cancer. He was 12.

Sam had a gruff exterior, but he was a big softie at heart. He was a good cuddler. He liked to go for walks. He was grumpy sometimes, but he got over it quickly. To me, he was kind of a "plain" looking dog, nothing fancy. Black with a little grey. But anywhere we went with Sam, people always commented on how beautiful he was. I'll never forget the older man at Home Depot (Sam loved to go inside Home Depot) that went out of his way to come up and speak to Sam, and tell him what a beautiful dog he was. He asked a bunch of questions and petted him. He wanted to know how old he was and what breed. He was a very nice man and was completely enamered with Sam. Of course, Sam ate it up. He wasn't always well behaved, but when he entered Home Depot, he sort of knew he was on display, and was on his best behavior. Once, when we had to have a lengthy discussion at one of the service desks, he simply sat next to us, put his head down and watched the people go by.

We have six other dogs, in various sizes and shapes and ages. With all those dogs, and with Sam being a little bit quiet and reclusive, he didn't always get the attention he deserved. But he compensated for this by hanging out in our downstairs bathroom. That way, he always had the undivided attention of whoever happened to have to "go." We called him the "potty dog." Some of our friends even got used to having him stay in there with them when they did their business!

You would think that having one less dog in a 7-dog house wouldn't make much of a difference. But we notice it. It seems like we have a lot fewer dogs. There's definitely an emptyness in the air.

Don't worry, Sam. Grandpa will be there to greet you when you get to the other side, just as you will be there to greet each of us when the time comes.

We miss you, Sam.

....and boy are my arms tired.

Ok, so I'm not blogging every day. There you have it. It's out in the open. Are you happy now? So here's what I did last week, in addition to the normal things like work, housekeeping, etc.

Tuesday: Drove from Portland to Seattle, with snow almost all the way, to pick up my son and his wife who flew in from Jersey, then drove back.

Thursday: Stayed up till 2:30 visiting with the kids and their friends, who, by the way, know many drinking games.

Friday: Spent time visiting with a friend of the kids, and her kid, instead of going to a hockey game like I wanted!

Saturday: Got the car ready for the kids to drive back across the country while my wife (who is going with them) slept. (She works nights) Bought a new digital camera for her to take on the trip, since she doesn't have one of her own.

Sunday: Showed the kids how to put chains on the car, in case they run into snow. Had a big family get together at G'ma's, then sent the kids and wife on their 3,050 mile trek.

Monday: Found out I have to work in Seattle for a few days this week, so am scrambling to get packed, get the house ready, etc. The kids are in Cheyenne, WY and had a flat tire. Found out our AAA membership expired in mid-december.

Whew! Makes me tired all over again!

Imagine

Perhaps you've noticed the photo at the top right of my blog page. Above is a bigger version. I took this photograph last May in New York. We were wandering through Central Park and my daughter mentioned she wanted to see Strawberry Fields. Located at the Southwest corner of the park, next to Columbus Circle, Strawberry Fields is a tile mosaic memorial to John Lennon. Every morning, there's a man that comes and places flowers and other items on the memorial, usually in some kind of design.

For some reason, the Photography Gods smiled upon me when I took this photo. I consider it one of my best. There's just something about the lighting and the angle. I took several other photos of the memorial that day, under the same lighting conditions, same flower design, some at a similar angle, but none more beautiful than this one. Just wanted to share.

I have some very interesting photos that show what light and angle can do for a photograph, and I plan on sharing them in a future post.

Super!

Wow! Six months since I started not blogging again! Ouch. So, I may have to re-name this blog. Or you just may have to get used to the fact that this may be cleverly concealed as a sports blog.

Anyhoo, a lot has happened in the world of sports since my last blog entry. In six months, we've gone through an entire NFL season, the NBA is about to have it's all-star break, and baseball is gearing up for (gulp) spring training.

Yesterday I watched the Super Bowl. So did a bunch of other people, apparently. I kept hearing all day today about what a great game it was and wow! that was the best Super Bowl ever! Uhmm, no, it was a great finish to a Super Bowl. The first three quarters were only ok. The Steelers were running away with the game. It wasn't until the 4th Q that the game got good. Don't get me wrong, I loved the whole game, but come on, it wasn't really a great super bowl until the last quarter. My wife even thought it was great game. She slept through it until about 10 mins left in the game. Says a lot for strong finishes, eh?

I still hate Kobe Bryant. Don't have any current reason, just wanted to point that out again. He scored 61 points tonight. Not saying he isn't a great player, it's just that I don't like him.

Maybe I'll start a "Cheers" and "Jeers" blog.

Cheers:

To the Steelers and Cards, for making it a great finish.

To Kobe, for scoring so many points blah blah blah

To Odyssey Marine for finding the HMS Victory - We can all stop holding our breath.

To the Association - for recognizing the talents of Portland Trailblazer guard Brandon Roy by naming him to the West All-Star Reserve team.

Jeers:

To (almost) all of the Super Bowl commercials (Except this one, which was NOT done by an ad agency!)

To Kobe Bryant, again, simply because I don't like him.

To...


You get the idea. I'll just have to come up with more Jeers next time!