HOM: Respite

Beating the folks home after Basic was a blessing in disguise. After spending months living like a sardine in a small can and having every moment regulated, the freedom of "Home Alone" was wonderful. It was great to be able to go to bed when I wanted, sleep late, eat as I pleased and wander at will. March in Montana doesn't offer much outdoor activity so I spent a lot of time just goofing off, reading & visiting with friends & playing with Julie, who was now Dad's dog, but still glad to see me. ----------------- Flashback - Julie, the Black Lab. She spent her first two years chained in a back yard in Spokane before Dad got her and brought her home. I wanted another hunting dog to replace Mike, but she couldn't even swim at first. I spent the best part of a summer on the pond at Gordon's getting her to learn. She would tread water with her back vertical and her front paws doing all the work, till one day she got her back legs into the act and started swimming. She never was much of a water dog, but at least she got past the danger of drowning. When I left home, she became totally Dad's dog, going with him everywhere. She would follow the tractor around the field till she was exhausted, then she would lay in the middle of the field and just turn and watch him in case he stopped. If he was in the truck or the old International pickup, she sat beside him. She wasn't allowed in the car, though, Mom drew the line at that. She liked dogs but hated dog hair. Julie got too old too fast, as all good dogs do. In the early eighties, Mom called and said Dad wanted me to take Julie to the vet in his pickup and have her put down, then bury her on the ridge behind the old gas house. I picked her up and took her in - we met Dad in the old Chevy truck returning from hauling a load of grain into town. I waved, he didn't. Doc Pearson put her down while I petted her, then I carried her out, drove her home and buried her for Dad while I cried. She was his last dog, after that he adopted stray cats. His last pet was a stray that he fed and petted until he died. I guess it moved on then, even though we put out food & water for it. I think it gave him a lot of company, like an angel in disguise. TBC (Me) (Home)