JUST A MATTER OF TIME

I have always loved dogs. I enjoy going to people's homes where they have a dog I can fuss over & play with. I like dogs & dogs seem to like me.

The first dog I remember our family having was a mutt named Whitey. He would always find a way out of the fence surrounding our yard & be gone all day, only to return home at night, naturally, needing a bath.

Whitey lasted until one night at dinner time when the sound of a fire truck's siren stopped on our street, meaning the fire truck was right ... THERE !!

Everyone in the family ran out of the house to see what was going on & if there was a fire on our street.

Everyone ... but Whitey.

When we all returned, Whitey was laying bloated on the floor & all the cube steaks -- which were on our plates when we ran outside -- were gone.

Shortly after that -- I'm not sure on "details" -- Whitey was gone, too.

The next dog we had was a Cocker Spaniel named Sally. A friend of my Mother won the puppy at a bingo game. Somehow, we ended up with the prize.

Cocker's have been described to me as a dog "... with a bite, just waiting to happen". Sally lasted about five years with us, & then, she too ... "had to leave".

The last dog I had was in high school. A black & tan mutt named Jinx. She was a great dog & a wonderful pet. But, like all the dogs our family owned, she had "issues".

Jinx liked to "travel" & would often be gone for days at a time. We once had people call who lived across the lake from us, telling us Jinx had somehow made it to the other side & was hanging around in their neighborhood.

One night, a neighbor who lived down the road a few miles, brought home Jinx in the back of his truck, in an empty concrete bag. Jinx had been chasing & barking at the one lone sheep in the neighbor's pasture. He shot & killed my dog.

I've never had a dog since Jinx. I never handle death very well, with people or pets close to me. I would just rather avoid the whole mess.

Well, there was one other major dog, but she belonged to other people, which in retrospect, may be the best way for me to have a dog in my life.

When I moved to Arkansas, the neighbor's dog from across the road -- Sassy [photo above] -- adopted me as an almost constant visitor/companion. I later learned Sassy's owner -- a young girl about 18 years old -- was killed near here in an automobile accident. Maybe in a way, Sassy ... needed me.

About five or six years ago, the people who "owned" Sassy moved & I never saw the dog again. Sassy was a great dog & I often wished she had been mine.

But then ... fate had other things in store for me.

A different neighbor's cat started showing up around the house. Like an idiot -- after all, I'm a "dog person" -- I started feeding the animal, as shown above. [This is the oldest photo I can find of my sweet, "Momma Kitty", Precious.]

I've told the story before: one cat became three cats; one cat on the porch, became three cats in the house; one cat became three cats in my heart.

One of the great things about my trio, is the never ending way they will amuse me through their "investigating" any new item brought into the house -- a la shopping bags or boxes -- or when I allow them access to normally closed off areas, such as an open closet door.

This A.M. I was getting ready to go work out at the Hays Center in North Little Rock, when I heard a noise in my bed room. As when any of the three are in the house, I had to investigate the sound.

Wobs was on the floor, in front of my dresser, looking upward, which is how my eyes flowed ... to see the head of Precious, in the cabinet. [She's been in the lower drawers previously -- naturally -- but this is the first time she got in the top part of the dresser.]

I was gone for about two hours. When I returned home, Precious was still in the dresser. No doubt, she was comfortable & enjoying the new found location to relax & snooze.

Well, as soon as Precious came down & went outside, I heard another noise coming from the bedroom, this time more of a "flop" sound. I entered to find many of my clothes on the floor & Nibblets having made herself comfortable in the same spot as Precious had previously occupied.

Nothing like some comfortable gym shorts to lay on, to make a lady feel right at home.

When Nibblets vacated the dresser, I put everything back together & made sure to close the doors. After all, what TWO cats have investigated & enjoyed, the THIRD is sure to want to do as well.

It's just a matter of time.