It is with great sadness of heart that I post this blog. On Sunday, October 12, 2008, at approximately 2:00 PM, our beloved dog Shawanda passed away. A few years ago, I had a hard drive crash and unfortunately, I lost a lot of pictures that I had of her. Below are a few that I was able to put together for this post.
The above picture is a pretty typical shot of Shawanda. She always wanted to be right with me, wherever I went. Most of the time however, she thought that SHE was the one who was supposed to be leading!! As she got older and slower and I got older and slower, it seemed like we were always in each other's way! But by our side was where she always wanted to be.
Above is a picture of one of the things that Shawanda did best . . . sleep! When I picked her out at the pet store back in '97, I could hardly get her awake enough to see a little of her personality. She pert near slept through the whole thing. And then when I got her home, I lay down with her on the floor, where she put her head on my arm and fell back asleep! She slept next to my bed almost every night for the next 11 years. Of course, she could be a bit of a noisy sleeper and although that didn't keep me awake, I think that Sandy spent a few sleepless nights because of Shawanda's snoring - not to mention the occasional fart that would make your eyes water! We finally decided that certain types of table scraps were not conducive to a good night's rest. Sometimes the farts were SBD's, but often they were actually audible. She's the only dog I've ever known that you could hear her farts. She'd rip one off and then look up at me . . . I always thought that she thought it was funny. On other occasions, we've seen her rip one and then get up and move, as if to get away from her own smell! I know it's funny to admit, but I'm even going to miss her farts.
Above is the second best thing she loved to do - beg for food! She knew the words dinner and biscuit. Dinner time was a time for running around impatiently, looking at me moving too slowly to suit her. She also loved her biscuits - dog biscuits of course. I gave them to her several times every evening. I think it was the highlight of her day!
Above is a picture of her at an earlier time, before we moved to our new house. I don't remember exactly what she was doing in this picture, but she was probably staring at a bird. Although she was a German Shepard/Black Lab mix, she was the birdiest dog I have ever seen. She would chase birds all day long when she was younger. Bird was another word that she recognized. I would say "where's the bird" and she would look up in the sky, gazing around to find the bird.
She's also the only dog I've ever known to smile. Yes, she smiled . . . at least her version of it. When she was really excited, her lips would pull back, exposing her teeth, not in a threatening way, but rather in what could only be decribed as a dog smile. She quit smiling a year or so ago . . . I don't think she felt very well over the last year. Of course, she was starting to get old and a little bit slow.
I always thought that taking my dog camping would be a lot of fun. So, I took her camping . . . once . . . and told myself that I would never do that again!! I never did. Of course, I don't think she minded that at all. She didn't have a very good time camping :-)
The third picture from the top, where she is sleeping, is almost the exact position that we found her in when she passed from us. It was a favorite spot for her to curl up. We installed a doggie door in our laundry room, so that she could get inside whenever she wanted to. Apparently, she came inside the house to die . . .
About two months ago, Shawanda got sick. We had just returned from vacation and she didn't quite seem to be herself. She was a bit lethargic and lay around a little more than usual. A couple of nights later, she had what we believe must have been a seizure of some sort. She recovered slowly and from that point, I though she was going to be okay, maybe just a little bit of some sort of flu. However, she again got sick a couple of weeks later. This pattern repeated one more time and during all of this, her appetite was slipping and she was losing weight. By the time of her death, she had gone from a robust 70 pounds down to a mere 59 pounds. This last go-round of sickness she was unable to recover from. The vet believes that she had what they called a liver or stomach "mass". I don't know what that means . . . but apparently that mass finally ruptured and that is what took her life. Although we miss her, I am thankful that she died peacefully. I don't believe that she was in any pain, even right up until the end. It was a merciful death.
At this point, we are really missing our friend. We realize that with time, we will miss her less. But Shawanda, although gone, will never be forgotten. She was our friend, our faithful companion. She always gave us more than we could ever give in return.
Rest in peace our beloved friend. You've earned it.
Here's another shot of Sandy's bestest friend Emily.
Here's a shot of Boldlygo and our big ol' Dodge. The area that we were camped in was actually a group camp area. However, it was just the 6 of us, our friends in their trailer and us in Boldlygo. It was very nice and peaceful over here. On Saturday morning, we had a Coyote approach the trailer. I went outside and the critter got within about 30 yards of me before he finally winded me and figured out I wasn't his friend. I sure wanted to shoot that thing, but I don't think Thousand Trails would approve of me blasting away in the middle of their campground.
The last picture here is of me dumping the poopies out the back of Boldlygo. This is a ritual that takes place about a half hour before we leave any campsite that includes hookups. It's not exactly the most fun part of the trip . . . but someone has to do it. I haven't talked Sandy into taking on that job . . . yet . . . so for the short term, I will continue to do it . . . and complain :-)
The photo above and the one below are of Sequoia Redwoods at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. These magnificent trees are cousins to the giant redwoods in Sequoia State Park a little south of here.
On Sunday, we attended services in Modesto, where a friend of ours is pastor. On the way back, we drove past a ranch that has a host of exotic animals. The picture below is a Bison, commonly referred to as an American Buffalo.
In the town of Sonora, there is an excellent museum where the sheriff's office and jail used to be. Here is a shot of Sandy in jail again!!
They also had quite an extensive firearms display. Of course, that was the biggest thrill for me personally. The guide that was running the museum that day was quite entertaining.
So while in gold country, we visited Jamestown, Sonora, Angels Camp, Murphys (our favorite), Calaveras Big Trees and Jackass Hill, along with numerous little stops along the way. We can't wait to go back!!
This was one of those rare weeks away where we struck the perfect balance between doing too much and not having enough to do. We were able to go see the sights, including the spot where James Dean was killed. We also visited Parkfield, the "Earthquake Capitol of the World". The San Andreas fault runs right through the middle of this little one horse town. We also visited the Works and Jack ranches, both places where I have hunted wild pigs. And with all of that, we still were able to sit around the campfire every night and talk. We also had time for naps and such. It really was a great week.
On the road again!!
The lovely missus standing next to Old Fort Sumner museum. The Kid's grave is behind this building.
Below is Sandy standing next to Billy's grave. Notice the cage built around the grave. The headstone has been stolen at least twice. The last time it was stolen, it was missing for quite a few years and eventually recovered in Huntington Beach, California. They wanted to make sure that it stayed put this time, so they built a 'jail' around it. Seems appropriate to me . . .
Here's Sandy overlooking the Pecos river. If you notice in the foreground, there is a plaque in the ground. This is the spot where William H. Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid was killed by Pat Garrett. Billy was inside of a ranch house that has long ago been washed away by the flooded Pecos.
Of course, no trip to New Mexico would be complete without a trip to Roswell, the alien capitol of the world. According to their story, an alien space craft crashed there in the 1950's and the bodies of the aliens are kept in area 51 or some such crap. No, I don't believe any of it, but it does make for an entertaining story and a fun town to visit. The whole town seems to get into the spirit of the alien theme. Even the WalMart store has a picture of an alien on the wall out front:
Here's the UFO museum. It was amusing at least.
There is an old home in town that has been turned into a museum also. It actually was the highlight of the visit to Roswell. I believe that it was called the White-something or other house. Sandy could tell you more, as this is really her type of thing. Here's a couple of pictures:
I included this last picture because Sandy loves old stoves. If she had her way, I think she would dump our beautiful 3 year old range and put one of these 100 year old clunkers in it's place!!