Abandoning proper abodes

This afternoon I took a long-overdue bicycle ride and ended up being chased, again, by an unrestrained country dog. This particular pooch looked so much like our dear Tessa (who, incidentally, enjoyed her 2nd-ever kennel stay at K&A last weekend) that I was naturally unconcerned as he ran up to me.
However, this mutt instantly [...]

Things aren’t always as they seem

On Saturday I put Tessa, our doggie, in the pickup and drove a half-mile down to the mechanic’s, leaving it there for him to work on it this week. Tessa, excited beyond a reasonable doubt, squeaked and whined sweetly, yet with great, underlying energy, until I came back to get her. Then I [...]

TessaLesson 062909: Grand places, chock full of treasures

Last Thursday evening, I heard a more-or-less scholarly presentation on the afterlife. I appreciated the background and differentiation among ancient cultures’ concepts of what happens when humans die. I didn’t agree with part of this lecturer’s eschatology–namely, that a renewed version of this world is to be the final resting place for Christians [...]

Following Jesus

I re-noticed this morning that it doesn’t take much for my sweet doggie Tessa to get up from whatever she was doing (lazing, mostly) in order to follow me into the next room. Doesn’t seem to matter to her why I was going into the next room. I might, in fact, have had [...]

Protection by a higher power (Tessa-terday’s news)

Springtime in Western New York can be glorious, and indeed most days in the past week have exhibited weather glories. Good-smelling air, sunshine, green things bursting with growth, 60-70-degree temps . . . it all contributes to the feeling of freedom at the end of an academic year.
Yesterday, I walked to the burg’s post office [...]

Pavlov, Tessa, and worship

It’s been a while since I offered anything from our “didactic doggie” Tessa. It’s not that I haven’t thought about relationships between this sweet, interesting creature and the more lasting things of the Lord. It’s not really laziness, either. It’s just time constraints.
Today, I can’t resist.
Tessa, like most dogs, likes to be [...]

TessaLesson 09/08/08

Our now-7-month-old puppy Tessa is learning well–to the extent that we teach her, that is.  Seems our routines in the yard (play and pottying, mostly) are getting more comfortable.  Absent the pull of our wonderful neighbors and their attachments to Tessa, we don’t really worry that she will run off.  And she’s been taking less [...]

TessaLesson 8/12/08

Our puppy (see first TessaLesson a few posts down) was made to retrieve, to chew, and to tug. (She also runs with a center of gravity nigh unto that of a vole, and with the sheer energy of the Tasmanian Devil, but that’s another story.) Those of you with Golden Retrievers, Labs, and other [...]

TessaLesson 7/31/08

Tessa is our 6-month-old German Shepherd/Yellow Lab puppy. In her inimitable (after all, she is our doggie–unique, and better than anyone else’s doggie) creaturely way, she sometimes teaches me lessons. Here’s one I’ll share:
I was taking her on a walk. She, being rather young, doesn’t like loud noises very near her. [...]