{Bitter}Sweet Sound of Silence

For the last eight years our house has been filled with sounds of a big dog.  Barking at the mailman just because it was his right; the thump,thump, thump of his tail as it hit doors and walls and furniture in it's constant happy wag, the heavy breathing after a long walk, the clicking of his nails on hardwood, and later in years - the licking  aches and pains of old age.  A symphony of sounds that sometimes made us nuts but was all just part of our big, lovable, sweet dog, Duke.

With out going into detail, yesterday we said good bye to him.

His health was quickly failing and we had to make the hard decision. We've been preparing Harrison for this day to come and he is fine. Two days ago he said, "I'm prepared for Dukie to die, I'll miss him".

Apparently the Guy-I-Dig and I were not as well prepared...or did we just not realize how deeply Duke-the-Dog had rooted himself in our hearts?

We have both spent a lot of tears on the passing of our sweet Duke in the last 24 hours. He dropped into our life at a very stressful time and provided happiness and lots of laughter. The GID even gave Duke a voice, (that is ironically very similar to Doug, the dog from the recent movie "Up") And he was the perfect dog for our two boys. Big Brother was scared of most big dogs until Duke entered our lives and, needless to say, the day Harrison came home from the hospital Duke was quite nervous he shook for hours; but as time passed he realized there were plenty of perks of having that "mini-human" around - like that fact that he constantly drops food!

As the GID walked Duke to the car and helped him up (he couldn't get into the car by his own strength anylonger) Harrison said, "I'm going to miss Duke but I'll still love him." after that Harrison and I went to the park to play (to get my mind off of it). Kids are so resilient; a month ago the Vet said that Harrison would be fine and may even ask for a new dog the next day. Harrison asked the GID the same day.

Then as he prayed over dinner last night he added "and prayJesus for Dukie, we still love him".

But the sound of silence in our home weighs heavily on our grown-up hearts.

We'll miss you, Duke. You big ol', silly, beautiful, noisy mut!  

Redondo Beach Pet Photographer | And Now a Word From Duke-the-Dog about Picture Taking

As soon as I got down and pointed the camera at him, he walked right up to the lens and started doing this...


he would stop, check me out and if I had the camera to my face, he let out another bark or three.
Apparently, he's been taking lessons from Harrison as he gave me his cold-shoulder routine next.


But in due time I got a few new shots of Dukie-doggie. And took care of today's shot for my 365 project.

Good Doggie.

Curiouser and Curiouser...

I came down stairs the other morning to find my Tab key back in place as if nothing had ever went awry with it. I had set it on the keyboard and left it there at an awkward angle; yet secure in it's little keyboard home. It was like a nose that gets broken too many times - crooked but firmly on the face; I could live with that.

Then, there it was, in place, straight, snappy and ready for business.


A couple people mentioned if the little gremlin in the house could be Harrison, but he doesn't go near the computer - unless or course, I am on it.
Since it seems to only happen late a when we are all upstairs in bed, I'm willing to bet that it's Duke-the-Dog surfing the net and catching up on his dog blog habit. After all, what do you expect from a dog without opposable thumbs when he starts typing on the computer?


As for the rest of those pesky little computer keyboard issues...

They're still there.

Watching Robots Dance

I haven't been feeling the love for my point and shoot lately and it seems that I am not the only lamenting over the love loss! Andrea over at Shutter Sisters felt the sting and came up with a FUN, if not P&S forgiving, Superhero Challenge! Set the camera on the floor, on self timer for a self portrait and see what you get.

Funny thing is, I've been working with that self timer thing, the self portrait thing and even putting the camera on the floor! I just didn't put them all together until today.

Problem is, I STILL hate pictures of ME. So when the GID got home from work this evening, he and Harrison played robots. They walked and talked like robots. Duke-the-Dog and I just sat back and watched a bit. I realized my perfect opportunity was laying at my feet! [no pun intended] So when I sat the camera on the ground with the self timer set to go off a few times that Guy I Dig didn't even blink an eye. He and Harrison went on playing without stepping on the camera and I got a nice shot of my cozy red socks. 'Cause these hard wood floors are cold in the winter -even in So Cal!

This is SOOC, why mess around?