The Akita Wall at Shibuya Station in Japan





Thanks to Karen for sharing these!

Nemo is off on his summer vacation; Marc drove down to Nashville to meet a friend of ours who is taking him for the summer to show and to breed to one or two of her bitches. He's such a good boy - he was a great traveler and was very happy to meet anyone who wanted to pet him . But I already miss his cute face. Here are a couple of candids we took of him a few weeks ago. He is totally out of coat, but it should start growing back in quickly now that all the undercoat is out.





It's sure going to be less lively around here with Nemo away!

The warm weather sets in, and its time for mindless TV! We've been watching Groomer Has It which we've recorded previously - its pretty entertaining, and we both crack up at the expert groomer who looks like he just walked off the set of the Sopranos! I wouldn't want to piss him off .

We've also been enjoying America Has Talent...well, not everyone, that's for sure! But its funny and doesn't require a lot of brain power. Sharon Osborne is always a hoot, and some of the acts are very imaginative and quite good. I love the addition of the audience as judges...not that they really get a vote, but its clear to see what they like and what they think should be "gonged."

Last night we tried something new, and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I love this show - I Survived a Japanese Gameshow. The best part is the Japanese host - he reminds me a bit of Chuck Barris! And Judge Bob who never cracks a smile is hysterical. The audience whoops and hollers and bangs drums and other noisemakers...its pretty wild and crazy and we cracked up the whole hour. We even managed to stay up to watch the end of it!

Hey, when its hot out, who needs to think at night? Sometimes mindless TV is just what you want to watch. Speaking of TV, this morning I was getting my morning coffee ready and Hootie was loose in the house. Usually she is underfoot the whole time, but she wasn't in the kitchen with me. Figuring she was up to no good, I peeked into the living room. There she was, sitting in front of the TV, totally hypnotized by the news . I called her and she looked at me, but went right back to watching TV! As long as she doesn't jump on it and knock it over....

1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor
gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student
and had breezed through the questions until I read
the last one:

'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times. She was tall,
dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

'Absolutely,' said the professor. 'In your careers,
you will meet many people. All are significant. They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say 'hello.'

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her
name was Dorothy.

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 60s. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his
address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached..

It read:
'Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my
clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband's bedside just before he passed away... God
bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others.'

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,
a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

'How much is an ice cream sundae?' he asked.

'Fifty cents,' replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and
studied the coins in it.

'Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?' he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the
waitress was growing impatient.

'Thirty-five cents,' she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

'I'll have the plain ice cream,' he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress
came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the
table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had
to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness.. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will
save her.' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in
bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did,
seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his
face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away'.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister all of his blood in order to save her but he had chosen to save her anyway.

Now you have 2 choices.

1. Forget about this post, or
2. Forward it to people you care about.
I hope that you will choose No. 2

I don't know if the squirrels in the area were taking fertility drugs all winter or what, but all of a sudden there are squirrels everywhere! Big ones, little ones...running up and down the trees and across the stockade fence and driving all the dogs crazy. Even lazy Clio was running along the fence this morning, trying to catch one! And they are brazen! I took Hootie out this afternoon and there were two big fat ones, at the base of the old maple tree at the top of the yard, just chattering and looking at us. I walked toward them and they didn't move until we were within about 6 feet of them , then they nonchalantly moseyed up the tree out of reach.

I know that one of these days one of them is going to be just a little too brave and then its going to be a mess. Last time we had a squirrel incident was close to 10 years ago. It was winter and Floppsey (now dearly departed) was out. There was snow and ice all around, and somehow she managed to grab a squirrel. Then the squirrel grabbed her, and was hanging off the side of her face and wouldn't let go! I tried going out to rescue her, slipping and sliding all over the place...I got a stick and hit the squirrel and it finally let go - Flops grabbed it again and flipped it into the air, and when it landed it seemed its back was broken. I hustled Floppsey into the house and made Bryan and Andy get the squirrel out of there when they got home from school - I think by then it was dead or close to it. It's not one of my most pleasant doggy memories, that's for sure!

In other news, Hootie seems to be back to normal and is doing well. Dylan's hock is back to normal size so the antibiotics are working on the abscess, thank goodness. He has another two weeks on them. Mandisa is doing very well and is using her leg all the time now. It was nice not to have to go to the vet's office for anything this week, knock on wood!