Back in the Saddle Again

Well, I’m healthy again. Healthy-ish, really.

Because I’m still pretty tired.

But a big thank you to all the people who wished me well – it was very sweet, and even in my delirium I appreciated it.

And of course, I’m behind again on posting.

There’s an actual reason this time – it isn’t that I didn’t have anything to say, but that I had something I didn’t WANT to say. Not terribly long ago, you might recall me posting about Duke, a neglected puppy with a burning need to love somebody. We spent a lot of time with Duke over the last couple of months. Walks, games, sometimes just getting on some clean grass and petting him for a while.


And now?

Duke is gone.

It turns out that my neighbors were not only lousy dog owners, they’re rotten tenants, because their landlord had specifically forbidden them to have a dog. They might have gotten away with it, had other neighbors not complained about the smell and condition of their yard. Anyway, one day last week, Jesse went out to get Duke and found an empty yard. Duke has gone to live with a relative, so the kids can still see him and he can kind of stay in the family. This relative has other dogs, so I’m really hopeful that Duke has gone to a better home. At least he won’t be alone so much.

As much as I know that it was better for Duke to get a new place to live, I do miss him. Jesse and I offered to take him, but I think they wanted to keep some ownership. I suppose it would be hard to watch your dog, living two doors down. And during the last couple of weeks, Duke had been showing a preference for our house instead of his own, so there might have been some hurt feelings.

I don’t know all the reasons they decided not to give him to us. He was a complete knucklehead, had too much energy, needed lots of training, and was honestly pretty obnoxious.

I miss him anyway.

I hope you’re happy now, Duke.

Good boy.