Gentle Readers,
On a balmy evening in December 1984 Muffin came home with us to the Little Blue House by the Lake. She was a dinky little furball that easily fit into Lisa's cupped hands. Then the other day started out just like every other day of the week. She gobbled up her sausages at breakfast but then a little later in the morning she died peacefully.
21 years (and change) is an eternity, more than half the time that Mrs TWC has been alive she was a part of our lives. She was there before we even married and she outlasted a dozen cats, dodged grabby babies, evaded noisy toddlers with teddy bears to show her, bossed around and outlived the German Shepard, and endured Uncle Will's adolescent Golden Retriever who camped here for a while.
The cats were real bad about leftover gopher heads and she couldn't see that well with her wool sunglasses so every so often she'd be thinking BO-NANZA, a ball. Just the right size for her little mouth, too. It was serious entertainment to watch Mrs TWC dangle her by the back legs over the trash can hoping the dog would just drop the head.
The worst she ever did was that roll in the hay, er ah, sand with a putrid decaying carp on a 115 degree day in July at Lake Havasu. Lisa was doing a fair impression of Linda Blair as she launched the dog into the lake screaming you clean her up, she's your dog. Why do dogs do stuff like that?
She used to bark at the boat engine. Didn't like the whining of the starter gears in that big fat Chrysler engine. She had her own life jacket too. Unlike most dogs she didn't like the wind in her face so when we'd get to cookin' along she'd hide her nose in mom's towel for shelter.
She used to police the cats, break up skirmishes, and wouldn't put up with any furniture scratching. Not for a second. She'd knock those cats out for that kind of stuff, which is a handy quality in an eight pound dog. Being a Cat Monitor I mean.
I almost OD'd her with Macadamia nuts. Sorry, we were just enjoying some nuts and watching a movie and then, things went south. Somebody else almost OD'd her at 4th of July with BBQ chicken.
When she lost her hearing we taught her sign language but when she lost her sight, well she began to enjoy breakfasts and naps on her quilt more than she once did. Okay, so you better not have ever called her late for breakfast.
That dog got around too. The river, the beach, the mountains, and just laying around in the rocks. For some reason she loved to sun herself in the rocks. She's had some adventures. She didn't get to go to Hawaii but other than that she's been smuggled into hotel rooms in beach bags, overnight bags, and gym bags. She's cruised many a casino floor tucked into the baby buggy with the baby and a couple of times she came close to getting us evicted.
Like Johnny Cash, she's been everywhere, man, including the other side.
Good Night Muffin, we loved you and you were a good one.
Big Sigh.
As Ever,
TWC
