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Bless The Beasts
Last night while my wife and I were relaxing, I watched the spotted twins romp. The ever-sleeping Dixee paid them no heed, continuing to slumber in her little bed by my wife’s chair, undisturbed in her deafness and warm in her sweater. It’s never a sure bet as to which dog will start the donnybrook. When Jinx does it, he usually sits above Bluebelle and growls at her, a rising wail that concludes with three or four sharp barks. While he’s barking at his sister, he’s looking around at us to see if we’re watching. Then he moves to Bluebelle and starts gnawing on a leg or snapping at her…
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A Little Dog
If you are the sort of person who prays for animals, please pray for our little elderly dog, Dixee. She is undergoing surgery today. A few years back, she developed a cancerous growth and was treated for this. A new, more sinister-looking growth has appeared on her leg and surgery is needed not only to remove it, but also to biopsy it and arrive at a prognosis. Our main concern is that due to her age and increasing frailty, the general anesthesia may be too much for her. We are prepared emotionally if she doesn’t survive the surgery, but I would still ask for your prayers, that the veterinary surgeon…
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The Tenth of August
Today marks the thirteenth anniversary of the day Bonnie came to live with us. Such a noble and big-hearted dog she was, and I miss her every day. This morning, Jinx and I walked up to her grave in the woods, and the place seemed to me to be in a holy hush, decked with dew and spider’s strands, with the quiet morning noises of the woods whispering all around us. A screech owl let loose her ghostly call, and Jinx was startled by the noise. We stood a moment at the grave, and then returned to the house, the spotted dog walking beside me with dignity and what seemed…
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The Tenacity Of Unbelief
When I came home yesterday, I walked for a long time, looking for the sick bull. I never did find him. But my wife brought Dixee home from the vet. The little creature had been checked from stem to stern, ultrasound, lab work, pokings and proddings….and had been pronounced sound. No sign of anything amiss. “Perhaps it’s gas!” said the helpful vet. Our small dog clearly felt much better, ate a good supper, ran with speed and joy, and slept at our feet during the evening hours before bedtime. We talked much about her symptoms, the scare she’d given us, and the vet’s pronouncements. We decided that gas might be…
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Beasts Of Hearth And Field
Yesterday I described a neighbor’s sick bull and asked for prayer for the bull. Tonight I want to ask anyone reading this blog to please pray for our little dog, who is very sick. Dixee is a rescue dog; in fact, all of our animals were rescued from various unpleasant situations. She came to us years ago when a construction worker brought him to my wife and told her that the scroungy, trembling little mutt had been hanging out at a construction site and had apparently been abandoned. She looked to be part poodle and part terrier of some sort, and she was hungry and frightened. My wife brought her…