Tails from Rainbow Bridge: Summer's Here and the Time is Right for Angel Visits

It is summer in the Northern Hemisphere and it gives us angels a chance to fly down and visit our loved ones.  It is too early in the year for us to assume the bodies of our favorites, butterflies, so we have to find less beautiful bodies to occupy.  Lately I have been using moths.  They are similar to butterflies although nowhere near as pretty and if I don’t concentrate hard to maintain the moth’s body I end up crashing into a lightbulb.

Us angels can take over almost any body but some are more difficult than others.  Birds are almost impossible.  They refuse to give up control of their bodies and when even when we get control they take over again and scare the crap out of us by dive bombing toward the ground.

We do have rules about what bodies we will inhabit.  The first one is nothing that bites because we hate anything that causes pain and the second one is no buzzing because after a while that buzzing will drive you crazy.  I think that is why houseflies always seem to linger on your arm just long enough to be smushed, because they want the buzzing to end.

We don’t do dirty bugs like cockroaches, and have no use for ants.  We very much prefer flying creatures to crawling ones but if you see something with a touch of grace to it, like a grasshopper or praying mantis look again because it could be an angel.  

My friend Nigel was  courageous enough to assume the body of a spider.  This is especially brave because spiders are mean creatures and don’t like anyone taking over their bodies.  But Nigel saw one that had a smile on it’s back in his Mom’s yard and knew she would love to see a smiling face so he negotiated with the spider to momentarily borrow his spider form so he could smile at his Mom.  The spider did and his Mom took a picture of Nigel the Smiling Spider.

I am going to be avoiding the spiders myself and sticking to moths and butterflies.  But if you see a butterfly, moth, grasshopper or other majestic insect be extra nice to them because they are very likely an angel coming to visit you.

And please no stepping or slapping.  Being squished sucks.

Daddy vs the Wasp's Nest by Pocket Dog

Last week we were in our stroller supervising Mommy cleaning the outside windows when, with our super secret hearing, we heard a terrible buzzing.  We ignore lots of insects because they could be angels.  But buzzing insects are never angels.  That constant buzzing drives them crazy.

We looked by the kitchen window that Mommy was about to spray and saw the exhaust vent for the stove fan..  Tucked inside was a big wasp’s nest.  We barked and barked because we know wasps get vicious when they are sprayed.  Mommy saw it, thanked us, and we went inside.

When Daddy got home from work and Mommy told him about the wasp’s nest his face turned white  He went outside and looked at the nest and came back in even whiter.  I am very in tune with human emotions as his emotion as that he wanted no part of that wasp’s nests

But he knew he was the man of the house, at least since Foley went to the Bridge (she was a tough little lollipop) and he was the one who had to deal with the nest.  

My parents made plans to get wasp spray.  Before they did Daddy would obsessively check the nest, sometimes dragging River and I behind him at the end of our walks.  We dug our feet in but we only weigh a combined 13 pounds and even when we went into beast mode we couldn’t stop him dragging us towards the ugly, buzzing thing.

Finally he got the spray and after he took me outside just before bedtime he worked up the nerve to go outside and deal with the wasps.  He put on a hooded jacket and gloves, despite the muggy weather, grabbed the spray bottle and went outside.  River and I waited nervously inside because we are nervous by nature and because Daddy usually screws these things up.

Sure enough, within 30 seconds we heard Daddy say “oh crap!” and then heard him run back to the house.  He desperately yelled at Mommy that the can was only half full.  Mommy gently pointed out to him that he did not take the new can of wasp spray, he took an old can.  Daddy said OK but he didn’t seem happy about having to go out again.  He was out for over a minute then came back and asked Mommy if she had a flashlight that had a straight beam of light and emphasized this by making a straight motion with his hand as if there could be any other interpretation.

Apparently Mommy was in charge of flashlights with straight beams of light.  We did not have a working one.  This was solved with a couple of batteries but Daddy could not wait for batteries and he used his cellphone.  He held the cell phone up with one hand and knocked down the empty nest with the other to stop them from coming back.  I began to think of the days Foley told me that Daddy made things way too dramatic.

The next day Daddy showed us all the dead bees that had gathered on top of the new air conditioner unit.  I kind of felt bad for them.  They never had a chance.

Well actually they did.  If they only knew the nervous numbskull they were up against.

Wordlesss Wednesday

Tanner Bub is our July 5, 2015 Pup of the Week

Yesterday we had a very important birthday here at Rainbow Bridge.  Tanner Bub, the dog that brought so many of us together, and for whom we named the Tanner Brigade, celebrated what I believe was his 19th birthday and his sixth at Rainbow Bridge.  

Every year Tanner’s party grows because more of his friends join us on the immortal side of the River. Sitting next to him at the head of the table was his wife, the beautiful Sophie Bub.  Before we began eating we raised a glass to all the friends who just joined us and all the friends we left behind.

For those of you unfamiliar with Tanner’s tail he was one of my best friends on Doggyspace in 2007.  We were all happy there and then the management began to make some changes including dissolving groups among them Tanner’s Yellow Lab group.  Tanner complained about his group being deleted and he got labeled an agitator.

Shortly after that Tanner got diagnosed with terminal cancer.  His Mom was distraught over the thought of losing her heart dog and she made the mistake of breaking a DS rule by using a human name (this human had caused several of us pups to complain about him) on a post I had made.  The owners of DS banned Tanner from the site.

I sent an e-mail to the owner of DS asking him to let Tanner back on the site.  I must have posted his response 20 times in the past six years and there is no reason to do it again.  But just for fun let’s do it anyway:

““As you know the rules are laid out clear, and we can not allow this bickering to continue, nor slander. It may be unforchunit for her personaly, however she knew she should not have done that before she even posted it, and we can not make exceptions in this case due to the size of the event. Dont expect it to be the last eather, the entire admin/support team are hunting down anyone that was part of the event on bothsides as its a clear break of the community rules. Its sad to see so many adults act like children.”

I have not changed the post to make the communication more ignorant.  There was no need to do that.  I have never been on to suffer a fool graciously, and I told the author how little I appreciated his opinion and his expression of said opinion which got me, like Tanner, banned from the site and lead me to make so many friend in Blogville, and also to find my own site, which I named the Tanner Brigade after the dog whose determination and friendship brought us together.

This year Tanner was quieter than usual, his jovial spirit muted.  Not everyone could tell, but those closest to him could.  Tanner was worried about his Mom:  Aunt Trudee.

Earlier this summer Aunt Trudee got diagnosed with the dreaded C word.  The dreaded C word brought both Tanner and  me to the Bridge,  As much as we miss our parents we don’t want them coming here which was why Tanner was nervous.

His Mom had an operation and the doctor said he “got all of it” and there were “good margins” and all that doctor stuff but she is still going to need the chemotherapy to reduce the chances of the C returning to 5% and chemotherapy is very hard on a person.

So today, a day after Tanner’s birthday, and on my birthday, we are only asking for prayer for Tanner’s Mom, my Aunt Trudee, that she is able to get through the treatments with as little pain as possible and that the dreaded C never comes back.

That’s not too much to ask on a couple of pups’ birthdays is it?

Tails from Rainbow Bridge: My Gotcha Day

Sunday will mark my 15th birthday, or, as it has been commonly called since my passing to the immortal side of the river of life three years ago:  Foley Monster Day.  This is a day to celebrate the love between humans and their dogs.  There is no mourning or sadness allowed on Foley Monster Day.  Only love, good memories, and laughter.

I was born in July 5, 2000.  I had humble beginnings.  I was born as part of a litter of four on a farm in central Massachusetts.  There were lots of dogs on the farm, some really big, and it was there that I learned size means nothing.  I had no problem, even in my first weeks, bossing the big dogs around.

My first Mom was, no word of a lie, a deaf mute.  For eight blessed weeks all I heard was the pleasant sound of dogs barking.  Then one day her daughter came, and then a man and a woman and they started talking!  As God as my witness I thought humans couldn’t speak.

My brothers and sisters were around me, and we were all equally startled, but I had the intelligence to run to the strange woman, jump in her arms, and when she lifted me up, to nuzzle against her neck.  I then made a little whimpering sound and that was that.  The woman told me she was my new Mom.  Albeit a noisy one.

We got in their car for what would be a long ride home.  I looked in my new Mommy’s deep brown eyes and knew I was going home.  I felt nothing but the deepest love.

Then I puked on her.

They stopped at a Petco in Bellingham MA to get supplies.  Mommy handed me to Daddy while she shopped.  I didn’t like being carried by Daddy as much as Mommy.  So I peed on him.

In my first hour as part of my family I puked on Mommy and peed on Daddy.  That is some bonding.

When we got home a black and white Shih Tzu came bounding down the stairs.  I got my tiny back up but the Shih Tzu, Blake, was thrilled to see me.  She welcomed me into her home and anxiously showed me everything in  five minutes.  She gave me sweet kisses and told me how happy she I was her new sister.  I

It was bedtime when we got home.  Mommy didn’t want me wandering around the house when she got ready for bed so she put me in a big laundry basket with sides four times as tall as me.  Well I jumped right out of that basket.  While Mommy was washing her teeth she turned around and there I was.

No laundry basket could hold me!  She carried me upstairs and I spent my first night in my crate in a chair right next to the bed until I woke Mommy up Daddy up at 5:00.  Daddy took me out, and then put me on the deck and took Blake out.  When he turned around there I was.  I had crawled through a small hole in the trellis.  I was looking up at him wagging my tail.  No deck could contain me either.

Mommy and Daddy went to work and Blake and I were stuck in separate crates until Mommy got home.  Later in the day they took us for a walk at the state mental institution across the street.  Mommy planned to carry me when I got tired but my little legs carried me for the whole walk.

And then we returned home.  To my new home.  My forever home.  Where my happy life was to begin.

The Bizarro Dog Blogging World

There have been so many instances of dogs, owned by bad humans, either being in life threatening situations, like being locked in a car on a hot day, or doing something very bad, like attacking our friend Cinnamon or other pup friends, and I wonder where these dogs come from.  There are no such dogs on Tanner Brigade, Facebook or in the Blogville.  

I did several Internet searches with no success until I found Bizarro Doggie World.  It is like the sites we belong to, but, as it is with Superman, in the Bizarro Doggie World everything is the opposite.

Here is one post:

By Dumbledore “Today I had a great time.  I got to go to the mall with Mommy.  It was kind of hot so Mommy left the window open a crack when she went inside.  I had such a good time alone in the hot car.  When Mommy finally came outside I was lying in the back seat, panting hard and had thrown up a little.  Mommy called me a silly baby and gave me a kiss.  When we got home I drank an entire bowl of water and laid down all day  What a day!”

I left this comment:  “Dear Dumbledore:  Your Mom is either an idiot or she trying to kill you.  Next time she leaves you in the car break the window and take your chances on the street.”

Here is the next post:

By Thunderpants:  “I was sitting in my yard unchained today when I saw a woman walking this annoying little dog down the street.  It looked at me and wagged it’s tail.  Boy that is annoying. So I charged out of the yard, picked that annoying little dog up and shook it..  It’s owner started yelling and was hitting me which was rude!  Then my Mom stood in the doorway and gently called me.  I kept biting the dog until the Mom pulled me off and then she started yelling at my Mommy!  The dog just laid there whimpering.  My Mommy yelled back at the other Mom and called me inside.  She told the other Mom that I had never done that before.  Hah!  I had done it this morning.  I think the dog was all right.  Nothing a little trip to the dogtor won’t fix.  Next time he won’t look at me when he walks by.”

Here is what I posted:  “Dear Thunderpants:  You need to turn all that anger back to the person who made you that way.  All dogs are your friends.  We don’t attack one another.  Maybe snapping at your parents might wake them up to what they have done.  Now please leave other dogs alone.”

I left the bizarro world right after that.  I would like to teach them right from wrong but in the bizarro world no one learns anything.

I am stay here with my friends where there is a lot to learn.

Wordless Wednesday