Beyond The Rainbow

As much as I loved the life we had and all the times we played,
I was so very tired and knew my time on earth was soon to fade.

I saw a wondrous image of a place that’s trouble-free
Where all of us can meet again to spend eternity.

I saw the most beautiful Rainbow, and on the other side
Were meadows rich and beautiful — lush and green and wide!

And running through the meadows as far as the eye could see
Were animals of every sort as healthy as could be!

My own tired, failing body was fresh and healed and new
And I wanted to go run with them, but I had something left to do.

I needed to reach out to you, to tell you that I’m well,
That this place is truly wonderful, a happy place to dwell.

That your heart shouldn’t ache so… the pain should go away.
I’ll wait for you in comfort ’til you come for me some day.

That although we’re not together in the way we used to be,
We’re still connected by a bond no eye can ever see.

That when you need to find me, we’re never far apart.
Just look beyond the Rainbow and listen with your heart.

Anonymous

Mom left Sunday for her monthly trip to Canada. Tonight, Dad and I were just hanging out in the office when I hear Mom’s voice… “Hey, Dakota”. I look up and sure enough, I can see Mom through the window that’s sitting on Dad’s desk. Oh boy, Mom’s home! But when I run to the other side of the desk to greet her, she’s gone. Poof! Vanished into thin air.

So I go back to Dad’s chair to look through the window again and sure as I’m born, I can see Mom plain as day. I know she’s here somewhere… but she disappears every time I head in her direction.

Here I am all confused, Mom’s sitting there grinning like the cheshire cat and all Dad says is “Dakota doesn’t understand Skype”.

Will somebody please tell me who Skype is and what he’s done to my Mom?

If you don’t believe me, just go to Google, click the second link and you’ll come right back to to me!

I’m recovering nicely, but I can’t believe Mom did this to me. Even worse, I can’t believe Dad let her get away with it being another male and all.

Anyway, I did get my stitches out and my fur is slowly growing on the top of my noggin’ so it’s not all bad around here. Wonder if I can grow a new set of testicles?

Oh… and I officially weigh 83 pounds!

I’m sure Diane will weigh me when I go to have my stitches taken out on Tuesday. Speaking of Tuesday… I’m just a little worried. Either Mom has completely lost her marbles or there’s something really fishy going on because she keeps telling me I’m getting new turd.

First of all, I don’t know why she’d want me to have more turds than the ones I deposit in the dog run because Dad’s already complaining about how long it takes to pick up after three Leonbergers. Second, there’s no way Mom could possibly find me turds that are more grander or smellier than the ones I produce myself. I am the master of turds! Third, I don’t see how a turd could ever be considered new seeing as it started out in the food bowl and took several hours to come out the other end.

Something tells me that getting new turd is not a good surprise. Not good at all, I fear…

We were very pleased that Diane — she’s our vet — tried to fix my cyst without surgery, but the drains didn’t work. So she cut me open and removed the cyst. It was two inches wide! I was in good shape for a few days, but then my noggin started swelling up like a balloon. Diane’s only in the office every other Saturday, so Mom and Dad had to take me to CAVES.

The doctor at CAVES (I don’t like him one bit…) took something like a gallon of fluid out of the top of my head and said I had a something-or-another-oma. He said they had to use hot compresses on my head and keep me quiet until it healed. Well… they’re doing pretty good on the first part.

We’ve been to see Diane a couple of times so she could clean me up and open my drains, but they’re just weren’t working — so yesterday she removed them. Now Mom and Dad are having to work on me every few hours to clean me up and Dad’s a little ticked off because all I want to do is play and they’re having one heck of a time with that “keeping me quiet” bit.

Oops… gotta run. Here comes Mom with the towel and hot water.

Every day for the last week or so, Ginger has foraged the trash can and closet and every night, we find them on the bed — sometimes under the covers. We assume she’s playing with them, but have no idea what the fascination is.

Cut three strips from an old bath towel. The kind with nubs works best. I cut the strips about 3-inches wide across the width of the towel.

Take one strip and tie a loose overhand knot in the center. Slip the second strip through the knot and tie another overhand knot. Slip the third one through the first two and tie a third knot. Pull the ends of the strips to tighten all the knots and form a small ball in the center.