Category Dogs
Bull Dog House on West Lake
Plans are underway to demolish an existing structure on West Lake Street and build a replica of the Bull Dog Café on the site. A Los Angeles architect has been given the assignment of recreating the original as a weekend home for a financier from New York City. “Everything will be a little larger in […]
Poker
Poker is in my blood, but so is losing, so I won’t be turning pro. My parents played poker every week, in spite of being Baptists. In my father’s case, the Baptist prohibition against gambling was one of many “thou shalt nots” that he honored in the breach rather than in the observance, but you […]
Watching Golf
My wife thinks I have gone around the bend because I have begun watching golf on television. I have never played golf, unless you count courses with a windmill hole. But I enjoy watching, and I have a regimen that I find very fulfilling. First, I place a pint of excellent beer within my reach. […]
Scars
July 23, 2007 I have the makings of a new scar, and I’m pretty excited about it. Boys love scars. Pirates have them. Heidelberg dualists have them. Mostly my knees have them. There’s the 1950’s scooter accident on a rough sidewalk in front of the house next-door, the piece of broken glass on the athletic […]
The Coolest Dog
June 13, 2004 I met the coolest dog in church today. The service was supposed to be in Thayer Park by the lake, and for weeks Robert had been saying, “Bring chairs, blankets, pets.” At least one dog was bound to show up, and he did. But the brisk wind coming off the lake drove […]
Talent
March 3, 2009 We had dinner with friends on Saturday and for after-dinner entertainment, their dog Taylor played the piano. I’m sure this kind of thing was common before television, the family in the living room, gathered around the old upright. But this is 2009 and perhaps that explains why I was not expecting Taylor’s […]
Bailey
July 28, 2008 Dogs cannot stay in the Inn at Silver Bay, which may be the one thing that’s wrong with it. So while we vacationed at Lake George this summer, Gus was far away in dog jail and I suffered from pooch-deprivation. But one morning, walking back up from Slim Point, I saw a […]
Gus Stories
:: My Granddog :: June 1, 2003 While Abbie was on medical leave from college, languishing in Ohio with mono and a side order of other debilitating ailments, she felt a puppy would be the perfect tonic, something small, cute and therapeutic. And so, when she came home to Skaneateles, she was accompanied by Gus. […]
Labs
I was walking to work two weeks ago when a large golden lab came up from a side street and challenged me with a “Woof!” I said, “Hey, Bud,” and he pressed his face against my leg so I could scratch behind his ears. His eyes closed, his tail swayed, and I got a lot […]
Clete Stories
:: How Smart I Am :: It was Clete, my first dog, who revealed just how smart I am. It was back in the early 1970’s. I was living in a one-room apartment where the bed was tucked into an alcove, and I had made it very clear to Clete that he was not allowed […]
Faithful Readers 