Gary's Third Pottery Blog

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Gary's third pottery blog

WRITE TO ME! garyrith@yahoo.com Come see me! Open studio HERE! November 25-26 (11-4 each day); Aurora Art and Design, daily until 12/24; Cooperstown Art Assoc. daily until 12/24; Ellis Hollow Community Fair, 12/10; December 10, Little Red Wagon at the Space at Greenstar. All material on this blog unless stated otherwise is copyright Gary Edward Rith 2016

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Time warp Tuesday: Petey and Penny!

Sheesh, where does the time go?  Summer 1993 I had been married to the wife just half a year and on July 4th in Chicago it was 90 some degrees and we went out for a run and....found a dog!  My dream dog was sitting under a tree.  He had been hanging around that tree for a bit, because we could see a water dish and food dish that neighbors in the townhouses had put out for him.  I settled in on the ground, he was skittish, and asked the wife to go get a rope for a leash.  By the time she returned a moment later, he was sitting on my lap, my new best friend.
I love dogs.
I grew up with hounds.  They are full or personality.  Stubborn, not very obedient, but so loving and fun. Petey seemed to be about half beagle, half corgi.
The minute we got the rope on Petey he puffed out his chest and was like "I have a home!  I have a family!".  You could see that he had been missing his rightful place as the boss of a family...further enforced when he marched into the apartment, past the hissing cat, settled onto our bed like a teddy bear and looked pleased.
Petey was named after the dog in Our Gang, The Little Rascals, which I had enjoyed when I was a kid.
He had terrible bloody bite marks on his face from fighting (he was a fighter alright, he was absolutely fearless and would attack any large dog that menaced him, pit bull or German shepherd always backed down when he snapped) and he was a little underweight but otherwise healthy.  He also would duck in fear whenever you went to stroke his head.  Somebody had hit him in the past.  Luckily, as the years went by, Petey forgot to be afraid of human hands.
Petey lived with us until he was nearly 19!  We moved from Chicago to New England, and 5 weeks after we moved here to Ithaca he passed, 7 years ago today.  It was like he said "I helped you choose a good new home, my work is done and I can go now".
The morning after he died I could not understand how anybody could get up in the morning if they knew that one day they would feel so much grief and loss.
He is buried out under a tree which we had brought with us from our last house, one which he had peed on many times.
I was poking around in my UNorganized photos yesterday and was glad to find this one.  The wife and I had a totally choice apartment in the 90s, 350 a month for a 2 bedroom outside the Chicago Loop, with, as you see, the world's tallest building 4 blocks away (not the tallest anymore, but anyway...).
I am wearing that same Cubs baseball jersey right now as you see in the second pic.
6 years ago this spring, 11 months after Petey passed, another stray small hound came into our life from the shelter, Penny the beagle.  They are absolutely and utterly alike in so many ways.

9 comments:

smartcat said...

What a sweet, sweet memory. Thanks for sharing.

bartster said...

I'd be hard pressed to say who's more fortunate: the animals whom you've adopted or you for having them with you. Love the story of Petey claiming his new home (beautifully written too).

Claudia from Idiot's Kitchen said...

I love this post! Pretty amazing how we find the right animals and the right animals find us.

I want a dog!!! :)

Claudia from Idiot's Kitchen said...

LOVE the picture in the headed of Yogi and Penny! The look like they are galloping!

knittergran said...

Lovely story. I'm so glad Petey found YOU!!!

Lori Buff said...

Pets give us so many joyful times to help us deal with the sadness of their passing and to remind us that we should always have an animal in our lives.

Busy Bee Suz said...

Love Petey! I'm always amazed how well you keep your clothing. :)

Anonymous said...

Isn't it a blessing how an animal can find you and weave their way into your life? I like how you gave him a happy home.

smalltownme said...

I am in love and in tears at the same time.

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I am a full-time studio potter, sculptor, and dog walker, married to superhawt Missus Tastycake.