NO LIFE BUT THIS: A Novel of Emily Warren Roebling is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.


It is biographical fiction based on the life of Emily Warren Roebling considered to be the first female field engineer and highly instrumental in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.


http://atbosh.com/authors/diane-vogel-ferri/

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

All My Dogs

I read this "meme" on a couple other blogs. (Someone still has to explain to me what exactly a "meme" is and how it is pronounced.) Here's what you do:

1. Grab the book nearest you right now.
2. Turn to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post that sentence with these instructions on your blog. (If you don't have a blog just try it anyway - it's fun)
5. Don't look for your favorite book, coolest book, or most intellectual book - just the closest one.

I love the sentence I came upon. If you're reading the most acclaimed books right now you might know where it came from.

"She was holding a pup in the air in front of her, examining it and singing under her breath how she was crazy for tryin', crazy for cryin', crazy for loving it."

Isn't that a beauty of a sentence? It made me think about the dogs in my life and how I never saw one of them as a puppy. There have been four dogs. Two were family pets and the last two were completely bonded to me and I to them.

The first dog came along some time in my teenage years. It was one of the funniest looking dogs you've ever seen. She had the body and face of a beagle-shepard mix and the legs of a dashhound. She had a big bark and her name was Tiger (Lily) . She was passed down the street and we were the last house on the street and after a lot of C'mon, Moms she stayed with us.

The next dog was a German Shepard named Guy. A friend had lovingly trained this wonderful dog and couldn't keep him anymore - so at age two he came to my family when my children were very young. Sadly, he left us only six years later because of the heart-breaking (and human) disease, myesthenia gravis.

I missed having a dog and so within about three months I got a call from my mom saying a neighbor found a cute stray dog. We all went to see her and immediately fell in love with Quinci. She was probably about six months old by then though. Quinci stayed with me through the worst days of the life and let me cry into her abundant blond hair on many lonely nights. Then she let me know when she couldn't go on and I teafully had to have her put to sleep. I will never forget watching the life go out of her eyes.

I think about a year went by and again I missed having a buddy on my walks. I visited several shelters and chose a cute little mixed breed named Stella. Stella came with separation/anxiety disorder, but she's okay now. She was a year old when I brought her home.

So that is why I've had dogs but never a puppy. That's a lot of information to give you from just a sentence in a book.

9 comments:

Choralgrrl said...

That's really cool, Diane. This is a fun meme--seeing all the different forks it takes! :-)

Fran said...

You did such a beautiful job with this... such a rich and evocative piece.

I loved hearing all of your canine stories, they really touched my heart.

Thank you Diane, what a generous gift your blog is.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

Thanks for sharing your dog stories.

And a meme is "A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another." It's pronounced "meem."

Susan's Snippets said...

My current dog - is male and BIG - black lab mix - had just been divorced - kids wrote me letters...we will walk a dog; we will pick up poop from the dog (typical lies!) - Buddy will be my last male, last big dog - he "marks" everything in the yard, including me once when I stood still too long; and he also enjoys small furry animals so much that he likes to eat them.

amen

Cheryl said...

I've never had a dog. I always say I'm missing the animal gene. I wish I had that love.

I always pronounced meme as me me. Now I know it's meem. It's good to learn new things.

Moohaa said...

I loved my dogs growing up. I've always wanted another one. We've just never had the space. Maybe someday.

I like this meme... it's fun to just dig in the middle of something and read.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

LOL, LOL....it is ME ME...! At least that is what I was told...because it is all about the person. Who came up with this? Well, like so much else on the Internet and the Blogging world...Who Knows?

I've done this one a long long time ago, and it produced a very long post....The book I was reading was about one of the GREAT GREAT Actresses--Theatre and TV And Film---Kim Stanley...I had no idea doing this MEME would unleash so many memories.....lol!

Lena said...

I love dogs, too. The picture on your post reminds me of one of the dogs I had growing up. Probably the only dog I had as a puppy.

She was put down a few months after my first son was born almost 29 years ago. I still dream about her.

The Real Mother Hen said...

Nice story. I haven't had a dog actually... and still don't plan to have.