dog

WDP — Goals?

Fandango9 Comments
Daily writing prompt
How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?
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My goals at this point in my life are rather modest. My primary goal is to wake up in the morning and not be dead. So far I’ve achieved that goal every day.

I’ve also achieved the age where I have earned the right to say no to anything I don’t want to do or don’t feel like doing.

There is one exception though. If my goal is, for example, to take a nap and our dog comes over to me and starts licking my face or barking in my ear, she is letting me know that she needs something, whether she just wants some attention, is hungry, or needs to go out to take care of business, I just can’t ignore her.

WDP — 5 Fun Things

Fandango11 Comments
Bloganuary writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.
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Hmm. Okay. What are five things I like to do for fun? Let me see.

#1 would have to be writing/blogging, and given that I spend somewhere around 40 to 50% of my waking hours doing that, it ought to be fun, right?

#2 is spending time with our kids and, especially our grandkids.

#3 is playing with and walking our dog.

#4 would be going to a really nice restaurant and enjoying a very fine meal.

#5 is binge-watching a quality TV series, which these days seems to be a relatively long-running British detective series.

I also have fun playing with my wife. You know, two-person card games, backgammon, Yahtzee, etc.

JSW Writing Prompt — The Odd Couple

Fandango4 Comments

I know this challenge is intended to be a flash fiction writing prompt, but I stumbled upon this photo below that I thought fits the prompt perfectly. And, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Yes, they do look odd together. But they also seem very content, don’t they?

Posted for Ahtling 2001’s JSW Writing Prompt, where the prompt is, “They look good together. Odd, but good.”

WDYS — Just This Side of Heaven

Fandango13 Comments

Eight-year-old Donna Martin learned about the Rainbow Bridge last year when their family dog, Shadow, had died. She asked her what happened to Shadow.

“It was time for Shadow to cross the Rainbow Bridge, where there are meadows and hills for Shadow and all of his special friends to run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and Shadow will be very warm and happy there,” Mrs. Martin said.

“Where is the Rainbow Bridge, Mommy?” Donna asked.

“Oh, sweetie,” Mrs. Martin said, “It’s just this side of Heaven.”

“Where is Heaven?”

“It’s not far, honey, on the other side of the where the sun goes when it sets.”

That conversation took place almost a year ago, and Donna still missed her beloved dog and decided that she and Leo, her big, stuffed lion, were going to visit Shadow. So after breakfast, she grabbed Leo and set off down the farm road for Rainbow Bridge. She’d seen where the sun sets and it didn’t seem that far away.

But after what seemed like a lot of time walking, Donna was starting to get tired and was very thirsty. And poor Leo was being dragged along the gravel road. Donna stopped walking and started to debate with herself about continuing toward Heaven or turning around and heading home.

And that was when she heard the honking of a horn behind her. She turned around and saw her mother’s truck heading toward her. The truck stopped, and Donna’s mother opened the door, ran to her little girl, scooped her up, and started hugging her. “Baby, where are you going?” she asked Donna.

Donna explained that she and Leo were going to visit Shadow across the Rainbow Bridge, but it was further away than she thought. “Just how far away is Heaven and how do we get there”

Mrs. Martin escorted her daughter back to the truck, started the engine, and drove home. “Let’s ask your daddy tonight at dinner, sweetie,” she said, “although I’m pretty sure he has no clue about getting to Heaven and will likely never make it there.

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Image credit: Greyerbaby @ Pixabay.

Cellpic Sunday — Skullduggery

Fandango2 Comments

John Steiner, the blogger behind Journeys With Johnbo, has this prompt he calls Cellpic Sunday in which he asks us to post a photo that was taken with a cellphone, tablet, or another mobile device. He invites us to participate in this cellphone photo prompt by creating our own CellPic Sunday post and linking it back to his.

A few weeks back, my wife and I were sitting in our swing chairs that hang from our pergola over our back deck when our dog came running up onto the deck with something in her mouth. My wife looked at her and jumped out of her chair to see what crap our dog was chewing on now.

Suddenly I heard my wife say, “Oh my god, I think she broke a tooth and she is chewing on it.”

I jumped out of my swing and attempted to pry open our dog’s mouth to see exactly what was in there. Our dog is a member of the pit bull family. Have you ever tried to open a pit bull’s jaw when she’s got it locked shut?

Well, I somehow managed to unlock her jaw and this is what fell out.

“What is it?” my wife asked.

“Beats the shit outta me,” I responded. I kept looking at it from all angles and then I said to my wife, “Based upon that pair of what I believe are two large front teeth, I think it’s the upper jaw bone of a gopher.

Then I googled “gopher jaw bone” and got this image:

So sure enough, our dog had been gnawing on the skeleton of the upper jaw of a gopher. Unfortunately, I don’t know where in our backyard she dug it up. I just hope there are no other parts of the gopher’s carcass for her to find and start gnawing on. No more skullduggery, dog!

The top photo was taken with my iPhone 12 Pro Max and the second photo is from Google. Both have been resized (shrunk) for purposes of posting.