Farm life is such a great way of life. I grew up on a diary farm, milking Holstein cows and loving every minute of it (ha ha ha). Naturally we had farm animals on the farm, ponies and horses, and naturally there was a "cow dog" that would help me round up the cows and head them to the barn at milking time.

"Tip" was our first dog, a Collie that was old but very lovable. Unfortunately Tip went to Doggie Heaven via the bumper of a Chevrolet. That was a sad day. After Tip came Fergie. Fergie was a mixture of a Collie and a Pekinese. Yes, Fergie was a funny looking little thing, she had the markings and characteristics of a Collie, but the legs of Pekinese. Fergie is probably not a common dog name but she was named after a Pastor "Ferguson" who gave me that dog. Again, unfortunately, Fergie followed Tip to Dog Heaven via the bumper of a Ford Pickup Truck.

I never thought seriously about getting another dog. I was traveling a lot and knew that it would be difficult to have one. I have wanted one but always just passed the thought off, knowing it would be impossible.

About six months ago, my best friend, Rick Lafollette decided he would get a puppy for his kids. His daughter, Bailey is five and his son, Max is almost two. Rick found a cute Jack Russell Terrier at an animal shelter and brought it home for the kids. Naturally they loved it and began to play with it. Bailey decided the pup's name should be "Cupcake". Since Bailey was born, I have called her Pootie Ann, and I have called Max, Pootie Earl. So I told Pootie Ann that the pup's name should be Pootie Puppy. Well it kinda stuck and now Cupcake answers to both names. Jack Russell's are quite hyper and sometimes too much for a 5 and a 2 year old, so I started keeping her some to give them a break. Well, as time went on, I became attached to her and she became attached to me, and now, well.....I have joint custody of Pootie.

Pootie has actually been really good at my house. After a few weeks, the training was going pretty good. Finally, she will wait to "go" until I say "outside?" and she lets me know when she needs to go out. She has changed a lot of things tho. I am now used to eating while standing up. I now put my shoes and socks on differently, I keep things picked up better, and no longer leave doors open behind me. But Pootie has also changed my social calendar. Since we go outside about once an hour, Pootie has become friends with two Schnauzers, "Beauty" and "Smokey", a big black Lab named "Bres" , a mixed dog named "Lizzie" and of course all of the neighbors. Until I started keeping Pootie, I had only met very few neighbors. "Crystal River", a young quartet that lived next door, was the only neighbors that I really knew, but after they moved on, I didn't know anyone for a while.

Now that Pootie has forced me out into the street (and the field-occasionally) I have gotten to know the neighbors and MY MY MY, do we have a diverse street! The neighbors on the upper side of me are nice, they go to the First Baptist, but they are quiet, and I don't see them much at all. My first encounter with them was when Pootie and I were outside (without a leash) and as they were coming out, Pootie ran into their living room before I could stop her. And as always, in a new surrounding, Pootie tinkled. Talk about embarrassed!!!!!! But they were kind and introduced themselves. I apologized and assured them that it would never happen again.

Across the street from the Baptist couple is another couple, parents of "Beauty". I still don't know their name. He is an older, big, white headed man, that won't speak. She is a young Vietnamese woman, who can't speak a bit of English. The neighbor hood buzz wonders if they are drug dealers, as there is all kinds of traffic in and out of their house, at all hours of the night, lots of Budget moving trucks in and out all the time.

The next neighbor is a family of four, two kids, who draw chalk figures and games all over the street and the driveways (mine included). The Dad is a stay at home Dad, whom we never see, and the mom is a nurse. They really don't associate with any of the neighbors, all I know is, they are from West Virginia.

The next neighbor is a lady who is 95. She lived in New Orleans and got displaced and ended up in East Tennessee because she has grandchildren somewhere near by. Ms. Lena comes to the door sometimes, but never comes outside. Beside her is a very sweet couple, whom I have become friends with. The owners of "Smokey", Claude (Walt as we fondly call him because the stay at home dad up the street can never remember his name and calls him Walt) is the blackest man I have ever seen. When he smiles, all you can see is eyeballs and teeth. He too is from New Orleans area but evacuated to East Tennessee because his wife's parents are from nearby. His wife, Twila is a very sweet white girl and they have a sweet little 3 month old baby named Emmett. "Walt" laughs and jokes about himself being the token black man of our neighborhood. I ate dinner with them this past weekend and heard interesting stories of how Twila's family (Her father is a very popular Southern Baptist Evangelist) reacted to the fact that she and "Walt" were dating. "Walt" is now a pastor of an inner city outreach church in Knoxville and really has a heart for ministry to the homeless and drug addicts.

Across the street from "Walt" and Twila is a lady named Nan. Newly divorced, Nan is a sweet lady in her late 50's. Nan also has a young man living with her, that's "wide open" and hilarious. Beau parties a lot and stays gone a lot, but he is a nice kid with lots of parents and grandparents. I still haven't figured out who his parents are, ( I think he has 2 or 3 sets) nor have I figured out how he is related to Nan, if he even is related. Nan's sister, Mary and her husband Bill, live next door. They are the owners of Bres, the black Lab. Bill and Mary are married but I don't ever see them together. From what I gather, they really don't like each other. . . . . . I just say .."Oh, ok, none of my business". But Mary and Nan sit out on their porch each night having their nightly Margarita's and cigarettes, waiting for Beau to come home, and watching the Budget Trucks go in and out of "Beauty's" house.

On further down the street is a State Trooper, who won't speak when I throw up my hand, he won't play with Pootie, when she is outside, and he won't even nod when I pass and nod. I wanted to meet him in case I ever needed help with a ticket, but I have decided since no one else knows him, he is not interested in knowing the neighbors.

Across the street is a colorful couple. Pete and Shelby are in their 70's, moved there from Tri Cities. They are going to build a house near by but have decided that the builder was going to rip them off, so now they are going to wait until they find a better deal. They are as country as country gets! They used to sing in local quartets in the East Tennessee area and know a lot of people that I have heard my parents talk about. Shelby keeps saying she will cook a pot of beans and invite me down and we will sit around and sing. Not sure about the singing, but the beans and bread sounds good!

On further down is a sweet couple from Gettysburg PA. Mark works for Orkin and his wife Shelly, runs a home business. She makes gift baskets complete with all kinds of gourmet coffee's and chocolate. She ships them all over the world. She showed me a sample of what she does and it looked so good! I am going to try it the next time I need a gift. If you need a gift for someone, you should check them out. He web page is www.perkupcoffeecompany.com

I know it sounds like I have been walking through the neighbor hood gathering information, but honestly, I have just been walking the dog! If I hadn't been walking the dog, I would have just thrown up my hands and said hi, but when Pootie runs over to play with these people, I have to go retrieve her and that usually includes an introduction and then a conversation starts. . . . . . .

You sure learn a lot when you get out of your routine. Pootie has changed my routine, and .......I have enjoyed it.

Someone asked me the other day how they could keep from being depressed. I told them to get a puppy!

Till next time...

Kapt. Kirk

PS I'll be in the Roanoke, VA area this weekend. Check the webpage for details.
 

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