Where Did All the Pets Come From? - Brief Article

Accent on Living, Summer, 2001 by Ron Shull

It started out being a pretty quiet summer. Then a black stray cat which had elected to share our home last year, surprised us this year with three kittens. Due to an eye infection which the black cat had at the time she first came here, I named her "One-Eyed-Jack." Now we have appropriately renamed her "One-Eyed-Jacqueline."

Then we got the grandchildren, "Noah" and "Tabby." They hit the ground running, especially Tabby! The first morning after arriving, Tabby disappeared when she spotted a potential playmate, Angela, whom I didn't know existed. Oh, Angela also had a brother for grandson, Noah, to play with.

My seemingly magical granddaughter, Tabby, somehow came up with a baby chick. She is fast but, knowing how hens are, I still don't know how she sneaked that chick away from the mother hen. We took it back home before the neighbors noticed that it was missing.

Having been dragged out of bed, to help get breakfast for all of us, as well as the newcomers, and without enough sleep, I didn't know which came first; the chicken, the eggs, or the neighborhood kids.

Then "Ears" the rabbit appeared as if it had been pulled out of a hat. The rusted wire display that we acquired from the grocery store, altered to accommodate Ears, doesn't quite suit the decor of the studio, but it will have to do.

On another day we drove into the driveway and "Gertrude" greeted us when we exited the car. She was a combinations basset/bloodhound, I guess that's why she was able to find us. Gertrude was dragging evidence that she was a new Mom. No, the pups haven't shown up yet!

Just when we thought things were settling down, a stray little Peek-a-poo with severely matted fur almost ran out in front of our car. Without thinking, I told my wife about it. That was a mistake! She said, "We'll turn around and look for it". We could not find the little ... well, we just couldn't find it.

After we parked in the driveway our "live wire" Tabby ran toward the street behind us, where we first saw the little dog, and before I could get settled in the house Tabby popped in and introduced us to "Sugar."

I'm sure that most of you know that when children bring in animals, the adults usually end up caring for them. In an effort to protect the floors from damage I made sure that the little orphan dog remembered green grass.

Being somewhat shaky on my feet and fearing that Sugar may wrap the leash around my ankles and set me on my grass, I decided to try using my power chair and keep up with the circles that she will inevitably run around me on my lawn. My, it worked out wonderfully, even though we disagreed about which side of the tree to walk around!