Some days I’m not sure how she could still love me. She tells me she does and I have no reason not to believe it, but my muzzle has turned so gray and it takes me time to get up to greet her at the door when she comes home from work. We’ve been together since I was a young pup. The early days of “us” were so much fun. We would go to the dog park and she’s show me off like she was proud of me. It took a while, but I began to realize those feelings were…
When I was a kid, my brother, sister and I used to play what we called “store” with our junk drawers. We would haul out any of the stuff we wanted to “sell,” put a money figure on it and set up shop. Each of us would have our own store and each of us would browse at the other’s emporium, such as it was. I still remember looking forward to seeing whether or not my brother or sister would be “selling” something I’d had my eye on for a while and how much he or she wanted for it.…
Life really can be quite a roller coaster ride, can’t it? One minute, you hear a wonderful story that makes your heart swell and the next, you read something terrible. That can be especially true if you spend a lot of time on social media. I’ll never forget a few years ago there was a story from northeastern Pennsylvania where a dog had been found in a creek tied to a rock. The water was rising and if a passerby hadn’t noticed what has happening, the dog would have drowned. Can you imagine this? The man who saved the dog…
You know what’s incredibly frustrating? I mean, OK, yes, a list of the incredibly frustrating things in life could definitely go on and on. Perhaps I should have asked, you know one thing that’s incredibly frustrating? We find it exceptionally exasperating when a stray animal comes into the shelter with a microchip and when we call in the number, the address is old, so we can’t get the animal home. It drives us absolutely crazy. Its so maddening to have a pet who actually has been microchipped so we know the owner cared enough to do it in the first…
I have been what I like to call a television aficionado for many, many decades. I enjoy a good evening spent in front of the old boob tube and have since I was young. When my siblings and I were little, it was the cartoon G.I. Joe, the Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider. As we grew, our tastes expanded and since we’ve moved onto our own lives, we’ve drifted in our television watching a bit. Full disclosure, my siblings have way more of a life than I do, so their watching has become quite limited. The point – and…
We were tossed over a fence, my siblings and me. It was so scary. One minute someone was holding us and the next we were in the air. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know why the person didn’t want us. We’re young and we think we’re pretty cute and now, we’re just scared. My big brother kind of took charge while the rest of us hid. He returned with a person. For a minute, I thought it was just someone else who wouldn’t want us, but she had a real sweet voice and a super soft touch…
It began, as the story goes, on a random Wednesday. A husband and wife, both born and raised in Waynesboro, got ready for work. They kissed one another goodbye and said they would see each other in the evening. By the time the husband made it to his job – 30 miles from the house – there was already a message on his machine. Starting the day with a blinking phone seemed a little odd, but what he found was a real shock to his system. His wife’s voice greeted him through tears and she told him, “I think I…
I’ve started to wonder recently if we might be humanizing our pets a little too much. Don’t get me wrong, humanizing animals is kind of what we’re all about at the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter. We want pets to be a part of the family. We like people who think of their animal as another kid. Heck, I’m just about ready to marry my cat, so yeah. Humanizing. And I love those stickers on the backs of cars that show a whole family – Mom, Dad, the kids and the pets. I think it’s a great message to send. However,…
The evening is dark and relatively balmy. It’s difficult to explain the chills you’ve been getting for the last few minutes as the group you’re with walks through the streets of Gettysburg on a ghost tour. Your eyes pass by a dark, second-story window and for a split second, you swear you see something there. You blink and glance away. Taking a chance, you look back up, but whatever you saw is gone. What was it? This isn’t normal. You don’t believe in this stuff. Ghosts aren’t real. Everyone knows that. But you can’t explain the shiver that crawls up…
You know what? I’m finished with adulting, as the kids call it. Bills and insurance and rent and taxes. You can have it. I would like to officially become a dog. Preferably a pup – or cat for that matter – who found a warm, forever home. Just go with me on this for a minute. I’d have a nice place, a comfortable bed, food and water every day. Probably a couple of toys and if I’m real lucky, I’d get to snuggle with Mom or Dad while they watched TV. Man, that sounds nice. I mean, what would be…
