10th and Lawrence Streets, N.E. Washington D.C. 20017
My step-father did bring home a few stray cats found on his Wonder bread route. The one I remember was an all black one we called Midnight. We had him for a few years, I think. Of course our kids have begged for years for a dog. We resisted up until Andy was about 5 or 6. He talked us into getting a mut from the pound, part German shepherd and part something else (????). We chose him because he was a beautiful animal and seemed kind of quiet. Well, after about three weeks we learned he wasn't quiet; he had just been depressed! I think he had been a guard dog in his previous life. He decided one morning as I was having a cup of coffee at the kitchen table to go after the cat. I broke my toe trying to stop him. He kept me from running the Annapolis Ten Miler that year. I'l never forgive him for that!! He suddenly became very protective and wouldn't listen to anyone but me. And it was just amazing how protective he was of Julie. Once our niece Veronica came over the babysit for us, and Colonel (Andy named him after some Civil War guy) wouldn't let Veronica near Julie's room, growling and snarling every step of the way. I kept thinking we could train him differently. Then one day I was walking him around Lake Artemesia near our house and he decided to take on a dog even bigger than him. They both broke loose from their owners and proceeded to go at it with both showing lots of teeth in the process. So here I am jumping between two vicious, snarling dogs thinking to myself, "How in the world did I end up in this predicament?" Sadly, Mary and I admitted defeat and returned him to the pound. We have since stayed with goldfish and a kitten we found under our trailer at Holiday Park. We named him Holiday and he's still with us after about 10 years. Oh, I almost forgot. Andy's Uncle Paul did give him an iguana one Christmas. We managed to keep (Colonel) Chamberlain alive for about a year and a half. He lived in a cage in Andy's room. Iguanas are pretty neat animals, but you do have to be careful of salmonella. I recall one fish (Sparky) Andy liked must have thought he was training for the world diving championships and dove right out of his bowl onto Andy's book shelf. We gave him a "10" because it must have been a hellova dive; then we buried him in the back yard.
So I guess we haven't been real successful with pets. My favorite animals are stuffed; we can keep those for years without having to bury them.
Next?
Bob(by)