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Oh how we say time flies, but then there are those days that just seem to stay frozen in time. It was just about two years ago that I had to put my good friend down. I still feel a little lost without him. I miss his fierce protection of all under my roof. I miss his smell. Probably only true dog folks can follow that, but every dog I have owned had their own distinctive smell along with their own pedigree of personality:

Samantha (the sweetest), Pork Chop (the happiest), Midnight (a troubled black lab I could never quite follow), Clovis (the only dog we ever paid for, unconditionally the smartest and who was so tight with his pack) and then comes Grace (our blue-eyed deaf rescue found abandoned at a West Texas railroad station and who is now my only four-legged shadow).

I have loved each of them greatly and differently. Each one has brought me their lifetime of joy and buckets of tears upon leaving. Clovis was my poser dog. Whenever I got out my Nikon, he was quick to notice and quicker to upstage anyone and anything.

Since I lost Clovis, I have not, with any degree of seriousness, picked up a camera. He just took that out of me. I have tried to shoot at some images, but every time I pick up a camera I hear his tags a jingle, a bump on the leg wanting to know where he should pose. My heart goes adrift and the camera back in the backpack.

I am a sentimental old coot and damn but I miss them all and can pull up many a tearful memory. I have to ask, how can a dog steal my vision? Hey, if they can steal your heart, vision is pretty much a simple task.

Get busy living or get busy dying!…”Red”…aka S. King

Peace Out,   jasL

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My deaf rescue dog Grace is such a good friend. She knows how to pick me up when I am down. Every morning she greets me like she has never seen me before.

She is totally deaf except when I let out a loud sneeze ( sorry, I learned it from my dad). That scares the hell out of her and she runs to mama when I do let one blow.

My digestive disorders are almost in check. I was diagnosed with microscopic colitis. A nasty little bug, but the steroids they put me on seem to be doing the trick. Hell, they should cure most anything at $1300.00 for a one month dosage. Luckily I only have to take them for two months.

Still working on my back and hip problems. Had a cortisone injection in the left hip on Wednesday. Felt so good I will go back next week for one in my right hip.

Ah, the pleasures of living to become an old fart. Keep looking in the rear view mirror to see what falls off next…….monos en theos ††† jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #882 – Forget the leash!

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Yes you do! As scary and unlawful as it may be!

And yes my dog Grace’s eyes are that blue. She is also gifted with total deafness. So unlike my wife, she doesn’t even have to pretend she can’t hear me. But they both have me wrapped around their pinkees!

Do dogs have pinkees? Or you can just roll with the urban dictionary of pinkee: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pinkee

monos en theos †† jim/james/jas/jimbo/jimmy jam/gymbo/jimber or kozmic kowboy…….a guy of many handles and still searching for who I am!

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #879 – Fourth of July Dog Days!

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It is the Fourth of July. I am not going to bore you with one more flag photo or rant about neither our grand Freedom nor the decline of such.

It is hot and Clovis has the right idea. He spends hours with his head darn near in the grill of the Vornado fan. He puts off going for a cooling drink as when he does Grace (our other dog) quickly occupies the vacant space.

It is a dog eat dog world. Enjoy your Freedoms and stay safe……………..monos en theos ††† james

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #853…Fitting end!

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I have spoken of missing the open skies of Southwest Tx. They might be a little harder to find here in North Central TX, but they are still here. You just have to look around and through all the trees.

A fitting end to a beautiful fall day.

Monos en Theos…jim

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #686 -THE LONGING FOR HOME!

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We have been keeping a friend’s dog while they took a little vacation.

I have not had the pleasure of being with a Jack Russell before. While Ditto has been a fairly good visitor ( other than a couple territory battles with our cats) we are not a total replacement for her masters. At times I feel and see this sense of longing and wondering as to where has my master gone.

Dogs are as much a kin to us as they are different.

No matter where you are there is no place like home.

enjoy where you are ††† en theos ††† jim

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #672 – EYES OF GRACE

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“I’ve seen a look in dogs’ eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt,and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts.”

John Steinbeck 

Dont be afraid of direct eye contact, you just might see into the soul of another . en theos †† jim

IMAGES OF SMALL – THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #671- SING LIKE THERE’S NOBODY LISTENING.

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“Sing like no one is listening,

LOVE LIKE YOU’VE NEVER BEEN HURT,

dance like nobody’s watching,

and live like it’s heaven on earth.”

Mark Twain

Howling at the moon is not the same as barking up the wrong tree! † en theos †† jim