Our family dog, Nittany, a Lhasa Apsa – Bichon Frise mix, is getting older. She’s lived a lifetime in her 12 years. She's slower and doesn’t get around as well as she once did. Her legs are not as good nowadays. She needs steps to get up into our bed and, when she sleeps, she... Continue Reading →
Herding the humans
Our family dog Nittany laid glassy-eyed on the sofa cushion next to me. When I got up to go into the kitchen, she lay still. When I opened up the refrigerator, she barely even registered a look. Now normally in our house, Nittany, a 12-year-old Lhasa Apsa – Bichon Frise mix, knows where everyone is... Continue Reading →
Tell us a story Aesop
The hare boasted to all the animals, “I have never been beaten.” Of course, he became full of his own power, took a nap, and lost to the slowest of creatures, the tortoise. The race is not always to the swift. The deceitful wolf went hungry until it dressed up like a sheep and led... Continue Reading →
Man’s best friend is out to get me
Most dogs love to play with their owner, they guard them, they even lick their owner's hands to say thank you. My dog, Nittany, a Lhasa-Apsa and Bichon Frise mix, hates me. I've written about Nittany plenty of times over the past twelve years, and I'm convinced that she's really trying to get me killed.... Continue Reading →
Taking work lessons from a baby robin
I listened to the baby robin chirp for its momma. I wasn't sure if it was one or two babies, but I could hear at least one baby cry out from the nest underneath my deck. In the first few days of a nestling’s life, the parent bird regurgitates partly digested food into each baby’s... Continue Reading →
Welcoming our new babies
Our house is all a twitter. We haven’t had a newborn baby in it in more than a decade and now we have two. Oh, what a joyous surprise. They’re beautiful like all babies are. They’re soft and fluffy and have that smell that only newborns can have. They need constant attention and food. My... Continue Reading →
Coming up empty in my search for doggy kisses
Every morning for the past two weeks, I’ve run down to our kitchen to grab a refill on my coffee cup and a granola bar before running back up to my office to log into the next meeting. Before I head back upstairs, I look over to to see our dog, Nittany, a Lhasa Apso -... Continue Reading →
A belated valentine
I hugged my wife and left to go to the store. I’ve hugged her thousands of times, but I was still thinking of her ten minutes later when I was driving. I get out of the house, but with the pandemic, my trips out have been limited. The sun had set and I was driving... Continue Reading →
A dog’s request: Time for bed
When I was a kid, my mother gave me lots of room for trial and error. As long as I worked hard in school and did my chores, she let me to my own devices. She wouldn’t hound me about the music I listened to or about staying up late. She understood that I needed... Continue Reading →

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