02/17/2016
Woodsman Journal
Think Spring ... Hurry
Oh Boy, for our family, where our pets are concerned, it's been a long, sad winter. We lost two more of our pet pack since we lost Sadie just a few weeks ago. It's because years ago we acquired most of our pets while our daughters were little and growing up. Now Kate and Maggie are grown up and out of the house. The pets are getting older fast.
Let's see, two weeks ago our little black cat Flower died at 20 years old. We acquired her years ago from the middle of a backwoods gravel road. We don't know how a three week old kitten got there but a couple of crows were but to make it lunch. No Sir, you ain't eating a cute little kitten on this woodsman's watch. And so we added a little kitten to the house where she terrorized our pack of dogs for all 20 years. Born a wild stray, always a wild stray. The girls called her Flower after the skunk in Bambi because at first we thought it was a skunk. She's terrorizing our pack in heaven and we'll miss her so much.
Zoey, I called her Big Zoe, was the matriarch of our pack for 12 out of her 14 years. She was a gentle dog with a loud, deep bark and a big, rock solid frame. She was the lead dog all the way. Over the years whenever I buried one of her pack mates she would follow me up into the woods to our little pet graveyard. She would lay in the sun until I dug the hole and then covered it. She was loyal to them to the very end. The other dogs had their beds or kennels throughout the hose but Big Zoe lay on her pillow in front of the fireplace in the living room. Nothing got passed her. She never bit anyone but more than one UPS driver or wondering hunter back stepped as fast as they could when Big Zoe showed herself. She was the perfect watch dog, pack leader and family dog. It's been said there is a time when letting them go is the greatest love you can show. I think I'll miss her the most.
