Category Archives: General

Every dog I’ve had, I felt, was my favorite at the time, and there would never be another one like him. There was Smokey, Pal, Fuzzy, Fungo Squash, Bear, Sir Chewsalot, Dandy, Maxwell, and Dumper. But there was this guy. His name was Logan, well, that’s the name I gave him, after the famed Indian Chief of one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

I picked him up at a pound, one of those dog death camps. He was quite pathetic looking, but there was something about him that I liked. It was clear Logan, as they said, had been abused. For a while, any time my arm moved, he’d cringe. That didn’t last long.

Although he was by no means a puppy, when I got him, he weighed 35 pounds. Just by eating every day, he got up to 85 pounds. When I first got him, I’d take him on walks in the woods, and he’d wobble around. Once, he slipped off a log. As time passed, he bounded all over the place on the hikes we took together.

He never learned any dog tricks. I did teach him to come home at night by flashing the outside light on and off. He loved cold weather. In the winter, he’d sit on the hill on a windy day, overlooking the road covered in snow. On cold nights, I’d bring him in even though I had a fort made of straw in the garage for him.

Logan lived to old age, given his size. You can’t tell from this picture, but he was a Briad, the same breed of dog as Tramp on My Three Sons.

Logan’s death was particularly painful for me. For his size, one vet said he lived longer than usual. I remember the night before his final day; I knew I’d be taking him to the edge of the Rainbow Bridge. I knew he was going to die. I figure he knew it also.

One of the best I ever had-We were buds!

Note: When I prepared this, it was before the bombing of Iran. I thought about changing it. As I was writing, I somehow started thinking about Footprints and began adding. I’m not even sure the actual thoughts make sense now.
———————————-

I watched a D-Day veteran meeting with young people in a school last night on Facebook Reels. It was heartwarming to see. The old soldier spoke of being blessed. I saw a comment that caught my eye: “To carry life’s burden and still feel blessed is the true meaning of strength.” I found it powerful. Psalm 29:11 is succinct and captures the essence of the comment to me.

To carry life’s burdens and still feel blessed is not a matter of strength alone but of the grace of God meeting us in our weakness. I figure Christ gives strength to us, blessed with peace.

Even when I am weary and no matter the burden, His grace is sufficient. It means His power is made perfect in me. I should be able to do all things being blessed with the strength He gives us. That reminds me of the last of the last stanza of Footprints, which I’ll link for those not familiar.

A man questions the Lord why, during a man’s roughest times, there was but one set of footprints in the sand when the Lord had always promised He would walk with him.

The Lord responded, “My son, My precious child, I love you, and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried You.”

I can only partially explain this photo. It may have been getting close to Spring. My daughter, Krystal, and I were posing for a picture. It was taken at 231 Crain Avenue in Kent, Ohio. I was 26, 27, or 28, so I was probably in my first year of law school or just a year away from it.

This verse tells us that through faith, our old self dies, and we are spiritually renewed in Christ, like a caterpillar in a cocoon emerging as a butterfly. It highlights His love and sacrifice. But the old self has a way of resurfacing, so it’s a journey of struggling with old habits, thoughts, or temptations as part of the process.

Paul lets us know that we will stumble in Romans 7:15, so sometimes it’s a matter of returning to God’s grace. Maybe it’s like the prodigal son in the Bible. We’re works in progress, so to speak.

Forgiveness is given like water from a well that never runs dry. God’s mercy is greater than we can comprehend. But that doesn’t mean we have a free ticket to sin, ask for forgiveness, and sin again. The Bible tells us that God has an endless willingness to forgive, and thankfully for us, He does so countless times. However, to receive the continued grace God offers, genuine repentance is necessary.

It’s funny what you think of your parents’ anniversary. My dad smoked Lucky Strikes in the military and kept smoking those when they married. Then, my mom talked him into cigars, so he started smoking Murial cigars. In the 50s, they were a nickel, even though the box here shows a dime (give Edie Adams for her alluring wink after, “Why don’t you pick one up and smoke it sometime.” Does rhyme with dime.)

But since my mom worked for her parents at their bar, she’d bring home El Producto cigars on special occasions–and I’m not sure what those would be. They were a whopping 12 1/2 cents a cigar, two for a quarter. She’d probably bring home a large tin like the one shown for his birthday. What’s the difference between a nickel and a 12-1/2-cent cigar? I have no clue.

I remember that he always appreciated her for doing it and was surprised because she had never smoked in her life and hated it. In love, you make concessions and compromise. He gave up his Lucky Strikes, went to occasional cigars, and finally stopped smoking. Although, as an aside, she died of cancer, he didn’t.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! Wish you were here so we could share it together!