On this last day of lazy summer bliss, I want to post something light and fun that meanders away from the heady world of books and writing. A couple of weeks ago on facebook, Jonathon Maberry posted an incredibly cute photo of a baby Dachshund posing as a hotdog. It's on my
desktop and it cracks me up every time I see it.
I love animals, and weird photos, and unlikely friendships. Who doesn't? So, I poked around online and discovered more great examples. hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
There's Roscoe the hound with his best friend, Surya, the orangutan. These photos come
from the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, which is doing valuable work! Here's a link to their fund. You can see that Surya and Roscoe are actually doing a book-signing. Okay, I guess I couldn't get through a post
that had zip to do with writing and books. Check out the other strange bedfellows. Now, for an animal story or two...One summer during high school, I went to the shore with a friend. Every morning as we got dressed, we'd hear whistles as if construction workers were catcalling us. We couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Finally, on the last day of vacation, we scoured the windows of the neighboring building, and discovered that the culprit was a giant green parrot!
One more. When I was five, I had a chipmunk "friend" who would hop up on a boulder in front of our vacation house deck, and chirp. I began to leave him saucers of peanut butter. He would fill his cheeks with it as he tipped his head at us. One evening, as I ventured into the bathroom for a bath, I found my chipmunk in the toilet, desperately funneling at the water to stay afloat. I yelled for my dad, who rescued the chipmunk with a butterfly net.
What's your funniest memory of an animal encounter? Of your own pet? Any pet talents? Idiosyncrasies?
This was a fun blog! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWe had a fantastic dog, inherited from a friend, who was delightful and perfect in every way. A yellow lab, she was so sweet, playful, loyal and a good barking watchdog. BUT, she had one in-bred trait that was unrelenting. She absolutely had to play fetch.
Clea (short for Cleopatra) was an obsessive fetcher. Anything and everything would become an object for retrieval -- sticks, balls, dropped items, silverware, everything. We even warned visiting friends not to give in to her constant nudging and pestering to throw for her. Yet, all gave in and unanimously regretted it after hours of non-stop throw and returns.
As she got older, the birding behavior slowly abated. She would nudge, and we'd throw, but she got slow and couldn't see so well. Most of the time she would miss the thrown item, but lick up something else to substitute.
What was an initial total annoyance, became something I missed with her. Time and rapid aging took it's toll -- now she's gone and I miss her and her funny little quirk. Every time I see a stick, I think of her. Every time I see a ball, I miss tossing it for her.
Happily, that fetch memory returns again and again, ever to be retrieved.
Hee, hee. That photo of the hot dog. Gosh, my horror sensibility has just got into the way here. You don't want to know what I'm thinking.
ReplyDeletecute dog.
As far as Clea, the phrase, "The girl can't help it" comes to mind. And, yeah, Deborah, I sort of half-cringe and half laugh at the hotdog. To me, that's what makes it so cool.
ReplyDeleteI love the first picture. Too funny and cute. Hmm, I'm going to have to think about my funny animal encounters. I have a lot of scary animal encounters. I'm sure I had some funny ones too though.
ReplyDeleteFellow campaigner here - we're in the same dystopian fiction group. I write just about everything - from PBs on up to adults. Looking forward to getting better acquainted!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was three, I used to make stuff up all the time. Wild stories, completely disconnected from reality but I always tried to make them take place, always wanted them to take place, and always tried to convince everyone around me that they were taking place.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been lying if I'd been trying to deceive people, but I don't think I had the synapses to do that just yet. I just told a lot of stories.
That meant that no one believed me when I said that a snake was in the house. We were all sitting at the dining room table and I had a clear view to the front door and the living room. The snake had climbed the front four concrete steps, come in the open door, avoided the dining room with all of the people, taken a hard right, and went down the hallway toward the bedrooms.
I suppose the only reason that anyone went to check was because I probably didn't shut up about it. My dad found the snake coiled up in the bathroom on the tile. Best guess anyone had was that it was looking for someplace cool.
Our brave neighbor scooped it up on a long stick and threw it under his house.
THose are great pictures! Have you seen the You tube video of a baby deer being rescued? (speaking of animal rescues - that poor chipmunk in the toilet!)
ReplyDeleteI've had to chase a bird or two out of my office - does that count? And once I rescued a goldfish that had jumped of its tank :)
Oh, I love hippos! From a distance, of course, because I'm not an animal lover by nature.
ReplyDeleteGreat animal pictures. That is a really small dachshund. Hello from the Campaign. Look forward to reading more of your blog!
ReplyDeleteVery cute and fun photos! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteEvery Savage Can Reproduce
Loved the "hot dog" and all those wonderful animal stories. The parrot one reminded me of another parrot story. My friend had one of those, and when I knocked at her door one time, I my friend said, "Just a minute." So I waited, thinking she was getting dressed or had an angel food cake in the process--something that she'd keep me outside and not just say, "Come in." It wasn't until the second knock and the second, "Just a minute" that I realized it was the parrot and not my friend inside! They sound identical. Hey, good luck with Kafka. Would love to hear what you cook up for your lectures.
ReplyDeleteAs a soldier in the writer campaign, I salute you.
ReplyDeleteMy family had a cat missing a back leg, and we called him Peg-Leg. Despite his deficiency, he could gain a good clip by hopping off his back leg and swinging it between his front legs in a modified canter gait.
Best wishes on your writing.
The Hot Dog is really cute. Hope it doesn't turn into another case of Dog bites Man.
ReplyDeleteCute pictures. I'm an animal lover. Living in the country as we do, we get a lot of dumped animals. There are many stories, but one sweet little blue heeler stands out. A rattlesnake was in our back yard and we didn't know it, but the dog kept barking and barking. We finally heard the snake's warning rattle, located it, and the snake no longer is with us. I wrote this story and it's in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.
ReplyDeleteI feed/water birds, deer, dogs, cats and whatever else appear at my house. :)
Love all of these animal stories! Thanks for relaying them.
ReplyDeleteHaha, love these pictures and stories! Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm in your dystopian Campaign group, by the way. I'm a little late in dropping in and introducing myself, but better late than never!
How did he get in the toilet?!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, that little wiener dog is so cute!
ReplyDeleteSarah, that's the question of the century. HOW did that little critter get in that toilet?
ReplyDeleteFellow campaigner from your paranormal group stopping by to say, "I want a hotdog, too!" Great blog! Looking forward to reading more!
ReplyDeletePS. Hope you've recovered from Irene!
Cute pics, Catherine! I've nominated you for the Liebster Blog award. http://cfitewrite.blogspot.com/2011/09/liebster-blog-awards.html
ReplyDeleteThis brightened my day. Thanks for the smiles. :-)
ReplyDeleteHello there fellow Fantasy writer and Campaigner. I love the pics, especially the hot dog. I am following you.
ReplyDeleteRhiannon-I'm soo excited for your pubbing news. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine, I'm a fellow Campaigner (Suspense/Thriller), finally getting around to saying hello to everyone. So nice to have found your blog. The hot dog is so cute!!
ReplyDeletehank you so much for sharing this great blog.Very inspiring and helpful too.Hope you continue to share more of your ideas.I will definitely love to read.Labor Day Refrigerator Sale
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