Pursuits : Elizabeth Thomsen

Archive for the ‘Dogs’ Category

Day 20: January 20, 2010
I’ve had dogs pretty much my whole life, but Nina is the first dog I’ve had since I got my first digital camera ten years ago. I only have a few pictures of each of my other dogs, and well over a hundred of Nina. I have pictures of her asleep and awake, on the beach, in the car, in the snow, on the couch, everywhere. She’s a well-documented dog.

I have pictures of Nina on my phone, on my screensaver, on Flickr, on Facebook, on postcards and on my wall. Because of this, I see her face and think of her more, perhaps, than any of my other dogs. I love her, but I also loved all the dogs of my past: Taxi, Sidney, Skippy, Pal and Terry. Do I love Nina more? I don’t know, but I think I love her differently because I have taken so many pictures of her. The act of taking a photograph focuses my attention on her, and love thrives on attention.

So here you go, Nina — you’re my photo of the day.

Ribsy, by Beverly Cleary

This is an old favorite of mine, but I haven’t read it in many years. I was almost afraid to read it again. I’ve been rereading a lot of favorite books lately, and many of them have been disappointing. The books simply aren’t as good as they used to be. Ribsy, however, seemed as sweet, fresh and funny as it was when I read it to my little brother over forty years ago.

Ribsy is a good-natured mutt who lives with his boy Henry Huggins. He certainly never intended to run away, but one rainy day he escapes from the parked car while his family is shopping to chase a little dog who has been barking at him, and finds himself lost and confused in the parking lot.

“Ribsy had a pretty good nose, but unfortunately he was no bloodhound. He had never tracked a lost child over mountains and through forests. He was just an ordinary city dog, trying to track his owner across an enormous parking lot that smelled of oil and exhaust.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Owney was a stray puppy who wandered into the Albany Post Office in 1888 and fell asleep on a pile of mailbags. He followed the mailbags onto a Railway Mail Service train, beginning a life of riding the rails. He traveled around the country as the unofficial mascot of the Railway Mail Service. According to the National Postal Museum’s website, “Railway mail clerks considered the dog a good luck charm. At a time when train wrecks were all too common, no train Owney rode was ever in a wreck. The Railway mail clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot, marking his travels by placing medals and tags on his collar. Each time Owney returned home to Albany, the clerks there saved the tags.”
Read the rest of this entry »