Neurotic Dog and Neurotic Me

How can this possibly be happening? We got our 50/50 pup, Sunny, from the animal league. Now at three years, I am officially declaring she is not right in the head. The lights are on but sometimes nobody is home. She was definitely an abused pit bull/hound lab (her mother is a well-known whore. You can ask any dog at the kennel.). Sunny is well taken care of now, but it is possible she was attacked by a bobcat in her youth because any cat type noise (among many other things) will send her cowering in a corner or speeding off to the Mexican border.

I have come down with a man cold which compared to a woman giving birth is hundreds of times worse. My nose is stuffed, coughing, horrible phlegm, damn it’s a wonder I am alive. But like my true hero, Hopalong Cassidy, off I go to walk the pooch. I loved that guy and his horse Topper.

Anyhow, halfway into our 15-minute trek, my runny nose sniffling sounds like cats fighting. My bat shit crazy dog stops in her tracks and starts shaking. If she would have crapped already we could have gone back home. I figure one less turd in the backyard makes my life easier. My wife has figured out that after my knee replacement six months ago, I am more than able to pick up shit. Lord knows I can dish it out.

Ok, Sunny unloads her cargo. I pick it up and we go home. The next morning the dog refuses to walk with me. Thanks but no thanks says my Sunny Bunny. Well, I’m sure she will get over this once I get over my cold. It appears she is just another crazy member in a family that is not quite right.

Talking about not right, we now have outdoor cameras for wildlife and security. I have been noticing an old crippled guy with a pronounced limp frequently being filmed. Holy moly, that guy is me! Sometimes the things we perceive to be true are not the reality of how others see us. Thinking it might be Ratso Rizzo, “Hey, I’m walking here, I’m walking here.”

Now my daughter, Kara, infers I might be a bit loco in the cabeza. For you gringos, she thinks I am not quite right in the head. No wonder she never told me where she lived while going to college. I told her, while we were on FaceTime last week, that through the years everyone I have liked in my life was not considered to be part of the status quo and in fact far from it. They were in reality considered to be a bit cuckoo, some bordering on seriously cuckoo. Yep like the clock.

Chance takers are generally operating without a safety net. People that don’t take a chance on the Reading Railroad (for all of you Monopoly fans) are just not that interesting. A prime example of a very conservative chance taker is my wife, Marsha. Putting a nickel in a slot machine for her is a risk that should be pondered. But damn good thing for me she took a ride on the Reading and 50-years later we are still on that ride. So to all the naysayers I knew in college, you were wrong about the two of us. I love being different. Most people are content with what life gives them. Family, white picket fence and a nice steady 8 to 5 job which allows getting by, but never really ahead. Others, however, venture outside the norms to see what’s out there. It can be considered crazy but with risk can come nice rewards. Fortunately or unfortunately there is a cross the unorthodox must bear, UNCERTAINTY. I’ll take my chances and continue to follow the beat of a different drummer.

Whelp enough pontificating for now. I’m enclosing some of the videos of the animals that visit at night and later in the spring occasionally will include videos of even more exotic night stalkers that cross through our front yard. Oh, by the way, Ratso Rizzo was played by Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy. Always be true to yourself. Remember to be kind! And always go forward.