Friday, November 22, 2013

MY IMAGINARY FRIEND SHOWS UP

DID YOU HAVE AN IMAGINARY FRIEND WHEN YOU WERE A KID? Well, most of us did. But my imaginary friend was a dog because my mother was allergic to animals so I could not have pets. There were plenty of kids in the neighborhood, tho they were all boys, but my yard was the meeting place and our big 3 car garage was like having a gym to play in in bad weather. Grandpop always got a good fire going in the old pot-belly stove to take the chill off. So I did not need another kid for my invisible friend… I needed a dog. I did not like little dogs, one tried to bite me when I was real little. “My dog” would never bite anybody! And he or she would be big but not DSC_0366huge. An aunt had a Great Dane we kids used to ride when we were toddlers. We all got photographed on that poor dog’s back. I could not decide what color my dog should be so I decided on her having all of them, and definitely long silky hair I could brush. She would be excited to see me and would walk with me out in the woods and roll over to let me scratch her belly.

Well, most of you know how old I am. So you can figure out how long it has been since I had that imaginary pet. One year I found a little dog ornament of a dog that looked just like my make-believe pet. I bought dog ornaments for my friends, pugs, golden retrievers, a black lab, a yorkie, and there my dog was… I bought her for me. Now how dumb is that? I don’t even have a tree! LOL! Oh well.

Then a couple years ago a friend lost his dog, Gracie. She was a real sweetheart and he missed her terribly. She was his constant companion. But, at home, he kind of had another dog. She was a bit standoffish. He did not know where she came from. She just started hanging out and probably sleeping in his barn a couple years before. It took some work to get her to become a travel companion like Gracie had been, but she has come a long ways toward making friends with him and his friends. It is amazing how a couple “milkbones” can break the ice. Ruggie has become my very visible friend. And I do my best to spoil her. When her owner comes to visit, she comes to visit, too, flops over in front of me to get her belly scratched, and takes walks with my out in my woods. It took a long time for my friend to become visible, but here she is.

DSC_0359 DSC_0361 DSC_0360 Is she beautiful, or what?????

6 comments:

Caddie said...

Yes she is beautiful. Her/his facial markings are perfect. Possum, why did you never have your own dog, especially since you must have strongly yearned for one while a child? One could never find a more faithful companion from the animal kingdom, I'm thinking and I've had many kinds and types of animals all my life. Of course, they can be confining for one's lifestyle and that is a negative, at least when you have a slew as I do.

Caddie said...

If I were able, I'd have a pet pig!

Snowbrush said...

I have a Christmas ornament that I hang on my wall year round because it reminds me of Peggy. Maybe you could hang your precious ornament on the wall year round. You could also find a dead limb, put it in a vase, and hand the ornament from a limb.

possum said...

Hey Sissy, I did have a dog, many, many years ago. Rufus. A black lab that I adored. But, one day he got out of his yard... it was a big yard, not a crowded little pen, and, before I could get outside to him, he was hit out in front of the house. I never thought I could invest in that kind of relationship with a dog again. I still miss him. I do not feel I can adequately care for another dog here and it would not be fair of me to indulge myself at an animal's expense. The cats I can handle.
Snow, I keep the little ornament on a shelf by my reading lamp.

Ginnie said...

Yes, she is lovely, especially that lustrous hair !

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Nice of your friend to share his pet. I think that many of us have had imaginary friends and some stil, do which is not a bad thing.