Monday, January 21, 2019

Bee eye en gee oh, go bingo

Bingo is her name. We have adopted a young female dog from the local pound. She's black and tan with a docked tail. She also has blue eyes. We had been talking about adopting a shelter dog and finally talk turned into action. We went to the local pet store on a Saturday when several of the adopt a pet agencies showcased animals, but didn't find a suitable dog. We wanted one that was house-broken, youngish, but not a puppy, non-aggressive, and healthy, not a special needs dog. None of the dogs that day were appropriate for us, but we were given the web address of three or four different agencies and we spent hours trolling thru all the pictures of available dogs that were kept current each day.

There is a large adopt a pet facility along with veterinary services next door to the local pound and it was suggested we check the pound for the kind of dog we wanted. We weren't too sure about a dog from the pound. They wouldn't know much about the dog's background, but hey... who knows? So we went to the pound.

I had never seen such a big pound. It was like stepping into the lobby of a large medical clinic with a number of people standing around waiting to be helped. There was a long row of overstuffed chairs along one wall and on either side of the center round counter at the back of the lobby there were aisles leading to rooms where you could socialize with a dog if you ere interested in a particular one. One of the aisles led to the door of the room of caged dogs. When that door was opened, you could hear loud barking.

I had to muster up a lot of courage to walk between the cages on both the left and right sides of the hall way. The cages were large but with only one dog to each cage. There were a lot of people in line ahead of me and the dogs barked at each person passing its cage. The line didn't move very fast and the animals stood up with their front legs on the cage bars and the barking just got louder. Some of the dogs looked like they could take your head off they were so big.

It was rather frightening but once you started down the hall, you had to continue to the end where you turned and went down another long hall way back toward the lobby area. About half way along, there was a medium size dog standing at the cage bars but not barking. It was wagging its docked tail 90 to nothin' and I looked at the bent over ears that weren't floppy, but not perky either. A HA! This might be the right dog.??? What to do Percy, what to do?

We decided to adopt this dog, but were told by the front office, that it had already been spoken for and the new owners were to pick the dog up the next day. If by some chance the dog wasn't picked up, they would call us. Oh well, we would just keep looking. But then, a strange thing happened.....we got a phone two days later telling us to come pick up our dog!!!!!

The dog was vetted today and lessons with a dog trainer scheduled. An appointment to have the dog neutered is scheduled for next week. Our dog is very friendly. It's about a year old and is house broken. It scratches the door when it wants to go out. It likes to be petted and knows how to sit when petted. As a mixed breed dog, we wonder what her background is, but she could be anything. Some of her traits indicate a mix of herding, working or guarding. She has short hair and is black and tan. No frills, just plain dog. I'll send reports on her progress... or maybe I should say I'll send reports on Our Progress.



Bingo
Bingo



Tuesday, January 08, 2019

The 8th of January or The Battle of New Orleans

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the Mississip
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British
In the town of New Orleans


We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin'
There wasn't as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they begin to runnin
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico


We looked down a river
And we see'd the British come
And there must have been a hundred of 'em
Beaten on the drums
They stepped so high
And they made their bugles ring
We stood by our cotton bales
And didn't say a thing


Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
If we didn't fire our muskets
Till we looked 'em in the eye
We held our fire till we see'd their faces well
Then we opened up our squirrel guns
And really gave 'em --- well


Yeah, they ran through the briars
And they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes
Where the rabbits couldn't go
They ran so fast the hounds couldn't catch em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf f Mexico


We fired our cannon till the barrel melted down
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round
We filled his head with cannonballs
And powered his behind
And when we touched the powder off
The gator lost his mind


Yeah, they ran through the briars
And they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes
Where rabbits couldn't go
And they ran so fast the hounds
couldn't catch 'em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico


Note: "The Battle of New Orleans"1 as sung by Johnny Horton2 about the last great battle of the War of 1812. The melody is based on a fiddle tune known as the "The 8th of January" which was the date of the Battle of New Orleans3 during the War of 18124.

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleans_(song)
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Horton
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleans
    The Battle of New Orleans was fought on Sunday, January 8, 1815. The battle effectively marked the end of the War of 1812.
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

The Battle of New Orleans bicentennial stamp issued 2015
US postage stamp issued in 2015 to mark the
bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans,
which depicts US troops firing on the British
from along Jackson's Line.