Thursday, March 18, 2010

Remembering Ralph - One Year Later

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It's been a year since I last posted to this blog.

Tonight, Cathy and I thought about Ralph and raised our glasses in a toast.  No doubt about it, Ralph was the Best Dog we have ever encountered.

Don't know what kind of life Ralph lead before coming to us, but we are glad she showed up one day.  Although we do miss Ralph, we don't have any plans to get another dog.
Instead, we will wait for Ralph to send a dog to us.  Wait for a dog to wander into our yard and display the same traits that drew us to Ralph.  After all, we believe that Riley told Ralph to come and live with us.  We're sure that Ralph will pass this on to another dog at the right time.
Hey Ralph.  We miss you.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Godspeed Ralph R.I.P.

 

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Our hearts are heavy and there is much sadness today as Ralph joins Riley and Wednesday in puppy heaven.  Ralph was a wonderful canine companion who brought us great joy and much happiness with just a wag of her tail.  She arrived in our backyard without a name or a collar or history, although we knew she must have had a bad life before she found us.

I've compiled some photos of Ralph over the 8 ½ years since she wandered into our backyard.

We first saw Ralph while sleeping in our tent in the back woods.  I woke up and looked outside one morning and saw a dog looking at our tent.  As soon as the dog saw me, it ran off.  The next morning the dog was back and ran off just as quickly.

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I put some cat food (that's all I had on hand) and water in some bowls near the campsite.  The next day the food was gone.  Some animal was enjoying the food.  I moved the bowls a few feet closer to the house each day.  Some days when I checked no food had been eaten.  I thought our "game" might be over, but then the next day the food was gone.  Finally after several days I saw the dog at the food dish.

Ralph001A  This is the very first photo I ever took of Ralph.  The two food bowls are just left of the white covering next to Ralph.  Over the next two weeks or so, I moved the bowls closer to the house each day until they were just off the back porch.  At that time, I was able to stand on the porch and see the dog.  We were able to coax Ralph close enough with dog treats to be able to hand feed her.  At this point we named her "Ralph" not knowing yet she was a girl doggie.

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Ralph was skinny and flea infested.  She reminded us of PigPen of Peanuts fame.

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I put an old piece of carpet up on the back porch and somehow Ralph knew that that was her new home.

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She slept of the back porch for about three weeks.

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She was right at home and happy to have such a nice place to sleep.

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It was during this time that Ralph and Wednesday became such good friends.  Ralph would lay on the back porch by the screen door and Wednesday would lay inside and they would both watch what was going on in the back yard.

Ralph013 After another week or so on the back porch we decided it was time for her to get cleaned up and come inside.

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I bundled Ralph into the van and took her to a groomer who bathed her well and gave us our first indication that she looked mostly like an Australian Shepard. Then to the vets for a check-up and shots.  When I got home Ralph simply refused to get out of the van, she liked it so much!  I finally coaxed her out with some treats.

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I then brought Ralph inside the house and she promptly found a comfortable spot in the kitchen and fell asleep.  I left the house to run a quick errand and returned to find Ralph still in the kitchen. When I told Cathy, she thought I was crazy!  She said we had no way of knowing what Ralph would really do, but I felt comfortable.  From that point on and over all the years Ralph never had a single accident in the house nor chewed on anything!  Plus she and Wednesday were friends right from the beginning.

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This is Ralph and Wednesday both laying by the back screen door.

Ralph was a great protector of our house.  Anybody coming to our house always got warning barks to stay away until we could reassure Ralph that they were not burglars and it was OK for them to be there.  For some reason she was particularly ferocious with any UPS truck.  She would race from the back yard all the way out front to bark at any UPS truck that drove by.  She could tell the truck just by it's sound.  In all her time with us she never bit anybody and ever got close to the street out front.

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She was always happy to be outside.  She liked to watch out for deer and chase them out of the yard whenever she spotted them (they might be burglars, you know).  When we walked the property she always liked to be out front of us seeing what was going on.

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She liked to pick up apples off the ground from the apple trees around our camp site.  In the photo above you can see apples laying on the ground.

Ralph011  Here is Ralph with an apple she brought out into the yard.  She's just laying there keeping an eye on it and thinking about eating it soon.

Ralph always liked our campfires.  If we were sitting around the campfire she wanted to be right there with us.

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Here's Ralph waiting for us to come out and join her.  We also do campfires back by the tent and she liked that as well because it usually meant we were gong to sleep in the tent that night.  Sleeping in the tent was about as good as it got for Ralph.  She could be outside yet still sleep with us.

Here's Ralph in our tent waiting for bed time.

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I often wondered if she remembered seeing us in the tent for the first time and that someday she would be in there with us.

Here's a few more Ralph photos.

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Christmas Eve with Ralph and Wednesday both happy laying on the floor with a coffee table full of food just above their heads.

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Ralph in festive regalia at Mary Lou's  party.  The party was not at Ralph's house so there was no need to bark at anybody.  Just wait till some piece of food got dropped on the ground.

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Sitting with Cathy in the backyard while Cathy works on her quilting.

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Speaking of quilting.  Last year Cathy commissioned one of her quilt friends to make a wall quilt from a photo of Ralph.  This beautiful quilt hangs in a prominent place just off the front living room.  Here is a close up.

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A fitting tribute to Ralph.

I have just a couple more photos to share.

 

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This is Ralph just a day ago. 

Still looking good, but having trouble breathing comfortably.  A visit to the Vet yesterday turned up kidney failure and that broke our hearts.  We got to bring Ralph home for a final night together.  We made up our bed in the back living room for Cathy and I, with Ralph next to us.  This room overlooks the back yard.  I opened the back door for some cool fresh air and there we spent a final night together. 

I'm sure Ralph is glad to be free of pain and hanging out with Riley and Wednesday.  I believe that I'll see her again sometime.  Until then she might even be looking at me like this because of my sadness...

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My brother Charlie emailed me today and helped put things in perspective.

Heard a Dr Seuss quote on the radio last week
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened"

Good advise.

I do smile because Ralph was a part of our life all these years.  And I smile because Ralph smiled a lot, too!

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Saturday, January 10, 2009

Jack Is Back

Can't wait.

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Set up your perimeter now and don't miss it.  Sunday at 8 PM (7 PM for folks in Minneapolis.)

jack

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Friday, December 26, 2008

The Day After - Let's Nap

It's the day after Christmas and everybody is up at the crack of dawn.  Not because we are expecting more presents under the tree, but rather Chris is flying out early this morning and Dan and Nancy are driving home.  Sach took Chris to the airport around 7 AM and Dan and Nancy motored off shortly thereafter.

After that it was time for a nap!  In fact a nap called several times during the day, not that some of us took one, but other people did partake.

As evening approached it was once again time to conjure up some fine gastronomical delight.  Joy and Sach volunteered for the duty.

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They put together a broccoli, chicken and sun dried tomato over pasta dish.

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There was still some home-made Cesar salad dressing to go with the freshly warmed dinner rolls.   Some wine was opened and we were all set.

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Dinner was great. 

Not much else to report on today.  As I said, those naps were calling all day.  Tomorrow holds more promise.  It's grandparents day at art class with Uma!  We're looking forward to it.

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Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Part 1

Merry Christmas everyone!

The temperature outside continues in single digits, but it's sunny, as so often happens in Minneapolis.  It's a beautiful morning.

Looks like Santa visited while we slept.

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Soon Uma will be awake.  She doesn't know what's in store for her.

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Eventually she is awake and after a short while is told to go check out the stockings.  She's not sure what to make of this.  "Santa has come?"

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Cathy takes Uma to the mudroom where she can look outside and see for herself that the reindeer food she left last night has disappeared.  It's starting to get exciting.

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It's back into the living room to start to open the gifts stuffed into the stockings.  That pesky tape slows things down.

IMG_7864  Dad helps with gift opening pointers.

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Chris does a fine job opening his stocking gifts in comfort.

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Dan compares notes with Chris on who got what.  Unfortunately, Nancy is not feeling well this morning and remains in bed.  We'll keep her stocking for her till later when she's feeling better.

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Uma's doing good with her gift opening and it looks like Santa brought her a wrist watch which her mom just put on her wrist for her.

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"What time is it Uma?"  "It's 10 o'clock Nanima."  Not that Uma can actually tell the time - yet - but it's always 10 o'clock for Uma.

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Meanwhile Ani doesn't have to open any gifts today.  She just watches and enjoys.  Next year I'm sure Uma will be helping Ani open her gifts.

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The stockings are all opened and now it's time for breakfast.  Traditional Christmas breakfast is sweet rolls and fruit salad.  The coffee's ready, lets eat.  Then it's on to opening more gifts.

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Christmas Part 2

Breakfast is done and everyone reassembles in the front living room to continue opening presents.

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Attention is now directed to the Christmas tree and Uma starts everything off.

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She's forgotten some of the fine points of gift opening, so mom shows her what to do.

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A purse!  With a dog in it!  The dog came out quickly to see what else is in there.  This is a gift from Ralph, who remains down in the mud room by her choice.  There is a wonderfully warm radiator that she likes to lie next to plus she has decided that she does not like the hard wood floors.  Uma likes the purse, however.

IMG_7884   Ani gets a quilt.  Cathy made this for Ani and even though it will be a couple of years before Ani recognizes all the objects on the quilt, it has a lifetime of love sewn into it for her to enjoy.

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The next gift for Uma is too big to wrap so an "entrance" is planned.

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It's an art easel!  "Thanks Nanima, I love it!"  This is the easel that Cathy assembled the other day.

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Uma is testing the markers to see how they work.

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A masterpiece in the making.

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Meanwhile Ani, happy and content, plays with the blowfish and waits the next feeding.

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Shortly it's surprise time again for Uma.  "Close your eyes Uma."  She's got the basic concept down but there may be a little peeking going on there.

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Mom helps with the surprise.  Everyone's eyes are closed... what's next?

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Dad rolls in a Jet Tricycle.  Uma moves up from her 4 wheel mini cooper from last year to 3 wheels this year!

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Uma gives the trike a test spin.  Her legs are not quiet long enough to reach both pedals at the same time but she has lots of fun. Soon, however, she'll be in top form.