And now a word from our sponsor (AKA Mom)

Hey, everybody!  It's me, Tucker!  And you know, I knew when I started this blog that it would be inevitable ... eventually, as much as this was MY idea and as much as I was already, I felt, being rather magnanimous by allowing my siblings to share the limelight with me, I knew that at some point Mom was going to want to take HER turn at the keyboard.  And that point, friends and furs, has now arrived.  So in the holiday spirit of giving and sharing and all that good, touchy-feely stuff that, let's face it, as much as I try to pretend I'm a tough guy, I'm just as much of a sucker for as anybody else ... I've decided to be the nice guy that I am, and let her have her turn.  So without "fur"-ther ado ... here's Mom!

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Thanks, Tuck!  And hello, everyone!

(And now, if we can forgo the suspension of disbelief for a brief moment, let me just say that at the precise instant when I shifted from my "Tucker voice" to my own, I suddenly got a flash of insight as to how people with multiple personalities must feel.  Not that I mean to make light of what I realize is a serious mental illness, but nonetheless, it did feel a bit, well, odd ... to make that sudden shift from trying to view the world through my dog's eyes and imagining what he might say (or type) had he the ability to do so, to all of a sudden assuming (or reassuming) my own voice.  I can't believe I'm alone in this - I imagine that all of you out there who are doing essentially the same thing that I'm doing have felt somewhat the same, at least occasionally.)

So ... now that that's out of the way ... I suppose that the reason I have briefly siezed control of the keyboard from my faithful friend(s) is really to say thank you to those of you who are following this blog, and especially to those of you who have taken the time to comment.  Olivia, Tanner, Phoebe, Finn, and most especially Tucker, mean the world to me, and as much as I love my human family and friends (which is of course a great deal), they bring something to my life that only they can.  They are not humans, and as much as this blog might appear to be evidence to the contrary, I know this all too well.  And really, I'm glad of it.  Humans are great.  But, for as long as I can remember, animals have been an overwhelming passion of mine.  My childhood was populated with my animal friends, as, clearly, my adulthood has been, and is.  Frankly, I cannot imagine living any other way.  These five special beings that I live with are my friends, my companions, my muses, in many ways my therapy, and even, I'm not ashamed to admit, my surrogate children.  They infuse even the most ho-hum days and the most mundane tasks with joy and laughter, and the constant, unswerving, everpresent love and devotion they show me is something I do my best to live up to, and to be worthy of.

To be perfectly frank, I didn't start this blog expecting that anyone outside of my family and close friends would read it.  I did it mainly for myself, to have a concrete word and picture record of the all-too-brief lives of these incredible animals I am so privileged to share my life with.  Their time with us, as we all know, is far too fleeting, and it's all too easy to get caught up in the ebb and flow of daily life and forget to pay fitting tribute to the days and years we get to spend with them as they are actually happening. 

Therefore, to know that these five precious animals who have given, and continue to give me every day, so much, have in some way touched the lives of others, brought smiles to faces other than my own, and laughter to other pairs of lips, is enormously gratifying, and so I thank you.  I'd love to take credit for it, but really, I can't.  Obviously they think thoughts and feel emotions that as much as I love them and as much as we are intimately connected through the sharing of our lives, I will never know about.  That's part of the mystery, and, for me, the draw, of living so closely and intimately with animals we can never truly know.  Nonetheless, I do my best to know them as well as I can, and to represent them as truly and as honestly as I am able during the times I presume to channel the singular voice and spirit I believe each of them has.  I hope some of that has, and does, come through when "they" post.

I'd also like to thank those of you whose blogs I follow myself, for your vastly entertaining posts and lovely photographs.  Some of you are true artists, and your beautiful photos have made me feel incredibly inadequate, to the point that I am considering a basic photography class and looking into cameras that will allow me to take better pictures (assuming I can figure out how to use them).

It's a gray, rainy, dreary day today, and I'm working, which is never a fun thing to do on a Saturday, but of course, having Tucker & Phoebe here with me makes it much more fun than it might otherwise be.  A lot of what I'm doing today is waiting on artwork to come back from my long-suffering graphic artist (I'm an advertising account executive) who is also tirelessly toiling on Saturday, and so I've been able to spend time with the dogs, play with them a little, take them for a couple of short walks (before the rain started), and so it hasn't been a total loss.  If I have to be at work on a Saturday, at least I've got my faithful companions here with me, and that makes a huge difference. 

I also figured out that the camera on my new Droid has a black and white setting, and so I took a few (actually a lot of) pictures.  The dogs were sleeping (I swear with as many pictures as I have taken and posted of them lying on their office bed, I fear that I'm giving people the erroneous impression that all my dogs do, or are allowed to do, is lie on their bed, which isn't true, of course - it's just that I'm such an abysmal photographer that the only chance I have of getting a remotely decent shot is if they are completely still!) on their bed, so I lay down on the floor and took a series of shots of them, and compared to many of my other photographic efforts, these are not half bad, I don't think.  Hope you enjoy, and thanks again for reading.

Tucker was listening intently to the noise the large Epson printer was making as it started to print one of my presentation files.

But soon grew bored with that and put his head down.  Phoebe as you can see, had already decided that it was nap time, and had snuggled up to her "big brother" for a snooze.

Tuck is feeling sleepy now, but is still giving me his eyes half open look.

Slightly different angle and Tuck doing his by-now-perfected sleep move (head up, eyes half closed, but snoring!) 

Sorry, but I just never get tired of the sight of this guy's scruffy little face. 

It melts me every time.

And Phoebe - well, you know, Tucker loves Phoebe, but Phoebe LOVES Tucker!  (Obviously!)

Obviously not letting sleeping dogs lie ...

Hey - someone's awake

But not for long ...

And here's one of Phoebe ... I really wish I could take a picture of her that didn't make her look like a frowning little gargoyle, because she is actually one of the funniest, happiest, most comical little dogs.  There IS something of an air of gravitas about her, but I still wish it didn't look like she's ticked off in every picture I take of her!  Oh well ...

Happy Saturday everybody!