Vandy

 A few weeks ago, while we were on vacation, Little Girl's close friend Annie came by each day and took care of our cats.  (She was earning money for her mission trip to Guatemala, and it was her first year doing it for us.  Though i was afraid she would be overwhelmed by our numbers -- no kittens, just all the adult cats -- she did a great job.  She can have the job every year from now on, as far as i am concerned.)

Now it's Little Girl's turn, as Annie's family is on a weekend family reunion getaway to the shore.  We are watching Vandy.

 

Vandy

Vandy is a pure bred Basenji, and he's very strong for his size and fast as he can be.  He is so strong that a few weeks ago he pulled Annie's mother right off her feet and she ended up with a huge black eye where she hit the pavement.  He even made Festus, who is over 6 feet tall and weighs over 200 lbs., stagger when he pulled on the leash unexpectedly.


Little Girl is keeping him part time at his house, and part time at ours.  He began his adventures here by, when Little Girl tied his leash to our front porch column like we used to do with the Hazelnut so she could grab his water bowl that was just inside the door, chewing through his leash and high-tailing it back home, with Little Girl in hot pursuit.

You can tell that the cats have mixed feelings about this.

Link's language has been downright forcible.

 Dansig doesn't seem to mind too much, but Link is using the worst language i've ever heard out of him, everyone else is staying clear, and even the kittens are preparing to sell their lives dearly.

Misha wants no part in this adventure.

At night, he sleeps in Little Girl's room, looking very down in the dumps, she tells me.  He misses his family.

During the day, she keeps him mostly over at his house, where she is enjoying spending a lot of time reading in the peacefully quiet and empty house.

He's mostly a good dog, and as i've said before, if i didn't have to walk one every day and if i could trust myself not to let the training slip up, i'd have a dog.  The cats might not agree, so maybe it's for the best that i just enjoy everyone else's dogs and stick to what i know i can handle.


Today is

Anne Hutchinson Memorial Day -- Portsmouth, RI, US (honoring Anne Marbury Hutchinson, co-founder of Portsmouth, in 1638)

Codman Estate Antique Auto Show -- Codman Estate, Lincoln, MA, US (a day to appreciate antique and classic cars, trucks, motorcycles, and fire engines)

Coldest Day Ever -- the lowest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth was -89.2 *C (-128.6 *F; 184.0 *K) at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on this day in 1983

Concours D'elegance -- Forest Grove, OR, US (one of the premier vintage auto shows in the US)

Dornach Commemoration Day -- Dornach Battlefield and nearby city of Solothurn, Switzerland (victory in 1499 which ended the Swabian War)

Feast of Damo -- Ancient Greek Calendar (keeper of secrets of philosophy; daughter of Greek sages, Pythagoras and Theano, date approximate)

Feast of the Redeemer -- Venice, Italy (a procession of gondolas commemorating the end of the epidemic of 1575)

Galla Bayramy -- Turkmenistan (celebration of the wheat harvest)

Hemingway Birthday Celebration -- Hemingway Museum, Oak Park, IL, US

Independence Day / National Day -- Belgium(1830)

Kazanskaya -- Russia (Feast of Our Lady of Kazan)

Lakota Sun Dance -- Lakota Native Americans (festival of the sun god Wi, with offerings to Maka (mother earth) and Haokah (father sky), both aspects of Creator Tukaskanskan; dating approximate, as outsiders are usually no longer allowed at these multi-day ceremonies)

Liberation Day -- Guam (1944; from Japan)

Lucaria -- Ancient Roman Calendar ("Feast of Clearings", with prayers said as land was cleared for planting)

Luxembourg Beer Festival -- Diekirch, Luxembourg

National Ice Cream Day -- by US Presidential proclamation on the 3rd Sunday of July each year; at this time of year, the trick is to eat it fast enough that it doesn't melt, but not so fast that you get a brain freeze!

National Junk Food Day

Racial Harmony Day -- Singapore

Ragbrai / Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa(TM) -- Iowa, US (the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world; through the 27th)

Sapporo Summer Festival -- Odori Park, Sapporo, Japan (through Aug. 20, the park becomes a beer garden)

Schoelcher Day -- French West Indies; Martinique (Schoelcher worked for abolition)

St. Lawrence of Brindisi's Day (Patron of Brindisi, Italy)

St. Praxedes' Day (Patron of single laywomen)

Touch Hammer's Birthday Bargain Day -- Fairy Calendar

Tug-Of-War Tournament Day -- if you have a problem with someone today, solve it with an old fashioned tug-of-war!


Birthdays Today

Hatty Jones, 1988
Josh Hartnett, 1978
Jon Lovitz, 1957
Michael Connelly, 1956
Robin Williams, 1951
Cat Stevens, 1948
Kenneth Starr, 1946
Norman Jewison, 1926
Don Knotts, 1924
Kay Starr, 1922
Isaac Stern, 1920
Marshall McLuhan, 1911
Ernest Hemingway, 1899


Today in History

Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, BCE 356
A tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt, 365
The first landing of French troops on the coast during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight, 1545
Twenty-four-year-old Scottish physician and explorer Mungo Park became the first European to see the Niger River, the third longest river in Africa, 1796
In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown, 1865
At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West, 1873
Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land, driving a 15-liter Gobron-Brille in Ostend, Belgium, 1904
In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100, 1925
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission, 1969
After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed, 1970
The world's lowest temperature is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at -82.9*C (-129*F), 1983
The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years, 1997
NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135, 2011