July 5th, 2013
Hey, everyone!
Hope y’all had an awesome fourth! The other day, I was trying to get that "Fourth-kind-of-feeling". I knew we were gonna have more waterworks than fireworks this year so I figured it'd take some work to get in the Independence Day spirit. So…
I was reading some fun "Fourth facts"…Did you know...
On this 4th, Americans slammed 155 million hotdogs, smothered in all kinds of things, mostly depending on where you live and how long you’ve been around. Kids prefer catsup, adults, mustard. New Yorkers like steamed onions, and in the Windy City, they throw tomatoes on the puppies. In one survey, kids were asked what they would put on their dogs “if mom wasn’t watching”. 25% in a "mother-free zone" would go for the chocolate syrup! Gross!
By the way, those 155 million are just a few of the 60 hot-dogs-eaten-per-American-per-year! Whoa! I might surprise myself if I counted, but I think someone else is doubling up and getting some of mine! I may down 60 dogs per year…but I don’t think so!
It was probably a little easier to get your heart ready for the Fourth in Liberty, Missouri, or Liberty, Colorado, or Liberty, Ohio…or in Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty, Iowa…or any of the other thirty one towns in all in the USA named “Liberty”!
And there are nine towns named “Freedom”…
I had to work hard to to get psyched up on July 4 a few years ago because on like, the 3rd of July, my favorite dog of all our dogs died. That year we had a sadder Fourth than I thought we would.
Tell ya the truth, it was sadder than I thought it would be. We knew it was coming. He was a humongous St. Bernard and was about 140 in dog years. Couldn’t see or hear. He could just smell,tho! And he did! A lot sometimes (before Tina shampooed all 200 somethin’ lbs of him!) I’m definitely not a big “dog-guy” (and Harley was a big dog!) and I’ve never really had a desire to have a bunch of dogs. I’m a big "Tina-guy", however, and she loves them! Consequently, of all our thirty eight years together (yesterday!) not many of them have been dog-less.
We’ve had dogs that were “rescue dogs”…the kind you rescue from ending up on death row in the pound…”Dead dog walking”…Some of those were a little traumatized and frankly, a little psycho. Harley was a rescue dog, too. A lot of times, people get big dogs and than realize that they eat half a house daily, and do other things in a big way, as well, and decide they don’t want them. We got two St. Bernards almost at once that way. I wasn’t sure where it was going to end and how many “saints” we’d eventually wind up with, but I was getting prepared to celebrate All Saints Day!
One of them was kinda grouchy and mean…well, not exactly mean…just mean-ish. But Harley was the sweetest. He really was the sweetest dog we every had. Always! Always kind…always wanted to be around you…wanted to touch you. If you walked down the street, he wanted to rub up against you when you walked. It was a good way to wind up in a ditch! He just wanted to be around you. He just wanted a pat on the head. He just wanted to please you. He was just sweet. And when he was old and walking into poles and trees and stuff, it didn’t bother him at all. He ate the worst smelling dog food everyday…same thing everyday…and never complained! About anything!
When he was really old, he slept most of the time. He snored like Bronco Nagurski and you could hear it all over. It is quiet now out there at night.
And I was kinda surprised how much I missed him. He was just a dog. But in a way he was more and I didn’t know it. He was kind of a mentor. A mentor who left dog hair everywhere. But a spiritual mentor. Like the way he just wanted to be around us and how he was happiest with that. And he just wanted to please you. And I want to be like that with our Lord! Like Harley! Just happy to be around Him. Content to know He’s there. Only goal is to please Him and that’s all. And if I know my Lord is pleased with me, I just wag my tail, spiritually speaking, and I’m totally content and filled.
And what if a person could be so kind all the time, and so sweet to people that when you’re not around, it’s what they missed the most. To live so that when you’re not there, no one will remember a time when you barked at or bit anyone…
Mother Teresa of India said, “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better or happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting”
Don’t lick people in the face, though. It’s not as cool as dogs think it is.