[Dailydrool] Thank yous, and Della--a future OEBE????

[Heidi I Sarver]

Thank you to all the wonderful people who emailed on and off list  
about Buford's finally journey.  You understand, period.  I will  
respond to all who emailed off list over the next day or two.

To Stanley and the others whom I missed this week:  Godspeed.  I'm  
sure Buford met you at the gate so that you could all pass through  
together.

But now for something less depressing and a bit lighter:  Della-Ware's  
Summers End....or Della-Bear, or Bear, or Buttonhead, or Princess.   
She has a million names and responds to them all.  This little petite  
basset (all of 45 lbs) has been hiding for the last 5 years in  
Buford's shadow.  Will someone PLEASE send her the memo she clearly  
did not receive at birth explaining that she is a BASSET HOUND and  
**NOT** a Jack Russell Terrier?!?!?!   Buford's walks were, well, more  
like a stroll and drag.  You know, stroll down the road and than drag  
him back home.  Della's walks got truncated when she managed to even  
get one.  More often than not she was relegated to the backyard  
because I was too worn out to walk either of them.  (For the last 2  
years+ Buford would get me out of bed every 2 hours to pee....and  
without a fenced yard there was no alternative.)  Well, this little  
spitfire does NOT walk---it's a flat out sprint!!  And there is simply  
no slowing her down.  We can do 2 miles in about 40 minutes.  That's  
absurd for a basset hound.

She does not seem to be experiencing any depression over Buford's  
absence.  She did wake in the middle of the night Tuesday and let out  
a very mournful sound--something I have never heard before.  I believe  
the boy had paid her a visit at that moment as I have no other way to  
justify why she would have done that.  Afterward she looked at me,  
sighed and went back to sleep.  Oh to have the uninhibited instincts  
of the animal world--humans just can't get out of their own way in  
order to experience the real life that is all around us.

Meanwhile, she had managed to show me that she is a budding candidate  
for the ranks of the OEBE.  She has many more trials to complete  
before I submit her application, but here is a sample of her handy  
work from just the last TWO days:

1) destruction of the right black Dansko clog (they are indestructible  
by the way....unless in the mouth of a basset hound);
2) one leather palm eaten off one winter glove;
3) total destruction of the entire spindle of ePortfolio DVD's  
submitted by my music education students that I needed to submit to  
NCATE for our review for re-accreditation.

...and something tells me Buford is sitting and watching with utter  
delight and pride.  But she is a sweet and wonderful soul and I am so  
very glad that she is here with me to help me through this difficult  
time.  We've much bonding to do and I'm sure there will be more  
wonderful tales to tell....especially if she keeps up heading down the  
OEBE path.

--heidi, della and guinness the cat
--buford atb