Re: [Paddlewise] Hallie Re: Thunder Bay ON

From: ralph diaz <rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com>

> Just before Christmas last year, Jackie who lives in Southern California
> and much more soft-hearted than her tough PaddleWise den mother persona
> lets on, got upset about something she had heard of through the 'Net.  

Now you've gone and ruined my reputation. :-)

> A Westie puppy, the same breed as her beloved Mollie of ascii art fame,
> had been returned to a pet shop in Las Vegas because of some ailment
> that is common among Westies.

CMO or Cranial Mandibular Osteopathy... the canine version of elephant
man disease.  If it doesn't kill the puppy (sometimes they
die of malnutrition as the disease causes too much pain for the puppy
to eat), they can outgrow it and live a perfectly normal life and all
signs disappear.  This disease occurs often in puppy mill puppies which 
is where Hallie came from.  I've been informed that the pet store that
had Hallie for four months has been shut down.  Yeeeeaaaaaaaayyyy!!
Due to malnutrition (improper and lack of treatment for the CMO), Hallie
is basically a runt.  But she makes up for her small size with 
major energy.  This is one fiesty furry kayaker.

> Jackie knew that the ailment could be cured with a caring regimen of
> medicine and attention. She negotiated with the shop to buy the puppy. 
> But it was now Christmas eve. Jackie was upset by the vision of the
> puppy alone in a closed shop over the holiday.  In a scene reminiscent
> of the Three Wise Men and the baby in the manger, she got her
> significant other, Bob, to drive the long distance over the Rockies with
> her and Mollie to pick up the puppy before the shop closed.  

Well, actually, it was over the desert and through the cactus to Las Vegas 
but I'd rather have been driving over the Rockies (or anywhere for that 
matter) than to Las Vegas.  I *hate* Vegas.

> The puppy turned out to be a delight and took to Bob and Jackie right
> away.  And to Mollie.  The two greeted each other like twins who had
> been separated at birth...no jealousies, no territory staking out, just
> a lot of sisterly sharing.

Uh, and a lot of sparring.  That's what westies do.  They have to keep
in shape for the badger kill :-)  They love to hunt which is why I'm
convinced they love going out on a sea kayak... they think they are
with alpha dog (me) on the hunt for something fierce.  All a big
game for westies.  *Life* is one big game for westies.  

<snip>

> About a month earlier, Jackie and I had been exchanging email on some
> matter.  Somewhere along the line, I mentioned to her that her last
> name, Fenton, meant "someone who lived near a marsh or low wet area."

We've always referred to ourselves as the "swamp people."  :-)  The
desire to get wet is in my heritage. 

> (I
> had written a book, still not published, about surnames, so I kinda know
> such things).  I mentioned what my two last names meant.  Diaz (paternal
> surname) coming from "of, or son of, Iago or Diego" and O'Halloran
> (maternal surname) from early Gaelic for "pirate or stranger from across
> the sea." 

Nothing stranger than a westie pirate in a kayak....

> Jackie remembered that.  And so the new puppy became Hallie as a
> dimunitive of O'Halloran.  So that is why I have a puppy named after
> me.  Sic transit gloria.

And she's certainly living up to her name :-)

I need a mini tandem folding kayak for two westies so they can start carrying
their own baggage....

Cheers,

Jackie


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