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Well, I never was much of a horse rider.  A couple of times a borrowed horse ran off with me, and as luck would have it, both of them ran under a low hanging limb, which I grabbed, and hung on as I went by … .safe and sound up a tree. 

Now, pretty Joyce Jeffrey from up the street back in the 40s or so had a good horse named Popcorn.  I could ride that slow moving critter, but it was naturally better if Joyce was up there in the saddle with me. 

Well, whatever the critter, I believe young uns ought to have some sorta pet or another.  We always had dogs, although except for a few Cocker Spaniels, most of ‘em were hunting dogs.

I ‘member one time my brother had a tame crow.  (He even had a beaver one time.)  Anyhow, Billy made a perch to attach to Daddy’s bird dog, Indy.  Indy would walk around the yard with that crow perched on his back bigger’ n Pete.  Billy also had a German Shepherd by the name of Lobo, and Lobo stayed down at Billy’s store.  Shucks, I’ve seen Billy tell that dog to go get such and such a brand of canned dog food off the shelf, and, yep, that’s just what Lobo would do.  

Daddy had the longest Norwegian rabbit I ever did see, by the name of Oswald, and the rabbit stayed in a wire pen, but dug a hole down in the ground, no telling how far.  One night we drove up from Gulf Shores.  The dogs always ran out to meet us, but this night, Oswald had gotten out, and here he came right along with the dogs. 

Neighbor boy Tommy Mack Jones had a Collie named Laddie Mack, and Jane Drinkard had a big ol’ some kinda dog named Blackie.  Seems like every time my Ma’s Cocker, Dolly, had a litter of puppies, they always came out black for some reason or another.  Jane never could keep that dog of hers at home.

Next door neighbors, Joe and Clara Camp, never did have a dog, but they had a hunting cat by the name of Inky.  My brother used to sit out by our chicken yard, shoot sparrows, and Inky would go fetch the bird, and bring ‘em to Billy.  William Cooper Boggs was one of the best animal handlers and trainers I ever did see. 

Now, you know what got me to thinking about writing this column?  It was an up to date animal happening. 

Alice called me late the other afternoon, and told me two of our dogs were stranded, and needed to be rescued.  Well, when I got home, I found out that the Basset Hound, Droopy, and Alice’s midget Dachshund, Junior, had followed off behind Neighbor Bill McCarter’s little hunting dog.  They all three had gotten around on the other side of the Slough, and Bill’s dog went on off after a deer.  

Well, our two little sissy dogs recognized they were right across from our house, but were not about to swim the slough to get home.  Well, I bailed the rainwater out of my Papa’s Ol rowboat, and paddled over to our hero dogs.  Danged if they didn’t near ‘bout sink us trying to get in so fast. 

That’s a good memory for me to write about twenty years from now.  Don’t let me forget it.