{"id":244,"date":"2006-12-27T08:49:09","date_gmt":"2006-12-27T12:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.summerofjim.com\/2006\/12\/27\/one-day-among-many\/"},"modified":"2007-01-06T09:43:56","modified_gmt":"2007-01-06T13:43:56","slug":"one-day-among-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=244","title":{"rendered":"One Day Among Many"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let me begin by saying that Big Mike always looked up to Lou, or “One Eyed Louie” as he was better known in our parts. And Mike looked up to him in more ways than one… first off, Big Mike wasn’t all that big. <\/em>My Dad used to tell me you can’t measure someone’s size just <\/em>by their size. You have to understand that my Dad would say alotta confusing things. It was his way. It would take me years to understand it. But I am here to tell you that in heart and spirit, none come bigger than Big Mike… even One Eyed Louie would tell you that. <\/p>\n

You can call me “Fast Jimmie”. When I was a little guy I got kidded about how fast I could take a whiz. What can I say? The name just stuck. When I came “of age”, questions of speed can take on a different colour. I was always quick to point out that my speed <\/em>didn’t apply to all things, particularly when it came to the ladies. <\/p>\n

Me, Mike & Lou, we go back aways… to when we was mere “pups”… there was a group of us back then, Mean Mitzie, The Lump and the Honey Tramp… just a bunch of guys hanging out when we didn’t have to be some place else. <\/p>\n

And my story is just from a day… a day when nothing much was going on. I guess I got to “the Farm” (that be Taylor\u2019s <\/em>Farm to you who don’t know), shortly after One Eyed. <\/p>\n

I reckon Taylor’s is no more that fifteen acres… and that’s not counting the woods or the small pond. Fifteen good acres where a fellah can stretch his legs, enjoy the outdoors, chase a frisbee, maybe on a windy day citizens could fly a kite, and maybe, just maybe if a fellah got lucky, there would be an opportunity to “pitch a little woo.” <\/p>\n

As I say… I knew that Lou was already there. No one takes a dump like Lou. One sniff, and it didn’t have to be a good sniff, and you knew it was him. Not that I would be one to kid One Eyed about the size or smell of his pile. But I have to smile. I loved watching others come upon that deuce<\/em> and turn and walk the other way. Big Mike would say, “Kee-rist, Louie what d’yu eat?” <\/p>\n

Lou would do a quick look around, “they must’ve let an elephant on the Farm”. <\/p>\n

“An elephant? Pleeeeeeeze. We know it was you. And besides… an elephant’s heap would be smaller.” Lou didn’t appreciate that. <\/p>\n

But we knew Lou for what he was: just a big lovable lug of a Newfoundland with a patch of white over one eye, which is precisely how he come on the moniker “one eyed.” But we all looked up to Lou, even that ugly Dane, Morty (who all us dogs despised) looked up to Lou. <\/p>\n

I suppose you could look at Lou and think, “He’s big. He’s scary. He’s mean.” Or, “He’s big, slow and <\/em>dumb!” Well… dumb he ain’t. There’s a day he got loose, tracked down his kids’ school bus, strolled down the hall of the school looking for their classrooms. The kids had to send him back home… on the bus no less. So much for dumb. <\/p>\n

Most dogs who find that dump don’t think “dumb” either. They think, “big, scary and mean.” <\/p>\n

And that just cuts up Big Mike. Mike is a Cairn. Or more correctly a “Cairn cross<\/em>“. Mike would say, “So my Ma fooled around.” And then he would quickly add, “D’yu want to make something of it?” <\/p>\n

Lou would just laugh. He had nothing to prove. Big Mike? Every day he had to stand up for himself… which bothered him none. He stood up for others, too. And that he loved. It was like his “calling.” It gave him swagger. His attitude. <\/em>And it was why even Lou gave Mike his “props”. <\/p>\n

So there we were on this day… even the Honey Tramp. Just enjoying an afternoon… taking in some air, lifting a leg here and there, looking for some ladies… Mike would say, “I hear that what’s-her-name the black Standard Poodle is coming into heat…” <\/p>\n

Lou would laugh, “Yeah, too bad Mike… I left my step ladder at the house!” We all cracked up. <\/p>\n

Mike? He winked, “Nah, when she sees me, she’ll just crouch low.” <\/p>\n

“I believe it…” That was from the Honey Tramp. Folks, Honey Tramp is a good sort; but he is as dumb as a persimmon. But on this, I have to agree. Mike just has a way with the ladies. It’s his nature, the attitude<\/em>. <\/p>\n

On this day, Beauty (that was the name of the Black Standard) was not at the Farm… and no other ladies of interest either. Just us… us and our kids. <\/em><\/p>\n

Our kids. Fun, but a pain in the tail. You know how it is. Always getting into trouble. And Lou’s kids have to be the worst. Trouble just finds them. Now Lou is very good about taking care of them (after all, he went looking for them at school)… but maybe he was dropping a second load… but he wasn’t there when that snot Richie pushed down Lou’s Jennifer. <\/p>\n

Well, Mike saw this… and he was not going to take any of it. <\/p>\n

He took one look at Richie’s ankle and made a bee line. No “excuse me, do you mind…” he launched himself at exposed skin.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Mike would always say, “make noise and look for skin.” <\/p>\n

A good bite on the ankle and he caught some calf, too… and he sent Richie running and crying to his Mommy. It was over in an instant. <\/p>\n

When the “dust settled” Lou returned from his business… he approached Jennifer, gave her a big reassuring wag, a smile and several licks on her scraped knee. And then One Eyed lumbered over to Mike… to give him a smile and a sniff… Big<\/em> Mike. Mike who didn’t understand size; but Mike who had spirit, Mike who had heart. Mike who knew what to do and when to do it. <\/p>\n

We all felt pretty good about things. We all went over to the tall reeds by the pond and lifted our legs. Even the Honey Tramp. <\/p>\n

There would be times that Lou would chide Mike about over reacting… taking things too far. <\/p>\n

But on that day, just one of many… that big Newfoundland looked up to Big Mike, just like the rest of us did. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let me begin by saying that Big Mike always looked up to Lou, or “One Eyed Louie” as he was better known in our parts. And Mike looked up to him in more ways than one… first off, Big Mike … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories-brief-tales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}