Good Girl, Brandi

Pets have always been a part of my life.  My earliest memories involve one litter of kittens or another, and bird dogs that I wasn't really allowed to play with, but loved all the same.  When my dad stopped using bird dogs, we still had dogs, but for no other reason than because we could.  Most of our animals were either born on our farm or brought there intentionally, but our farm has also been home to several strays.  

Brandi came to us sometime during my sophomore or junior year, and we put her age at around two or three.  It was obvious from the first day we met her that she had been abused, and even more obvious it had been at the hands of a man.  It took several years before she allowed my dad to pet her, and several more before she trusted him with any kind of object in his hand.  Despite this, she had a sweet disposition and a playful attitude.  She teased and tormented our other dog, Rufis, and would follow him anywhere.  When he died four years ago, we could tell she was a little lonely, but my sister and I were gone and my parents weren't looking to get another dog.

That didn't stop Grover from showing up, however.  Much like Brandi, we'll never know if he was dumped at the farm or found his way there on his own, but when my parents couldn't find his owners he became family.  In the last few years, Brandi has gone deaf, blind in one eye, and lost a lot of her puppy-ness.  When Grover arrived, he harried her much like she did Rufis, but she seemed to enjoy the company nonetheless.  I think she also enjoyed the extra warmth that had been missing since Rufis left. In fact, she enjoyed having the company so much that when Grover first arrived she greeted him warmly and led him right to her food.  It took her almost fifteen minutes to get him to follow her to the barn where the food and her sleeping spot were, but she was determined.  I think that even if Grover hadn't liked our farm, she would have found a way to coax him into staying.  They shared her favorite sitting spot in the chair on the front porch, and slept together each night in the barn.

At the approximate age of 12, Brandi passed away on March 15th during the night.  Grover stayed by her side in the barn the whole night.  His devotion to his new friend went past this simple kindness however.  The barn is almost fifty feet from our back door, but he dragged her there so my parents would find her immediately.  I think my mom put it best when she said that Grover must have been sent to us in what turned out to be Brandi's last three months.

I will miss this sweet girl, and I'm so happy that we were able to give her a better life than she had before us.  I know that she and Rufis are together again, chasing each other around and enjoying a warm patch of grass in the sunlight.

Looking for something to read?

Of course, I'm sure you're all dying to read what I've been writing, but I'm not ready to inflict...I mean release that to the public yet.  Actually, I thought I'd tell you all about some of the books and graphic novels I've been reading lately.

I'll start with the graphic novel, mostly because I don't read many, so this will be brief.  I've recently been reading Y: The Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughn.  This is the story of Yorick (Alas, I knew him well), who is the last human male on Earth.  He is joined in Y chromosome solitude with his pet monkey, Ampersand.  Together with a secret agent, known only as 355, and a scientist, Allison Mann, they are trying to find out what happened to cause the deaths of all male mammals.

The storyline is fast-paced, even though it spans several years, starting in 2002.  It's also quite funny, especially to a former English major (something I have in common with poor Yorick).  There are ten volumes spanning 60 issues.  I think what really impresses me about Yorick is the fact that as the last man on Earth, he practices remarkable restraint.  His journey to help save mankind is further motivated by his search for his girlfriend/fiancee with whom he lost touch at the onset of the plague.  During his journey, he's pretty much able to keep it in his pants despite some rather seductive women.  I think Mr. Vaughn did a pretty good job writing about what could happen if the world was full of only women.  There are some sticking points for me that it takes several years for the ladies of Earth to get electricity up and running again, but I thing that helped him move his plot as he needed it, so I'm willing to forgive the poetic license.

Now, onto books:

First I'm going to sing the praises of one Kevin Hearne.  My sister, dad and I have all swapped his Iron Druid chronicles.  We sort of act as our own family library, sharing books whenever we hit upon a good series.  Mr. Hearne has written a wonderful series, and we're all greatly anticipating book six, coming this June.

This series tells the story of Atticus O'Sullivan, the last druid.  He's more than 2000 years old, but he can still kick butt like it's 100 BCE.  Hearne does a wonderful job of mixing mythologies without confusing the issue too much.  I love his pronunciation guides at the beginning of each of the books, because I'm one of the people he writes about who likes to know how to properly pronounce these Celtic and Norse names.  The real show stealer for these books, however, is Atticus' dog, Oberon.  That wolf hound has a unique outlook on life, and he's a good dose of comic relief.

Now, for something a little different.  Well, it's different for me anyway.

I don't think my first two recommendations would come as a shock to anyone who knows me.  They delve into the sci-fi and fantasy I love so much.  The other series I'm going to write about, however, is pretty much steeped in realism.  I've currently been reading the adventures of Hamish Macbeth by M. C. Beaton.

I suppose this isn't as shocking as I think it is, mostly because it includes something else I love: Scotland.  Hamish Macbeth is a police constable in the - usually - quiet town of Lochdubh.  These books may not be serious brain teasers, but they're short, funny, and surprisingly empathetic.  Ms. Beaton has a real knack for delving into the psyches of several characters at once, and makes all of them seem incredibly real in the less than 200 pages she uses.  This series is a nice break from reality that won't take long, but still leaves you feeling satisfied.

There, I think that leaves everyone with enough reading material for now.  Hopefully you all enjoyed my reviews.  More hopefully, you'll pick up one of these awesome titles.

So long for now.  Happy reading!