GOOD NEWS: Of Doggies & Dodgers!!!

1. My faithful companion, Redoct, has reached (today) his 12th birthday!

Yes, he's a red Doberman Pinscher.Yes, he was born on the 1st of October. And yes, that is a hamburger birthday cake.

I have lived with Redoct all his life. He continues to give me his all, while I return only a portion of my attention and my day to him. That's his lot as a dawg, maybe; but neither of us are satisfied with this bargain in our lives.

He is a DAWG among dogs. In his long life, Redoct has thoroughly mastered two California communities, four off-the-leash dog parks, three public beaches, the finer points of ultimate frisbee, tennis (wherever/whenever it has been attempted in his presence), stick-retrieval, body-surfing and can out run/swim/think any labrador he has encountered. In canine public with his peers, he has given as good as he got.

In the all important field of homeland security, he has attained the rank of serial killer with a rodent body count deep into double digits. With a beast like Redoct on your bed, there is no need to sleep with a loaded shotgun; several times in the course of a night he will rise, go out and make his rounds, turning on the motion-sensoring external light to mark his progress. At the same time, he has always been gentle protector of all our grand children.

Redoct, as a life-time learner, disproves the addage that you can't teach old dogs new tricks. He currently is learning to bark everytime George Bush's voice is heard on the radio or TV.

Did anyone notice the newspaper in the backdrop to the birthday burger? Yes!! It's foreshadowing...