Tag Archives: Bentley

February 23, 2022

It’s (Not) 2s Day

Drat! A day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes. I started off this morning writing a post to commemorate the 2/22/22 date but quickly realized I’d need a time machine to pull that off. Between yesterday’s blizzard and working on an upcoming post about Plato and geometry, I lost track of the date (a peril of being retired — dates don’t matter much anymore).

Not that I had anything date-specific to post about, and plenty of other bloggers did post, so no great loss. But having started, I may as well keep going.

Even if all I have are some very tiny treats.

14 Comments | tags: Bentley, Netflix | posted in Life

March 8, 2020

Big Yawn!

By Wyrd Smythe

They say you’re supposed to let sleeping dogs lie. Personally, I’ve always thought a sleeping dog was pretty honest — I’m not exactly even sure how anyone could lie in their sleep. Tell fibs in your dreams? (Some old sayings just don’t make any sense.) I don’t think we should let anyone get away with lying, sleeping or otherwise (especially Presidents).

I do think there is something extra sweet about a sleeping dog. Maybe it’s a matter of the trust they’re showing — how they feel safe with you. Next to you, they can relax and fall into a deep snoring sleep. Dogs can have concerns about being left home alone, and if they are in your lap they know right where you are.

In any case, from the terminally cute file…

3 Comments | tags: Bentley, dog yawn, dogs, Sabbath, sleeping dogs, Sunday | posted in Life

February 26, 2020

Recrudescent

By Wyrd Smythe

One of the older notes on my idea board is a tiny Post-It™ with just a single word written on it: recrudescence. Wiktionary defines it as: “The condition or state being recrudescent; the condition of something (often undesirable) breaking out again, or re-emerging after temporary abatement or suppression.”

It is primarily a medical term referring to a disease reoccurring; the second Wiktionary definition is: “The acute recurrence of a disease, or its symptoms, after a period of improvement.”

But when I encountered the word several years ago, it struck me as a very good word for this “post-factual” era: the Dark Ages rises again.

9 Comments | tags: Bentley, Electric Dreams (TV series), Martin Freeman, Philip K. Dick, recrudescence, recrudescent, Russian Doll (TV series), Sherlock (TV series), Sherlock Holmes | posted in Life, Politics, Rant, Society

September 6, 2019

Ow!

By Wyrd Smythe

Stung! Ow!!

I’ve been dog-sitting my pal, Bentley, the last few days, and when we began our early morning walk today, she was checking out an interesting hole in the ground. She’s noticed it before, sniffed at it, and then moved on, so I assumed it was just a hole in the ground worthy of smelling.

But today, suddenly she reacted — pawing at the air in front of her. Because bees! Or rather, yellow-jacket wasps, which nest in holes in the ground. Small ones, but equipped with stingers nevertheless. I whipped my hat off and started trying to clear the air (there were only three or so that I saw, not a swarm), swatted one off her side, and then we high-tailed it across the street as fast as we could run.

As we walked away, I noticed that my left hand hurt: one of them got me!

6 Comments | tags: bee sting, Bentley, dogs, walk it off | posted in Life

May 5, 2019

OU812!

By Wyrd Smythe

You may remember my pal, Bentley, the APBT:

All tuckered out after a three-mile walk!

Last week the little dickens ate three-quarters of a cotton dish towel, which freaked her mom (and me) out.

12 Comments | tags: Bentley, dogs | posted in Life

February 25, 2019

Old Fashioned February

By Wyrd Smythe

We’ve been having a good old-fashioned Minnesota February this year: bitter cold and lots of snow. It harkens back to the days of yore. (Of your what? Of your yore lore, of course.)

5 Comments | tags: Bentley, cold, Minnesota, snow, snow storm, winter, winter storm | posted in Life

February 21, 2019

Dog Gone Delightful!

By Wyrd Smythe

I’ve been mostly off-line for the last two weeks, because I’ve been dog-sitting my friend’s American Pit Bull Terrier, Bentley, which has been so much fun that I’ve just let it consume me. I’ve never had a chance to get to know a Pit Bull, so about all I’ve done is hang out with Bentley!

It’s a lot like when the grandparents (grandpa, in this case) sit the kids while the parents go on a long vacation. The two-edged sword is that, while the parents know the kids are safe and secure, they also know they’re gonna get spoiled all to hell and gone.

Or in this case, dog-gone spoiled by a loving grandpa who is a sucker for that ‘starving dog’ look. (Those hungry brown eyes; who could say no?)

15 Comments | tags: American Pit Bull Terrier, Bentley, dogs, Pit Bull | posted in Life

November 16, 2018

Sam’s Song

By Wyrd Smythe

Father’s Day, 1994
(It really was June 19!)

Back in 1994, when Samantha and I first began living with each other, during our long walks together, I composed this little bit of “doggerel” (to the obvious tune of)…

This little dog, she’s a pup.

She’s got big paws and a tail.

With an arf, arf, sniff, sniff,

chew a rawhide bone.

This little dog came running home.

This little pup, she’s a black lab.

She likes running in the park.

With an arf, arf, sniff, sniff,

chase a tennis ball.

This little dog came running home.

This little lab, her name’s Sam.

She’s getting bigger every day.

With an arf, arf, sniff, sniff,

run around the yard.

This little dog came running home.

(I got a new laptop, so I’ve been going through a lot of old data deciding what to archive and what to transfer to the new machine. Among all those files I found the little dog ditty I wrote 24 years ago. (And I still miss that dog! One of the best I’ve ever known!))

Leave a comment | tags: Bentley, Black Lab, Black Labrador Retriever, dogs, Keith Olbermann, my dog, Sam, Samantha | posted in Life