Library Notes
November 24, 2004
By Pansy Hundley, Librarian.
Do some of you remember Suzanne’s dog, Shadow, that I told you about quite some time ago? When her last dog, Dazy, had to be put to sleep, Suzie shortly visited her local animal shelter and wound up adopting her Shadow. Of course, Suzie regularly visit her local animal shelter, just to see what’s there and I keep telling her to stay away from there, because she’ll wind up with half the dogs at her house. But, she doesn’t listen very well.
She was looking for a guard dog and she got one. This is the one that ‘bout treed the meter man the first time he came by. Shadow is also the one that "saved" Suz from the skunk in the back yard, much to his chagrin.
That Shadow dog has certainly become a member of the family. As with all dogs, Suzie has turned him into almost another child. He knows exactly what she says and usually does it, even if it takes added persuasion on occasion. When she opens the door at night to let him in, she says "Kennel" and he goes right into her bedroom and gets in his kennel, where he sleeps, on guard duty all night. Then she can sleep soundly, because she knows she can depend on Shadow to rouse her at any strange noise.
He has the most expressive face. You can tell by looking at him when he knows he’s in trouble, when he is feeling rejected or when he’s happy and wants to play.
My dog, Cassidy, is about twelve years old, and the last thing she wants to do is frolic about in the back yard with some young whippersnapper that has decided he wants to play. She usually goes and crawls under the steps, so that he can’t reach her.
A short time after Shadow came to live at his new house, I was up there one week-end. Late in the afternoon I ran Suzie out of the house to go take a walk, which she never gets to do anymore. I told her to take Shadow and herself for a walk and Cheyenne and I would guard the house. It did not take much arm-twisting to talk her into it and none at all for Shadow.
In the course of that walk, that great guard dog did his job very well, telling all neighbor dogs that barked just what he thought of them. The hogs and pigs at a neighboring pig pen, in no uncertain terms, understood that he was the head-honcho and they could not eat Suzie.
Everything was ship-shape, Shadow’s head was high, he had established his authority. And then they came to the ostrich pasture! That was the strangest looking thing that Shadow had ever seen. They were all legs and they ran up close to the fence and started spitting at him. Now, you have to understand, there is brave and there is stupid! There was no telling what those strange looking varmints might do to a feller. He hid behind Suzanne and just kinda’ slunk around and was immediately ready to get on down the road. Suzie could not talk him into being friends. They just kept spitting at him and looking at him and something like that is not good for a guard dog’s dignity and self-confidence. Thank goodness, they left that place and I don’t think he’s been back. Shadow’ll do his guarding at the house and on the other road, thank you very much. And he’ll hope that the fence holding those critters is a strong one.
Suzie buys the big, giant dog bones for Shadow, and, of course, he loves them. He is positive, though, that those bones should be eaten outdoors. He’ll get that bone in his mouth and go stand at the door, waiting on you to open it. Well, with the first bone or two, Suz would let him out. But, she began to realize that she never saw the bone again. That bone that should have lasted at least three days had disappeared, never to be seen by her again. So, she made him start chewing in the house, But, oh my, he wants out so badly. How can you bury that bone, with only hard floors everywhere. As sure as he starts trying, that raised, questioning voice will be hollering "What are you doing?!!!"
So, with no one opening the door to the outside world, Shadow starts circling the dining room table. He walks round and round the table, looking at you with that pitiful look on his face, round and round. He’ll lay down in the floor, after Suzie tells him "No, you can’t go out." And that poor, woo-be-gone, pitiful look is still on his face.
When I go to visit, this well-trained, marvelous guard dog, that normally listens to his mistress’ voice and obeys, turns into a blithering idiot. As soon as he sees me or hears my voice, he just can’t stand it. I have to throw my arms up for protection. Suzie is hanging onto his collar, hollering "Stay down, stay down" and he is trying to get to me, jumping around, trying to jump right up and give me his doggie kiss. Suzie is hanging on and I’m dodging and Shadow is just ecstatic, and Suzie hollers "I don’t know why he loves you so much!"
I get many Shadow "hugs" and have to continue to dodge. Every time he comes in from outside, you’d think he hadn’t seen me in a week.
The minute I go into the kitchen to cook, Shadow is right there, laying in the floor, hoping I might drop something as I cook. I’ve, many times, almost stepped on him on the way to the refrigerator, because I’m not used to a hundred pound, guard dog sprawled in the middle of my kitchen floor.
But, that’s okay, because I think this dog would lay down his life for Suzie or Cheyenne. Even if those weird critters that spit at you were to get out of that fence, and threaten his two people, he would protect them or die trying, even against those spitting things.
From Shadow dog to Danielle Steel is quite a step, but let us take it. That way, I can tell you about her newest, just out and ready for everyone to buy for a present, and you KNOW that poor woman needs the money. So, let’s talk about this book "Echoes", so that you will know what to buy when you get to the store.
"For the Wittgenstein family, the summer of 1915 was a time of both prosperity and unease, as the guns of war sound in the distance. But for eldest daughter Beata, it was also a summer of awakening. By the glimmering waters of Lake Geneva, the quiet Jewish beauty met a young French office and fell in love. Knowing that her parents would never accept her marriage to a Catholic, Beata followed her heart anyway. And as the two built a new life together, Beata’s past would stay with her in ways she could never have predicted. For as the years pass, and Europe is once again engulfed in war, Beata must watch in horror as Hitler’s terror threatens her life and family – even her eighteen-year-old daughter, Amadea, who has taken on the vows of a Carmelite nun.
For Amadea, the convent is no refuge. As family and friends are swept away without a trace, Amadea is forced into hiding. Thus begins a harrowing journey of survival, as she escapes into the heart of the French Resistance. Here Amadea will find a renewed sense of purpose, taking on the most daring missions behind enemy lines. And it is here, in the darkest moments of fear, that Amadea will feel her mother’s loving strength – and that of her mother’s mother before her – as the voices of lost loved ones echo powerfully in her heart. And here, amid the fires of war, Amadea will meet an extraordinary man, British secret agent Rupert Montgomery. In Colonel Montgomery, Amadea finds a man who will help her discover her place in an unbreakable chain between generations….."