40 Acres and a Dog

The deal used to be 40 acres and a mule, but we got a dog. I guess that makes him the first of our homestead animals, a distinction he seems worthy of. His name is Snickers (despite Amanda's suggestion we change his name to Mule) and we're told he is part hound and part Alaskan husky. He is a medium-large dog, about 22 inches to the shoulder, and has a very friendly disposition. Best of all, he's used to living outside year round. Robert piled some good, clean straw in his dog house for bedding so he should be able to keep warm. His former owner said you could tell when spring was coming because Snickers would start kicking the straw out of his doghouse.

Yesterday was the first day of deer season, and my neighbor has been very disappointed so far. Somebody up the road shot the one buck that had been seen in the area, but he didn't see one single deer. I could almost have gotten one on the way home from town today, but the deer's timing was better than my aim. Oh, well. A van full of kids is not the recommended hunting gear anyway.

I also had a lesson in the local lingo today. "Slickery." As in, "It's starting to sleet so you better head home before it gets slickery." I'm starting to think that Yoopers are just rednecks with frostbite.

God bless!