It was only a little 3-pound bundle of black fur, toenails, and some big eyes already focused to get their way.
It was on a Sunday afternoon about 7 years ago when this tiny little animal walked in the front door of our big living area with about 10 people sitting around and enjoying the afternoon. I was completely across the room, as far away from the front door as you could get. That little 3-pound stranger was already wagging her tail like one of those hand held church fans as she slowly surveyed the room looking at everybody and finally spotted me. It may be my semi-wild imagination, but it appeared that she was specifically looking for me. She stood on her tiny hind legs with her little paws on my knee and looked me directly in the eye. That turned out to be instant and total bonding. I was not anti-dog at the time, but we had 3 earlier dogs and had bad luck, so I was not interested in going through that again.
Strange how a little animal can change that in an instant.
Again, I am getting the wagon before the mule. How did we wind up with Little Miss Molly? My wife had flown to Salt Lake City to visit her sister and her family, but mainly because Judy’s mom was seriously ill. It so happens that she passed away while she was there.
Peggy and Charlie, the majority owner’s sister and brother-in-law, lived in Ogden and they already had a little dog named Megan that was also a Shih-Tsu (which is what Molly is). After the funeral, they all went to K-9 Connection because my wife had become totally attached to little Megan in just the short time being there. My wife had already picked out the little puppy she wanted and this shows how very close it was that we could have missed having Little Miss Molly. Out of the corner of her eye, Judy saw Little Miss Molly standing on her hind legs with paws on the wire cage and her little tail wagging so rapidly as if Molly was saying, “Please take me, please take me.” The rest is history.
From day one, Molly became attached to me and I sure did to her. Even in her first days here, she would jump up on our bed and walk up my body and press her little nose against my cheek. Translation: “Hey, big guy, it’s urgent. I need to go to the bathroom.” In the early days, this was always around 4:30 in the morning.
In our development, there is a one-half mile walking track all around the complex. This was our very first walk and it was before daybreak. We did not know that a big black lab named Grady lived about three houses up the street. He had one of those electronic collars, which means he could not get out of their backyard even though it was not fenced in. But in that total darkness, he walked up as close as he could get and barked one time. That bark was enough to rattle the windows and poor Little Miss Molly got the scare of her life on the first morning with us. She was spooked. She ran back between my legs jerking me off my feet into a grassy area heavily covered with dew. The flashlight and my little blue scoop flew up in the air and I was struggling to get Molly under control. That was the first big incident and it was on the very first day.
The next morning, just before the crack of dawn, we went on a longer walk. In an open area, there is a huge but dillapidated sick-looking tree near the north end of the track. There were two old crows on opposite limbs of that tree in a vicious argument. Since I have an overactive imagination, we assume that Mr. and Mrs. Crow were in divorce proceedings and were fighting to the very last. So, we named that very tall and unhealthy looking tree the Old Crow Motel. I will do a picture of it one day.
Conservatively speaking Molly and I have walked together around the track for well over 2,000 miles. I calculated once that if we had not turned around we could have been in Northern Canada or Central America.
I know I am making this story too long, but I will write other interesting tidbits later. I know I probably sound like we have the greatest dog on earth at times. I really don’t think that, but I cannot explain the enjoyment we have received from that little girl. I am a numbers guy and I sure would like to know how many times Molly has wagged that tail. It has to be in the millions. She is strictly a diplomat, loves everybody and the whole community simply adores her. Almost everyone we meet on the walking track pauses to give Molly a rubdown.
Ballgames are one of her greatest joys and she never has too many. I get worn out much quicker than she does, but life goes on.
I sure do appreciate the great interest that Molly has created in the “My Tiny Corner of the World” paragraph each day. The last count I had, we had received around 5,000 e-mails from all over the USA and even as far away as Northern Ireland, Canada and Belgium. One of these days I have just got to write a book (a children’s book). I cannot seem to get started.
