Meet Baxter The Beautiful Beagle
What a thrill! My daughter, Kate knows html code and has helped me change the look of this post a little from others previously published. What would I do without my daughters? My posts would all be identical and you would never see a picture or any variety in this blog.
I just finished sending Jenn a "Help me, I can't post a picture," email and suddenly it occurred to me that this is probably something that Kate could do in her sleep. So, as a result of Kate's efforts (very little for her, huge for me) I can introduce you to my favourite little animal companion, Baxter, our five-year-old beagle.
So, let me tell you about beagles. They are what I would call the perfect pet for a no-longer-as-young-as-she-used-to-be and slightly physically-handicapped person. Beagles are supposed to be sedate and calm, more than happy to snuggle up on the sofa all day long with you, if that's what you feel like doing. And that describes Baxter to a tee. He lives for his sofa time and loves to share the loveseat in the gazebo with me on warm summer days, as long as I don't want too much of "his" space.
He's warm and soft and so cuddly, with those beautiful golden floppy ears and big brown eyes that could melt even the hardest heart. Like all beagles he has a big-chested frame and that tummy that I call his "Buddha-belly!" The freckling on his nose and legs makes him distinct, as not all beagles have those markings.
Baxter is slow to move, conserving his valuable energy for the really important things in life, such as following intriguing scents outside, sleeping for the majority of the day, and above all, eating, a beagle's all-time favourite thing to do. I've come to call the five minutes it takes him to devour his supper each day "Baxter's Happy Hour". My kitchen floors are always spotlessly clean as every crumb that falls from counter or table is snatched up before it can hit the floor.
Now, you also need to know that we have another beagle, a couple of years younger than Baxter. Two of the delightful creatures! Her name is Coco and she is the exact opposite of Baxter in temperament. While she can sleep all day like he does, she also loves to chase her ball, play with anything that moves, and generally get underfoot. She is much more vocal than Baxter is, although beagles are all supposed to be quite vocal. Coco has a repertoire of whines, growls,groans, and moans that she can combine to make it sound like she's trying to talk. Coco is a clown, while Baxter is a gentleman.
Here's Coco when we first got her at about eight months old in one of the rare moments when she actually kept still long enough for a photo.
Baxter wasn't too sure about this pesky pup when we first brought her home but now they're inseparable. In this photo they are snuggled up together in a sunny spot on their favourite couch.
It's good for us to share our space and our lives with animals. It gives us a healthy respect for their needs and we are grateful for their company and, since Coco arrived, for their entertainment value. Pets are our reminder that we're not alone in this world; we have to find ways to respect other life. Just because we're human, we can't neglect or ignore the needs of the animals who share the planet with us. Since we're the ones rapidly destroying their habitats, we owe them care and a safe place to live.
We're also the ones who domesticate them, rob them of their natural instinctive survival skills, and meddle with their genetics until many of them would be helpless in the wild. So, to my mind, these factors make us responsible for their welfare, not just for our pets but for all animal life.
And thus ends the sermon by Josi for today!
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