Actually, the reader was complimentary...he thought the pets had "cool names".
The oldest pet in our house is Karma, the cat. Karma is a beautiful Russian Blue that is almost 19 years old. Sadly, she has gotten to an age where she sleeps most of the day...only reviving to eat or get water. However, on rare occasion she leaves her favorite room (the laundry room with the food and litter box) and makes her presence known. When I moved into this house ages ago, Gary had not really named her...he sort of just called her "the cat" and for some reason thought about calling her Glinda. Of course I nixed that and named her Karma...which is a very fitting name for such a serene and elegant animal. I admire Karma. She moves with grace and is the least troublesome of our "children".
Next comes Romanov Alexis....or as commonly known as Roman. Roman is our 17 year old miniature schnauzer. Like Karma he is sort of winding down. He is completely deaf and his hips are degenerating. However, he is still a happy camper when we give him attention and food and treat time is a MAJOR highlight of his day. Some experts say that dogs cannot tell time...but Roman knows. Every day around 5:30 p.m. he becomes quite active and knows he is about to eat. In addition he waits for Gary to come home late at night and starts "worrying" around 11 p.m. He can't sleep until Gary gets home to dole out the treats. Oddly enough...Roman got a nickname that almost everyone called him when he was young...."Bookie". Nobody knows how the nickname started, but it just did. He was almost exclusively called Bookie by everyone except for me....but as he has aged "Bookie" doesn't seem to fit and now everybody is back to calling him Roman.
Paley is the newest dog to our family. I named her Paley Astor Whitney. The names of the three Cushing sisters...my idol Babe Paley..and her sisters, Minny Astor and Betsy Whitney. I thought it was sort of clever. Her initials spell PAW. She is a beauty queen.....gorgeous..a phantom schnauzer (rare)...black with white accents. She knows she is pretty and relies on it. She perhaps was the dumbest puppy that I have ever raised. It took forever for her to take the tiniest steps. However, as she has aged a bit...she is not quite two years old...she has stepped up to the plate and I don't think she is quite as stupid.
Of course then there is ASTRID. Astrid for some reason became the darling of my blog. Everyone who reads the BLOG knows his story. He is the little kitty that was determined to move in no matter how I resisted. He has gone from the little kitty to a huge monster, but he delights in "faux fighting" with Paley and seems to be totally content in his choice. He is named after a dog in Dominick Dunne's novel, 'AN INCONVENIENT WOMAN". Originally we thought he was female, but a trip to the vet proved otherwise...thus he is stuck with a sort of feminine name...but it suits him and he responds to the name, thus he is glued to it. I have received hundreds of emails, Facebook responses and "interests" about Astrid. Who knows why he hit a nerve? Perhaps just because he was so determined.
As the Alpha Male of our tribe...the pets respect me and instantly respond to my commands. Gary is the "B" male. Most of the pets enjoy him more...although are always responsive to my affection. Still...Paley has a habit of digging under the fence....if Gary catches her she just runs off. I can walk out and say "no" and she immediately crouches down and waits to be returned to the yard. As I said, Karma sleeps in the laundry room, but both dogs prefer to sleep with Gary...however, as you know...Astrid sleeps with me. (If you were not aware, Gary and I no longer share a bedroom. He gets home too late...wakes me up...and snores like a freight train....it was just better for me to reclaim my own room...although on his days off I come upstairs and stay with him for a few hours).
Thanks for all the interest in Astrid, but I thought it time to introduce you to our house full of children.
(P.S. Gary has two full grown and vicious parrots...Lola and Sammy...plus a cockatiel...Linden. I hate them all and never deal with them at all and rarely even enter the room where they "live". Their cage is large enough to walk into...and they all hate me in return).
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