Max loved the summer. He particularly enjoyed the extra visits with my parents. There were more of these than in previous years, given my father’s health. Dad was being very brave about his cancer but Mum was extremely anxious. She
Episode Thirty-nine: June is busting out all over.
June was busting out all over, and with outdoor fun and summer weather, Max was in a mellow mood. For all that he was a feisty dog, he enjoyed the action when the children and their friends were around. One
Episode Thirty-eight: Brandy learns to swim.
May of 1994 was dominated by trips to the ice rink in preparation for Caroline’s figure-skating competition and family time in front of the TV as the Canucks steadily made their way to the Stanley Cup Final. Max dutifully tagged
Episode Thirty-seven: Still more dog than most.
According to my diaries, the two challenges that dominated the last part of April that year were conquering my 8-track recording system and keeping my naughty dog in line. Max was so unpredictable. One day, he’d be good on our
Episode 36: Back to School
The Easter break had been great fun, but it was back to school for everyone, including me. Right around this time, Hugh and I decided to get serious about the soundtracks for our marionette shows, so we had gone to
Episode Thirty-five: Max goes across the line.
We celebrated April Fool’s Day that year by taking our first trip in Lisa. Max had dutifully visited Dr. Zinger for his rabies shot and had behaved politely in spite of getting two needles. We set off at nine-thirty, having
Episode Thirty-four: Troubles coming in battalions.
Shakespeare definitely had it right when he wrote: “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” March, that year, not only came in like a lion, but went out leaving us feeling as if we were facing
Episode Thirty-three: Hell on Paws gets a House on Wheels
Max continued to be a mixture of klutz, disobedient hellion, clever trickster, spoiled brat and independent thinker. He would race through the woods with such abandon that he regularly hit trees and almost knocked himself out. Alternately, he would pick
Episode Thirty-two: Hell on Paws Again!
It was abundantly obvious when Max had completely recovered because he reverted to ‘Hell on Paws’ mode again. The command, “Come”, was no longer in his vocabulary, witness the day he took off in pursuit of a spaniel, ran right
Episode Thirty-one: Howling the Blues!
The first weeks of 1994 were depressing. We and the world were out of joint. The news was dominated by news of Sue Rodriguez’s right to die, or downers from the world of figure skating. Brasseur and Eisler placed third