dog days

those of you who were with me during the days of THE FORLORN HOPE may remember stories of my amazing magical dog, loudini-- how he overcame the lackadaisical effects of clomicalm, invaded a skunk den, and escaped a chain-link fence in a single bound. loudini finally met his demise on december 26, 2003-- exactly two years ago today.
strangely enough, my brother and sister-in-law have a dog who died today too. they always bring their dogs to our christmas gatherings, and old mr. skruggs, who was 15, passed away sometime early this morning. he is now buried next to luie.
it was strange how everything came flooding back to me as i walked out to the burial spots-- the bright blue sky and crisp air, and my dad and brother hacking at the ground with a shovel and a flat-edged pick. everything is fine and manly until we lay the dog's heavy body in the hole, then the tears start to flow. we circle around the grave and have a short prayer, then we sit around for a few more minutes gazing at the dirt and rocks and listening to reminiscences of mr. skruggs, who carried with him since youth a certain existential angst, getting afraid at night and shivering in the arms of his owners.
the young, new dog, dixie, sniffs at the grave and digs tentatively, till she is reprimanded.