The Crom Gallery

A friend once told me about a prayer he'd seen somewhere: "Lord, help me be the person my dog thinks I am." Nothing loves like a dog, and a great dog deserves public notice. Crom is ten, and he is the love of my life. People come and go, briefly engaged with their human intensities, but he and I have partnered faithfully from the day I saw him in the animal shelter, a ten-week-old puppy who expressed his joy at meeting me by piddling on my shoe.

We've weathered a divorce and a handful of love affairs, and he has taken in the women of my life, and their children, with generosity of spirit I wish humans could emulate. And he has grieved for each departure, more quietly than I but as deeply. When Madeleine moved on, he slept every night for a week on the spot where her son's bed at been. He has taught me how love works, both its cost and its value. There is no surer truth than the cynical barb, "If you want love, get a dog."

I've written some essays he figures in, which you can find listed, with links, at the bottom of this page.

This project, which is just a scrapbook with no literary or photographic pretensions, began as a private site for his friends, and I decided recently, as we begin what will probably be our last year, that there was no reason it shouldn't be public. So here is my shameless testimony of love, respect, and gratitude, a record of his joyous life.

Yeah, I know, it takes forever to load, especially in MSIE, which seems to be impossible to optimize for graphics. (Get Opera or Mozilla, the real browsers.) So... this is a stall of sorts. By the time you finish reading, the first pictures should be visible. The picture list may take you to other pages.

When you are looking through the pictures, pass the mouse over them; you may get a surprise.

In the Land of the Convert Hunters

When you gotta stick,
you gotta run!

An' run.

An' run.

Yes, I'm done. Thank you.

Let's Take Your Picture in the Creek, He Says

Nothing' much doin' here. Just sittin' in the creek, gettin' my picture took. Not much to do, not much to see.

'Cept that rabbit.

Crom!!! Dog of Spuds!!!!

Hmmm. ...a two-year-old squirrel, weighing 4 ounces and with a slight limp, passed by here recently. She had sunflower seeds for breakfast, is unhappy in her personal relationships, and wants to relocate to British Columbia.