Lassie & Mr. Mellor
I was reminded of Mr. Mellor, my Grade Eight science teacher tonight. He also ran the cross-country ski club. As I left R&G rehersals and crossed one of the bridges over the stream that runs through the U Waterloo campus, something in the tempo of the wind, the quality of the fading light and falling snow reminded me of an afternoon years ago skiing with Mr. Mellor in one of the parks that ran alongside the Humber River near our school. We were discussing dogs as we skied. I told him about my dog (imaginatively named "Lassie") who was part border collie, part german shepard and part unknown (the vet listed her a "mixed breed shepherd). Mr. Mellor used "Heinz 57" to describe the unknown part of her ancestory. It was the first time I had ever heard that term applied to dogs.