Thanks, Dickie. I've got annoyingly nostalgic this past year, and it's interesting to look at the things that come swimming up. My adult self can see immediately what an odd pair that dog and I were, and I feel a lot of affectionate amusement for us both. One of the very few things that ever annoyed my first serious lover was how I'd burble on about Smokey. One the few really bad argument we had was about that, and I snapped at him that he was jealous because he and the dog were so much alike. B-a-a-a-d! If true. At least I didn't say I sort of liked the dog better. If sometimes true.