When I used to follow the S&W forums, there was a guy on at least one of them whose 'philosophy of gun collecting' I greatly admired.

He used to call his a "Catch-&-Release Program": Buy them, keep them for a while, then 'replace' them with something else.

I was just now thinking about it, and it seems to me that life is a Catch-&-Release Program: You can never hold onto things forever, just for a little while.

I miss my friend.

Mr. Big ¤ 2002−2013 ¤

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I completely understand. Been there myself. After loosing Purdy (our last dog/Dalmatian) I'd be ok (after the first few days) but I'd walk in the door from work and go to pull my boots off and she wasn't there to give me my kisses and it was like having the wind knocked out me all over again. I've never had a bond with any animal like the one I have now with my little border collie and she's still in her prime but I dread that day. Scott and Big Dave make fun of me when we go hunting for more than a couple days because I start missing her. They definitely add a lot to the quality of our lives.

I still don't understand it and suppose I never will.

One minute (night), he was OK, the next (morning) he was lying there dead in his favorite chair.

You know, death has a smell.

I almost forgot that.

Lifting his little body out of that chair was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

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...our animals bring us such joy, it's hard when we lose them. But that's the package that we sign up for when we take them into our lives. The simple fact that we live so much longer than they do means that we will, eventually, watch them die. It's hard, but the joy they bring us (and we give to them) makes it all worth it. I raise a glass in Mr. Big's memory, Salud! He had a good life and he died quietly, and peacefully, in his favorite chair. Doesn't get much better than that...

(PS, I suspect that our household will be going through something similar in the not too distant future. Hoppie is getting older and older, almost daily.....)

As it turns out, this 'little' guy has been hanging around for a while now.

I've been feeding him and another apparent stray, a 'little' big girl, who both cruise the neighborhood in search of eats...

If they weren't so FAT, I'd be more sure they're really strays, and I'd 'kidnap' this guy in a heartbeat.

Meantime, I'm makin' a few inquiries...

Bonus Track! The Brian Setzer Orchestra - Stray Cat Strut

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