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November 14, 2002 - Boon companions recalledThe Suffolk Times • November 14, 2002 Boon companions recalled Flicka was our first family dog. When he went out Into a bliz- zard In Oswego one cold night we thought he was gone for good, but he man- aged to live through it and we enjoyed him for many years. Times /Review photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Focus ON NATURE by Paul Stoutenburgh IN THE PAST WE HAVE told you abou our horse Dusty and our dog Hickory. However, over the years there were others we may or may not have men- tioned, but it's fun to look back and think of those we have shared our . home with, as I'm sure many of you have done. The first animal and first do that joined our family was after our second child was born and Barbara brought her home from the hospital. I thought it would be a good idea for our first -born to have something all his own, what with the new baby around. In no time I found just the perfect gift, a young beagle hound. The day I brought the new mother and daughter home from the hospital, I also brought home the new pup that was to be known as Flicka. Barbara thought the dog was cute but after the first night of howl- ing, she decided she would get up with the baby and it would be my job to get up with the little fella to comfort him. We had that little hound dog for many years and our three kids all grew up with him. When I decided to go back to college to become a teacher and we moved to the State University at Oswego, of course, the dog went along with us. We lived in a double- decker trailer and Flicka called it home for those college years. That was the time when Oswego and other parts of upper New York State were in the headlines, as the area was snowed in with four feet of snow. Sled dogs were brought in to reach people in the hard -to- get -at places, and downtown had such piles of snow that they had to cut tunnels to get into the stores and put name signs at the entrance of the tunnels so you could find•.your favorite barber shop, etc. In the middle of all this our little hound dog decided one night, when he was let out for his usual evening walk, that he'd stay out for a while. In fact, it was such bad weather he decided not to come back. Between Barbara and me we thought he proba- bly wouldn't come back at all. When Barbara tucked the kids in that night they talked about dogs going to "doggy heaven." We knew it wouldn't be easy with three preschoolers losing their dog. The next day came and went, then finally we heard a weak yipping and scratching at the door. There was our half- frozen little hound with balls of ice hanging from his belly. We laid him by the heater and all helped rub him down and remove the ice. The heat warmed him up, but it took a long time before he stopped shaking. It was lucky for our family that prior to the death of old Flicka, our neighbor Pete took our son with him to pick out a hound dog for himself but they came home with two, one for the farmer and one for our son. That second beagle lived with us for many years, went hunting with the boys and brought much happiness to all. Then one day someone in the neigh- borhood took a dislike to dogs and Put poison out. It did in a number of dogs in the area, including our faithful Gyp. He just left one day and we never saw him again. By that time our kids were all in college and we were left without a dog, and Barbara's father thought we should have a com- panion. So he presented us with a golden retriever puppy, which became my friend for 15 years. We named him Hickory. Since we always had a dog we never thought it would be too good to have a cat around. I had never been a great lover of cats. Then one day in the fall the kids found a little black kitten at the foot of our driveway as they were waiting for the school bus. Of course, they brought it up to the house. That was the beginning of a long lire of cats for us. It was a cute kitten and everyone enjoyed it; even the dog tol- erated it after a few close encounters. Our last cat went wherever we went. If we took the sailboat off for a month, the cat went along. I carried a long - handled crab net just in case she fell overboard. She was a good sailor. She would find her place way up forward when the motor was running and stay there until the motor was shut off. When anchored out and we left the boat to go ashore, she was always there to greet us on our return. She would watch for us out her porthole. One time when we tied up at Newport we had shut her inside when we left. We didn't want her to jump ship. Then one night when we were having dinner ashore and a friend went back to the boat to get a jacket, he didn't realize the boat should be left closed and he left it open. When we returned to the boat, of course, there was no cat to be found. Since we were sailing with friends, we told them to go on ahead and we would come along after we found the cat. We stayed overnight and looked all the next day. It was the time of the big sailboat race when the Australian boat won with its newly designed keel. There were big cranes and all sorts of noises. I decided to go out at night and take one more good look for the cat. To say Barbara was feeling badly is an understatement. I took a flashlight and looked everywhere and under everything. Finally, I went back to the boat and said to Barbara, "Don't get your hopes up, but I think I might have found your cat!" The two of us walked out to a big tent where a dozen large folding tables were stacked, one on top of the other. On the very bottom, under all of them, we could see what looked like something with eyes but was totally flat. While in the tent we heard noisy motorcycles and trucks passing within feet of the tent — no wonder this cat was scared half to death! Slowly I reached in and got hold of her and gradually pulled her out, being care- ful not to put my hands in the way of her tensely curled claws. We took her back to the boat and the next morning radioed our friends: "Cat found. Will be along soon." One time when we stayed overnight at Stonington, Conn., we thought we would be nice to the cat and when we went ashore we brought back a little bag of catnip. Never having given her any before, we thought it might be something she would like. It, was a Sunday and we were reading the papers on the bunks below. Then we decided to try out our catnip, so we put some on the cabin floor. Within seconds it seemed our quiet, gentle cat literally flew in the air. She seemed jet propelled. Both of us moved from our comfortable positions to a standing position and waited to see what was going to happen next. Needless to say, the catnip went over the side and all subsided, but it was an experience we would not soon forget. More animals around the house next week...