Re: [pyrnet] HEALTH, CHAT: Clondike at the Bridge

[Catherine Oldham <cmo@together.net>]

Ah, yes, Clondike...

Cindy Henke said it so well, “...how loved Clondike was by people who
didn’t even know her...
       I will never look at a Brussels sprout without thinking of
her...”

Cindy and Clondike...You have NO idea!

It was the fall of 1997.  The event was a Fun Match at the Coomb’s farm,
Maranatha, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  I was newly retired from
teaching and looking for a little fun and to make new friends.  My own
Pyr, Lilly, had been born at Maranatha in 1994, and it sounded like a
fun thing to take her back to see her homelands and for me to meet her
first “parents”.

The drive was long, it was hot, we were lost, the farm, when we finally
got there, was beautiful and expansive.  The dogs were barking, Lilly
would not eat, the Coomb’s were gracious.

Dianne Migas and Barb were funny, friendly, bossy, and best buds.  They
expansively included me in all of the preparations for the festivities,
which included learning how to cook lasagna and how to scrub the pans
later.  Okay, got that part right!

“Cath, we have to go back to the supermarket,” commanded Dianne.

“Hey, I just drove for six hours, cooked lasagna, scrubbed the pans.  I
need a beer!  Forget the supermarket!”

“We forgot the Brussels sprouts for Clondike!”, exclaimed Dianne.

“Oh, my gosh, I thought you had them!”, shouted Barb.

Very, very quietly in my brain, I am thinking, I am a very long way from
home with my beautiful dog, and I think that I am locked in this huge
foreign house with a couple of crazies!  What are the talking about???

Dianne explained, “Clondike Kintsfather will be here tomorrow, she only
baits for Brussels sprouts, and we are going to give her a special award
made out of Brussels sprouts.”

Okay, I buy that.  Sure, I do.  What else am I going to do 350 miles
from home in a strange house with two strange women covered with
spaghetti sauce and eating great lasagna?

So I drove Dianne to the supermarket where we have to ASK,  “Where are
the Brussels sprouts?”
(I guess in Pennsylvania they keep them locked up so the Pyrs can’t find
them.)

Dianne and I found the sprouts, Barb and she made the bright green award
which Clondike ate and went on to take best veterans. I learned that the
wonderful, crazy, Penn Dutch people had hearts as big as their dogs--and
plenty of love to go around for all the Pyrs, their new friends, and
their dogs from Vermont.

Thanks, Clondike, for leading me to the loving and gracious folks who
made you an inspirational memory.  It was a privilege to know you and
your family.

With love,
Catherine