A Message From Max
My name is Max and I have a little something I'd like to
whisper in your ear.
I know that you humans lead busy lives. Some have to work, some have
children to raise. It always seems like you are running here and
there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand
things in life.
Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer. See they
way my dark brown eyes look at yours? They are slightly cloudy now,
that comes with age. The grey hairs are beginning to ring my soft
muzzle.
You smile at me; I see love in your eyes. What do you see in mine?
Do you see a spirit, a soul inside who loves you as no other could
in the world? A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior
wrong doing for just a simple moment of your time?
That is all I ask. To slow down if even for a few minutes to be with
me.
So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on
that screen, of others of my kind, passing. Sometimes we die young
and oh so quickly, sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out
of your throat. Sometimes we age so slowly before your eyes that you
do not even seem to know, until the very end, when we look at you
with grizzled muzzles and cataract clouded eyes.
Still the love is
always there, even when we take that long sleep, to run free in
distant lands. I may not be here tomorrow; I may not be here next
week. Someday you will shed the waters from your eyes, that humans
have when deep grief fills their souls, and you will be angry at
yourself that you did not have just "One more day" with me.
Because
I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me.
We have now, together. So come, sit down here next to me on the
floor. And look deep into my eyes. What do you see? If you look hard
and deep enough we will talk, you and I, heart to heart.
Come to me not as "alpha" or as a "trainer" or even a "Mom or Dad",
come to me as a living soul and stroke my fur and let us look deep
into one another's eyes, and talk. I may tell you something about
the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you something
profound about myself, or even life in general.
You decided to have me in your life (I hope) because you wanted a
soul to share just such things with. Someone very different from
you, and here I am. I am a dog, but I am alive. I feel emotion, I
feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our
spirits and souls. I do not think of you as a "Dog on two feet"---I
know what you are. You are human, in all your quirkiness, and I love
you still.
Now, come sit with me, on the floor. Enter my world, and let time
slow down if even for only 15 minutes. Look deep in my eyes, and
whisper to my ears. Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will
know your true self. We may not have tomorrow, and life is oh so
very short.
Love,
Max, (on behalf of all canines everywhere)
~J.D.Ellis 2001,
rottweilerdriver@aol.com
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Peanut Brindle
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5 cups rice flour
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup peanuts (chop)
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 small apple
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup water
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda; set
aside.
In a food processor, add the egg. honey, peanut butter, apple, oil,
vanilla, and water. Blend together.
When mixture is thoroughly blended,
add to the bowl of dry ingredients.
Combine and turn out on a lightly
floured surface. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of dough then roll
out dough to 1/4 - inch thickness.
Remove the plastic wrap and score dough
into 4 by 3-inch rectangles. Spritz the top of the rectangles with water
and sprinkle chopped peanuts over them. Press the chopped peanuts int the
dough with the palm of your hand.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 to 60
minutes.
Yield: 12 to 14 pieces
~The Hungry Mutt
(
http://www.hungrymutt.com/recipes/ )
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