I did manage to get back online with the laptop but had to bypass Google chrome. Still can't access my gmail acct. now I have to figure out how to open Windows 8 in safe mode so I can get rid of the Avast virus program. Fun!! Not. AGM at the club after lunch. I'm now on the board as new member rep, this is good as I can build a bridge between juniors and regular novices while addressing all of their easement into full membership. I will try and add more later if I can access this site with explorer.

well its sort of working so here is more of Uncle Jerry.

CHAPTER 6

 

L

ike I said, time rolled by, Colonel got to be a monstrous size about the same as Bernice except that he was as black as I am. Our relationship stayed about the same, there were a few times when he tried to take the lead, but he was kind of clumsy, definitely slower than me, could only understand a few human words and I was just plain smarter than he was.  I sometimes would deliberately pick a fight with another dog and let Colonel finish it just to prop up his ego a bit.

  One thing that didn’t stay the same was the bond that I had with John, it grew stronger and stronger and I soon learned that when we were apart for even a few hours he really got a kick out of my greeting routine. Our rough and tumble play was one of my favorite games. He would get down on the floor with me and we would growl and wrestle, I would grab his hands or arms with my bare teeth and make fierce noises as though I was going to chew him up. But I was always very careful that I didn’t hurt him and he did the same with me.

  There was only one thing that I didn’t like participating in and that was swimming. Apparently dogs of my breeding are supposed to like the water, well I didn’t. I would sit on shore and watch and I suppose if John had got into trouble I would have rescued him but thankfully we never had to cross that bridge.  Strange though even with my aversion to water I loved to catch those fish that swarmed into the beach every year, Senior called them black cod, I just called them fun to catch and every time I was successful in getting one out on the beach I was fussed over and got a special treat. We must have lived in that hotel for about three years (I’m not too good with time) then that word ‘moving’ was heard again. I had half forgotten what it was all about, but I knew it meant packing up and going in a boat or a truck or both. Well this time it was a little different and one day when things were being put into boxes I noticed that I was being ignored. I can’t say that worried me but I decided to do my part. I went out onto the verandah and grabbed the old coat that was my mattress and walking backwards I dragged it inside and put it beside a box that they were filling. Strangely they all started to laugh and Senior said, “That dog is so smart he has to be somebody’s Uncle.” They all laughed even more. I wasn’t sure what an‘Uncle’ was but I liked the ‘so smart’ part so I decided that being an Uncle must be OK. Odd but that name stuck with for the rest of my life.

  This move proved to be quite different than the last one. We now had a bit of furniture; Grandma and Colonel were moving as well. There was a big flurry one day when Senior and Mom made two crates, one for me and one huge one for Colonel. These crates and all of our stuff was carted down to the wharf. When the big steel boat came in Colonel and I were put into our two crates.

  I still had faint memories of my first trip and as Colonel was a bit agitated I tried to calm him down and let him know what would happen. The big oaf started to howl when I was explaining about being hauled up into the air, being swung about and lowered into a deep dark hole. He upset me so much I joined in with a bit of howling of my own – just to keep him company you understand.

  Finally we were on board, actually it should be called in board, and we left. This trip turned out to be much shorter than that very first one. We had left Lund in the morning and I think by the way my stomach felt we arrived at the new place – Pender Harbour – about suppertime. 

  One thing I should point out is the name of where we would live for the next few years always confused me. My people called it Pender Harbour, but the day after we arrived everything was moved onto a smaller boat much like the one at Lund and we went along for a short distance to another wharf, they called this Garden Bay but apparently we were still at Pender Harbour. To make it more confusing a year or so later we moved back to where we had got off the big boat and now the word was we lived at Irvine’s Landing. Oh well, not for me to worry.