I was thinking of giving my daughter crap for not updating her blog since April, but that impulse quickly went away when I realized I'm even worse. There is news (getting married and such...Nancy's wedding blog entry.

I think blogs are more interesting, though, when they contain opinions instead of just "what I did on my summer vacation." And I suck at that. Its the whole guy/information girl/feelings thing. There are some guys who are good at expressing the inner self. I have one friend who got dumped by his girlfriend and still writes endlessly about the experience on Facebook. Most guys, though, aren't as good at that (there you go, and arguable opinion.)

Good growth opportunity for me. Write something people actually care about. And more often.

# posted by Dave @ 1:51 PM

Winfield Boutcher - 1993-2007

May he rest peacefully and eternally run through fields of grass.

Winfield was put to sleep today, having almost reached 14 years old. He was a happy dog right up until the end, but it was getting harder and harder for him to stand up and lie down. You could see him thinking really hard about it before he did either.

We got Winfield when he was a puppy. He was named for the baseball player Dave Winfield, who moved from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Minnesota Twins at age 41, in the same year as we moved from Toronto to Minnesota.

He was a Blue Heeler, German Shephard cross, both herding dogs and very intelligent, so being smart was never his problem. He ate a fair amount of food off the kitchen counters over the years, but he was way too smart to ever do it when anyone was around. His favorite was always fresh baking. He once ate two loaves of freshly baked bread that were cooling on a rack on the counter. Another time he fondly believed that no one would notice the large chocolaty paw prints surrounding the remains of a chocolate cake.

Winfield pre-dated digital cameras, so the earliest picture I can find is about 1999, with Winfield, Matt, Stormy and Tawney.

One of Sarah's first, and best drawings captures Winfield really well.

It was really hard to let Winfield go today. They say that dogs are man's best friend, and I can think of no phrase that better describes my friend, and companion, Winfield. We will miss you and the world is a lesser place without you.

# posted by Dave @ 5:33 PM