In my lifetime I have had my share of dog companions. The one that I hold closest to my heart would be Thor. His picture is on the main page of my web site. He had a hard start in life. When he was 6 months old he was hit by a vehicle and the impact broke his humerus in one leg and snapped the ball joint of his other leg in half. He ended up with lots of screws and a metal plate. He started going to the dog grooming shop with me after that. He was considered the greeter at the shop.
    When he was about 4 years old he was chasing the horse and got kicked. When the humerus was broken again a longer metal plate replaced the first one. Despite all this, he lead a very healthy life. And Thor was full of life, a real character. He lived to be 17 years old. His favorite place was in the back of my truck on an adventure. That is where I had the doctor give him the shot. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. But he was ready and seemed relieved. He just lay his head in my lap and went to sleep. I buried him next to the garden.
   Many months went by. One day I decided that it was time to build a nice memorial for Thor around his grave, something permanent. A friend had given me about 6 bags of mulched leaves and I planned to put those in my garden and on Thor's grave to protect the flowers I was planning on planting. So my 4 year old daughter and I built a rock and wood planter. On the bottom level we planted purple irises, day lilies, gladiolus and other plants. On the top level we planted a red rose bush. It turned out beautiful. My daughter and I then emptied out the leaves into the garden and put some in the planter.
   It was a beautiful day. About 70 degrees with no wind, barely a inter mitten breeze. Where we live we are prone to wind so this was a nice change. My daughter and I stepped out of the garden area and looked at our work. We had done a fine job honoring our beloved Thor. Just then, from out of nowhere, a dirt devil picked up the leaves and twirled them about 10 feet high for about 5 seconds. Round and round they flew. The dirt devil then moved them a short distance and ended. Well you can just imagine my daughters delight. She just stood there in awe of such an amazing thing. Then the excitement exploded out of her. She was jabbering at a 100 miles and hour. "What was that?, I want to see another one. Can I see another one mommy?". So naturally I joined in the excitement and explained what a dirt devil was. After getting the general idea she still wanted another one. And I can tell you that a 4 year old can be relentless. Well I started to explain to her that the odds of another dirt devil in the same place were huge. Bigger that as far as she could see, trying to keep it in terms she could understand. "You just have to keep your eyes open and watch for them and you might see another one" I said. As I ended that sentence, out of nowhere, another dirt devil appeared, picked up the leaves and flew them about 100 feet in the air and into the field next to our house. Well shut my mouth! Because it was wide open at this point. As hard as I tried I couldn't explain that one. Except perhaps Thor was saying thank you.