Mayfest Aint the Same Now That the Ugly Dog Is Gone

The Mayfest or the Bluffton Village Festival is coming up. I can't go. I look out at Thumper's grave site pretty much everyday. His grave is right on the edge of my garden, and within eye-shot of where I park my car. I am reminded of the fact that he died all the time. I don't think I need to be reminded of this day, the day he was supposed to shine as ugly dog. I still miss him, I'm not crying or anything, but I feel like he should have been around longer. Also the whole fishing his body out of the pond (half a body anyway) and burying him was rough, and of course didn't smell to good either.

Now I take a slingshot out and fire off a few rounds in hopes that alligators will find somewhere else to call home. I have yet to hit anything, though it does make the gator swim at the back end instead of the front end. Still I have the memories, I'll always have the memories. Why a rather silly, hairless dog has had this affect on me is still a bit of a mystery. I loved that damn dog, I'm really sorry he died the way he did, and I just don't know if I can ever go to the Mayfest again. There was plenty to see and do without the ugly dog competition. But that was the reason we went. Now, now not so much. There will NEVER be another dog like Thumper for me. The memory of him finding a chair anytime I told him to sit... I mean he was hairless, and he didn't appreciate getting his genitalia wet or grass touching it in anyway, shape, or form. I also remember the reaction to anyone who "petted" him for the first time.

Thumper was "naked" but he was warm and his skin was a bit tougher (I hope that damned alligator got indigestion) He was your best buddy when you were cold. You'd snuggle up next to him and be transformed almost instantly from cold to hot. He was also an expensive dog. $1400 to be exact. I never wanted a dog. But a girlfriend did. So this was a compromise. No hair, no fleas, ok I could deal with that. Well the girlfriend paid for him, and then left a year later... but left the dog with me.

And that was that, he came with me to the Lowcountry, I got married to a new girlfriend, we had two kids together, and while Thumper is no longer with us, he is with us in memories. Stupid dog...