Left out the Knuckle

In my last blog I inadvertently left out one of the most bestest dogs of all time. And for those of your who new her, Molly was a champ. That picture was taken at her favorite spot in the entire world. The bank of the Thunder Bay River at Van Camp. She could trot through the shallows in that river for hours and then flop down in front of the wood stove for a good nap. Molly was a good girl, a great companion and just an all around sweetheart. In my last entry I went through the nicknames of the Critter Crew. Well good ole Molly have quite a few of her own. Most notable was Molly Bear and Molly Moose (she was a bit of a brute). From Molly Moose we added "Knuckle". And for those of your who do not know what a moose knuckle is, I refuse to explain. Knuckle just stuck. From there it was to Knuckie, Knuck and Knuckle Head.

Molly just enjoyed being a dog. She loved tennis balls and diving for rocks in long lake (much to mom's dismay when she went to mow the lawn). She could lay on the deck for hours without ever needing to go anywhere else. I may paint an awfully "leave it to Beaver" portrait of her, but it's all true. Of she had her moments in her younger days. There was the time she chased the butterfly down US-23 N or the fact that we had a bat called the Molly Masher to beat her butt with when she jumped up.

She did have her enemies though. Her Tail and her foot. She would lay in the living room and snarl and grunt and attack and bite her back foot and tail. She'd try to trap her tail with her back foot but would then think her foot was trying to get her and couldn't make up her mind on which to attach. She was such a funny girl. I loved her tail. Mom always got Molly trimmed but the groomer always left her big fluffy tail. When she'd get really excited it would propeller and he whole bottom would go with it. It should be noted at this time that Jaime and I once upon a time though that dogs peed out of the ends of their tails. Thank Goodness we were older when we got Molly Bear and knew better. Another not so fabulous thing about Molly was her breath. IT WAS RANK. There is a story when we were all out at camp and she woke up my Dads good friend Dave by breathing in his face!

Molly was a traveler. When she was just a pup she went to Chicago with us for the weekend. She got me kicked out of a hockey rink! Good thing she was tiny, I zipped her in my coat and snuck back in. She has been to Houghton with me for a couple weeks at a time. I'd go to class and she'd curl up on my bed and wait for me to come back to go for walks. She also spent quite a bit of time with us in Petoskey. Her and Apollo became the best of buddies. Since Molly's been gone, when we get to my mom and dads, he still runs all over the house looking for her. In remembrance of her, when we're out at camp he will be sure to take a piddle on her grave marker rock. Showing some love of course.

Sadly Molly had to go to Doggie Heaven a few summers ago. The vet thinks she had a brain tumor. One day mom got up and Molly was listing to the side and could only hear out of one ear. The Vet thought it was a stroke and she'd come out of it. She rallied for about a week. She was happy then, still playing fetch and snuggling (she was the best snuggler). Then she went downhill extremely fast and Mom and Dad had to put her down, no one wanted her to suffer.

So here's to you Knuckle, BEST DOG EVER (shhhh don't tell the others, they may gang up on me)!