Nixon

While browsing in the public library I came across several fascinating books. Only a historian or a fellow bibliophile would find them interesting. Cities of the World: A Compilation of Current Information on Cultural, Geographical, and Political Conditions in the Countries and Cities of Six Continents  (4 vol) and Rivers of the World: A Social, Geographical, and Environmental Sourcebook. I learned a bunch of things about cities and rivers. I'm sure they (the books)cost as much as a grand piano and are just about as heavy so I personally would not buy one. However, UNCLE PAVIAN and I take some time to browse when we go to the library and we pick up a ton of information that occasionally comes in handy,particularly Uncle Pavian who never forgets anything he reads and never (well almost never) remembers ANYBODY he sees. Some memory he has! A woman where I worked told me about a little white kitten that was the"cutest" she had ever seen and it was at the pound. So I told Uncle Pavian about it and he being a concerned and dutiful husband forthwith went to the pound to get the kitten. When he returned to get me from work the back seat contained a rather large red dog. Before I got in the car I saw a long red tail and commented to Uncle Pavian that this was the strangest looking white cat I had ever seen. Uncle Pavian said simply, "His name is Nixon".
 He grew until he was a pretty big dog. He was gentle and sweet and smarter than most people I know. He had pretty much solved the door knob problem. Then there were the rats. We had a real rat problem,but Nixon solved it. He would pounce on one, bite once,drop it and check to see if it was dead. Then he would walk away. And he did the same thing to a possum who had come into the house. About 4 in the morning we were suddenly awakened by lots of barking from the other dogs and a hissing sound. Uncle Pavian jumped out of bed and ran into the hall.
 A large raccoon had come in through the cat door and Nixon met him. He was slamming the raccoon against the door. Needless to say he was quite dead. It frightened me because I had heard a big raccoon could tear up almost any dog. Nixon had one tiny little scratch under one eye. And the raccoon did not even break the skin. Nixon died a few years ago and we still miss him and talk about him. He certainly was the greatest dog ever.
 This is sort of a tribute to a great dog and