Does it ever stop? The stories keep coming so hard and fast that I can't keep up with them; I have great news from Last Chance Rescue concerning Lady Madonna and her octet of nipple magnets, but that will have to wait... I walked out on the back porch to check the hummingbird feeders, er, to swat the little ingrates away, when I heard a kitten crying. Cats are not a common occurence around the…

Right now, I am embracing my inner redneck: sitting on the couch with a busted collarbone, watching a documentary about Lynryd Skynyrd and watching three pit bulls reenact the Battle of Bitey Mouth on the living room floor. What makes it even more damning is that I have pushed the coffee table out of the way so they would have a better arena to display their utter foolishness; why is it that dogs always wait…

Waking up at zero dark thirty, feeling as battered as French toast, waiting for the Oxy fairy to wave her magic wand and take the edge off of this pain. Jo Ann is a saint; what more can be said? There's not another like her. I remember seeing those brake lights come on and thinking, "yep, I'm fixing to get up close and personal with that there back window"; as it turned out, it was…

A week ago last Friday, I took the mighty Suzuki DR650 out for a spin. It was for purely scientific purposes, of course, to determine the extent of my recovery from the injuries suffered in Colorado, the results of an involuntary dismount. All went well until I pulled up into the garage, and there it was: my headlight reflecting off of two accusatory canine eyeballs peering through the window. Did I say eyeballs? Actually, they…

I remember the words of Rodney King during the Los Angeles riots of 1992. I was a much snarkier version of the still snarky person I am today, and j remember making fun of Mr. King's comment. Boy, was he right, and I wrong. Right now, we have six dogs and counting occupying the limited space of the Casa del Whackos. Of course, there's Charlie Bravo, the self-assured diva who's humble origins from being abandoned…

We have always striven to keep Charlie's page a refuge from the negative crap that permeates the interweb, but sometimes life intervenes. I have a brother from a different mother who is looking down the barrel of the gun we as pet parents must all eventually face: that last trip to the vet. Not to make this about me, but my experience is all I have to relate to. My first dog after mom and…

The Art of the Curve It's been a while since Charlie and I had been on a bike, and it was starting to show. After the 3900 mile and three weeks trip from the upper tip of Washington state back to Arkansas, I wasn't too sure she would ever want to ride again. So, due to the grueling conditions I knew we would have to face crossing 1500 miles of New Mexican dirt, I decided…