Friday Photos

 

I love this photo.  It was taken late one afternoon when we were kayaking in Mobile Bay.  I loved the way there was only a tiny sliver of land visible between the water and the sky.  It reminded me of us as Christians.  We are "earthy" people, born of the earth, and as believers in the Lord Jesus, we are spiritual or "heavenly" people as well, born-again by His redemptive work on the cross. He was, of course,  the prototypical person who was "of the earth" and of the heavens.

Tuesday - All Things Ellie: NATIONAL BEAGLE DAY

 

Ellie Jean Louise Davis

This seems like the perfect day to write about Ellie; it is National Beagle Day. 

Let me take a moment to explain exactly how we became to be "beagle people".

In 2001, some close friends of hours had gone on a trip and when returning home, they stopped at a kennel to pick up a couple poodles.  The couple's youngest daughter had been praying for a poodle for some time.  Concurrently, our youngest daughter had been praying for a beagle.  Our friends loved our children and thought they could not bring home two dogs for their daughter and not bring home one for ours, so they brought us a 10 week old male beagle.  We had no idea they were doing this until they showed up at our door with said beagle in their arms.

It was love at first sight for our daughter.  As we struggled trying to agree on a name for this beagle, our son - who had just finished the School of Infantry with the United States Marine Corp (where Marines are called "grunts")- thought that was the perfect name for this puppy.  Grunt it was.  

We were now officially "beagle people."

Emmie and Sparrow

Grunt grew to be an extremely athletic beagle.  He could do a vertical jump and look you straight in the eye.  He had no problem jumping to clear our extra-wide driveway.  And when he wanted to explore the world (which he wanted to do anytime the door was opened) he could run like the wind.  

Grunt slept with Emmie and sat beside her during the day when she did her homeschool lessons.  In every sense of the word, they were best friends.  Unfortunately, when Grunt was three he died in an accident.  All of our hearts were broken, but especially Emmie's.

Gruntly and Gimli

The following fall, it was time to get another beagle.  When we went to pick up our little puppy, Gruntley (named in honor of Grunt), we also to take his brother- a chocolate beagle, named Gimli (his red fur led us to his name) home as well.  Because we got the brothers as puppies, they never seemed to bond with us as much as Grunt did.  In the spring, while they were in the fenced-in back yard, someone opened the gate and took them.  I later learned that hunting dogs were at high risk for being taken, especially during hunting season.

Baby Sparrow

The loss of those two puppies so soon after the loss of Grunt, caused us to wait a long time before getting another dog.  But one day in August, close to my birthday, Glen told me to sit in a chair in the Living Room and close my eyes.  Emmie sat in a chair next to time.  Glen came in and put a gift bag in my lap.  I was shocked when I looked inside and saw a tiny tri-color beagle.  She only weighed 3 pounds, but immediately she filled my heart.

We had previously told Emmie that if we got another dog, she would be able to name it.  So this little girl dog was named Katie Sparrow Jean Louise Davis.  Her names were all from books Emmie had read.  We called her Sparrow, or if we really wanted to get her attention, Sparrow Jean.

Sparrow

Sparrow was such a sweet dog.  She didn't have the desire to roam that Grunt did. She was happy to sit at her window and watch the world, or sit on the porch and enjoy the sunshine.  Everyone in our family loved Sparrow.  She was with us for thirteen years.  She passed away five years ago from congestive heart failure.

  

When Sparrow passed away, there was a huge hole in our hearts.  We had not thought of getting another dog, but as the days passed the idea began to grow on us.  

I followed beagle breeders online until I found one that treated her puppies just the way I would want my puppy treated.  

As we began to think more seriously about a new dog, we began discussing names with our daughters.  We decided to keep part of Sparrow's name as a tribute to her.  But we needed the name we called this puppy to be just for her, but to have some history with our family as well. 

Puppy Ellie

One night while driving to dinner we discussed this with our girls.  We thought of characters from old television shows we liked.  The name Ellie popped up more than once.  I liked that because Ellie is a nickname for Eleanor which, in Hebrew, means "God is my light."  So, Ellie it was.  Her official name is Ellie Jean Louise Davis.

 The breeder I followed had a litter expected in March.  Mrs. Lisa was so good at posting pictures of all eight of the puppies in the litter each week.  I picked Ellie out before I  had ever seen her in person.  I tried to pick the puppy that looked the most like Sparrow, which is ironic since, as she has grown, she doesn't look much like Sparrow did as an adult.

Then on the first of May we drove to Louisiana to pick up our sweet little puppy.  Like Sparrow before her, everyone loves Ellie.

That was five years ago and Ellie is an established member of the family.

We brought Ellie home in 2020, making her a "pandemic puppy".  She was with us all the time then because just about everything was shut down.  Now she goes almost everywhere we go.  She even goes with us on vacations, which was something Sparrow never did.  Ellie is a great car dog and a great hotel dog!  

She seems to be content just about wherever she goes. 

 

Ellie may think she was blessed when we brought her to live with us, but the truth is she blesses us so much more than she could ever know.   

We are "beagle people" indeed.

Ellie Jean Louise Davis

Note: I have had the most difficult time getting this post to format correctly.  I apologize if it displays poorly for you.  

Friday Photos

 

This picture was taken early in the morning, shortly after we had begun a kayaking trip.  Each time we started a trip around sunrise, I would tell myself, "I'm not going to take any pictures of the sunrise."  But as the sun began to come up, I couldn't resist.  Still, the camera never captures the beauty and magic of the real thing.

Friday Photos

 

This photo was taken in our backyard in 2007. I had just gotten my first digital "Smart Camera" and was trying it out. I was so thrilled to see the bee on the blossoms that I took several pictures before he flew away.