Farm Fresh Blog

I grew up on a steady diet of "The Wonderful World of Disney." Every Sunday evening our television glowed with another tale of wonder and imagination. One of my favorites was "That Darned Cat" the story of Siamese who lives a secret life. His family is completely unaware of his travels around the neighborhood until he comes home with a diamond braclet fastened around his neck. Thus the mystery begins.

Briar is like that cat. No, she doesn't roam the neighborhood. Apparently, the neighborhood comes to her.

A few weeks ago I was in the kitchen when I heard a woman's voice outside. A neighbor had her toddler in a stroller at the gate.  At first I thought they wanted my attention, but nope, they were visiting the Big White Dawg. She explained that a storm was coming but the baby wanted a walk anyway. Fearing they'd get caught in the rain, she didn't want to get too far away from the house, but thought they enough time to visit Briar and thus pacify the child. And it did.

Apparently Briar is a regular stop on their trip around the neighborhood. I find this vastly amusing. Other Half is not a fan of my big white dog. She's big. She's hairy. Most of the time she's dirty. 'Aloof' is not in her dictionary. I've found that people either really dislike Briar (for the above reasons) or they absolutely adore Briar. (in spite of the above reasons)

It has come to my attention that the toddler next door is just one of Briar's unknown fans. The UPS man stopped at the gate last night. We had a short conversation about Briar and once again I realized the dog has a secret life going on outside our family.

Although deeper into the country than the little farm where Briar grew up, this property is on a main county road so it gets far more traffic. In addition to cars, we also get a lot of bicycles and joggers. Thus more people have access to this giant white dog, and clearly these people know Briar.

I had one lady stop to tell me that she used to be afraid of the dog but now they are great friends. She talks to Briar as she powerwalks down the street.  I don't even know this woman's name, but she knows my dog.

While fishing for a home for a rescue dog, I once asked another neighbor if he was ready for a new puppy, and his response was,

"No, the next time I get a dog, it's gonna be one like this big white dog!"

I swear I saw Other Half gag.

Briar just smiled. And maybe she winked.