Saturday, May 28, 2005

The Haley blogs


Haley, 1992(?) - May 23, 2005 Posted by Hello

These are all of my blog entries that mention my dog Haley or our walks together. Entries marked with an asterisk (*) only mention Haley tangentially.

First dogwalk in ages (includes a picture)
Monday, July 12, 2004
Haley and I resume our long-suspended walking program. At the time I never would have suspected that it would come to an end just over ten months later.

The Dog is a Harsh Mistress
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Our walks continue - Haley makes sure of that.

Standard blog entry #45*
Sunday, July 18, 2004

CD release parties and ragweed
Thursday, July 22, 2004
A description of the morning as experienced on one of our dogwalks.

So...very...weak...
Friday, July 23, 2004
Catching up on sleep and getting into an adventure (recounted in Getting Involved.)

Getting involved
Saturday, July 24, 2004
A dogwalking adventure: an account of the previous day's encounter with a bickering couple and a police station on its off-hours.

Down wit da clown
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
I get a pedometer (or "stepometer") and began measuring the length of our walks.

Less than a week to go!
Sunday, August 8, 2004
Days before I go on vacation, we establish that our longest dogwalk ever was about 3.2 miles.

Ye doom is ycomme true
Thursday, August 12, 2004
The one-month anniversary of our walks.

Blogger overload*
Thursday, September 2, 2004

Nanticoke's amazing web presence*
Monday, September 13, 2004

Last day of Summer
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Guess what this one is about.

Fool in the Rain
Sunday, October 3, 2004
We get rained on. Twice. And almost run into the bickering couple again.

Lost and found dogs
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
We encounter a stray dog.

Amazing Grace
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Fashionably late for an eclipse.

Snow
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
Haley and I walk through the first snow of the season.

Still sick, but different*
Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Aurora!
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Haley and I see an aurora, and establish a lower limit on temperature for dogwalks.

Going out*
Saturday, November 20, 2004

Happy Hallowhog!*
Monday, November 22, 2004

Cards
Thursday, December 9, 2004
Mailing Christmas Cards during a dogwalk, and a "Was that always there?" moment with a mailbox.

Hooray for late-night retailers

Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Temperatures drop dramatically, and we suspend our walks. We would not resume until after Haley's diagnosis at Cornell.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Saturday, January 1, 2005
Haley is frightened by all the New Year's fireworks.

Another Monkey's Greatest Hits, Volume 1
Sunday, January 30, 2005
My first selection of blogs, including links to some of the Haley blogs.

Everything dies
Thursday, February 3, 2005
We learn that Haley has cancer during a trip to Cornell's veterinary school. Their diagnosis is that she has two to three months to live. (She lived for three months and three weeks.) Also, a remembrance of past pets, and a resumption of walks.

Haley visits the Poconos (includes pictures)
Sunday, February 6, 2005
Haley goes for the first of her last two visits to my friends' place in the Poconos, and meets with her dog friends Autumn and Legolas.

Vacations that are not vacations
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Planning out my leftover 2004 vacation time to maximize time spent with Haley.

Legs
Friday, February 11, 2005
Haley begins to show signs of leg weakness, causing walks to be scaled back in intensity. This symptom would not manifest itself again until her final two days.

Interstitial post*
Friday, February 18, 2005

Work and weather*
Monday, February 21, 2005

The Ruins (includes pictures)
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Finally, the adventure referred to in the previous two posts. Haley and I take a daytime walk around some of the older structures in Nanticoke.

Cornell plus 32

Monday, March 7, 2005
A one-month update on Haley's condition.

Cemetery with mountains

Monday, March 14, 2005
A view of the mountains as seen on one of our walks.

68 pints of blood on the wall*
Sunday, March 20, 2005

Dog wrangler*
Sunday, March 20, 2005

Purse snatchers and synchronicity
Monday, March 21, 2005
Another dogwalking adventure: averting a possible purse snatching just by being there.

The corpses of 1,000 snowmen
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Walking through the beginning of one of the last (and heaviest) snowstorms of the season.

Pumping the night away
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
An update on Haley's condition, set against the background of basement flooding.

Two dreams and a nightmare*
Thursday, March 31, 2005

Scenes from the aftermath of a snowstorm*
Saturday, April 9, 2005

Tax time
Monday, April 11, 2005
Noting Haley's final trip to the Poconos on Sunday, April 10, 2005.

An American portrait
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
A view of Nanticoke along one of our walks.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation, Part 1

Sunday, April 17, 2005
"Now it was time for a quick dinner - Burger King hamburgers, shared with Haley..."

Entering the world of digital photography
(includes picture)
Monday, April 18, 2005
Oh, God. I didn't realize how beautiful this picture of Haley is until just now. The way she would look at me... Status update: Haley is still doing very well.

Haley visits her cousin
(includes pictures)
Saturday, April 23, 2005
If you're wondering what Heaven looks like, go here.

Magnolia fan*
Monday, April 25, 2005

Three reasons I take Haley out for a walk at 5:30 every weekday morning (includes pictures)
Sunday, May 1, 2005
Three photos from our morning walks, including one of Haley.

Cornell plus three months
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Another status update. Haley is still doing remarkably well.

Morning Dew and Sunrise Behind Skatarama
Friday, May 6, 2005
Two more photos from our morning walks.

Untold Tales: The Sun Pillar
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
(Written Sunday, April 23, 2006)
The morning of the sun pillar, and meeting Sam the Beagle for the first time.

On death and dying, part 1
Saturday, May 21, 2005
The beginning of the end. Haley had stopped eating the day before. Also, a scheduled visit to the vet gives us the final bad news we were expecting.

Two old dogs
Saturday, May 21, 2005
(Written Friday, May 19, 2006)
The last photo of the two of us together.

Movie paranoia
Sunday, May 22, 2005
On the last full day of Haley's life, I go to the movies - forcing my mom to abandon her place in the deathwatch at her brother's bedside and instead spend a few hours with Haley.

Haley is dead

Monday, May 23, 2005
An account of Haley's final hours, written a few minutes after I found Haley dead in her bed.
And I want no part of any Heaven that will not admit dogs.

A parable
Monday, May 23, 2005
A story from The Twilight Zone written by Earl Hamner Jr., by way of my priest's sermon-writing service.

Schedule
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
We live through a lifetime, and the aftermath.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry about Haley and your uncle...cancer sucks. I'm glad for Haley's sake she went in her sleep. She was lucky to have such a loving owner!

anne said...

I'm sorry to hear about both of your recent losses. I haven't been online for several days and, ashamedly, did not know to comment sooner.

I always enjoyed reading your posts about Haley. I am living with a dog in his twilight years and can relate to many things you've posted about.

I agree with Jen, Haley was as lucky to have you as you are to have had her. And for you...

THE CURATE THINKS YOU HAVE NO SOUL
The curate thinks you have no soul;
I know that he has none. But you,
Dear friend, whose solemn self-control,
In our foursquare familiar pew,
Was pattern to my youth -- whose bark
Called me in summer dawns to rove --
Have you gone down into the dark
Where none is welcome -- none may love?
I will not think those good brown eyes
Have spent their life of truth so soon;
But in some canine paradise
Your wraith, I know, rebukes the moon,
And quarters every plain and hill,
Seeking his master... As for me,
This prayer at least the gods fulfill;
That when I pass the flood and see
Old Charon by the Stygian coast
Take toll of all the shades who land,
Your little, faithful, barking ghost
May leap to lick my phantom hand.

-- St.John Lucas

D.B. Echo said...

Thank you, Anne. And thank you, Jen.

Anonymous said...

That was a beautiful poe, Anne.
I read it aloud so Miss Haley would hear. :)

Anonymous said...

I meant *poem in my last post.

Something I also meant to add was that you keep saying you "forced" your Mom to sit with Haley. I bet she is thinking that was a wonderful gift you have given her now that Haley has passed. She spent the last few hours with BOTH of her loved ones. Just when it counted.