gatorcast from paul smith

Shortly after the turn of the millennium a quiet, very small, black terrier came to the Healy house in Munich on vacation. When her owner returned a month later, Cherry refused to leave. She quickly became a leader in our home, stopped being silent, and travelled across Europe with us regularly. In her free time she volunteered at Innere Mission Home for Girls as a lay therapist. She facilitated some very tough cases with her partner Gaby.

In her private life, Cherry was a bit of a style queen and known to be a diva. This side of her was most noticeable when she stayed at hotels and went to restaurants. Despite this, she was usually very polite and friendly. She counts as the only dog among Gaby’s five “Prinzessinen”.
Cherry turned 17 y.o. on January 1st, 2012. Soon after, her health began to decline consistently. Pacquito, Gaby and Joe have spent the long goodbye with her these past weeks. Cherry has had 24/7 care and companionship. She has left us peacefully today. She sends her fond goodbyes to all her friends and family. We will all miss her.

Cherry Ettischer-Healy

Jan. 1st, 1995- Ɨ Jan. 27th, 2012

~ Gabriele Ettischer-Healy

Gumbo & Luther

Kevin and I saw this frog a couple of weeks ago in my pool.  It was very fast, it had huge feet and “fish” like eyes.  We tried to catch it to get it out of the pool but lost it.  This morning I saw him again and decided to try and catch him.  I used the long leaf net and went down to the pile of leaves at the bottom of the pool the frog swam too.  I got him on the first scoop and took these pictures.  The frog also made stange sounds, it grunted and when it hopped or when I got near it, it sounded like a cat.   No lie.  It sounded like a cat meow. 

Several years ago I made this bird feeder.  The birds rarely went inside, but the squirrels did.  We took it down a couple of years ago to take down a tree and I never put it back up. 

Last week I cleared the part of the yard where it was and leaned it up against the fence standing straight up.  Yesterday I saw Gumbo sitting it and decided it would be the perfect place for it.  So I put it back in the ground right next to the fence so he could get in it.  Crazy Cat!  He was totally asleep right before I shot these pictures.

For lunch today I walked to the University and ate near the Century Tower.  It always makes me feel young walking on Campus.   It totally brings me back to my college days, except I’m the old man walking on campus now.

Near GPA I saw this hawk (I think).  It was sitting on a lower limb yards away from people walking by.  I was so amazed that it looked like it was hunting something in a nearby bush.

When you are separated from someone you love all you can remember are the good times you have shared.  These guys were apart for 16 days and I know Luther was very lonely.  He followed me all over the house and yard, rubbing up against my feet and toes.  This was a huge change before Gumbo left.   Today, Gumbo was reunited with his brother Luther and I think they are happy again.   When people separate things can get very complicated, but for cats, all is good.

Luther licking Gumbo’s head