Black & White

Let me tell you about my Border Collie, Bess.

Bess is a big fluffy bear of a dog, not unlike one of those exfoliating balls you can buy for the shower. She is about eleven years old, which is not old by Collie standards, but old enough to give her the wisdom to know the difference between right and wrong.

Bess never does anything wrong. She has the gentlest and most generous of natures. Her main aim, after eating and sleeping, is to please. The slight tarnishing of the image and the reality is the alacrity with which she despatches rabbits on the farm—but that is a problem only for the rabbits. In all other respects, Bess wouldn’t hurt a fly, which accounts for the proliferation of flies and paucity of rabbits on the farm. She does patrol the road verge, which suggests a latent militarism, but is more a quest for butterflies with which to meld and bond. Bess’s world on the farm is provided by circumstance and fashioned by subservience. Don’t get me wrong: she is not forced to do anything; she just does anything…to please.

She likes me; I like her.

A week ago today, we both lost a mate. A great mate. No worries for Bess; her mate had left before and always come back. This time that won’t be happening. Bess is yet to realise that. But perhaps that’s best for Bess. Because when she does, I think it will likely take her some time to come to terms with. If ever.

In that, she is not alone.

----------------
Now playing: Ted Hawkins - Ladder Of Success
via FoxyTunes