The circle of life continues

Yesterday was bittersweet. We said goodbye to a grand old dog and welcomed a new puppy into our lives.

The pup’s arrival was expected, but Jem’s demise, although certainly no surprise, sure wasn’t planned for the same day.

We’d gotten Jem shortly before we moved from Bozeman to Malta 14 years ago, however, I always thought of him as a Belgrade dog because that’s where he’d been born. And like that blue-collar community, he was a blue-collar dog.

He retrieved everything I shot, including a winged goose that was nearly as big as him. Never a fast dog, with a stocky build that beli...