Gracie & Me #2: Gracie Gets Her Name

     We did a thing. In west Texas speak, we did a thang! Yep. We got a dog. For all the preliminary details about our new addition, please refer to my previous blog, Gracie & Me #1.

Gracie

     Her name is Gracie. We were inspired by Jane Fonda... seriously. Here's how we agreed Gracie would be a good name for our newly adopted four-legged friend.

     This black dog showed up. She was obviously young, but also incredibly social and well-behaved. For a day or two, we just called her 'Hey girl...' Then, we branched out to the names we thought fit her best. Like I wrote in blog #1, she responded to just about any name that ended with an 'I-E' sound like Maggie, Missy, Lady, etc. We liked 'Gracie' because we're new Netflix(ers) and we're big fans of the show "Grace and Frankie." Do you know it?


     I included the part about us being new Netflixers because where in the world have we been for the past many years? We've heard about all this streaming TV shows stuff, but just figured the technology necessary to accomplish the 21st century while living the country was beyond our pay grade. Turns out, it's not.

     We got one of those 'smart' TVs, bumped up our internet capabilities and now we're watching the shows the rest of the world's been talking about for who knows how long. We still don't stream anything to our other devices (remember when that meant your other mostly illegal stuff?) But at least for now, we're able to pick up one of our three remote controls and find something that's been water cooler talk for a very long time for the rest of the world. Seriously up until a few weeks ago, we weren't that far removed from the old days of three channels. If we didn't have our original remote, my name could easily be "Change the channel." Anybody remember those days?

Gracie

     So back to Gracie and how she got her name. Teresa and I delved into Netflix. We started with T's favorite "Grey's Anatomy." We then watched "The Highway Men" with Kevin Costner. Then, we branched out.
     Me: "Let's find something we haven't heard of, see if we like it and go from there."
     T: "Okay. You pick."
     I picked "Breaking Bad." We didn't get very far with it because at that time our internet was pretty week.

     A couple weeks later, we ramped up our internet for better streaming and tried again. This time...
     Me: "Okay, now you pick."

     T picked a show starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston called "Grace and Frankie." We had no idea what to expect. We picked the show simply on the quality of the cast. We were surprised and then we were really surprised.
     We didn't expect the premise of the show. It didn't set us off watching but it might some. The synopsis is: There are two couples (Fonda & Sheen and Tomlin & Waterston.) It turns out after many years of heterosexual marriage that Sheen and Waterston, who are law partners, are gay and in love with each other.
     The heterosexual relationships unravel, but the subsequent relationships involving a married Sheen to Waterston and a friendly relationship between Fonda and Tomlin propel the show. Suffice it to say if you use words like Fag, Queer, Lesbo, etc or judge others then this show isn't for you. But if you want rapid fire quick wit, genuine care and just a break then "Grace & Frankie" is indeed quite entertaining.
     In fact, I think Tomlin's never looked better. Waterston, who's played Academy nominated roles ("The Killing Fields,) is outstanding and Fonda and Sheen are a hoot. Plus, the supporting cast of mostly unknowns, at least to us, is very good too.

     What's this got to do with a stray black dog that showed up on our porch? Well, the black dog who answers to just about anything that ends in the "I-E" sound, answers especially well to the name "Gracie." So, we named our dog "Gracie" after Jane Fonda's character "Grace" on the Netflix show "Grace and Frankie."

     I guess we could call her "Hanoi Gracie," but I'm pretty sure that's too many syllables for a dog.😊

Bill Robertson
Next: Gracie Goes to the Vet and more...

Gracie & Me #1

     Well, we did it. We wanted to do it for a long time. We talked about it a lot. We made just about every excuse possible not to do. But in the end, we did it. Or should I say, Gracie did it to for us!

Gracie @ Home

     Yep, we got a dog! I don't think I'd write anything about Gracie if the circumstances hadn't been so uncanny and if her behavior hadn't been so remarkable. Here's what happened... starting from the beginning.

    By saying starting from the beginning, I mean starting at least several years ago. And by several, I mean longer than six or seven years ago. I don't mean the 'several' that so many incorrectly translate as meaning three, four or even five. That's just a few.
    Anyway, T and I started talking about getting a dog not that long after we married, 10-years ago this year. The rub was, we had a list as long as our arms why NOT to get a dog. We don't have a fenced yard, we like to travel, dogs shed, puppies chew, the dogs we want are expensive (I wanted a Bassett Hound & T wanted a West Highland Terrier,) etc, etc.

Gracie on the Porch

     Absolutely none of those reasons mattered because we didn't go looking for Gracie. Gracie just showed up like she was saying, "Here I am and I'm staying with y'all."
     Seriously, that's exactly how it happened and Gracie checked off just about every 'box' (obviously, she's not a Basset or a Westie) we had when it came to why we couldn't or shouldn't have a dog at this point.

     Gracie Day 1: We came home from a normal day working at the ranch. We pulled into our drive and....
     Teresa: "Don't look now but there's a dog on our porch."
     Me: "What? Where? Uh oh. Okay, let's see if it's friendly. Be careful."
Notice how Teresa says 'she' and I say 'it.' T calls all animals from fish to elephants as 'she.' She, Teresa that is, always has.
                                                 Teresa: "She's just a puppy. She's fine."
                                                 Me: "Terrific."

     Turns out Gracie, but just called dog at this point, was just a puppy and she was just fine and she was just very thirsty and very hungry. So we watered & fed her leftovers. As I remember it, the dog really enjoyed leftover meatloaf. Who wouldn't right? 😃 We did absolutely NOTHING to encourage or discourage her from staying or leaving.
     Day 2: It's about 7:45am and I'm leaving for the ranch. I walked out the front door to walk to my truck and that's when she bounded from the back side of the house. Gracie, still called dog at this point, had spent the night with us.
     All this started about two weeks ago. So, my precise recollection is a little fuzzy. The bottom line is/was Gracie, dog, stayed a second night. We still didn't encourage or discourage her. She drank clean water and our leftovers for her supper. There's no doubt she liked our spinach stuffed chicken.😉
     Day 3: We got up and she was STILL at our house. So at that point, we began thinking that she had to belong to someone. She was absolutely the most docile, sweet young dog that I could remember. She didn't have a collar (Note: In the top picture Gracie has a collar but that's a recent photo, not from the beginning,) but it was very obvious that someone had spend a lot of time and likely money training her. But obvious too was, she had been trained in a good, kind way. Gracie, still called dog, could sit, stay, come, load up in my truck and everything else a more mature dog might do. She didn't jump. She barely chewed. She didn't go spastic-excited around people. She was obviously a very young dog but her behavior was amazing!
     Long story short is, we called neighbors, we took her to the vet to see if she had a 'chip.' We posted her picture on Facebook and just about every other animal website available to us in WTX. We got back nothing. No one knew Gracie.... until....

Gracie on the Grass

     Day 4: Teresa got a text. It turned about Gracie had belonged to a couple who separated. The woman didn't want the dog. The man took the dog, but later didn't want her either. So apparently, Gracie got dumped.😖 Well, they're loss is our gain!

     Day 5: We still haven't officially named her Gracie yet. She seems to answer to anything ending in "ie." She responds to Maggie, Sadie, Missie and others including Gracie. Let's face it, she is a dog. All she hears is the emphasis on the last syllable.😁

      I guess tomorrow (Tuesday, May 28, 2019) will be Gracie's two week birthday at Casa Robertson. I think T would agree. She's checked all our boxes. We don't care that she's black and has long legs.

Bill Robertson
Next: Gracie gets her name & more