When The Sun Don't Shine

Time is an amazing invention; it is a human concept and an illusion. There is no time, only the illusion of time passing. The sun rises and sets, creating day and night. We are born, age and die. Clocks measure seconds, minutes and hours. Calendars measure days, weeks, months and years. These are the many ways we see time pass. Our memories link us to the past events that have happened. We think we live in the present, and there is a future ahead of us.
-Angelo Nasias, Divination, Tarot and the Bible

Well, I'd be remiss if I didn't say a few words about an old friend, whose full name I recently learned. I just called him Billy, not knowing he was apparently Sir William Robert, although I also knew him as Billy Bob. This was Tabatha's dog, a red and white Australian shepherd, with a high degree of intelligence and an obsession with tennis balls. Being a shepherd, he was occasionally a hyperactive goof, but also a loyal friend to Tabatha, and, since we are family in everything but name, me too. He grew very sick and passed on, but we still remember him. He was the consumnate cool dog, very good and much loved, and very expressive. Of course, dogs don't talk, at least not in words. Billy could express a great deal, as some dogs do, and was the first member of Tabatha's family I met, curiously enough on our first date. He gave me the once-over, decided I was okay, and that was that. Tabatha says dogs are a good judge of people, perhaps she's right. Billy and I were thick as thieves after that, and his passing left a mark on me as well as our family. Tabatha has since adopted two other dogs, Eris, who is, according to her, (Tabatha, not Eris) 'my' dog, and Hercules, who is a big friendly mountain of dog, perhaps a little short on sense, but then again, he makes up for it in other areas. Eris is a good girl, reminiscent in some ways of Billy- smart, and devoted to her family. I hear there may be puppies on the way, a fact that Tabatha is less than thrilled ab0ut, but then again, hard not to love your kids. Ultimately, every witch needs a familiar, ha ha. I'm not a witch, but then again, where would we all be without the animals in our lives, both those we eat and those we don't? Much like dressing up for Halloween, it's something I'll never outgrow, no matter how old and responsible I get.