All that jazz…
Kid Rhetorica is out of school for the summer. We’d promised her a dog this year. She needs something to focus on to keep her mind off the transition. So you see in the picture the results of my labors yesterday. Sniffy, an AKC beagle, is the newest member of the Rhetorica household. The adventure included a drive to the country on a gloriously clear and crisp spring day, which is, romantically, the way children should acquire a first dog. Sniffy joins Chester the (very upset) cat and four toads.
I haven’t written much about myself or my family on Rhetorica in the past two years largely because that part of me is off-topic, or at least that’s what I thought. But with the move and the new job, I find that at the very least I need to keep Rhetorica readers informed because all of this affects the quality my product. But, more, the move and job also affect the content of this blog. I’m still wrestling with what it means to be a rhetoric scholar who teaches journalism.
Wife Rhetorica believes, and I agree, that my new position at SMS is “perfect” for me. But, as a seasoned reporter and writer with more than 20 years of experience, she also believes I was the “counter-intuitive” choice. I agree. But what I like about the new Department of Media, Journalism, and Film is the interesting mix of scholars. My impression has been that they’re all on different pages and like it that way. So the choice seems in line with what this department is shaping up to be.
Okay, enough about me. Kid Rhetorica is giddy with delight. Watching her and the pup takes our minds off all the moving hassles.
Just hide all your furniture — beagles are notorious gnawers for the first year or so.
A dog, a cat, and four toads sounds like an ecosystem. How are you keeping it from turning into a food chain?
And how did you get the toads?
Three of the four are Asian Firebelly Toads purchased at Petco. The fourth in a common Eastern American toad caught at a nearby pond and kept in a separate enclosure. Ten gallon glass tanks with stout screen tops keep them from turning into a food chain
Suggestion - train Sniffy for a career in termite detection, apparently beagles have the talent (and size) - http://www.cariboo.bc.ca/news/past03Oct14/stories03Oct14/termites.html
In my best Johnny Carson imitation: I did not know that!