The Good Doctor

For almost 5 years, the good Doctor, Hayden Hucke (Huck ee), was our neighbor and friend. An incredibly intelligent lady who had a pension for rescuing animals. Birds, cats and dogs and who knows what else. I'll never forget Rudy, a monster Newfoundland, a black St Bernard if you would. We had a six foot high fence in one portion of our yard and one spring I was busily cleaning up the remnants of winter, not paying much attention and when I stood up I caught a glance out of the corner of my eye of something very dark. There I was standing nose to nose with Rudy, who offered a friendly lick to my forehead, but I don't know that I have ever been so startled in my life. My lord, what a bear he was. Alas, I wander. Even though she was less than mobile due to the severely arthritic conditions that plagued her, Hayden was quite an accomplished emergency room physician at one of the top hospitals in the country. We stayed in touch for a while after we moved but we haven't seen her of late. We really should take a moment to check in.