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Frank, the Bike Shop, and Me  Frank and Me in the yard behind his apartment on Patterson Alley “ I 'm a business man.” This was how Frank described himself when I met him at a potluck in 1975. He was part of a group of counter-culture friends I hung out with when I lived in Eugene, Oregon. In the counter-culture world this kind of description of oneself would be like someone telling you they favored socialized medicine at a Young Republicans gathering. It certainly made him stand out and while I didn't dismiss him I didn't find myself initially drawn to him either. But Frank and I seemed to get along. We talked easily and, as it turned out, he would become my best friend in Eugene. It turned out Frank and I had a lot of things in common in spite of how he characterized himself. I used to call him my young republican friend, even though Frank was not really one. He, like myself, was not much of a fan of either party. We were what was then referred to as

From Saruman to Nyshia Nyshia N yshia took more baths in our first six months together than she did in the next six years. Nyshia was my first dog and while I have always loved dogs, I've never been particularly excited about bathing them. We always had dogs growing up, six of them to be exact. Sam, Sport, Penny, Mickey, Gabby, and Mandy. Not all at once of course but rather one at a time. Three of them left us early for various reasons and the other three were with us to the end, or rather their end. I love the way a dog bonds with you, how they are always happy to see you whether you acknowledge them or not. They are the perfect example of unconditional love. One of the very few “bucket list” items I ever had was to have my own dog. I was living in Eugene with the Barrington Gang when I decided to get my first dog. Well, that's not completely accurate as I had a dog briefly with Donna when we were living in Yuba City but she either had or ca