Light at the end of the tunnel is a phrase I’ve heard quite a bit lately, with the implication it is a good thing, like the end of a troubled time. But what if the light is a train coming?

– Derrill Price sent a photo of a truck stop marquee: Pro Tip: You should wash your hands even when there isn’t a global virus panic.

-Three years ago, Dr. Tracy Barger ordered a comfort dog for the Elementary School. Well, she finally got the grant to buy one and went to pick him up. Cody just looks like a good-natured mutt. But he’s had special training and Tracy had to be trained to work with him. Take the service vest off of him and he’s a 16-month-old puppy. Put the vest on him and he’s all bidness. They even tested his temperament at four months old. You know he’s going to get wooled around by his Elementary School and Middle School charges. He will go home every night with Tracy.

Cody is half Poodle and half Lab.  The Poodle half makes him compatible with kids and adults who have allergies to dogs.

Adrian and Cain’s dog, Merle, who Van calls “Mer”, is half Poodle and half Australian Shepard because Cain has animal allergies. Mer is a lot quieter than the dog he replaced, Penny, a miniature Schnauzer. All I had to do was give her that look and she’d raise the roof.

One night, Adrian and Kimball had left Penny at the office and gone on an extended excursion. I discovered her when I came to the office late and didn’t think the puppy should just be left here so I took her home with me. They came back and Adrian almost panicked. She called me at home to ask if I had seen Penny. I told Adrian, “No.” Then I looked real straight at Penny who just roared which calmed Adrian’s fears.

– It must have been fun for Trish Yasger, the MDC Paddlefish expert, when she toured the Chicago aquarium and the tour guide decided to educate her about spoonbills. Trish said she just let the lady talk. Wouldn’t you have liked to be a fly on the aquarium wall and heard that conversation?

Wonder if flies can laugh. KL