WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!
Oops, I forget humans don't understand my excellent diction. So, instead, let me use Google Translate to get this out. (Yes - they do have a dog translate feature now - very experimental...so might be gone by the time I'm finished barking)
For those of you who don't recognize me, the name is Hampton Hunter Halstead, also known to my humans, Nate and Charles, as pup or bubba. Though I prefer WOOF, WOOF, Hampton is fine...I'm still not sure about the bubba or pup part though. My glam shot is included below in case you haven't seen me in a while.
Having got that out of the way, for those of you who are following my life closely, you'll know I lost my companion of...well...now that I'm thinking about it, I can't remember a time when she wasn't here. Aspen Christmas Rose Ullom passed away in January. She began feeling sickly in September of 2019, when the fall foliage finally turned the correct color to match my and her beautiful coats. She did get to spend one last Christmas with us and those humans did choose to document it for us. They always seem to be obsessed with taking a picture in front of this tree...which I am also not allowed to pee on...which doesn't begin to make one iota of sense..but who am I to judge?
February seemed to be a pretty normal month. My human Charles was looking for a job...he seems to think he needs one of those for some reason...while Nate left and came back from a place called Texas...sounds like an imaginary place full of cats to me...but I'm only an Irish Setter. Although, my human did mention someone called Rimsky that another human that knows Charles has in a town called Austin. Things are so confusing...I thought that Rimsky was a composer (yes - I do enjoy classical music...though not as much as howling).
Suddenly, in March, both of my humans were home, nearly all of the time. It was weird. And they seemed sad about whatever was keeping them home. More and more, we saw less and less people, which apparently was from something called coronavirus. The only corona I know of has something to do with that bright object in the sky - my humans like watching this wonderful program called NOVA so I learn unique things about science as I nap the day away.
Anyway, Charles did take up baking and stepped up his cooking in the intervening months, including some killer recipes for bread, cookies, green bean casserole, steak, chicken and pasta. Also in March, my humans celebrated being gone November 16, 2019 to some other fantasy place called Florida with some leftover cake that had been frozen since December. Apparently, it was their four month anniversary and they needed Cake in their lives. They tried to prove that they got married while they were gone last November and the cake was from some time in December when they again celebrated being gone in November. They provided these photos - maybe you'll be able to tell if they're real or not.
I don't believe it but that's mainly because something didn't smell right...but again...I'm just the lowly Irish Setter, staring at them in the middle of the night to be let out to check our yard for those intruders I smell (but to be fair - I could imagine they are there simply to get to go out in the middle of the night).
Charles was also extra sad in March and April because he lost a very dear human to him. He was also named Charles. I understand that a lot of the people reading this also loved this human. I am sorry for your loss. Charles did get to hang out with his Grandma, Charles' wife, quite a bit (so I guess that makes the other Charles Grandpa?) which made him feel less sad. I also made sure that any time he was home, I wasn't far. Quite often, I'd lay on him while he was on the couch or in bed to make sure he knew I was there for him. Nate also made lots of time helping Charles through this time and I think he's better now. Kind of like I miss Aspen, Charles still misses Charles.
Summer brought romping in the yard over at my Aunt Carol's backyard. I chased birds and ran as fast as I could while Charles and Nate would get into this huge circle full of water. I never quite understood why I can't go in but every time I began to leap, I got put inside or on a little string that my Aunt held. They were also gone some in June on Tuesday evenings where they were helping something called a Municipal Band perform in a park called Carey. Around this time, there were loud bursts all around us in the evening and I discovered that I just really don't like that.
Charles and Nate also took a vacation in September to that land called Florida again to go to a place called Disney World. It sounds alright to me but I've heard rumors that they have cats and ducks that run amock. So, clearly, if I am ever allowed to go to Disney World, there will be a new sher-ruff in town. Charles and Nate took these pictures to prove to me that they were where they said they were. See for yourself but I still question whether or not those cats might have brainwashed my humans.
October brought some unseasonably cold temperatures which as a dog who must go out in the middle of the night is very much on my mind. There was also something called a Presidential Election going on which both of my humans watched very closely for some reason. There was this guy named Trump and guy named Biden. Biden seems more interesting to me because he's got a couple of dogs so I'll have to ask the Twilight Bark sometime what they think of him. And if they answer, I'll finally know someone famous as they are apparently going to go live in the White House. I can only assume, of course, that the White House is very different from the dog house. From what I understand, this Trump guy is about to be very much in the dog house.
November saw my humans making my yard very bright at night. Charles and Nate spent hours working on their Christmas lights again this year. I, for one, am pretty happy about it because it is beautiful to look at when I go out for my late night romps, errrr, I mean bathroom breaks. I like their Facebook page, The Lights at 1022, so I provided a couple of photos of the display this year.
Pretty huh? One of my other aunts, Auntie, reported to my owners that she likes to drive by on her way to work in the mornings as she can see it quite well from the highway.
Christmas was good this year. I got lots of nice things as did my humans. I know both of them are tired of 2020 and were relieved when 2021 came. Charles made this graphic for a client of his which I think pretty well sums up the year.
On behalf of my four legs, two legged humans and that Christmas tree, I wish you a very Happy 2021!
Barkingly yours,
Hampton Hunter Halstead of the Johnston-Ullom clan
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