Mr. Popular

Now, some of you might have a hard time believing how Popular Sonny is around here. Others of you have read my stories and you already know about Jim and Michiko, about how they dote on Dolly and Sonny. But there are others who find Sonny a most delightful pet.

For instance, what about that ancient old man who walks his equally ancient dog around the block in my neighborhood? I see him every Sunday morning, around 10. He inches slowly up the street with his little dog sniffing the ground behind him. The little dog is a mop, chubby, short legged, and very old. The little old man approaches the fence of my yard, in the near back corner by the street, and reaches over to pet my jumping up Sonny, and then reaching over a little farther to pet the placidly sitting Dolly who is much too mature and ladylike to jump up on fences for a pet anymore. The little old gentleman will reach into his pocket for a treat for my two, who are expecting the treat, and they gobble down their surprises with relish. Then the little old man will remember his little old dog who is sitting as far away from my blustering crew as it possibly can, at the end of its tight leash, obviously wary of the two behind the fence. The little old man will point back and forth from his little old dog to Sonny and Dolly as if instructing little old dog to come make friends, and when little old dog does not budge, little old man drags little old dog, front paws off the ground, over to the fence, to make nice with my two. Little old dog obeys for a moment then backs off to sit once again at the end of his tight leash, and then it is time for little old man and little old dog to shuffle back up the street, retreating to wherever home is for them.

This morning, as I stood at my kitchen sink, I saw another neighbor of mine at my fence, petting Sonny. I don't know the name of this neighbor, but I've talked to him several times, mostly at my fence, once discussing Sonny, another time the ice storm last winter and what it did to the trees in our yards. He's a very nice man and I know that he deals in antiques, he buys them here and travels them out to Colorado or other points West to sell them for a higher profit than he would get here. This morning when I see him, he is dressed in shorts, a jacket and an orange ball cap and has his travel coffee mug in hand, which he puts down in the grass in order to reach over the fence with two hands to pet Sonny. Sonny of course jumps up, front feet on the fence, to greet him. Neighbor Man lifts a finger and says something, he must be making a command because after a few moments of tail wagging and pet-begging, Sonny sits, Sonny stays, and Neighbor Man reaches over and gives him love and praise. Just by the way Neighbor Man pets the creature Sonny, you can tell Neighbor Man is smitten with this animal. I observe this communication between these two from behind the curtain at my kitchen window, and it makes me smile and proud to see them enjoy each other so much. Sonny and Neighbor Man interact for about 5 minutes or longer before I see Neighbor Man pick up his coffee cup out of the grass and head back up the small rise to the street, only to stop, turn around, come back to the fence, and pet Sonny for just another minute or two more.

It's because of this I know that Sonny is Very Popular.