He showed up one day at my dad’s place.  We did our diligence, but couldn’t track anyone down so we took him to our place, my wife and I.  He had four legs then.  Thor seemed like a good name….

I always go in for ironic dog names, but he lived up to his in chutzpah, if not wisdom.  He lost his leg to a 3/4 ton diesel pulling a double axle.  I thought it might cure him- slow him down a little, but those diesels pulling trailers became his white whale.  And he was darn near as fast on 3 than 4.  Lifting his leg presented a challenge, until he realized it wasn’t there.  Sometimes he just had to lift the left one though and he’d balance on the two front ones.

He made his mark in the world.  He was a pain in the ass, he barked at everything, pissed on everything, chased everything (excepting chickens- a mean old rooster broke that habit pretty early)…

The hen’s wouldn’t let him forget even after that rooster earned himself the soup-pot.

True to his kind, he always had to be where I was -unless there was something better going on…

The coyotes are bad here, like most places in Kansas.  Usually they go after my hens, and Thor was smart enough to stay away- just made noise at them.  A whole bunch were real close for a few nights- carrying on at night like they do.  They must have been too much to resist.  The next day doing the early morning rounds, he wasn’t there.  You get the picture.  It is still a bit of a mystery- he left like he came- but I’ll remember him going in thinking he could lick the whole bunch.

A lot of my neighbors had cause to maybe dance a little at the passing of the fierce defender of 100 yards of compacted gravel.  However, a fair number a coyotes have died since Thor went out.  Not me, I’m not much of a killer, thought not for lack of trying.    My neighbors are better shots than I, and I usually recieve a picture message of a dead Canis latrans.

My good friend Mike Schultz wrote and recorded this little song after living with us and Thor for a time.  He sent it to me just the other day and it made this post worth writing.  Have a listen…  Thor!