Hi Mike,

That was a great story.... Very sad.... You've got me feeling sad too about the loss of Jake and Elwood Beagle....

Sounds like the code of the farm can be tough, but there are good reasons for it.... While I've never really lived in the country (always having been a city slicker), my father was a farm-boy, raised on a farm near Coldwater, Michigan.... He used to tell me how he'd enjoy playing with his brothers (when they weren't working!) around Hog Creek....

I have a feeling the Australian Outback has a bit of a different feel to it.... I told one of my American cousins once that here in Australia, we don't seem to have any of those barn-style roofs that you find in the US....

"No barn-style roofs!" he said.... "I don't think I could live there without any barn-style roofs!"

(He was just joking around, of course....) :)

I also did some of my very early growing up years in Hawaii, and there I had a dog named "Tuffy".... Tuffy was ink-black with a mess of curly fur all over his body....

Tuffy and I would always hang out together and do things together. He was my true companion.... (I was around 4 years old....)

I had my other 4 year-old friends too, but when I wasn't at pre-school pledging allegiance to the flag, taking an enforced nap or playing with my other friends, I was hanging around with my best friend Tuffy!

Thanks Mike.... Great story! You brought back some great memories.... :)

Cheers,

Dien