December 6 2008
Well, gang, Montrose has lost a great personality.
She only had one name. "Tiki".
Sort of like Odetta.
But "Tiki" wasn’t very vocal.
She use to come into a late night "Punk" bar like "Rudz!" all by herself.
As far as the door man was concerned, she was always on the "one plus a friend" list. She has clout. She was "Tiki". And she was there for the ambience.
If some 250 lb. dude crunched on her foot in the crowded bar, she seemed to know that she was a smallish black dog in a low lit pub and knew that it wasn’t on purpose, and got out of the way without giving so much as a peep.
Occasionally, her human housemates would call the bar, and tell the bartender that if she was there, to send her home.
The bartender would spot her, call her name, open the door and send her home.
And while not especially pleased, she would start trotting the couple of blocks home.
When little pups decided that she was going to play with them, whether she wanted to or not, she would look at them like a botanist looks at a strange but boring plant. When that didn’t seem to stop the youngsters from cavorting around, she would bear her white fangs. Just ever so slightly.
That would quiet them down.
Great Ladies do not go rolling around in the street with mindless children.
If necessary, she would use the same tactics on older dogs that also lacked a sense of decorum.
And to great effect.
"Tiki" was not one to over-react to human company, although, occasionally her tail would give her away a little bit.
If she did want a little attention, she would come up to you at the bar and gently rub the back of your calf with her paw. And maybe you’d scratch her ears and back in return.
But mostly, she just liked being quietly thoughtful about something when she was around people.
And while she won’t be around people any more, wherever she is, you can bet that she’s being quietly thoughtful.
Being "Tiki".

Till next week
Helga Biermeister
Secretary