This email just in from Cory Reese, Trussville area. Posting it word-for-word:

Heard you were very good at this. I lost my little black
female chihuahua yesterday (9/10) in the Trussville area. She is
solid black except for a tiny spot of white on her throat.

She answers to Tinkerbell, Tinks, Tinkie, Inkie. She jumped
out of my purse carrier in my arms in the Target parking lot
and started running, crossed Highway 11 with several people in pursuit
and diasappeared in the brush.

I stayed and called her for a couple of hours.
She is very timid but I have notified the cemetary, the church next door
and all the local vets along with the pet registry and humane society.

It all happened so fast and I don't know why she did what she did. She
nevers gets two inches away from me and is a total inside dog. Needless
to say, I am totally devastated. Any help or suggestions you can offer
will be greatly appreciated.

My e-mail address is margott@bnspc.com
<mailto:margott@bnspc.com> . Thank you, Molly.
She weighs three pounds, is spayed. This just rambles, but I am so sad.

Instead of Molly adventures today, I want to tell a story about Kim Langston
and her dog, Citgo. (I received permission from Kim to run this story)

Kim is the 33/40 Skywatcher for the Winfield area. Citgo
disappeared into the woods the last week of May. When that happened, Kim
prayed and prayed because there are a lot of coyotes in that area.

Citgo had been severely abused before Kim owned her so Kim prayed that her life was
not going to tragically end by getting killed by the coyotes.

Kim went deep into the woods in search of Citgo and also got lost.She also lost her cell phone.
A search party did not find her until 1:30 the next morning but there was no
Citgo.

Kim continued to pray that someone would find Citgo and take care of
her.

Prayers were answered. The second week in June, Citgo came to someone's
yard and the people fed and took good care of her.

However, it was two months later, on August 12, when Kim was driving past
a house and saw a dog on the front porch. She turned around twice and
drove by. Finally she stopped. It was indeed Citgo. The house was not far from
where they found Kim in the woods.

Kim and Citgo are reunited now. Kim says that God reminded her, by the blessing of
Citgo, and how the story turned out, that He is still in control abd that she should not worry.

A great story, Kim and thanks for letting us use it. As I have said before, I don't know what I would do if Little Miss Molly was misssing that long.

I know we have much more important things to discuss on the BLOG, with Tropical Storm Ernesto possibly getting into the Gulf of Mexico next week.

But I want to take time to say Happy Birthday to Molly!

I wanted to post a salute to my little girl. My real human little girl, Debbie, is 43 and married with 4 grandkids for us. But today, I am talking about my little 9-pound pal, Little Miss Molly. She is 4 years old today. I know I sound like Molly is the only dog in the world, but I certainly do not think that. We have received nearly 3,000 e-mails about the daily Molly adventures and there are thousands of dog lovers who are just as proud of their little pals. I sure do want to write a children's book or at least a journal about Little Miss Molly when I can get my act(s) together. We have received hundreds of e-mails encouraging just that.

We could just as easily have missed out on Molly. My wife was visiting her folks near Salt Lake City and they happened visit a lady who sold dogs. There were 12 to 15 dogs in pens. My wife had tentatively chosen another dog with orange fur, but Little Miss Molly being only 3 months old was well versed in politics. By a wide margin, she kept jumping up and down as if begging my wife to "take me, take me." She was wagging her tail a whole lot more than the other dogs and those little bright eyes sealed the deal.

When Molly strolled into our house for the first time, there were 10 or 12 people here, visiting family members. She walked past several people and came straight to me, stood on her little hind legs, placed her front paws on my legs, started swishing her tail like one of those cardboard church fans and looked at me eyeball to eyeball. I was sunk forever. She instantly won my heart and has been a big part of my daily life since. She is never more than a few feet away and watches me like a hawk. She is constantly ready to play.

I estimate (and this is no exaggeration) that Molly and I have walked 1,400 miles. This is probably too conservative, because I am not counting the numerous times she reverses directions, dashes off track or chases the community rabbit. If those miles were in a straight line and we kept walking, we would now be approaching Yellowstone National Park if we went NW, approaching Phoenix if we went due west and Hudson Bay (way up in Canada where all the polar bears are) if we went north.

I have always been a happy person, but the nearly 4 years that Molly has been with us has enhanced that no end. This includes hundreds and hundreds of ballgames, chasing her around the house, tummy rubs, cuddling. She is still a politician. If she does not get enough play time each day, she tends to pout. She is the sweetheart of the community. When we are out walking, she knows where everybody lives that loves her and wants to stop for a visit. She is the most personable little dog I have ever seen.

And it still blows my mind that she whaps that little tiny bell hanging off the inside backdoor knob when she needs to go outside. (Translation: bathroom) But lately that sneaky little rascal has started ringing the bell when she wants to play ball.

Little Miss Molly has certainly reversed my aging. I feel that if she could stay with me another 25 years, I would be like a guy in his 20s or 30s. I wish we could both live as old as Moses--that would be great fun.

Please excuse this long BLOG post and I will get back to more serious business.

Life goes on and Molly has made the last 1,400 days more enjoyable.

I wanted to post My Tiny Corner also on the blog today, not because of Little miss Molly but because of the story from Kim Langston. Scan down for more of her report:

MY TINY CORNER OF THE WORLD: Getting more and more concerned about walking too much with my little pal forever, Little Miss Molly. This intense heat is bad on little dogs, in fact, any dog.

Instead of going a full half mile in the heat of the day, I have been reducing it to 1/4 mile and now I am going to shoot for 1/8 mile. Molly does not seem to mind, because her little tongue hangs out quickly.

When I get great resistance is when she sees one of her friends, human or dog, all the way down the half-mile track headed this way. She has a conniption fit to race ahead hoping to get a belly rub from that person.

A sobering note from Kim Langston, ABC 33/40 skywatcher, who told us how she rushed her neighbor and the neighbor’s 250+ pound Great Dane to a vet in Russellville yesterday. If they had not done that, in 20 minutes or so the dog would have been dead.

They found him completely unable to walk. They poured water all over him for a long time and then pulled him to a carport to place under a fan. Only then did they rush to a vet.

When they reached the vet, after the dog had been having problems for 4 hours, his temperature was still 103.7. The vet said 107 is knocking on death’s door. The dog named Scooby is having tests to see if there was any damage to the kidneys, etc.

This is a great lesson and warning to us all. Thanks, Kim. Life goes on.

A nice cool and very pleasant walk with Little Miss Molly in My Tiny Corner this morning. Out very early and the first thing that Molly did was stop in a grassy area and individually sniff every inch of 22 blades of grass. (I actually counted them) I guess I should rename her Little Miss Columbo or Miss Sherlock. I don't understand why she does that. It was a mixed bag this morning, stop and go, backtracking and then full speed ahead. I am amazed at the strength in her little short hind legs. If my hind legs were that strong, proportion to size, I could pull the Orient Express.

There was just enough breeze to wiggle the leaves on the rooms (branches) of the Old Crow Motel. Reminded me of the Aspen trees out west, often referred to as Quaking Aspen. This is because even a light wind will cause the leaves to quiver and this makes a pretty sight in sunlight. Especially in autumn when the aspen turn brilliant yellow.

ON A SAD NOTE:
It is not unusual for me to get an e-mail that
brings me back to reality and makes me ever so thankful to have Little Miss
Molly by my side. Monday this note from Mary Lackey in
Anniston. She said:

"Go ahead and keep telling everyone to love and enjoy their pets and to be
thankful for every day they have with them. I came home yesterday to find my
little Pomeranian named Buttons had passed away while I was at work. It is a
terrible thing to know that this happened to him and I wasn't there to hold
and comfort him at the end. I am so thankful for the 8 wonderful years we
had together. I only wish we could have had so many more. Thanks for letting
me share my story and you are welcome to use it, especially if it will make
even one pet owner think twice and love their pet a little bit extra every
day. Give Little Miss Molly an extra special hug for me."

I could not help but think of Buttons Monday night as Molly and I were having
a long ballgame and when I picked her up and tucked her into bed. I
am very lucky and ever so thankful. Life goes on.

Please note: I have permission from Barbara Tanner to post her letter below to our blog and/or our E-Forecast. Since space is limited on the E-Forecast, I will use exerpts there. I am not posting this because Barbara gave me so much credit, although I appreciate that and it makes me feel good. Instead, I am posting it to once again urge all pet owners to enjoy every day they have with their pets and let them know that you love them. They will return the love ten-fold. As I have said before, I am a strong person emotionally but this is another one that brought tears to my eyes as I read it. Thanks to Barbara and here is her letter word-for-word:
-------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Elliott,

Two weeks after I had major surgery in early Feb., our beloved Peke-a-Poo passed away from liver failure/cancer. Marty had been a much beloved member of our family for 8-1/2 years, and we had adopted him from the B'ham Humane Society when he was 1-1/2 to 2 years old.

We were totally devastated. Since we don't have any children, Marty was our whole life.

My husband and I grieved and grieved, and cried and cried... We didn't think we'd be ready to adopt another "child" for possibly 6 months to a year because our hearts were so broken.

Marty was SOOOO smart (poodles are as smart as a 3-year-old child, we've read), SOOOO affectionate, and our schedules revolved around him.

After feeling utterly lost for 2 months every time we returned to an empty home, I read one of your ABC33/40 weather emails where you described holding Little Miss Molly's face in your hands when she woke up in the morning and having her snuggle/cuddle with you on the sofa...

I immediately phoned my husband and said, "I'm ready for another dog RIGHT NOW! I want to experience that again like Mr. Elliott and Miss Molly!"

We began looking on petfinders.com to see what "rescue dogs" were available in this area. We never DREAMED that we'd find another poodle mix. And we never thought we'd be so in love with another dog as we were with Marty.

I did a search for poodles in Alabama, and there were only FIVE in the whole state! And my husband couldn't abide the thought of having a "tea-cup"-size dog like Miss Molly. (He has an aversion to dogs that "yip" instead of "bark," and he doesn't like tiny dogs whose nails click on the vinyl floor. Weird, huh

We had phoned about a couple of poodle mix dogs -- one in Anniston, one in Chilton County, and one at the Animal Control Center in B'ham, and every single one would get adopted before we could get there.

So we gave up on trying to find a poodle. We made plans to see a Beagle and a Terrier mix on a Sunday. But my husband insisted that we find some dogs to see on that Sat., the day before.

Lo and behold, on that Friday, I found a poodle mix in Cleveland at the Blount County Humane Society. I realized that I would never be happy with any other dog except another poodle.

We went to see her on Sat., and we just fell in love with that little 15-pound poodle mix! We immediately adopted her and named her Maggie. And she has brought nothing but smiles and joy into our life for the past couple of weeks!

You probably never know how many lives your stories touch, so I wanted to be sure that you heard our "happy ending" story. I wanted you to know that you formed a new family of 3, and we've "saved" each other!

The Tuesday following our adoption, I got an email from the lady at the shelter where we adopted Maggie. She asked how Maggie was doing and how her check-up at the vet had gone. Then she said that she was so thankful that we had adopted Maggie because "her time was up at the shelter" and she "would have been put to sleep the week after we adopted."

Chalk up another "good deed" performed by Miss Molly and Mr. Elliott!

Sincerely,
Barbara Tanner
Center Point

I don't often post Molly stories on the blog, especially when weather information is so much more important. However, when james set up this weather blog, he provided a category "Miss Molly." You can click on that category and see a variety of stories about the little girl.

But today, I want to tell a story from Cara McFarland. I never do this without first getting permission and Carla graciously agreed. Here is her story:

I asked permission to use this story in the hope that it would make us all appreciate our pets more and treasure our time with them.

Carla's cocker spaniel, Brandy, developed a cancerous
tumor the size of a golf ball. It grew to the size of a softball in two
short months. Carla has a great vet and he told her that Brandy would let
her know when it was time to go.

About a week ago, Brandy woke up and put her head under Carla's hand wanting
her to pet her. She had never done that before, because she preferred belly rubs.

Carla is sure that it was Brandy's way of telling her she was ready to go.

Carla had read a book recently called, "Getting Lucky" by Susan Marino. It was a
story about a dog, named Lucky, coming to live his last days in a hospice called Angel's Gate.

On April 21, the Pell City Animal Hospital was loving and compassionate during Brandy's last
moments. Carla will never forget how beautiful Brandy looked in her box
holding her favorite toy.

Brandy was buried April 22 at Carla's parent's
farm next to her cat, Max. If Carla's story does not touch us, I don't know
what will. I dread the day when I face that with Little Miss Molly. I plan
to post a longer story on the BLOG. Life does not go on and on forever.
Enjoy every minute that you have.

You can ready Luck'y story on the Angel Gate web site at www.angelsgate.org

This is Little Miss Molly's first ever snow, although she did leap high in the air snapping at tiny snowflakes as a little flurry moved across the area last winter.

That little rascal has been sleeping until 8 or 9 o'clock recently, but this morning she got me out walking just at the crack of dawn. It was dark enough that we needed a flashlight. When she went out on the back patio, she stopped with a surprised look on her face at the snow covered yard. She hesitated to go further, but with my urging she hopped across the yard and onto the walking track. Away we went. She sure did not want to do a bathroom break in the snow-covered grass, but she did finally.

In the semi-darkness, the barren Old Crow Motel sure made a pretty scene. There was snow sticking to the tops of the rooms (er, limbs). Molly wasted no time when she got off the walking track into the snow-covered grass. In fact, each time she did that, instead of walking or running she was loping like a kangaroo. She sure did look cute in her little red sweater. It was about 29 degrees with a biting wind, so when I mentioned the word "treat" at the upper end of the walking track, she bolted for home in a hurry. As soon as we got inside, she wallowed on the carpet and licked her feet to get the snow off and immediately she insisted on a big ballgame. So, we were still playing ball while all the rest of you were sound asleep.

That is just the way it is with Little Miss Molly. My schedule can change from day to day because she is the boss. Life goes on.

Out early this morning for a full half-mile walk with Little Miss Molly. She had a ball. I really believe she keeps a time-clock on me because recently, with the heat, we have not gone the full distance. Even though the "cool" front never made it to My Tiny Corner, it felt relatively comfortable. There was a feel in the air that was not as oppressive. Maybe it was the rain-cooled air from our 1.51 inches of rain yesterday afternoon. Maybe there is an unknown ingredient in the air besides temperature and dew point that we weather humans haven't discovered yet.

Our walk was fairly uneventual but just as Molly had paused to do her "major business" a low-flying bird came by and Molly took off like the NASA Shuttle. She paused later and finished her business, then I had to backtrack 25 yards and scoop the first.

The Mimosa blossoms are finally beginning to fade along the walking track. They were unusually pretty this year. When my wife's folks from Layton, Utah visited us recently, they wondered if they took a Mimosa sprig home and planted it in the Salt lake Valley, would it grow? They had never seen it. I also suggested a tiny sprig of Kudzu but they immediately declined.

If you are reading this from way up in the NW corner of Alabama, could you tell it was more comfortable this morning? The dew point should have been about 65 as compared to low 70s further south. Places like Waterloo, Wright, Gravelly Springs, Riverton, Murphy's Crossroads and Cherokee. (Yes, the town of Cherokee is in Colbert County, not Cherokee County on the opposite side of the state.) One of these days, I must take that long winding drive (County Road 1) up the east side of Pickwick Lake from Margerum to Riverton. Has to be a beautiful drive. And, I have never been to Waterloo--very high on my wish list.

NOTE: Please scan down to see Brian's morning discussion and an earlier story on summer being 2/3 gone. Always remember that the last story posted on this blog is on top but there are many other stories lower down that are still current. Have had a lot of emails wanting a weekend story about Molly. Some say they need a "Molly fix" seven days a week. I am always afraid that I am "overdoing" the Molly material. Actually, there is a category on this blog called "Miss Molly" It is on the right-side menu. James provided it when he established the blog and I appreciate it. We have now received over 2,500 emails about Molly since beginning "My Tiny Corner" Only one email has been negative although I did get two complaints because I murdered a "pot-gutted" spider with my little blue scoop along the track. Life goes on...

It's just gotta be spring. Got my sleeping hours mixed up and was awake this morning at 2:30 but asleep again at 6 for a one-hour power nap.

Took another one-hour power nap late this afternoon. But Little Miss Molly "woofed" and scratched me awake when it was almost dark rearing to go on another half-mile trek.

As we were going up the walking track directly behind our house, I almost got jerked off my feet. I got a glimpse of a little white "ball" zooming across in front of us. Molly launched like a rocket. She had jumped one of the Community Rabbits (CR). It appeared to be a baby rabbit but could not tell for sure. It is the first rabbit we have seen in well over a year.

Tis a sure sign of spring. The first rabbit plus a variety of gnats, spiders, worms, ants and other "varmints" (as Snuffy Smith would call them)

Don't know how many "varmints" we will have to deal with this year but I suspect a lot because of the lack of real cold weather this winter. (See additional story below)

But all the varmints, including spiders are an important part of nature's ecosystem.

As of Sunday, I was 26,645 days old. To make me sound older, I reached an age of 639,480 hours. Howsomever, my pal, Little Miss Molly has reversed my aging process and I predict a year from now that I will be only 26,000 days old and will start growing hair again!

Life goes on...sometimes in reverse.