Some of you know of Arnie, our lab pet, and his adventures with my Nalgene bottle. He was always curious about it, and one day while I was out of the room he dived right in and took a bath in the water I was intending to drink. Fortunately I was warned of the new status of my bottle, and gladly turned it over to him, since he made a bit of a mess bathing in an open dish. Sometimes he was reluctant to go in the bottle, and preferred to knock it over; eventually I put it in his cage and attached it to the side of the cage with a spring.

He took about 5 or 6 baths a day, and none of us gave the birdbath any thought, but while most of us were gone to a conference in Atlanta, he managed to get stuck in the bottle and got his fool self killed. I am having a little difficulty restraining myself (now that I’ve started writing) from eulogizing the poor bird, who was a mess at the best of times, and frequently contumacious, but he really was a beautiful little thing.

(cdm | PoorArnie)