I don’t have kids, so you get to see photos of my pets instead! They are the inspiration for many of my QSL cards. They were all adopted from shelters around the Kansas City area (Wayside Waifs and Great Plains SPCA).
Truman
Truman is a three-legged beagle. He’s originally from Mississippi, where he was found wandering by the side of the road after being hit by a car. His rear right leg unfortunately had to be amputated, but he has thrived as a tripod, and it thankfully doesn’t present too much of a disability to his daily life. (Honestly, it makes so little difference to our day-to-day life that it’s almost a little startling when people point out that he’s missing a leg).
After getting transferred out of Mississippi and bouncing between shelters for a bit, Truman was being fostered by my sister-in-law Samantha in November 2023. We randomly met him when we went over for Thanksgiving that year – one thing led to another, and a few days later we officially adopted him. However, he still gets to spend a lot of time with his “other family”, Samantha and her wife Joy.
Truman is a beagle, which means he’s 90% nose and 10% nose support system. He loves to go for long walks in the woods, stopping to smell every single blade of grass. His sense of smell really is remarkable – if there’s anything either alive or edible within 50 feet, he knows almost immediately and wants to investigate. He’s an extremely intelligent and inquisitive dog, who’s not a huge fan of sitting around all day. We try to find activities for him to do to keep him engaged, like puzzle feeders and scent training kits. He also goes to dog daycare a lot these days while I’m at the office.
He’s a incredibly loyal and loving dog who helped me get through some not-so-pleasant times. I’m very grateful to have him in my life.
Radar
Radar graciously allows us to believe that we own the house.
Otter
Otter is the spicy one of the bunch. He was a “foster fail” – a cat I adopted after originally just intending to temporarily foster him. He originally ended up in a time-out from the shelter because he was too hostile and aggressive with the volunteers – fostering him was a last ditch attempt to socialize him before he’d get shipped off to be a farm cat somewhere in Kansas.
When I brought him home and let him out of the carrier, the first thing he did was scratch my hand so hard that it bled all over the carpet. He then spent six hours hiding in a guitar amplifier while I desperately searched the house trying to find him. (He was my first foster animal from the shelter, and I was dreading having to call them and tell them that I’d managed to lose him within five minutes of bringing him home).
It took several weeks to gain his trust – this was during COVID, so I just kept him in my office with me while I worked from home. After a few weeks of feeding him and giving him treats, he’d let me approach him, then pet him, then finally pick him up. After that, I was able to take him downstairs and introduce him to Radar, and it was like a light switch went off – once he realized there were other cats around, he suddenly seemed to trust us and want to be around us a lot more.
Today, Otter has left his juvenile delinquent past behind him. He is best friends (and judo partners) with Danny, and a devoted servant of Radar. His other hobby is to sit in the front window and watch the birds at our bird feeders.
Danny
Derpy Dan’s official biography will be coming soon.
Bonnie
My XYL and I seem to have always had at least one grouchy old lady cat who lives in our bedroom and has a strained-at-best relationship with the rest of the cats. This position’s current occupant is Bonnie. She is an elderly tortoiseshell tabby who is mostly deaf.
Bonnie unfortunately has what the kids these days call a “resting bitch face” – she always looks furiously angry. This is convenient for her, since she spends about 80% of her time furiously angry or otherwise upset about something. She does not get along with the two orange boys at all, and will start hissing at them if they get within 15 feet of her.
She can be a nice chill cat when she wants to be. She enjoys quiet cuddles and sitting in the sun, as well as keeping an eye on the neighborhood out our window. Surprisingly, she gets along fine with Truman – they realized within about 5 seconds that they could just ignore each other, and there have been no issues since. She likes to sit on the bed with me and Truman while I read in the evenings.
Group Photos
Thankfully, all of our pets seem to be pretty good friends (with the exception of Bonnie, who hates everyone except Radar). Otter and Danny enjoy chasing each other around the house, while Radar lounges on the couch like a Roman watching gladiators.
Truman is slowly warming up to the cats. He thinks Danny is ok. Maybe. A bit.
Thank You!
If you got this far down the page, I just wanted to say thank you for reading – I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about my pets. This page may seem excessive, but I have always been a little sad that these fascinating animals, with their own vibrant lives and personalities, are completely unknown to anyone other than me and my wife. They have enriched my life beyond measure, and I will always be grateful to them.