[Boomer]

Hi Kate, it is such a good thing that we women are far too genteel to ever talk about farts.

And about those dogs, a vet once told me that retriever types are especially prone to being gassy. I had a dog who was that way. Her mama was a Golden although my dog Mandy was solid black. One of the most memorable dogs of my life.

Now that I have developed a tenuous relationship with Photobucket, maybe I will post a picture sometime of my dog I have now. Annie. Named that because she was an orphan who showed up at the door of our screened porch at our last house. She just looked in that screen door. Right at me.

I was wallowing around in a chaise lounge reading a book when her little face appeared. She was only a few months old. Still had some baby teeth so the vet knew approximate age. That was more than 15 years ago. She is a beauty. Aren't they all. Her breed? I call her breed "Nature's Finest Genetic Engineering."

Hey, Whalen, I just saw that New York thing. I really need to go there again. It has been too many years. I always wanted to go sometime and just be a theater glutton. Go from one play to the next. Fellow boomer Dolly Parton now has "9 to 5" there as a musical I see. Talk about a woman's show huh. I still remember that movie and I still laugh about it. In fact, I should track it down on DVD.

I give Dolly a lot of credit. I think she is a genius.

One of my favorite things I ever heard her say was when she was still carrying weight. Before she was so tiny like she is now. You know how there is always that whole thing about deep-seated reasons for overeating. Rotten childhood. Bad relationships. All the stuff we always hear.

Dolly had commented about how she dressed. Said she realized that her clothes made her look like she was trying to stuff 10 pounds of potatoes into a 5 pound sack.

And then Dolly said, "I don't eat too much because my mama smacked me. I eat too much because I am a damned hawg."

I just love it when a woman shoots straight.

Boomer