pic of the day - Hank Parker

Meet Hank Parker. For those of you who might be outdoorsmen or women, you might know that Hank Parker hosts, or used to host, a fishing show on one of the outdoor networks. To answer your question, yes, this fuzzy creature who is the closest thing to my sibling, as we share my parents, is named for that very Hank Parker. He is an eleven year old Airedale Terrier, stands a good 3 foot tall, and weighs nearly 90-100 pounds. When he was a little bitty puppy, he was mostly black with a curly tan face. I could pick him up and tote him around like a chimpanzee (a secret dream of mine - I've always wanted my own chimp). Now, he's more like a small horse that could tote me around. With the sad farewell of his favorite nephew-dog Pax last year, Hank assumed the role of the canine patriarch of our family, and has done so with great dignity. He is quite the fine old man with his daily bursts of fun and energy. Both of he knees have been injured over the years, both having needed surgeries afterward. Bless his heart, he's not the most agile of dogs anymore, and getting up off the floor is sometimes slowgoing, but boy does he have heart. Whenever anyone comes to the backdoor, myself and my parents included, he goes into a most overwhelming barking/howling fit that would make one think something might be ungoing torture. It is pure love and joy coming from that teeth quivering bark though. He's endured many a nickname over his time...as a puppy, he was Hankster the Prankster as he was always theiving things and hiding them. His favorite game ever. For no reason other than humor we've called him Hanky Panky. Now that my folks have the little black bullet of a dog named Tootie, they are known together as Honk Honk and Toot Toot. My personal favorite is a name he gained after I read Janet Evanovich's series of Stephanie Plum novels (I highly reccomend all 16 of them for those of who have not read them. SOOOO stinking funny I laugh out loud in every book). Stephanie has a cousin she lovingly refers to as "Shirley the Whiner." Not one single hour of waking hours goes by but what Hank doesn't whine. For such a gorilla of dog, he is the biggest whiny baby. My mother deserves a crown the size of Texas for having to endure that whine all day long. Hank is getting old. The vet told us nearly two years ago that he would likely be gone in six months to a year due to bone cancer. Two years and no signs of any kind of cancer and he's still whining. Still, we know the majority of his life is past us so whining and all, we love him dearly and spoil him as rotten as we can. One day, we'll finish a meal and it will be silent. No whining. It will not be the same without Shirley.