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1 December 2007 -- 28 June 2013 (Photo courtesy Carlin Kimble, Snowy Owl Tours) |
In Memoriam: Poland Springs Centaurus of Seppala
1 December 2007 - 28 June 2013
Review, friends -- troops long past review,
All to fate a weight of pain and dollars.
Their spirits wear our silver collars.
Review, friends -- troops long past review:
Each a dot of time without pretense of guile.
With them passes the lure of fortune.
Review, friends -- troops long past review.
When our time ends on its rictus smile,
We'll pass the lure of fortune.
—Frank Herbert (Dune)
And the "troops" — Centaurus and his honour guard of worthy ancestors — pass in review before me: Poland Springs Centaurus of Seppala. Pyotr of Seppala. Shakal iz Solovyev. Zirconia of Sepp-Alta. Tonya of Seppala. Xpace of Seppalta. River View's Sprite. Surgut of Seppala 2nd. Sepallampo. Dally of Seppa-Alta. Hercules of Sepp-Alta. Karcajou's Dreama of Windigo. Surgut of Markovo. Helen of Markovo. Nutok of Markovo. Mokka of Markovo. Ditko of Seppala. Shango of Seppala. Duska of Seppala. Vanka of Seppala 3rd. Frostfire Anisette. Lyl of Sepsequel.
The living Kolyma of Sepppala, arch-matriarch of Seppala Kennels, stands quietly by my side. Her daughter Cuchi of Seppala is with Peter Duncan in Alaska. They are Centaurus' only living ancestors that remain. Every dog mentioned in the paragraph above I either owned, or bred, or used at stud, or leased for a litter. Each one pauses briefly before me in recognition. Memories, pleasures and regrets come to mind. And each small canine wraith then passes on the winds of the eternal void.
You know you've been at the dog breeding game too long when the ghosts and wraiths outnumber the four-on-the-floor flesh-and-blood dogs of the here and now. Those that I've mentioned above are far from all of that ghostly regiment; they are just the honour guard for Centaurus, who was put down at Snowy Owl Tours in Canmore AB with an incurable cystic condition deep in his throat.
— J. Jeffrey Bragg
