Tag Archives: Caylor-Browns

Buddy the Dachshund March 30, 2005-November 9, 2021: In Memoriam

. Family, Pets, Uncategorized . , , , , ,
Buddy’s “I love you pose” . We have NO IDEA when or where he learned it.

I first saw Buddy at 613 Flagstone in Ft. Oglethorpe at Ray Brown’s (Sean’s dad) house early 2006. He had been neglected, a rescue dog, and brought to Sean’s office to go to Ray’s house. He didn’t even have a name. You could also tell that children had annoyed him and/or abused him. There were neither scars nor broken bones on this thin, handsome miniature black and tan dachshund with a wounded soul. Sean said he was timid and covered with mud when he was brought to the office. Sean gave him a bath, made sure he had plenty to eat, then transported Buddy to Ft. Oglethorpe to be with Ray.  

The evening I first saw Buddy he was already spoiled. Buddy had already been eating people food (fried chicken, bacon, cubed steak, whatever Ray had fixed for himself that he shared with Buddy), tried to sleep in Ray’s huge, king-sized bed but didn’t know quite what to do since he had slept outside probably on a chain for a year, but Buddy already felt LOVED. Buddy would not stop springing up to our knees showing his delight for whatever kindness we showed him. It was dark that evening, but I took him for a walk around Ray’s neighborhood. Ray was using an oxygen tank 24/7, and it was difficult for him take Buddy out frequently. Oh, yes, Buddy… he didn’t have his name yet. From the time I met Ray late 2003, his #1 nickname for Sean was “Buddy”. After Buddy had been with Ray for a few days, Sean mentioned to his dad that “Buddy” would be an easy name for Ray to remember. Ray loved the idea, and it didn’t take long for our intelligent little dachshund to recognize his name.

In the beginning, Buddy was a HORRIBLE car rider. In May of 2006, I took him to be neutered. He was all over the vehicle whining. He would even place his front paws up on the steering wheel and peer over it. He looked like he was driving, and to any passer-by up high enough along side of me to see into my truck they could see Buddy “driving”. He also jumped down into the floor board near my feet several times while I was driving. He made me a nervous wreck! Thanks be to God, by the autumn of 2021, he was calm, cool, and collected as he rode in a vehicle.

The last week of January 2007 Ray had to be admitted to Memorial Hospital. After visiting Ray on his admission evening, I drove past Ray’s house to pick up Buddy and Murphy ( a rescue cat) to bring them to our house until Ray was better. Sophie our female dachshund who was our “baby” until Ammon and Carter came along was a bit jealous of Buddy, but not too bad. The worst part of having her guest was sharing her food. Her food was off limits, but her love and care towards Buddy had NO LIMITS. Buddy was totally confused and afraid of using the stairs. As I mentioned in our tribute to Sophie when she passed in 2018, she taught Buddy how to use the stairs. It was a marvel that I will never forget as long as I have a memory. She taught him to take his time and conquer one stair at a time until he was down to the first floor. Several days later, he could go both up and down the stairs. On January 27, 2007, Buddy became our permanent fur child when Ray passed. The rest for us was nearly 15 years of Buddy joy. He was our “Buddy-Buddy boy who gave us Buddy-Buddy joy”.

He did finally love sleeping in a bed.
Buddy’s favorite position on the Bonus Room couch.
Tolerating a pic made by Sean

Buddy was so faithful to Sophie, Sean, Ammon, Carter, and to me. He didn’t know he was a miniature anything. Except for squirrel or his favorite, rabbit tangents, he would walk/jog with us for an hour. After his diversion off the jogging track in and around the barn or through some thicket of trees or shrubs, he would be right back near our feet trotting at our jogging pace. While he was healthy, he only took one jogging break after the neighbor’s dog bit him on his back. He was out of commission for about 2 weeks, but soon he was right back to the jogging. Both Buddy and Sophie LOVED running up on Grindstone Mountain with me and the coonhounds which we did on a regular basis until Carter and Ammon were born the autumn of 2008. It was Sophie’s last trip up on Grindstone December 30, 2017 that we noticed that both Buddy’s agility and eye sight were waning. He misjudged a leap across a boulder and fell in a crevice that was perhaps 8 inches deep. He was by no means harmed. It was well-padded with fallen leaves. We scooped him out quickly. We also noticed that he had trouble on the house steps that went from wood steps to carpet steps. Something about his clouding cataracts caused trouble in the visual transition. By the end of 2020, we started carrying Buddy up and the down the stairs because he kept trying to judge the stairs, misjudged them, then tumbled backwards to kitchen floor.

He had several bouts of health problems from back pain (hereditary dachshund back ailments as well as where the neighbor dog bit him), teeth problems, and finally congestive heart failure! We thought we were going to lose him on April 25 of 2021. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, but all the symptoms were looking like pneumonia. The vet at the emergency room clinic wanted to put him down. We said, “In the name of treating a 16 years old dachshund with mercy, please treat him for pneumonia with a powerful antibiotic, and if he lives through the night at his house, then he will die where he is loved.” She complied and we brought him home. He did make it through the night, and he lived for another 6 months!

The first week of November, Buddy made it through a seizure that Sean saw as remarkable. The next morning after the seizure, Buddy acted fairly normal and ate quite a bit of baked chicken. However, it quickly went downhill that evening and the next day. When the vet told us Buddy had kidney failure just a few days after his seizure, we really thought he would rally and make it through the New Year. We had seen Buddy rally so many times. We weren’t fools. We knew that day would come when he wouldn’t “bounce back”. That day came on Tuesday morning November 9, 2021. Sean had been Buddy’s constant nurse maid for almost a week. Sean was with his “Buddy” (remember Buddy was Ray’s endearing name for Sean for decades) until Buddy took his last dog breath and crossed into dog eternity. We know Sophie was waiting for her brother and Ray was reunited with his fur baby, “Buddy”. The three are all enjoying heaven together as I type this.

Thank you, God , for our fur babies and our fur “buddies” especially our Buddy-Buddy Boy.

Outside , geriatric “romp”
Buddy & Lexie/ The Pro
Buddy helping Daddy H with a 2021 Power Point Presentation

Kraków, Poland

. European Destinations, Family, Family Travel, Poland, Train Travel . , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As their historical readings for 4th grade, Sean, Carter, and Ammon had been reading multiple books from the Holocaust: The Hiding Place, Irina’s Children & Anne Frank. Sean had read Schindler’s List by himself then he paraphrased / abridged, then taught Ammon and Carter some events that had happened with Jews and the Polish people in Krakow, Poland. Shindler’s Factory is almost 2 miles from downtown Krakow. By the time we finished the logistics of our Polish Summer, we knew we wanted to spend the most of our time in Krakow. We also decided to save Krakow for the end of our Caylor-Brown Polish Experience 2019. It was not just the engaging history and charming Polish architecture we were looking forward to in Krakow, but the geographic region is very much like Southeast Tennessee too: rolling hills, low-lying mountains, and lots of summer-green.

The 21st Century high-tech Polish passenger trained had taken 4 hours to get from Gdansk to Krakow. We had been anticipating Krakow for 2 weeks. The greenery of the Polish fields and the demure mountains of southern Poland pulled us like a magnet into the Krakow-Glowny Railway Station.

train_krakow
One of those adventurous, engaging European train rides from Gdansk to Krakow- July 3, 2019

By taxi, we found our wonderful apartment (full apartment – huge Great Room -living room/dining area/kitchen , hallway, bathroom w/clothes washer, and huge bedroom … like $75/night). The Caylor-Browns were neither disappointed with the apartment nor the city of Krakow.

Krakow_kitchen
You can tell by the size of the full kitchen kitchen how large the apartment is.

Milk Bar (s)– large cities in Poland have popular restaurants called Milk Bars. It’s cafeteria style and sells the same foods (perhaps a SLIGHT CHANGE of menu taking out some breakfast foods around noonish) all day long starting at 8 AM. If you find yourself at a Milk Bar in Poland be ready for lots of potatoes, beets, peas & carrots

I think we ate here at least once a day for 7 days.. well, almost. My most memorable moment was when, I think, a native Krakow couple was eating at this Milk Bar. The mentally disabled gentleman of the couple walked up to our table, grabbed a fork, and ate my remaining potatoes from off my plate!

The City of Krakow (associate the paragraph with the below photos)

I am really looking forward to returning to the St. Mary’s Basilica. It has been my favorite building of worship in Europe since I started traveling in 1984. I’ve only felt this spiritual connection one other time at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, but I was only there for an hour. I was in Krakow for a week. Each morning after my morning jog (finishing up around gulp!….. 6:30 AM!! Sunrise was about 5AM), I entered the basilica, knelt, and prayed. They weren’t just rote-memorized prayers, but Spirit-lead… everything from my family, to distant friends, to the Polish people, to world peace, to Milk Bars! LOL I really felt a spiritual connection while in the basilica. Wawel Castle is on a hill overlooking the Vistula River. The castle (begun sometime around 1038) sits over rock caverns one of which was the home of the legendary Wawel Dragon. The bronze, fire-breathing dragon is a leviathan of enjoyment. It breathes fire about every 5-10 minutes.

 
 



  • St. Mary’s Basilica
  • Wawel Castle
  • Vistula River
  • Wawel Dragon near his cavernous lair

There was a lot to do in Krakow proper, but I want to venture to some nearby attractions with you all: The Wieliczka Salt Mines and the Oskar Schindler Factory (Krakow Museum). The salt mine has 26 subterranean caverns. One of which is a chapel to worship. All the walls and sculptures in the salt mine are made of salt. If you go to Krakow for any length of time, you must take a tour of this mine: Well worth the money.

Huge Chapel in salt mine

From 1939 to 1944 Oskar Schindler, an official member of the Nazi Party, had an enamel factory in Krakow. Between the Krakow Ghetto ( walking distance to the Factory) and the Plaszow Work Camp, Mr. Schindler saved 1,200 Jews from extermination. In 1962, he was declared a Righteous Gentile by Yad Vashem, Israel’s official agency for remembering the Holocaust. According to his wishes, he was buried on Mt. Zion , Jerusalem. Thanks be to God for such human beings as Oskar Schindler.

Schindler’s Desk & Schindler’s Secretary’s Desk . One of only 2 preserved 1940 rooms of the museum.
 

Two more things:

Nazis topple Krakow/Polish History

1) There is an underground museum in the Market Square. It commemorates Middle Ages Krakow. We were not allowed to take photos, so I will allow Trip Advisor to give you all a tour. 

2) Several countries, Russia, Austria, and Germany (Nazis) have tried to erase Poland from the world: Literally. When people do this, they eradicate art (sculptures, STATUES), literature, music, and language. They wish to ERASE your identity …. your heritage. While we were at the Schindler Museum I took a photo of a photo where Nazis were toppling a provincial / national Polish statue attempting to erase history. Folks, since the dawn of civilization, groups have done unnecessary sometimes horrific atrocities. No person, city, state, nation, or empire is blameless. That doesn’t mean we erase the art, literature, and heritage from the past. We simply need not repeat man’s inhumanity to man. 

I hope you have enjoyed this Krakow blog. If you happen to be following chronologically, you are approaching my final blog of Poland. It will be a blog covering our trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau. As I write the final words of this blog, I am already very emotional in my soul with its preparation. I am praying that I will do the experience of Auschwitz justice and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me.

Warsaw, Poland: June 26-June 30, 2019

. European Destinations, Family, Family Travel, Poland . , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

On the Vistula River: The Mermaid is the symbol of the city
Copernicus Science Center: Warsaw
Our favorite Polish dish: Pierogi!
The Marie Curie house & Museum that was a 5 minute walk from our house.
Tour of Warsaw with Lucas our guide.

Polish people never yearn for freedom. They fight for it! 

To understand the courage and resilience of Warsaw (and Poland) I want to take you all back to 1920. After 120 years of not existing as a country on the world globe, Poland had become a country again after World War I. It was strong, vibrant, and ready to blaze into the 20th Century as an independent nation. However, it had made two enemies, Russia and Germany, with rabid instincts to retake the lands they had held during those 120 years. Germany was too busy recuperating from the economic depression and high unemployment during the 1920s to pay much attention to Poland, but Russia with its newly instituted Red Army tried to take Poland in August of 1920. World History rarely teaches how Poland beat the crap out of the Red Army and they went running back to Russia leaving Poland alone to “enjoy” the Roaring Twenties.

Poland experienced two decades of peace and prosperity. It was the envy of Europe. Warsaw was bourgeoisie and lively. Back in Germany, Adolf Hitler had set Germany on a route to European as well as world domination. In a rare and short-lived alliance of political, polar opposites, fascist Germany allied itself with communist Russia to CRUSH Poland so they could regain “their” lands of the 19th century. Very few history books tell students that Poland almost recuperated from Germany’s September 1939 blitzkrieg. Germany had exhausted its ammunition, and Poland was ready to turn them back: Enter Russia on Poland’s Eastern front. Poland could not defend itself on both sides, and it fell.

 

Warsaw Uprising Museum:
Replica of the Warsaw Sewers where brave children helped to liberate their city!

One of the saddest parts of the Nazi occupation was the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto that housed 200,000 Jewish people. Jews from all over Europe had been shipped to Warsaw for their holding until they could be forwarded to extermination camps such as Auschwitz Birkenau or Treblinka. Two heroes (on opposite ends of the survival spectrum) emerged: Irena Sendler and Janusz Korczak. Irena Sendler was a nurse in Warsaw who with her resistance group helped save over 1000 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto. Although she risked her life, was beaten, and tortured (like whipped the soles of her feet then they broke her legs), and almost executed several times, she survived and lived until 2008. Janusz Korczak was a children’s author (“King Matt the First”) and a doctor. He took care of the orphaned, Jewish children in the Warsaw Ghetto. When the Nazis decided to ship the Jewish orphans to Treblinka for extermination, Dr. Korczak refused to leave their side even after Christians and the resistance begged him to stay in Warsaw and fight. Janusz died with his children in Treblinka.

Janusz Korczak: National Hero of Warsaw and Poland

Janusz Korczak was a doctor and and a children’s author who refused to be separated from the Jewish orphans from Warsaw. They were all exterminated in Treblinka.

 

Americans call the August 1944 uprising to take over its city the Warsaw Uprising but the English words in Warsaw say Warsaw Rising. The people of Warsaw knew the allies were headed to Berlin, and when they arrived in Warsaw to help deliver it, they wanted to show them that they were a free city who had liberated itself. They fought for 3 months: men, women, children (ran electricity lines and utilized the sewer city with great effect), clergymen, EVERYONE. Part of the city was even FREE. However, German forces were still embedded in the city, and their supply lines were still healthy. The Polish people hoped and prayed that either the allies or the Russians could send help, but help never came. If you travel to Warsaw, the Uprising Museum is a MUST SEE.

Outside the Uprising Museum
Warsaw Uprising Museum:
Replica of the Warsaw Sewers where brave children helped to liberate their city!
Warsaw Uprising museum

 

The Germans may have been losing ground in Western Europe, but they were going to severely punish Warsaw for its uprising. Because so many Germans were still rat-nested throughout the city and could not be evacuated (Russian forces were just a few miles away waiting to pounce on German troops to arrive… if they arrived!), Germany gave all civilians 48 hours to get out of the city, flee to wherever, because the bombing planes were going to OBLITERATE the city, and they did. In the Uprising Museum, there is a 5 minute 3D video of the post-obliteration of the city. It looks like a nuclear holocaust: The church to the right is St. Augustine’s church. It was spared, not because the Nazis respected this Catholic Church, but because it held Nazi ammunition, foods, and medical supplies.

Bombed Warsaw October 1944
St. Augustine’s Spared Church: Only because it held Nazi ammunition

 

So, Poland became communist in 1945. The Polish people suffered greatly under communism, but they persevered.

Warsaw_communist

The Soviets took over Poland for 45 years, but they DID NOT take over the Pole’s spirit of Freedom.

 

In 2019, the Polish people are “loud and proud”. They refuse to allow foreign powers to tell them what to do with their people and their government. They are very nationalistic, and keep their wonderful culture flourishing. They love families. The Polish government even pays its families to have more children. The families spend time together, eat together, shop together, and go to church together. The Caylor-Browns experienced their awesome nationalism and hospitality, and we were so impressed. We definitely want to learn more Polish and return to Warsaw soon.