17 November

The Bog: The Americans

by Jon Katz
The Americans
The Americans

The Bog is a local tavern and bar, it is reputed to have the best hamburgers for miles around, and this is true. They also have salads and turkey sandwiches, Maria and I love to go to the Bog on nasty nights like this one, when it is snowing and sleeting and the temperature is plunging.

The Bog is a dark and cozy place, some of my friends find it a little intimidating – bikers love the bog and so do some of the big men in trucks. Maria and I have never found it uncomfortable to be in the bog, we always feel welcome there, and I love the dark den-like feeling of the place, especially on awful nights like this when we come to find the wood stove roaring and somebody always shooting some pool.

It’s the perfect cold and rainy night place, a roadhouse really, there is a Bog in just about every town in America.

17 November

Dot’s Return

by Jon Katz
Dot's Return
Dot’s Return

Dot returned to cardiac rehab today after a hospital stay for surgery, Red rushed to meet her at the door and she bent over to kiss him on the nose. It is humbling to see the effort it took Dot to do that – she could do very little rehab today. She said she is very glad to be back in rehab, she missed it and she missed Red. I have six more visits before my own rehab is completed, and i have some time to decide if I want to enroll in Phase 3, which gives me the use of the rehab exercise machines and facilities indefinitely for a small fee.

I’ll have to think about it. The nurses walked with Dot down the hallway she walked painfully and slowly. Someone asked her who the dog was, and she said, “oh, that’s Red, that’s Jon’s dog, he is the best thing about cardiac rehab.” Working animals need to work, it is cruel to deprive them of it, is their destiny and purpose.

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