Author: Bob Benz

When our friend Boogie died, we took in her dog, a scrappy five-pound terror named Jingles. Somehow the name doesn’t quite capture the sound and fury of this Maltese. So we started casting around for a new name. And I started thinking of the emperor of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift’s incredible “Gulliver’s Travels.” This was a little man with a big attitude. Just like Jingles. So we decided on a new name for the little guy, retaining his Jingle but adding a bit of attitude. He is now Jingles Golbaste Mamarem Evlame Gurdile Shefin Mully Ully Gue, Delight and Terror of the Universe. Since that’s a lot of name for a little pooch, we’ve shortened it to Mully Jingles.

Here’s Swift’s description of this regal monarch. We think it fits the newest member of our pack (yes, I’m up to five dogs now …)

“Golbaste Mamarem Evlame Gurdile Shefin Mully Ully Gue, Most Mighty Emperor of Lilliput, delight and terror of the universe, whose dominions extend to the ends of the globe, monarch of all monarchs, taller than the sons of men, whose feet press down to the center, and whose head strikes against the sun, at whose nod the princes of the earth shake their knees, pleasant as the spring, comfortable as the summer, fruitful as autumn, dreadful as winter.”

Yup. That’s Mully Jingles. If you want to see a few photos of him, click here.

And if you have never read “Gulliver’s Travels,” snap it up. Incredible book. Swift was an incredible satirist.

I”ve been walking my dogs at Melton Hill Park every weekend for several years. This morning, for the first time, we saw deer. I’d always seen deer scat and tracks, but never actually seen one. This morning we saw two.

Shots were ringing out over the ridge while we walked, so I knew the deer hunters were over on TVA land. As I rounded a turn with Xena and Ozzy, I heard something rustling up ahead. At first, I thought it was two large German shepherds. But their gait and then their size made it clear they were a pair of bucks. The dogs never actually saw them because the grass was so tall, so we didn’t have a chase seen. When the bucks saw me, they split, with one turning back and the other moving even closer. I got within about 30 yards, then he took off over the hill. It was a nice complement to a crisp autumn morning. Most of the leaves are down now, and it really changes the way the light filters through the woods at sunrise.

And the deer were foreshadowed. Last night, Lara brought home a cooler full of venison. Seems a guy who works for her loves cigars, but his wife won’t let him spend money on them. He’s an avid hunter. I’m an avid Atkins-ite. I told him I’d trade him Padron cigars for deer meet. Can’t wait to toss a few of those steaks on the grill. Now I need to run out and get him some Padrons.

Lara and I lost a dear friend this week. We knew Boogie’s health was failing. She’d been given only a few years to live. But we were stunned when she was robbed of even those few precious years. Rather than dwell on the sadness of losing Boogie, we spent a lot of time talking about the good times and how she brightened our lives.

One of my favorite Boogie stories dates back to the Birmingham days, when we were all hanging out in the kitchen. I was banging on a guitar. Lara was being her cheerful self. And a beleaguered Boogie was trying to make daiquiris. As she struggled to make the drinks, we started heckling her from the peanut gallery.

“Y’all shut up and drink,” she said, just as she hit the start button on the blender.

Without missing a beat, I pounded out a few blues chords on the guitar and howled:

“Y’all shut and and drink/

She said from the sink”

Unfortunately, my lyricism ended there and those are the only words I was able to put to the song. But it lives on in infamy.

You left us too soon, Lynn. But you live on in thousands of fond memories and two incredible children. Thanks for the years you did give us. They were a gift.

Here’s the obituary that ran today in the Montgomery Advertiser:

EVANS, Carol Lynn Rollings, 43, loving mother and award-winning journalist, known affectionately as