A View of the Valley

by Linda Schwanke This week’s issue of the Home News features our annual special edition of Pawsome Pets. It’s one of four or five special editions that the NewsPub editors join forces on to bring you features about pets, spring and fall home and gardening tips, the great outdoors and stories about this wonderful area we live.  It can be a challenge to find time to write the stories, on top of our already busy schedules, but for me at least they are a joy. If meeting coverage is the bread and butter of community news, features are the chocolate cake. I don’t get to write features as often as I’d like and they are satisfying in a way other stories sometimes aren’t.  This job teaches me new and different things every single day. Not always things I want to know – like how a sanitary sewer system works – but things I need to know to be able to write the stories you need to read. The special section features, though, are always fun. I can, within reason and the topic at hand, pick what I want to learn about and then share that with you.  For this year’s Pawsome Pets story I picked the topic of how pets are good for us. It’s a subject close to my heart right at the moment because my doggy-niece Bella passed away a few weeks ago. Bella was a fluffy little Maltese, the only tiny dog I’ve ever had a close relationship with. She was such a bright light in our lives that it was hard to remember, at times, that she was a dog. Even Bella, at times, seemed to forget she was a dog. Freya, our Norwegian Elkhound, wasn’t quite convinced that Bella was a dog either, and would try to puzzle out how to play with her when she was so tiny. The two eventually figured out how to play chase and bark at the moon and any passing bird, squirrel or potential threat like a leaf blowing down the street and enjoyed each other’s company.  Dogs, like people, all have their own personalities and Bella was bursting with personality. She knew she was the cutest thing ever. She loved to dress up in her sweaters and jackets. She pranced around waiting to put them on and show off her adorableness. She loved nothing better than to dash to up to people, roll over and present her tummy for rubs. It did not matter to her who you were, belly rubs were a must and almost everyone obliged her because she was impossible to resist.  When Bella lived, with her mom, my niece Shannon, and grandma, my sister Leah, next door to the Home News office she would bark at the connecting door when she heard me get to the office. I’d have to have my morning snuggle with her before she would let me work and it was always a good way to begin my day. When Shannon would ask her if she wanted walkies with Auntie Linda she would race from one end of the office to the other and we would set off around the block together, looking for adventure. She tended to hop like a tiny bunny when she was excited and it was the funniest thing ever. I adored her. After a dinner one evening, a friend who was a big dog guy was sitting on the couch chatting. He said he never liked small dogs. Bella apparently understood what he was saying and set out to change his mind. She jumped up on him and wiggled and cuddled her way into his heart.  Which is pretty much the way she lived her life. She was the biggest tiny part of our lives. Like all pets whose time has come, she is deeply missed. Like all pets, she will live on in our hearts. Stay in touch. My phone number is (608) 574-3159 – call or text me anytime. You can also email me at homenewseditor@newspubinc.com or write to me at the Home News, P.O. Box 39, Spring Green WI 53588.  Visit our website at homenewsrv.com Get in touch with Gwen for sports or features at homenewssports@newspubinc.com. If you need a display ad, Dave Pronold can be reached at homenewssales@newspubinc.com or by calling him on his cell at 588-4777. Display ads, or ads that are in boxes, are due by 1 p.m. on Wednesdays for the Buyer’s Guide and Home News. The classified ad deadline is noon Thursdays the week prior to publication for both the Buyer’s Guide and Home News. Classified rates are $13 for the first 10 words, then 30¢ per word for each additional word. Call (608) 767-3655 or email classifieds@newspubinc.com  Legal notices are due by 2 p.m. on Fridays, email them to legals@newspubinc.com Call the NewsPub central office at (608) 767-3655 for subscriptions and all other information Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, although afternoon hours can vary. Closed Fridays.