“Every dog has his day.”
– Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet and playwright

“Damn it, boy,” he exclaimed. “You’re like a dog with bone!”

It was an expression my father used often when I was a kid – especially when I became fixated on one thought or idea, like the time I wanted a horse. I nattered away at him unrelentingly about the benefits of owning a pony until at last he relented.   

His comment always confused me, because I thought he meant I was being greedy. I got that impression from an old 45 I used to listen to called The Greedy Old Dog. I can’t recall the artist’s name anymore, but it told about an old dog with a bone crossing a bridge. When he saw his own reflection...

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