Goodbye, Apple, We All Miss You

On April 30, 2024, one of our favorite neighbors said sad goodbye to her beloved dog, Apple. Six days earlier, she took the animal to a veterinarian for surgery to remove a mass on the rump. But the procedure had to be aborted, and our neighbor received an overall grim prognosis but still with some months, even longer, of expected life left. Apple declined, however, looks like mainly because of the surgery, and she died. I received the teary phone call one week ago; yes, last Wednesday.

Already our neighbor suffered the loss of University Heights East’s favorite cat, Bruce, who vanished over Memorial Day weekend 2023. Beloved neighborhood runners-up: Pepto and Rick, who Apple visited on her walks. We all loved the dog, and our neighbor had amazing rapport and daily routine with Apple.

Cats Guido and Little quickly caught on to something amiss. Both “cried”, as their wailing was described; Little roamed rooms searching for Apple. They were buddies.

Yesterday, when my wife and I walked by our neighbor’s house, we saw the commemorative rock, placed something like a gravestone, in the front yard. If nothing else, other folks wondering where is our neighbor and her dog will see and understand the sad situation.

Okay, let’s discuss the Featured Image. Dissatisfied with the four shots taken using Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, I returned today with Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/2500 sec, 28mm; 11:10 a.m. PDT. Composed as captured.

Goodbye, Apple, we all miss you.