There are particular nuggets of memories from my childhood tumbling about, Sutters Mill waiting for me to wade into the chilly snowmelt off the Sierra Nevada (only tourists call them the Sierra Nevadas), just waiting for my mind’s eye to catch the glint, and then I remember.

February 14, 1970, was my childhood dog’s birthday. Andy Capp,  named after the comic strip character. And we went and picked him up on my third birthday. So, to bug my sister, I would forever claim the dog was mine alone and not the family’s dog.

Andy chewed up her Barbie and some of my Legos that first year we had him.

Happy birthday, Andy.