The Big Black Dog

We adopted a dog here at OIO. Last week a stray showed up, a long-haired black lab, perhaps two yeas old. He had no collar but seemed to be comfortable around people. We all yearned to pet him but could not because the poor doggie was infested with ticks. Some of the people in the office gave him the tick repellant and then took him to the animal shelter to get shots and have a bath. The ticks fell off and he became our official mascot. First he was called Ticky (for obvious reasons). Other names were suggested, like Wolfgang and Poochini, (operatic inspirations, of course), even Ozark, but just plain Oz seemed to stick. He was a beautiful dog. I say 'was' because he is no longer with us here. A relative of a student drove all the way here from Connecticut to collect Oz and bring him to a new permanent home on the East Coast. It's the best thing -- the animal needs a permanent home. But we all miss him already.