her nose was nearly touching the tire

Chilliwack, British Columbia is a city of 70,000 located 60 miles inland from Vancouver, in the Fraser valley on the banks of that same famous salmon river. Snow capped mountains, the Vedder River and Cultus Lake are some of a few things that enhance this rural agricltural area......less expensive housing and outdoor activities as well as proximity to the city contribute to this areas fast growth.

1957

I had a job working at Butchart Motors....I am the lot guy ....I clean up the used cars so they look clean and bright for resale.....Jobs are tough to get but when the last lot man quit my dad got me on at Butchart's working with him....Dad fixed the used cars up and got them running properly...he was very good at this and could use his bag of tricks to keep those old cars in shape..... I worked there in the fall of 57 and spring 58.....There was a separate garage at the back of the Plymouth dealership to work on the used cars....One day in Feb...58 this little female Labrador like dog shows up...just a pup.....maybe 6-9 months old......I really take a shine to this mutt..she looks just like a lab but only half the size .....so I make a fuss and we make friends right away.....We leave after work and the dog is still there...oh well...she will go home now...somebody must be worried about a good dog like that.....Back to work the next day and after a short while guess who shows up....Hey... you rascal...you still here....what's with you....she is excited to see us and I am starting to think dog....I like this dog....hmmm what is going to happen here? I get the feeling I am going to own a dog....she hangs around all day and follows me everywhere....I take her home that night (I am living at home ...with mum and dad)...the little black lab passes inspection with my mum......But it is your dog and you will have to look after it...you know...that stuff...Okay mum..thanks .....that is great.....but let's not get to positive on this, that little pooch could run home tomorrow..........but...... she did not....I took her to work everyday ...nothing ...I heard nothing...I turned off the radio and listened for ads...nope...nothing...hey I owned a dog....and a fine dog she was.....she had 1 litter before I had her spay.......I was as excited as an expectant father.....that was sure fun......she was with us 11 years....what a great pal...the kids were born and grew up with "Pepper"...she went everywhere with me.......even to work.......When I apprenticed at a sign shop on kingsway Street in Vancouver I often left her in the building overnight....she was okay with that and seemed to know that was her job....she always looked for me out the front door, on busy Kingsway......one morning I came around to the door ,but decided to go to the hangout coffee shop across the road.....I seen out of the corner of my eye that she had watched me cross....just then a co worker, Max, went into the sign shop.......I was across the road ...there were cars, lots of cars swishing by on the wet pavment ...Oh gawd...I seen her bolt out of the door when Max opened it.....to follow me.....then a big car came to a sliding screeching halt...that was it...I had lost her......my god...the traffic stopped...I ran over to the front of that car and she was flat on the ground ...like flat, with her head between her paws...her nose was nearly touching the tire.......she did not move....like she was frozen....I reached down and picked her up.....she was not touched...not even a bit.....I could not believe the luck....Wow, I thanked the shook up young man driving and carried her back to the shop.....a close call.....she had an extra life that day.....she was a knowing little mutt.....
We were fishing hundreds of times...she would cross the river anywhere....If I lost track of Pepper out on the river ...she would go back to where the car was parked or head to the Riverside Coffee Shop...other fishermen friends would pick her up and take her to the store....that was one of her bad points ..she loved to wander on the river....she knew she would get in trouble but she wandered anyway....but it did not worry me too much, she always returned to either the car or coffee shop....she probably did that one out of 10 trips....she learned quickly and loved to please...........I could tell a lot of Pepper stories...It was a very sad day when she was too sick to go on....My friend Lew took care of the "arrangements"..I could not do it....and Lew had a pretty tough time too.