Hopefully this is the saddest news I'll hear today.

I've written before, here and here, about Dino, my neighbor's dog. The last time I mentioned him was last month. I'd been talking to my neighbor's daughter, and she'd told me that Dino was feeling his age quite a bit, and that he'd probably be gone soon.

I told myself then that, the next time I saw lounging in his yard, I'd walk over to see him.

I never did see him, so I never took that walk.

And now it's too late.

My neighbor told me this morning that she'd had poor Dino put down. His arthritis had progressed to the point where he couldn't even walk anymore, and he was in constant pain. And now his pain is over.

I'm sad. He was the first living creature to greet me after I moved into this house. I'd been out shoveling snow and he came running across the street at me. I remember thinking for a second that he was going to attack me or something, but all he wanted to do was try to catch the flung snow before it hit the ground.

To anyone driving by that day, I must have looked like a real asshole, throwing shovelful after shovelful of snow at that dog. But I couldn't have missed him if I'd tried, and he had fun, and so did I.

He was a good boy.