Hope springs eternal

I’ll admit – even though Peanuts comics are now in reruns (a concept I once thought only applicable to TV shows), I still read the strip daily.  As soon as I saw yesterday’s strip, I knew I had to share it with you:

Peanuts
(via comics.com)

I couldn’t stop laughing – Bella deals with this internal struggle every day.  Even though her feeding schedule has consisted of breakfast and dinner since time immemorial (aka when we adopted her), she doesn’t let the past dampen her hope for the future.  When she barrels through the door after spending time outside, she runs straight to the bowl and checks it.  When she comes downstairs after a nap, she checks the bowl.  When she finishes eating, she walks away… then walks back and checks the bowl just in case.  You never know when food might magically appear, after all.

Once I stopped laughing (and believe me, it took a while), I started thinking about how perfectly Charles Schulz portrayed Snoopy.  Sure, he was a (sometimes) talking dog with a bird for a best friend… but strips like the one above really capture the canine personality (or at least Bella’s).  However, I wouldn’t expect anything less from the man who reminded us that “happiness is a warm puppy.”

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16 thoughts on “Hope springs eternal

  1. I love Peanuts. Even now it is my favourite comic strip. And I never miss a special on television, even own a few of them on DVD. There is something about a kid who reads "War and Peace" that just gets me. And, of course, the dog. Snoopy is the ultimate fantasy dog.

    What a cute story about Bella! I giggled when I pictured her diving for her bowl. That's too cute.

  2. Riley is sort of like Bella. She does this thing where periodically she goes and licks her bowl. I put powdered supplements in her food, so I think she's just licking up the rest of the powder but she does it a couple times a day.

    My dad showed me this Red and Rover cartoon from Sunday's newspaper that reminded him of Riley…
    http://www.arcamax.com/redandrover/s-819491-946355

    Elyse (and Riley)

  3. Thanks for this post – Peanuts is the best! I'm actually going to go see a documentary tonight on the composer who did Peanuts theme song (the film is called "The Anatomy of Vince Guaraldi" so I've been humming it all afternoon! Maybe I should eat two bowls of food for dinner …

    -Chandra at Daley's Dog Years

  4. Elyse – Bella does that too. Just in case there is some tiny food speck her eyes missed…

    Chandra – that's so cool! Sounds like a really interesting documentary. Peanuts always had such great music.

  5. Well stated! I laughed because the signal in our house for mealtimes is "House!" and the girls rush to their crates to eat be let out to eat one by one. No matter how many times I ask them to go to their "houses" (running errands, opening and closing the front door…), Arwen will dash excitedly to her crate, while Nyxie will stare bewildered at her…Arwen remembers her 1st crate training days when I treated her for going to her crate. While Nyxie was much easier to teach (and could follow Arwen's example), so the treating for going to the crate didn't last as long. Poor 2nd kiddo. Maybe I need to start that back up again…;)

  6. That's too cute about Bella and her food bowl. I have always loved Snoopy and our dog Zappa reminds me so much of him. Though he's not crazy about birds too much!!

  7. That is hysterical. We enjoyed that a lot. We check our bowls a lot too especially the cats. They look every 30 seconds to see if there is anything to eat. Love the Peanuts. Take care.

  8. Hi Y'all,

    I keep one ear listening for anyone to head toward either the door or the food bowl…don't want to be left out! or in in the case of the door.

    In my house sometimes treats do sneak into my bowl! Gotta stay on top of them.

    Hawk aka BrownDog

  9. ForPetsSake – I guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease… or in this case, the treat! 🙂

    Wyatt – Bella hasn't mastered that trick. She'll just look in it and then stare at me forlornly. I feel like she's trying to use her mind to will me to put some food in there.

    Hawk – Bella does the same thing. She comes running if she hears any sign of activity in the kitchen.

    Pat – I agree. I loved his strips!

  10. That's so funny that Bella checks her food bowl all the time hoping that THIS TIME food might magically appear. BTW, I have a kitty named Annabelle but I call her Bella too.

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