Whenever a ball wasn't available a stick would do. Especially while on a hike. While we lived in Germany we could be found in the forest on a trail at least 4 days a week. Hershey loved it. One of our trails took us through the woods, around the neighborhood's medieval castle and up the hill to this fairly flat, treed area that had a few old rock foundations that you could tell were from the out buildings of the castle.

Here was Hershey's place for some after-hike stick games. She would find herself a nice sturdy piece of a branch. It had to be just right. No crumbly bark and not too rotten that it would fall apart after the first throw. Hershey had a very "firm" bite. This was very hard on most sticks. Sometimes the first catch would break it in two.

Playing stick on the flat became a routine. We would round the bend and she would be off running to the tree where she left the stick from before. She always knew where it was. We would play for a while and then return the stick to its place. This would continue day after day (sometimes even with a several day break between trips) for weeks. The only thing that would change is if the stick finally broke or someone else found it and didn't put it back. On those occasions she would still run around trying to find it until we found another one.

 
Hershey went everywhere with us. To the drop zone, to softball games, to the rodeo, on errands…she loved to go. She also loved to watch.

At the drop zone, she loved to watch the parachutes land. She always seemed to know who was in whatever group Tyree was jumping with. When she could hear, she would watch the canopies from the moment she heard them open. Later in life, it was from the moment they came into her line of vision.

At the ball game, she would sit in the bleachers. Tyree would play left field. We would sit along the left field line, high in the stands. When Tyree was out in the field, Hershey would be on one end of the bleachers. When he was at bat, she would get up and walk along the seat until she was at the other end.


Whatever she was watching, she was always focused. If someone was in front of her, she would lean to the side to see around them.


The Christmas I was 10, I got a great big blue teddy bear. We were in the middle of a move, and the bear was a great confidant. Unfortunately, even from the first, Teddy wasn’t always in the best shape. He had a tendency to fall apart.

Hershey was over a year old when we moved into the house in Omaha. It was a nice size house, giving her a lot of room to hang out in during the day. One day I came home and Teddy was in the living room…bear-guts all over the floor. It was obvious that Hershey had adopted him as her friend. I gathered him up. Sewed up all the holes, and found him some clothes to wear (he needed all the help he could get to stay together). I even went out and bought some felt to fashion him a nice set of eyes. Hershey sat beside me the entire time during the repairs. Taking in the new look of her friend.

The next day I came home and Teddy was once again in the living room….bear-guts all over the floor. Obviously, Hershey hadn’t approved of his new eyes. The patches were completely chewed off. We were in a hurry that night to get ready for a dinner party. So, I cleaned up the bear-guts and put Teddy in one of the bedrooms and closed the door.

The next day I walked in the door and the house was a mess. Hershey had pushed the couch up against the dining room set and moved it into the window. The love seat cushion was on the floor (a softball-size bite taken out of it). The blankets were ripped off the bed and strewn about the floor. Hershey had painted a clear picture that she wanted her Bear back! After some emergency stitching (I used the only yard available to patch his eyes), Hershey had her friend back. The whole scene was so comical that it was hard to be mad at her very long.

Teddy stayed Hershey’s pal until we got ready to return from Germany. The fleas were so bad while we lived there, I couldn’t chance bringing him back. I made her a new bear, but it just wasn’t the same.

The entire time they were friends, we never saw Hershey carry him around. He would just be in other locations when we would get home.

Oh yeah, Teddy was about the same size as Hershey.

 

Hershey loved to travel. She was always with us. Whether it was camping or hoteling it, she didn't care. She's been on busses, boats, trains, airplanes and, of course, thousands of miles in the car. While traveling in the car, she would watch the scenery as it was go by. Always interested in what there was to see.

She was only 18 months old when she went on one of her first "big" vacations. We took three weeks and headed out west to Utah. Tyree was going to introduce us to the great southwest and the mountains. From the very first Hershey was in love with the adventure. But, then, that was Hershey. She always thought that when it was time to pack the vehicle, she was part of the deal.

Over the next 16 years, she was hardly ever left behind. She traveled to more locations than most people. She's been coast to coast, overseas, and back again. She's had her paws in both the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean...south to Key West and north to British Columbia. While overseas she traveled to three different countries (Germany, Austria and France).

Hershey thought riding in the car was a great treat. She didn’t care where she was heading. The gas station and the grocery store were just fine with her.

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