Hipster Christian Housewife

The Gospel according to Nellie the Basset Hound: A dog teaches how to be goodbig sister

Meet Nellie the Basset Hound.
Photo by Cameron Densen Hammon
Matt, Syd and me
Photo by Paula Hammon
Syd gives Nellie a bone.
Photo by Cameron Dezen Hammon
Nellie the dog takes the couch, and Steve the cat watches from almost underneaththe table.
Photo by Cameron Densen Hammon

We have sovereign states in our little townhouse this week. Upstairs belongs to Steve the Cat, downstairs is the domain of the newcomer — Nellie the Basset Hound.

The stairway appears to be functioning as a kind of domestic, De-Militarized Zone where both patrol in relative peace.

To be fair, there’s been no actual war, only tension — a few explosive bursts of chase — with Steve ending up in the rafters (the top of our closet) and Nellie wagging her tail waiting for the game to resume.

It’s exactly the kind of love — heart on your sleeve, tail wagging, face licking, risk taking love — that we should aspire too.

I never thought I’d be a dog owner, I’m more of a cat person to be honest. But after three years of trying to have a second child I decided I was open to the idea. Bringing home a dog, a 1-year-old rescue, seemed like the right thing to do at the time (it was Sunday). Nellie’s not a baby, no, but she’s someone for us to love, and right now, we need that.

My daughter, Syd is 5, and on the day of my D&C, a surgery she had no idea I was having, she told my friend Holly who was watching her, “I really, really, really want a baby brother.” Maybe Syd’s spontaneous plea was inspired by playtime with Holly’s 1-year-old baby boy — but she wants a sibling — this I know.

Nellie is not a human sibling of course, and she is a lot of work, but for now, she’s helping Syd to learn some important lessons, lessons I hope will prepare her for being a big sister some day.

1. Share your toys, even if you don’t want to

This is a hard one for Syd and for Nellie. Nellie is a basset hound so smell is her strongest sense. When Syd was at school, Nellie found her Strawberry Shortcake figurine, you know the one whose red hair smells like “strawberries." Nellie made a quick snack of Strawberry (thankfully chewing, not swallowing) and Syd was distraught to find her “favorite doll” chewed to ribbons.

I reminded Syd that Strawberry hadn’t gotten much action since disappearing behind her dresser some months ago, and she hadn’t seemed to miss her. She agreed. And dried her tears. Victory.

2. Make room on the couch

Syd is an only child, and thus queen of the couch (I prefer the desk and the Hubs has an overstuffed blue chair,) so the south end of the living room couch is her domain. It's her corner for snuggling and watching The Electric Company, or whatever it is. It just so happens that Nellie seems to like that end of the couch too.

When a baby brother, or sister comes, I tell, she’s going to have to share her room! Can you imagine! Scooting over on the couch is no biggie, right?

3. Don’t be afraid of poop

Syd and I took Nellie for a walk yesterday, it was our maiden voyage without the Hubs and I gave Syd the job of holding the poop bag. Of course this was before there was any poop in it (did I mention I prefer cats?), but nonetheless it’s an important job and she took it seriously. Nellie can’t clean up after herself so we have to, I told her.

(Can you imagine what it would be like if people didn’t pick up after their dogs? Oh yeah, it’d be like 1997, or my sidewalk after the mastiff from Allston Street come by.) Babies poop a lot, I tell Syd, and recount the story of when she pooped in the bathtub at two months old. That one always gets a chuckle.

The day we got Nellie my dear friend Lisa put her dog to sleep. She had lived a good long life and was in obvious pain, and the vet solemnly told Lisa it was time.

Even though Lisa now lives in Michigan I felt her pain through Facebook updates — pictures and memories of her beloved pup who was always ready with a sloppy kiss and a wagging tail. Loving a dog is like putting your heart on your sleeve, it’s opening yourself up to heartbreak, because we can be sure that the day will come when we will have to say goodbye to this incorrigible fluff ball, long before we’re ready.

It’s exactly the kind of love — heart on your sleeve, tail wagging, face licking, risk taking love — that we should aspire too. It’s the way God loves us. His Love pursues us, even when we don’t reciprocate. Even when we’re too busy, when we don't call or write, when we don’t, or can’t believe. Even when loving us, loving me, might be painful.

Loving a person should be the same (who's not above face licking?) This is the kind of love that needs to be practiced daily — with friends, children, spouses and rambunctious 1-year-old basset hounds. I have a lot to learn from Nellie, too.

As I write this Syd is at school, Steve is hiding under the bed, and Nellie is roaming her zone, paws clicking on the wood floor. For now there is peace, the calm that precedes the storm after I pick up Syd from school and the comical battle for territory resumes.

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Cameron Dezen Hammon writes here, and sings here, and here.

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San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

animals downtown civic issues