Picture Jasper Cabochon — Spokane River/Stateline — The Creek Find

Janyce was sad after we lost Cheyenne. Our daughter Brandi volunteered at an animal shelter. She told Janyce about a dog. Rufus looked straight at Janyce through the glass. He laid his chin on her knee. He licked her nose. Janyce told him he was coming home. They found him with barbed wire on his muzzle. He was twenty pounds underweight. Janyce loved him back to health. Rufus was very protective of Janyce. He growled at me for almost three years. He barked once at a backwards baseball hat. Janyce and Rufus played tag and hide and seek. One Saturday, we went rockhounding at the Spokane River. Rufus had to pee on the way home. We pulled over. He sniffed a big greenish rock. He raised his leg. The rock turned bright green when it got wet. Janyce got the car. I grabbed the 58-pound rock. It was public land. We took it home. After Rufus passed, I cut that boulder. It took seven whacks to break it. It was noble serpentine. We still have 55 pounds today. We make memories from it. Everything needs a little rescuing. We rescued Rufus. He rescued us. — Bob & Janyce, Rockhound Studio, Spokane Valley WA