Dear Kid,

As predicted (by me), the Bengals won yesterday. Not only did they win because they played better football, but because it was the Halloween weekend game. And as I previously noted, the Bengals are destined to win on Halloween.

Halloween colors: Orange and Black
Bengals’ colors: Orange and Black

Halloween Mascot: Scary Cat
Bengals: Scary Cats

And this year they won like they’re supposed to.

Also, as my friend Julie told me, the Bengals win a crazy percentage of the games they play wearing orange jerseys. Who Dey!

In puppy news, on November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Laika the AstroDog into space. Technically, Laika was a Siberian husky and she had been living on the streets of Moscow prior to being conscripted into the Soviet space program.

Laika was not asked if she wanted to be hurled into an oxygen-free, zero gravity environment. These days, animal rights groups would move mountains (and space ships) if anyone proposed that sort of test. But this was a) back in the Day and b) in the Soviet Union, so Laika didn’t need to say Da.

Laika Soviet Space Dog DearKidLoveMom.comThe Soviets created a canine life-support system but forgot to put in long-lasting batteries. Laika survived for several days but died when her batteries ran out. In true Soviet Fashion, she is memorialized in a couple of monuments.

The Sputnik 2 experiment was so much fun (and yielded such important data) that the Soviets launched at least a dozen more dogs into flight (five of whom died).

astroI’m sure there are people who think it’s just marvy that dogs are able to help humans learn about space travel. I’m not one of them. I think they should have asked Astro (from The Jetsons) and they could have learned all they needed to know.

What a terrible piece of history.

I need to go lie down.

Love, Mom