(Note: This was written in 1987)

We have two dogs–Highway and Heather–and one cat–Miso (pronounced Mee-so, like the Japanese soup!). Originally, there was Sam, the Samoyed dog–a big, white, fluffy, cute, stubborn, dumb animal. We had to put him down a few years ago. He was sixteen. At the beach [when David and his family live in Malibu, California during the 1970’s] we adopted a dog who had been hit by a car on the highway. Thus, Highway. When we moved back into town we brought Highway, and then we adopted another stray we named Heather. A very sweet dog–but, unfortunately loves knocking over garbage bins.

When I went on location to Arizona for the Gambler II mini-series, we found a stray kitten in the desert. She was weak, sickly, and frightened. We nursed her back to health, named her Cactus, and brought her back to Beverly Hills where she flourished with the movie stars. Then along came a rather big male cat from out of the blue who looked like Snoopy–so, alas, we called him Snoopy. Snoopy was a bit weird and was given to suddenly jumping up and racing around the house, knocking over things for no apparent reason.

One day, I to take Cactus and Snoopy to the vet for shots. The girl behind the desk told me about a little abandoned kitten she had in the back. “Stop,” I warned her. “I don’t want to see it.” She showed me the kitten anyway. The next thing I knew, THAT little kitten is in the car with Cactus and Snoopy, her new sister and brother. When I brought the little kitten home, my wife and two daughters loudly exclaimed, “That is the ugliest looking cat we have ever seen!” However, we gave her a lot of love and named her Miso.

Now–unfortunately–we live in the hills of Beverly, and there are many wild creatures roaming about—like deer … and raccoons … and coyotes! Over the past year, we lost both Snoopy and Cactus to those coyotes. Miso is the only survivor–and we watch her like a hawk. Highway is now getting old, is pretty deaf–so prepare yourself for any new changes.