who deeply misses his dearly
departed companion Dick Tracy—
not the comic book character
but an entirely real character—

who married Felicia long ago
and moved to her family‘s ranch
where she was raised, where she
raised her children and trained horses
and cared for the world famous garden
detective until he reached the end
of his long season.

Of course, they would name the dog Spencer
after the 1930s and ’40s movie star.
Of course, his canine namesake would trot
happily after his master,

who performed his own starring role
as Ricardo the Ranch Hand, piloting the ATV
around Emigrant Springs Ranch, performing
all manner of chores—

planting and tending the garden,
moving hay bales into fields,
shoveling all manner of poo,
milking sweet little Holly cow
and uncountable other duties.

We visited Felicia and Spencer today
on the ranch, all of us missing
the larger-than-life character/raconteur/
wicked funny journalist/author/garden writer.

Spencer ambled over to each of us for a pat,
then leaned on our legs and looked up adoringly,
wishing, we imagine, for the one he so loved
to amble out of the house, cowboy-hatted
and work-booted,

whistle for his faithful canine companion,
and set off together across those 100 acres
ready for whatever comes their way.

•••

Longtime Sacramento Bee journalist and garden editor Richard L. Tracy (whose byline was Dick Tracy), was a dear friend and colleague of Dick Schmidt (and later me, too). He was, among many other things, a UC Master Gardener, as well as a columnist for The Bee where he worked for 30 years, and, after his retirement from that paper, The Union in Grass Valley. Dick Tracy died at age 84 on Feb. 28, 2023, at Emigrant Springs Ranch, his home in Grass Valley, CA, which he shared with his beloved wife Felicia and dog Spencer Tracy and many other two- and four-footed ones over the years. Dick Schmidt and I and Dick Tracy’s family, friends and colleagues miss him deeply. You can read my poem about his passing here.