Princess, our majestic Clydesdale and the sweetest horse I have ever known, is now grazing on the crisp green clover of heaven. She was 36 or thereabouts, a very ripe age for a horse, and a testament to her sturdy breed and the wonders of modern veterinary medicine.

I won’t dwell too much on her sad passing. She was miserable in her final months, frail and seemingly confused much of the time, and she detested the heat.

The main problem her death created (besides the unbelievably tangled rules and regulations for disposing of all 1,600 pounds of her, a process I won’t go into detail about, except to say whoever made them had never had to deal with a dead horse) is that Lizzie, The One Horse Rodeo, is now without a companion.

I would not have thought Princess’ loss would hit her as hard as it did, she being one of the more independent-minded free spirits I have encountered among many animal companions and a wide range of human acquaintances over the years. Ordinarily she seemed to ignore Princess completely, cavorting about in her reckless way, bucking and rearing and galloping about, as if she were auditioning for a role in some equine version of the “Wild Bunch.” The main evidence I had that she was even aware of Princess in the last several months was her blatant sweet feed thievery at the morning and evening nosh (evidence, by the by, of Princess’ decline. In her heyday she was fiercely protective of her molasses-flavored grain, administering many a shrewd nip and even a kick or two whenever Lizzie came close to the holy dish).

But with the big horse gone, Lizzie is a lonely soul. She used to disdain most human contact, condescending to be groomed only after a carefully timed measure of insolence and acting out, just to let us ignorant primates know who really holds the whip hand. Now she hangs about at the gate at the front of her paddock, whickering piteously whenever anyone goes outside and leaning on us in gratitude when we walk down and spend a little time patting her.

Of course, this is only to be expected. She is a herd animal, and while to us two might not seem like a herd, clearly, to a horse, it makes a big difference.

So, to come rather late, as usual, to my point, we are in active search mode here at Chez Davis, for a companion for an especially naughty horse. We had thought at first that Cooper, who is fascinated by Lizzie, might serve, but his main game with her, which Lizzie loves as well, is a modified version of the dog classic “chase,” with Lizzie’s novel addition of “and try to kick in the head of the dog,” so we thought again.

The Older Perfect Daughter’s summer job recently took her into contact with a breed of smallish cows called Dexters, which grow to be about 40 inches tall at the shoulder and weigh “only” 1,000 pounds, though I expect her main attraction to them is not their preservation-worthy rarity, hardiness or excellence in both meat and milk production, but the fact that they are cute.

The Younger Perfect daughter is pulling for a llama, alpaca or guanaco, though mostly, I think, because she likes the way “llama” is spelled, and likes to say “alpaca” and “guanaco.” A quick Google brought up the term “berserk llama syndrome,” which kind of killed that idea for me.

My beautiful wife wants a donkey (and, let’s face it dear readers, what she wants is the way to bet in the Davis family) and I am undecided. I would love an elephant, but there are obvious drawbacks, or a mule, but mostly because I would just like to say stuff like, “I was grooming the mule ..” or even, “I have a mule.”

So email me if you have suggestions, and please do go to the event mentioned in the item below. I’ll be patting Lizzie.

Meet Queen Elizabeth I at library

The Waldorf branch of the Charles County Public Library will hold a family event that will take a ribald look at life in England during the reign of Elizabeth I 2 to 3 p.m. July 21 at the library at 50 Village St.

Th show features Renaissance food, clothing, pastimes, manners, and dancing. Her Majesty takes the audience on a royal romp through the less serious aspects of life in her era.

Call 301-645-2884.Tickets on sale for college performances for 2012-13

Tickets are on sale now for College of Southern Maryland music and stage productions for the upcoming school year. Go to http://www.csmd.edu/Arts/SeasonSchedule.html for a list of all events.

Discount plans are available, including season passes for $100. One ticket to each production, including dinner and dessert theater, to save more than half the price of individual tickets combined. For all ages.

Children’s theater combo ticket, for $15 for adults and seniors and $12 for youth, high school age and younger. One ticket to each of the three CSM Children's Theatre productions of the season.

Fall ensemble combo ticket for $15 for all ages. One ticket to each of the five fall ensemble performances, including Barbershop Concert, Dance Performance, Chorale Concert, Jazz Ensemble Concert and Latin Ensemble Concert.

CSM employees and students with current ID can get a special CSM advance purchase discount that applies to all performances except for the dinner and dessert theater. To qualify, tickets must be purchased before the day of the event. Call the box office at 301-934-7828.

Local groups schedule special Blue Crabs nights

The Southern Maryland Regional Library and the three county public library systems are partnering with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs to give tickets to every participant in this year’s summer reading program. The tickets are good for one of three games, July 7, 20 or 21 at Regency Furniture Stadium at 11765 St. Linus Drive in Waldorf. The games will feature a parade of summer reading participants before each game and free fireworks afterwards. The July 7 and 21 games begin at 6:35 p.m., while the July 20 game begins at 7:05.

For more information, go to www.ccplonline.org.

Join Bay Community Support Services at 6:35 p.m. Aug.18 as they spend a fun-filled evening watching the Blue Crabs take on the Sugar Land Skeeters. The Blue Crabs will donate a portion of every ticket sold through BAY-CSS to help fund the agency’s programs and services for people with disabilities in Maryland. Ticket prices for the game are $13 each, and BAY-CSS will receive a commission of $6.50 for every ticket that is purchased.

To donate a portion of your ticket sale to BAY-CSS, go to www.baycss.org/bluecrabs.html for the link to the BAY-CSS Fundraising page on the Blue Crabs site. Enter BAY-CSS’ Fundraising Code “BAYCSS12.”

Call Brandy Blackstone at 301-863-8870.

jdavis@somdnews.com