Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
Taken last spring as the oldest member of our pride adapted to his new desert home, learning to nap and snuggle in this arid landscape. Shot with my iPhone as Sam curled up on my legs as I relaxed on the couch. There are only a few of today’s technologies that it pains me we didn’t have in my youth, having a capable camera in your pocket is one of them.
A quick shot of Sam in the living room, the big picture windows behind him, after I got back from a morning hike in July.
Boo’s experiments with space-time are starting to concern me.
I’ve been a bit worn out this past month and haven’t been hiking in a couple of weeks, we’ll see how this weekend goes. I’m not completely exhausted like I was when we moved and during the last weeks of Ellie’s life, and I haven’t had to work long hours, rather it’s just that there’s been a lot going on, a lot to learn, and it’s taken a bit out of me. It hasn’t helped that this past week the night owl has been reasserting himself, if only I could sleep like Boo! Thankfully while he was pretty stressed after Ellie died our resident philosopher has been doing better lately.
Ellie and I taking advantage of a lovely fall afternoon in 2013 for a game of fetch. We didn’t have her when we bought the house so we got lucky that not only did we end up with a dog park nearby but with a fenced backyard with a nice area for play.
She’d swivel her floppy ears when she heard the fridge door opening but Ellie relied on her nose to tell her if she should get up or not. Yes if she smelled cheese or meat, no if vegetables.
“Can’t we watch one more episode of Doctor Who?”
“Are you sure Boo? It’s getting late, you won’t be too tired tomorrow? I’ll happily wait until we can watch it together.”
“No, no, I’ll be fine! Bring on ‘The Monster of Peladon’!”
Cut to the next day …
Sam wanted to show his enthusiastic support during Pride month and would like to point out the delay in posting is nothing to do with him.
Ellie in the backyard in January 2009, three weeks after we adopted her. It looks a little posed, her paw on the tennis ball, but she did that in the early days. Did she stop it at some point? I remember her doing it back then but not after that, maybe it’s my faulty memory, maybe it had just been a while since she was able to run and fetch. She’s probably looking at my wife offscreen, she followed her everywhere in those days. Our bond became so strong for so long that it’s easy for me to forget that it took some time to form. The love was immediate though, on both sides, to know her was to love her.
My constant companion in 2012, we lost Scout to cancer the following year. I loved the black-and-white patterns in her fur.
