This morning at the bluff I met Bella, the dog who has just joined Nene and Rusty's family.
I was intrigued by Bella's strikingly high social IQ. She played with the big dogs, but was quite diplomatic about letting me sniff her as well.
Also, she seems to have almost instantaneously established a deep connection with her new family. It's a good augur.
This past weekend we took a trip to San Francisco.
I had been missing Charlie, and wanted to see him in situ.
He took me around his neighborhood and his city, and welcomed me to his Campus house.
We went on a picnic in Duboce Park with Laura.
We also fell back effortlessly into the comfortable habits created by years of joint sofa-sitting.
Seeing that Charlie has a good set of sofas to work with was a great comfort to me. I find it reassuring to know that, though he may be four hundred miles from home, he can still drink from the same well of respite that has provided such succor for him (and me) in the past.
I just found this photo from my reunion with Thomas at the airport last month. He was on the west coast with other members of the Scheme Engine crew documenting Beyoncé and Jay Z's On the Run concert tour.
While the team was in L.A. they stayed with us. Though they were out at the concert venue for long hours, when they were back here we had some nice moments together.
To the right you can see Ben and Yip enjoying our legendary Nespresso hospitality, as Thomas and I lead them to the end of the bluff to look down at the crumbling fire road.
An especially nice element of the visit was that T's 'old' friends -- Genny, Dustin and eb -- were in town, enabling him to introduce them and his 'new' friends: Devin, Ben and Yip.
One night eb brought a canine guest, Copper, along to dinner. Copper is a recent adoptee and got anxious when separated from eb by more than six inches. That made him my favorite kind of guest: someone with zero interest in grabbing my stuff. But I monitored the situation closely, just in case he got any ideas.
There were many more great moments, but finally the fabulous visit had to end.
I was sad watching Thomas pack up, yet buoyed by the hope that he and his compatriots will find more reasons to come visit me again.
I think my shimmering lifestyle could make a good topic for a Life+Times piece, for example.
via Instagram
My day started early with a trip out to the bluffs, as usual.
Next up: a walk into town with Ollie, Winnie and Dolce. We stopped to rest at the Village Green before walking back.
After that I rested, as I had another engagement coming up that I wanted to be fresh for.
The upcoming engagement was the annual Arbramar block party. Dolce would be there, and perhaps some other dogs as well. Yet I knew I would still have to fight my social anxiety.
I am just never that comfortable in social situations. Thank goodness for the refreshment table, which gives me something to act like I'm busy with.
I guess it could have been worse.
Finally, it was back to the bluffs to enjoy the twilight.
Another Sunday appreciated by me.
Rusty died last week, after a series of medical hard knocks. He loved and was loved by his family, who were greatly supportive during his illness and are now shattered by their loss.
When Rusty joined them, the family already included one dog, Nene. But Rusty added a different form of canine energy. Watching him playing with Rambo across the street, you might have thought he was a tough guy. Yet he was exceptionally gentle and sweet.
We are so sad for all of them.
via Instagram
I struggled to maintain my dignity after being displaced yet again by the Intergenerational group meeting.
Charlie and Laura came down for Independence Day weekend.
We took some sunset walks, had friends over on the Fourth, and generally just hung out.
I hated to see them leave.
Sometime this winter the feed links to this blog were broken irretrievably. Please re-subscribe, using the links at right.
