Bruno and I were having a nice time playing.
Noticing that he is rather more sleek than me, I sought to normalize the situation by casually alluding to my epilepsy, and to the pheno barbitol that has caused me to gain weight.
I should have pulled out another excuse.
It turned out that Bruno too has epilepsy, and that he is also on pheno barbitol.
Obviously he has an exceptional metabolism.
Last week the character-laden Samulon, Calamaro and Robbins benches mysteriously disappeared from their bases.
Today they are being replaced with standard pseudo old-fashioned benches. That's progress for you.
The Stirling Family bench now takes on an extra layer of significance as the only remaining link to the past.
I went out to the bluff to try to make some new conquests, but no one seemed to notice me.
Their attention was directed elsewhere.
Finally they looked up from their selfish pursuits.
Mission accomplished.
I was out and about when I spied a departing rabbit.
I stood there wishing it would come back.
The rabbit had been practically under my nose.
It's so frustrating when you miss the low-hanging fruit.
I went home and hung my head, reflecting on the difficulties of the hunt.
Then I heard someone at the door.
It was my friend Shayan.
Shayan was dismayed to see me so upset. He remonstrated with me to get a grip and remember the many good things in my life.
Slowly, I emerged from my funk.
Sometimes it takes a good friend to put things in perspective.
Winnie and Ollie sent this photo from Colorado where they are enjoying their annual vacation.
They've been going on hikes every day and are clearly getting into great shape. (Trudie stayed home in a board and care facility, since exercise is no longer her thing.)
These dogs are poster children for the healthful properties of mountain air, meadow romps, forest tromps, and so on.
Maybe I'll take a hike today too. A short one. Got to build up slowly.
Five people, five dogs, three cars:
Three people, four dogs, one car:
Four people, six dogs, four cars:
When I went out to the bluffs yesterday afternoon I was happy to see some familiar faces.
Iseley, Portia and Romeo are friends who travel together in a small red Ford Festiva.
They are very sweet animals.
Iseley is the biggest, and was the boss for a while, although now Portia is finding her power.
Romeo is the one who has problems with his legs. In the past couple of months he's had to have two surgeries. Because of that, the three of them didn't come to the bluffs for a while.
Even now, Romeo is still taking it easy. He stays on the leash so as not to overdo it. I'm not sure he's going to ever fully recover.
Whatever -- we're all happy that the St. Bernards are back.
They provide a general Shane Battier-esque positive energy for our group at the bluffs, while at the same time shining individually as well as one-on-one.
When you come down to it, each dog has his own definition of la dolce vita.
Harry is a nervous guy who has figured out how to manage his condition: as long as he has a ball between his teeth, he's OK.
Even when his owner just wants to take the ball so she can throw it for him, Harry won't give it up without a fight.
So you may be able to imagine how Harry's sanity was tested this afternoon, when his ball rolled down the hill, into the brush and out of sight.
His owner took a search party, composed of Harry, Finney and Oliver, down the hill to look for it. But the ball was truly lost, and finally they had to give up.
Although Harry tried to hold himself together, you could see that he was a broken man.
They went home soon afterwards to find Harry a replacement lovey.
So Caramello's gone missing. He went out the door last night and didn't come back. His family is very worried.
Gucci and I met at the bluffs to review some theories about Caramello's disappearance.
The alternatives are sobering.
Caramello could have fallen into a gully.
Or maybe he was kidnapped by a criminal mastermind --
In which case he could be hidden anywhere, even under our very noses.
Eventually, Gucci left to search elsewhere for Caramello. I continued to sleuth on my own.
Come back, Caramello!
