Otis
Today, and for the next 12 days, I’m boarding the biggest dog that I’ve ever had at the Pet Hostel in my 21 years in business. Otis is perhaps the biggest dog I’ve ever seen, and we’ve seen and/or boarded St. Bernards, English Mastiffs, Irish Wolfhounds and other dogs of the “giant” breeds.
Otis is a quiet soul in an enormous (200+ pound) Great Dane body. He’s three years old and has been given loving instruction from his human family, so he knows how to behave always, including in the house. His head is at counter height in the kitchen, but so far he hasn’t helped himself to loaves of bread or pounds of butter. If he did, I’m sure it would be because he thought it was left for him there.
With Otis came “Chica Bonita” a medium-small dog of mixed breed who was adopted, evacuated and integrated from a beach in Mexico. She was pregnant at the time, and very soon had puppies at her new home. Now Chica is a cheerful, well-adjusted house dog who occasionally, her owners say, exhibits some feral behaviour. These two dogs are the closest of canine buddies, and I’m glad to be able to watch over both of them.
Over the next few days, I will try to make time to photograph Otis and Chica, and post the pictures.
Have been reading the book “Shake Hands With the Devil” by Romeo D’Allaire. I borrowed the book almost a year ago, but hadn’t started it. A few nights ago I watched the movie “Hotel Rwanda” which portrays a small part of the complicated politics and horror of the 1994 Rwandan genocide; then I was moved to retrieve the book from the shelf and start reading. It is very intense and disturbing to read about and reflect on: why didn’t the world care about what was happening? I saw very little in the news about those events, and during that time, I found a friend, a Hutu, who had grown up in Burundi, the country to the south of Rwanda. Steve, of course, told me that the massacres occurring then were unspeakable, and we never spoke of them again. I didn’t understand any of the politics.
I must get through the book soon, or put it aside, as I still have some Raggedy Ann dolls to finish for Christmas orders. I’ve completed and delivered five of the dolls, and have five more to do.
Gary and I attended a pot-luck dinner at Nick’s house last night. There were about 16 people there and PING PONG games were on the agenda. Some people (ages 4 to 60) were ping-pong players regularly, and some hadn’t played for 30 years. It was all fun to watch, and I found myself wanting to play but I felt too shy; perhaps another evening I will find someone else who hasn’t played for decades and a smaller AUDIENCE too.
I probably could babble for quite some time, but am anxious to get at my book. Probably I will fall asleep before I get through many pages.
Thank you for visiting my weblog. Take care, my friends.
~Ann
