Friday, August 20, 2010

Smooth Fox Terriers Living in the Moment


Harry Works His Audience

I had a little dinner party on Wednesday. I invited my co-worker Paul, whose wife LouAnne is back in Canada, Michelle and Doug, a Canadian couple I met via Michelle's passion for dogs (they have a pair of female Portuguese Water Dogs), and Arnaud, a French consultant who is helping build one of our geology courses. I made some spicy lamb curry.

The evening was great, lots of light conversation about pretty much everything under the sun. What would you expect from a group of geologists/animal lovers/world travelers/Aramcons?

Paul was delighted to see Tsingy (but a little disappointed that she wanted to make the rounds of the party and not spend the evening in his lap!). (You'll recall that I adopted Tsingy from him and LouAnne back in the spring.)

Everyone was suitably impressed with Harry's staples. But even more amusing to me was how quickly Harry arranged this tableau:

Michelle and Doug. And puppet master Harry.

Where was Mimi during all this? Desperately trying to get to the snacks on the table, and failing that, trying to stay the center of attention. I think Harry won that round.


Mimi Embraces Nature

Arnaud, being a proper Frenchman, brought flowers, alcohol not being an option. My only vase-like object is my beer pitcher so I had to wait until we emptied that before I could perch the flowers in something suitable.


The next morning, I discovered that Mimi had decided to make absolutely sure there were no more cheese, crackers, or olives on the table...or hiding in the flowers. Those pink lilies amongst the chrysanthemums were particularly polleniferous. I didn't actually catch her on the table but the evidence is rather incontrovertible:


I discovered that this much pollen doesn't wipe off or wash off. It's taken most of two days for it to simply wear off.

We all get caught up in the minutiae of our lives...but then a couple of silly dogs remind us to slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy this moment. It won't come around again.

No comments: