Our household expanded by one dog this morning, which is one reason why it looks like I won’t be getting to church for the first time in I can’t tell you how long. Our friends the Barrows are out of town and their dog sitter bailed on them at the last minute (kids, these days!) so we are splitting dog tending duties with another family from church. . . and because we live in the Barrows’ neighborhood, we were “happy” to volunteer to do the early morning/late night stuff. And it was I who got the brilliant idea that the Barrows golden retriever, Pete, might enjoy coming to visit our two mutts. So we peeled ourselves out of bed at 7 this morning (groan!) headed over to Barrows to let out Pete and Gracie (who is their cute but neurotic chiauhauau – arrrgh! How the heck do you spell that? I just went to the American Heritage College Dictionary and couldn’t even find it – that’s how far off I am. My attempt looks more like the name of a Hawaiian volcano.) And then we took Pete back home with us to romp with our two golden retrievers- one of whom, Ellie, is Pete’s sister.
O my gosh! “Romp” is not an adequate term to describe how these three dogs have been tearing around this place, indescribably thrilled at having one another to play with. And it’s especially interesting to see how Pete and Ellie have this special bond as siblings – as though they know that they have a connection with each other that Bobbi does not quite share. It’s not like she’s completely excluded – they’re not like mean junior high girls or anything – but you can just see how Bobbi is just a little bit behind the other two and not quite on the same page. They spent the first hour running and jumping and rolling around and causing general mayhem – and it was fantastic. Our hope is that Bobbi and Ellie, once Pete has left, will want to sleep for a week. I know that we will.
Anyway, things are a bit crazy around here this morning – which is okay. Sundays are typically not much of a Day Of Rest for the Bergs. Let’s just call this Greg & Kathy Plus Three, although I hasten to add that I have not been photographed exiting any bars at 2 in the morning with a lady friend, nor has Emeril been by to cook us a special meal. And unlike the Gosselins, who have twins and sextuplets to care for indefinitely, our craziness will abate by a third once Pete is back at the Barrows. It’s fun to have him here- he’s a beautiful dog, and MUCH better behaved than our dogs- but having four more feet pawing around here complicates the mix a whole lot more than you might think. And it helps cure us of a rather irrational longing we had about ten days ago when Kate came by here with a beautiful new puppy – an Australian Shepherd – that she had bought as a gift for her mom back in Minnesota. This puppy was incredibly precious – and so calm and sweet – and when we heard that she had one litter mate that still hadn’t been purchased, I was ready to pile in the car and head over to Burlington to bring it home and turn our happy quartet into a quintet. Fortunately, I am married to someone much smarter and much less impulsive than I am – although I know that the thought danced through Kathy’s mind for a moment or two. But the truth is that two against two is the way it needs to be – although two against three is fun every once in awhile.
pictured above: the three goldens- clockwise from the top – Pete, Ellie and Bobbi.