I’m not entirely sure if this is a “blog-able” item, but it was something that made me smile. I had the pleasure of meeting You-know-who’s little 2-year-old dachshund, Max, when I drove her home a couple weeks ago after the 30th reunion party. In a word, he didn’t seem to be too happy to meet me and barked and barked and barked. Granted, that’s his job and it probably didn’t help that he’d been tied up all day and all night and we didn’t really spend any time “getting to know” each other. Yeah. So, needless to say, I wasn’t feel altogether that comfortable being there in the first place, having the little guy bark and bark pretty much brought home the message that I wasn’t welcomed there. That didn’t feel so great.

Then this past weekend when I brought her home following the CSN&Y concert I asked to use her facilities before heading home. This time when I got out of the bathroom, she put Max on a leash and I sat down on the floor and he just ran up to me, sniffed me and then rolled over to let me scratch his belly. You-know-who’s mouth dropped open. I spent several minutes scratching his belly, then rubbing behind his ears and then back to his belly. I told her that I’d just met the McConnell’s new dachshund, Sophie, when I was AZ and that that might have something to do with Max’s change in disposition (or maybe he smelled the potato skins and bacon I’d eaten earlier). Actually I don’t think that it was either the other dog or the smell of bacon. For whatever reason Max saw that I wasn’t a threat and decided that here was someone else to give him attention. After several minutes, she said that she hated to break up our little party but that she was exhausted and needed to get to bed. I got up off the ground, gave her a kiss and the dog a final scratch on the head and smiled as I headed to my car. She may not be able to figure out what the fuck I mean to her, or what she’s missing when she leaves me in this “shadow role.” But a little two-year-old hyper-dachshund figured it out and let me rub his belly. I felt vindicated. JBB

Image Source: Black Ice by Tony Alter, https://flic.kr/p/pGnxBg