Thanksgiving Tales

We've enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving weekend these past few days. Dave and I started the holiday a bit early, by attending the Jets vs. Capitals hockey game on Wednesday, November 23. Unfortunately, the Jets lost the game but it was great to see Winnipeg being represented in the NHL again. We splurged and got seats in the exclusive club section. We enjoyed an unlimited buffet of food that was not typical sporting event fare - in other words, not a fried item in sight - and were able to watch the game while we dined. Our waiter kept the beverages coming all evening. On our way to the game, we wandered by Capitol Hill and took some sunset photos of the area.

On Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 24 - to refresh Canadian memories), we piled into the car and drove to York, PA to spend the afternoon at my brother's house. As you can see, everyone in the backseat caught up on sleep. Joshua especially needed it, since he worked an all-night shift at Target in preparation for Black Friday sales. He came home in time to nap, shower and tumble into the car.

My mother came over from Leola, and Jonathan, Maggie and Ally joined us in York. The grand total hanging around and eating my sister-in-law's fantastic cooking was 9 people and 5 dogs. All things considered, there was much less bedlam than one might have expected.

Today is the final day of the holiday weekend. Tomorrow, we all return to our normal routines. As you can see, Hypatia and Darwin are taking full advantage of the glorious weather and enjoying themselves. In fact, they've occasionally enjoyed themselves a bit too much, as noted in this photo of them destroying my bedroom slippers. Dave figures it's my fault, since my fluffy slippers probably looked like stuffed toys to them. Note to my family - if you're wondering what to buy me for Christmas, bedroom slippers - soft but not fluffy - would be welcomed.

In addition to hanging out on the patio, the dogs love lying in the sun by the patio door.

In closing, I leave you with one final image of Fall 2011 in Fairfax:

Fall is Fading Fast

Temperatures are dropping and fall colors are fading fast here in northern Virginia. Those facts prompted me to take my iPhone for a walk in the park after lunch today:

Sibling Portrait

Hypatia and Darwin spontaneously posed for a portrait after yesterday's morning walk.

I've printed and framed this and have it on display in my office now. Yes, I'm a proud Mama.

Darwin's Rescue

Yesterday afternoon, Dave, Hypatia and I went to PetSmart to buy Hypatia a car harness. Two hours later, we left the store with a car harness, some puppy treats, a doggie toothbrush, two new leashes, two new dog crates - and a second dog.

As Dave said later, that turned out to be an expensive harness.

How, you may ask, did we end up adopting a second dog?

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and I'll tell you.

As we pulled into PetSmart's parking lot, we saw a van from the Lost Cat & Dog Rescue Foundation, a sign advertising an adoption event, and a lot of dogs milling around outside the store. As we walked into the store, I pointed out one pretty dog (not a Beagle) to Dave, who responded by saying, "I want another Beagle." The three of us went into the store, found the harness and puppy treats, paid for our purchases and left the store. As we crossed the sidewalk toward the parking lot, we were greeted by a beautiful 2 year old Beagle named Opal. I greeted her and she responded to me happily. I hesitated to adopt her, though, because I'd read that, if one is introducing a second dog into the family, it's often best to adopt one of the opposite sex from the first. Apparently, two dogs of the same sex sometimes have difficulty adjusting to each other, whereas opposite sex dogs usually get along quite well together. So, I said "Goodbye" to Opal and kept walking. About three dogs over, I saw a tiny male Beagle. Since he was smaller than Hypatia, I estimated he was 4-5 months old. I walked over to him and said hello, and he promptly jumped onto my lap and smothered my face with kisses. And stole my heart.

I called out to Dave, "Look at this little guy. What do you think of him?" Dave and Hypatia came over and Dave said, "Yes, he's cute." We spoke with his handler and discovered that his age is actually 8 months or so. As we walked to the car, we talked about whether we should adopt him. By the time we finished loading the harness and puppy treats into the trunk, we had talked ourselves into it. So, we turned around and headed back to the dog formerly known as Tommy and adopted him. While I filled out the paperwork, Dave texted Joshua and told him to come to the pet store when he got off work so he could meet the new dog.

As Joshua, Dave and I shopped, Dave suggested that we rename the dog formerly known as Tommy. I said, "Do you want to call him Darwin? That's a great name for a male Beagle - I like the wordplay involved." Dave agreed, and Joshua noted that it follows the trend of naming our dogs after scientists. Darwin is a smart boy and he already knows his new name. It's much more dignified than Tommy (which is a cute name, but not dignified).

Darwin had a rough life before his adoption. He's very undersized and was probably the runt of his litter. He was found as a stray about two months ago in Spotsylvania Couny, Virginia (a rural county located about an hour south of Washington, DC). We don't know if he escaped an enclosure and got lost or was deliberately abandoned. One of the guys from the rescue foundation said it's not unusual for hunters to abandon hounds who won't hunt. Can you imagine such heartlessness? It makes my blood boil!

Anyway, Darwin and Hypatia are adjusting to each other pretty well and they love playing together. When Dave and I take them for walks, they make sure the whole pack is close together. If either dog is in the lead and decides the other pair is lagging too far behind, he or she will stop walking and wait for the other pair to catch up. We're quickly becoming a cohesive unit.

Here's Hypatia. She's just over 6 months old, weighs 25 pounds and is probably fully grown now. Isn't she beautiful?

Here's Darwin. He's 8 or 9 months old and only 15.6 pounds. He's undersized and probably won't grow much, but we'll help him fill out to a healthier weight. He's small but spunky and he holds his own when he and Hypatia play tug-of-war.

Here are Hypatia, Dave and Darwin taking a nap this afternoon. It's a good thing we don't have Labs or Golden Retrievers - they'd never all fit on the couch!

And there you have it - the saga of Darwin's Rescue. Stay tuned for the future adventures of two suburban hounds.