Recently, I wrote about the self-imposed canine-less torture of Catie’s and my nomadic lifestyle. It seems that the universe is a regular reader of my blog (and that the universe may be a bit of a cruel tease), as just a few days later Catie and I stumbled upon the most beautiful sweet fluffy white Golden Retriever I have ever met.
Photo taken in Lyon, France on October 19, 2010.
I was taking a photo of a combination lock on an iron gate (as I often do), and I heard Catie from twenty feet off say very calmly but authoritatively, “Dan, I found a Golden Retriever”. I immediately suspected feared foul play, and responded very sternly, “Catie, do not screw with me. Are you lying?” She was not! There was a very excited dog sitting on a stone ledge next to an old building, wagging its tail and staring at the both of us.
I didn’t stop petting that dog for a good twenty five minutes, despite our walking buddies being long gone and even Catie giving up on me (trying not to let the group dissolve permanently). I have no idea whose dog it is, what its name is, or why it was tied up where it was, but I do know that I loved it with all my heart. It was sooo fluffy! (All-time professionalism high for this blog right there, I think.)
Once Catie came back for a third time and finally successfully dragged me away from the new love of my French life, and after she watched me give no less than four desperate adoring glances back to that dog, she said that the next time I look back at her lovingly at the airport before leaving, she isn’t going to feel so special. I told her that on the contrary, she should know now that she should feel especially so.
Photos taken in Lyon, France on October 19, 2010.
