One Morning in Late July

"I am just so excited, I can hardly contain myself.  Mistress Elizabeth said last night that she has arranged for me to have a playdate.  Imagine, little old me having a playdate.  Oh, yes, I have had playdates with Julia and Sophia...and they are always fun.  They just love me up a storm and Sage always has food in her hands that she doesn't mind sharing with me....but really, they aren't dogs.  I never get to see any other dogs, never mind play with one.  But today the mistress says Danny and Diana are bringing their yellow lab Boston with them when they come to swim down the pond.  I am so excited...just beside myself with anticipation.  I can show him how to catch frogs and fish and how to snuzzle my kitties...I even might let him play with my toys.  That's the thing about the Mistress...she gave me a big talk about sharing this morning.  She's into that sort of thing...that's why Ophelia and Sophia always try to share their headless mice with me.  But eeeyeh, I hate dead mice and moles, especially the ones with the guts hanging out.  Well, I think I'll just sit here and rest awhile...maybe my playdate will show up pretty soon."


"Ummm, these hydrangeas sure smell pretty.  That's the thing about my Mistress, she sure loves flowers and bushes.  She spends a lot of her time out here weeding and dreaming.  Of course I keep her company.  She says I'm a good companion and listener.  You know she talks to me all the time when she's working in the garden."





"Yup, here I am sittiing...just waiting for my playdate.  I wonder what he will be like?"



"I hope I like him.  I hope he likes me.  Ummmm, I wonder where my Mistress is right now, probably in the front garden weeding."



"Oh, there she is.  Trying to get a picture of those flying things by the bee balm."



"She sure does like working in her garden.  She says it soothes her soul.  I wonder what a soul is?"





"Maybe it's some sort of flower."


"Oh, I hear the girl singing now as she collects the seeds of the cleome..  She thinks she has a great voice and I never let on that she doesn't.  She sings about rain and the earth and blackbirds, and stuff like that as she works.  She sure is a strange girl...but I'll keep her.


"She has some Russians in her garden...image having another Sage other then the little girl I like so much."


"My Mistress sure loves purple...but then she likes yellow too."





"Oh, my....do I hear cars coming down our road?  Could it be my playdate?"




"Come, come....come with me down the pond.....you'll have so much fun...we can go fishin' and swimmin' and do all sorts of things.....right down this path...this is the way to the pond."

"Oh, I'm so elated....Boston is just so exciting...we can't contain ourselves as we talk to one another......"


"Meanwhile, the humans are having their own fun... talking, fishin' and swimming."


"Where's Phyllis and Justin?"


Lena


Lynne

Alex and Diana





Lena, Tuck and Boston


















"Diana is teaching everyone how to fish."












That's the thing about the pond, everybody can have fun.















"And when you get cold, you can snuggle up in a towel."




"And then of course, the humans ALWAYS bring treats down the pond to snack on and they always SHARE with their fur friends."


"Boston has great manners just like I do.  We have patience that's what we have.  We are in this for the long haul.  Like the Mistress says "Let the day take care of its self, Tuck, let the Creator write the script". I'm willing to buy that...cause in the end, he knows what's best."



"All good things come in time....even cheese."



"And so we passed the day....laughing and playing...and in the late afternoon my friend went home and as I sat once more on the lawn thinking about the day...all I could think of was the value of warm and loving friendships that will carry you through this world."