Such a Handsome Fellow

Dear Everett,
I've already said once, that I don't think Ansel misses you (even though I do). He really seems to be coming into his own, with you gone. He plays so nicely with Paisle, and he's tolerated her taking his things. He really is a handsome dog, though he has the girth now of an elderly statesman, instead of the high carriage of a spry young thing. I noticed, for the first time today, all the single gray hairs he has in his face. Now, I've noticed in the past that he has many gray hairs creeping into the yards and yards of shiny black coat on his shoulders, throat and back, but never above his eyes, or between his ears.

He has dual ear infections--only the second time in his life his ears have been infected but the last time caused the hematoma that permanently crinkled his right ear flap (November, 2007). The poor dog. And yet he has aged so gracefully.

I remember once watching the two of you play, and remarking (to myself) that you have two different kinds of grace. Yours was strong, quick--efficient in your cuts and weaves. You had very sharp eye/mouth coordination and caught everything thrown for you, even in your elder years. Ansel, on the other hand, is lean and smooth and he seems to float when he runs. He remains completely inept at following a ball or stick or anything in motion, but he can run like the wind on his long legs with a lightness one might associate with a greyhound. Even now when he bowls over Paisle and she tumbles once or twice before regaining her footing and spins back into the fray, he does it with seamless effort and masterful choreography. I cannot tell what Paisle's movement will graduate to; she is still finding her sea legs, as it were. But honestly, the kinds of smooth motion each of you exhibit is both exhilarating, and inspiring. I wish I knew how to draw or paint in bold swift strokes; to see each of you come alive on paper in your respective fluidness would be so much fun.

These dogs fascinate me. I have thousands of pictures, mostly of you. But as time wears on and I snap my garden growing, the bouts of gaiety with Ansel and Paisle, interesting clouds and other things that catch my eye, the archive grows but the photos of you remain stagnant in number. I try to take lots and lots of shots of Ansel and Paisle, so as they both grow older I will have archives of their fun and interaction, as I did of you and yours in the last 4 months we had together. Bless Jenny, for giving me the camera for Christmas--it is hands down the best and most significant present I've ever received. With it, I created reminders of the small every day things we did, as well as expressions and reminders of events that might otherwise fade in both short and long term memory.

The photos make me laugh! They are so much fun, and I am so glad to have them.