What are you going to do with the dogs?, Maureen asked us. 

We hadn’t thought that far ahead.

I’m coming to get them, she said.

And the next day our great friend Maureen was driving the 900+ miles from Deer Isle, Maine to High Point, NC to come take our two kids while Scott and I went on the trip of a lifetime.

Maureen’s standard poodle Max was already handful enough but our generous friend took on Loolie and Hershey for 4.5 months. After that they were boarded at a professional kennel for the duration of our stay in Goa. This month Maureen and Max have come for a visit while the island is blanketed–no, indeed buried!–in snowfall. As you can see from this photo taken  the other day, it’s all paws on deck in the bright North Carolina sunshine.

Scott’s 64th birthday would be February 16th. I will celebrate Scott-style: knee deep in dogs, not snow.