So after lunch Anne, dogs, and I wandered down to the dock. After adjusting her adirondack chair and foot bench, Anne set out to crack the NY Times crosswords.
I set out apply fairing compound to several dings and holes in our Sunfish. Georgia, River, and Maggie set out to what water dogs do best; swimming, diving, shaking off, and fetching tennis balls (all three dogs fetch). River, the family's sole rock-diving dog, collects big rocks from the bottom of the lake.
After making sure that what I was getting ready to do wouldn't shake Anne's crossword puzzle-solving neurons loose, I plopped the CD of the opera Carmen, which our friend Daniel Hassell loaned us, into our boombox.
With no other human within five docks on either side, I cranked up Carmen about as loud as she would go. Any wineglass on the opposite shore would have surely shattered, had there been any. Our dogs, who actually like classical music (don't ask me how I know), got to hear their first opera; all I can tell you is that they lapped it up. And so did we, who didn't move off the dock, except for when I paused Act III to climb the steps back to the house to fetch a chilled bottle of Edna Valley Chard, and two wine glasses.
And three hours into Carmen, the Sunfish just about done, Carmen just about done in (literally) and the heavy orange sun accellerating downward , I said the four words every water dog loves to hear, "Get in the boat."
And get in the boat they did. A sunset cruise with three dogs and my wonderful and beautiful wife. A perfect ending to a perfect day. Did I tell you she is the best boat driver? She is.
The Canine passengers -
River, in his own thoughts:
Maggie, thinking abour River:
Georgia Brown, thinking about nothing, passed out from swimming all day:
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