Life in quarantine with Eeyore and Tigger

Hello Everyone,

There's a great Far Side cartoon, set in hell, where people toil with shovels and wheelbarrows amid the flames. The person in the foreground though is whistling away, happily going about his chores. In the background, one devil says to another: "We're just not getting through to that guy." My parent's dog, a Springer Spaniel named Ace, is like the guy in that cartoon. He is irrepressibly positive, simply the most relentlessly, energetically optimistic creature I have ever seen. Every single waking moment of his life is a barely contained, edge-of-your-seat adventure. He'd chase a ball from now until the heat death of the universe and not lose interest. Probably bad to put it like this right now, but his enthusiasm is contagious. Arthur is ... not so enthusiastic. He's getting a bit older and a bit grumpier, and likes his routine: going for long walks, curling up on the couch, and making me feel guilty about leaving him when I go to work. With Emilie and I staying at the cottage for the past couple of weeks, he's been a bit out of sorts, with no routine to speak of. He likes it here, obviously, but we're not doing quite the same thing every day, so it's an adjustment. This past weekend, he also had compete for attention with his energetic cousin. They would make a great TV show, as they fit very easily into the grumpy older cop, enthusiastic younger cop stereotype. Overthe course of the first season, Arthur wouldbe stand offish and resistant to the new guy but is eventually won over. In real life, it doesn't take that long until Ace's enthusiasm wins out and Arthur will play and wrestle for a stick with him. He'll also follow the little guy into the bush, chasing field mice or whatever else it is they smell. Sitting by the water with them is entertainment in itself. They putter away along the shore. The other day, Arthur found a ball somewhere and they took turns playing with it. Arthur would nudge along the dock until it fell over the side, then he would stare at it and reach for it with his paw, despite not having a hand that could grasp it. Ace would then dive in after it, face first into frigid water, then swim back to shore with the ball, and the process would repeat itself.

I wish everyone could have someone who brings the kind of positive energy into their lives, the way Ace does for Arthur, much as the latter might complain.

Wes

Photos

Got a bunch of pictures this time. The first is of the odd couple resting on the couch. Please note that we have very comfortable dog beds here at the cottage, sitting unused at the time this photo was taken.

The second is of a deer skeleton we found while hiking. Shown is the skull and antlers, which is cool, but the whole skeleton was there, which is way more intense.

The third is another of Arthur. Please note the three work vehicles in the the background.

The fourth is an artsy shot I took of an ancient maple tree with old sap buckets in the foreground.

The last is another artsy shot of some flowers we saw on our hike.