Goodbye

I asked them to smile but they were too heartbroken*.

Now to plan that winter visit to Texas.

* Just to clarify: I am not a person who typically assigns human emotions and behaviors to pets. I realize that they are happy as long as they're comfortable, fed and petted and that, even though I know they are capable of feeling sadness, joy and love, their show of attachment is a mechanism to ensure their survival. Their owners are people who do though, equating love with allowing the pooches to take over. I have been working on convincing them not to install a doggie door in their new home, as that will allow unsupervised roaming in a back yard that could harbor insects and snakes that, unlike here, can maim and kill a small dog. Not to mention unsupervised yipping at everything that moves. That is mostly what my sadness is about; that the dogs don't always make wise decisions and I'm no longer the one to keep them out of harms way.