Escape from Grey Gardens

The dogs seem at last to have sorted out their canine social stuff and the boys have accepted Hattie as a pack member. Each day we do a little more time together, both outside and in. She half chases half follows Scout everywhere, while Beckett asserts his independence and pack leader status by hanging back a bit. Several times she's gone right up to him and he's said, close enough sister, with a growl or body language, and immediately she sank down in front of him in a submissive posture. But he's indulging her more each day: she likes to lick both of the boys on the face or ear. They tolerate it. It's so much fun to watch them sort out their boundaries and tolerances. I suppose people do about the same thing, only more verbally. But I wonder. You can learn an awful lot about non-verbal communication watching the dogs. It was really hard to get them in the frame together for a photo, they were running about so enthusiastically.

We still have to pen Hattie in at night or she stays up all night playing with stuff. She's very attached to material objects, so as she gets more freedom around the house we're having to be careful about leaving shoes and things on the floor. When she first showed up outside, she stole one of Gary's work gloves and an old rusted grease gun out of the garage. The grease gun is still on the side steps where she left it--neither Gary nor I can bear to throw it away, since it was such an unlikely, sad toy but it is so Hattie. she's grown so much I can't believe it: I was out of town for 4 days and when I came back she was visibly bigger, maybe 35 pounds now.

foggy Arkansas
Last weekend I was in Arkansas at a performance festival on the side of a mountain, staying in a cabin. It was lovely but way too cold, also too much rain--and they have some serious flood warnings up there. It was a surprise somehow to get out of the car into sweet old humid hot southern LA. And a relief.

Our azaleas finished their show while I was gone, but some Louisiana irises are coming up to make up for it. We have attracted some indigo and painted buntings, so swatches of color flash up here and there. I may need to rename Grey Gardens since the "grey" isn't exactly descriptive.

Here by the way are some of Beckett's shots we took on his day of posing with azaleas. He wasn't too happy about sitting still, poor guy. He's getting to be quite the old man, but he'll always be my little B.

This weekend is the Great ST Gathering in Savannah!!! I've been so busy I have only started thinking of it today. And now it's time to pack, since I have a full day tomorrow and leave early Thursday AM. I have to attend a conference kind of simultaneously that happens to be in Savannah this weekend as well in a sublime coincidence, but it looks like events don't conflict much if at all.