Georgia Brown on dock waiting for rest of fam:
What a georgeous weekend - light wind, crystal blue sky, and 75 degrees...not your usual October weather. 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) and rocks from the bottom of the lake (this year, River is the family's sole rock-fetcher).
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 had just loaned us, into our boombox. With no other human within five docks on either side, I cranked up Carmen about as loud as she could go. Any wineglasses on the opposite shore (not too likely), would have shattered for sure. Our dogs, who actually seem to like classical music (don't ask me how I know), experienced 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 back to the house to fetch a chilled bottle of Edna Valley Chard with two wine glasses.
And so three hours later, with Carmen just about done and the sun having started its downward descent, I said those four words every dog loves to hear, "Get in the boat." And 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 Passengers:
River, in his own thoughts:
Maggie, thinking about River:
Georgia, passed out from all the swimming, thinking about nothing:
