Three weeks after loosing Max, we have Dreamboat Annie the Labradoodle and a much happier Ruby Tuesday. Or as Annie’s known informally, the wooly doodle. Or Annie-Banannie. She came to live with us a week after Max passed. She’s now five months. As can be seen in the back of mom’s Prius, they’re both pretty tight as far as canine buddies go.

She and Ruby have gotten used to one another and now play pretty heavily together. Tug-of-war, chase, dragon fights (where they play-mouth one another and make grunting sounds), and other doggish activities. Long walks every evening are now de rigueur once again. When they walk they walk together out front at a rapid pace. It’s been years since Max wanted to walk with any kind of pace and side-by-side out front with Ruby. Ruby is happy and I think pretty much over loosing Max.

As for me, it’s more complex. I have a lot of digital photos of the same period when Ruby first came to live with Max, at about the same age as Ruby is now. Being human my memories are a lot sharper, especially when helped by what I photographed and wrote about back then. Having Annie triggers an odd mixture of simultaneous pleasure in having her here while still feeling the pain of Max’s loss.

Life is neither simple nor slow. Annie’s introduction into, and interaction with, the household can’t be ignored while I mope around feeling sorry. It’s not fair to anyone, least of all little Annie.

Obviously there’s more to come. I just need to sit down and gather my thoughts into coherent sentences and paragraphs.