| Sailor here. This morning Mom climbed out of bed earlier than usual for a StayAtHome Day and sped off to the Farmer�s Market. She came home with lots of organic vegetables to make veggie glop for me and Zoe. Zoe comes home today and will be ravenous for veggies since she has not had any for the entire month she�s been on vacation. Mom said the Farmer�s Market was open early because our town is hosting a street faire, called the Connoisseur�s Marketplace, and she wanted to beat the crowds. I hope she doesn�t; I am not violent at heart and neither is Mom. She also came home with a huge bouquet of sunflowers that she put in her birthday vase on the glass table in the living room. Mom says the blooms are called sunflowers because they nod to the sun and follow its path across the sky. I think I will take my afternoon nap on the living room rug today to watch them turn their faces to the sun coming through our windows. After she had put Zoe�s veggies in the refrigerator, Mom gave me a lick and a promise with my pin brush, clipped my leash to my collar, and set off with me ByMySide downtown to the faire. Mom says I need some more socializing in crowds. I say gimme hot dogs and I will be as social as you want. Wowsers! The first thing we approached held me in its thrall. It was mostly gray. It was very tall, higher than twenty Leonbergers, higher than the roof of my house even. Best of all, it had dog toys stuck all over it! It also had children clinging to it at various levels of expertise and terror. Mom calls it a Climbing Wall. I call it a Sporting Opportunity. I wanted to leap up and grab a dog toy, but Mom said, �No, not today.� Does this mean that I will be allowed tomorrow? Then we walked down the shady side of the street. Mom knelt down to feel the asphalt and declared it OK for my feet, but she walked in the shade anyway. I liked that. We stopped at a curtain and Mom did something above the shelf, saying �earrings.� She said, �Thank you.� We walked to another curtain. Mom talked to someone who smelled like cows and talked about something called leather. Each time we reached a curtain, I sat while Mom smelled with her eyes and I smelled with my nose. Money exchanged hands. I did, however, balk at the curtain with dog hats on the shelf. Dog hats are beneath my dignity. Maybe Mom bought one for Zoe. Mom stopped at the police officers� curtain and asked if the Police Department would consider having Dog Days at the police department to socialize the community�s dogs to Men In Uniform. She was concerned that some dogs are not friendly to Men In Uniform and would be aggressive if a police officer or fireman needed to rescue them from dangerous situations. She also told them about a friend who had had chest pains and felt faint and called 911, but her dog would not allow the paramedics near her until she recovered enough to tell the dog it was OK. The Men In Uniform said that this idea was a good one, took her name and address, and told her that they�d pass the suggestion along to the Head Canine Officer. Mom has a feeling that she may need to get into her organizing mode in the near future. I met many dogs and smelled quite a few. A Yorkie yapped at me and wagged her whole rear end. A beagle wanted to run through me to get to the hot dog booth. Two Labradors drooled over the water fountain and wagged with a happy glint in their eyes. A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was afraid of me at first, but I threw all my calming signals at her and she began to wag and sniff noses. She was beautiful. I even saw a Siberian husky like Zoe who was heading for the snow cone booth. The very BEST part of the day, however, right after sharing a hot dog with Mom, was standing proudly and receiving thousands of compliments from complete strangers. A few called me �Lassie,� but I didn�t mind. One nice man even asked me where Timmy was. Mom answered for me, saying that we had left him in the well. People who met me on one side of the street came up and petted me and called me by name when we met them again on the other side of the street. They all loved me and told me how gorgeous I am and how sweet and friendly, too. I ate it up. I had my fifteen minutes of fame today, and it was good. Sailor the street (faire)-wise collie |
| FAIRE OF FACE |
 |
 |
 |