Dogs

One of the few things around here that gives me a lot of pleasure are the dogs.  I'm fortunate enough to see them nearly every day, and they  always bring a smile to my face.  I think they have the best job around here (the scout helicopter pilots probably have the most fun jobs).  They always seem so excited about what they do; sometimes a bit pooped, but always excited.  And since I can't photograph them, I'll include photographs of our own pups.

Starting off with Mina isn't accidental.  I've consistently seen at least two dogs that could be her brothers.  And I saw one on the other side of town with an Iraqi soldier that could have been a relative as well.  That rich sable coat, the long tongue hanging out, and that beautiful gait.  It really doesn't take much more than a sable coat to get me thinking of Boo Boo.

I'm not the only one who loves the dogs around here.  One day I noticed one of our drivers tilt his head over to look at a dog and he smiled.  I asked him if he had dogs at home, and we got into a long conversation about dogs and children.  First his dogs back in Europe and his young son, and then me talking about Holden with our pups.  Out came the iPod touch and the photos.  Now pretty much every time we see each other we talk about our dogs.  The kids come up sometimes as well, but always the dogs.

And I've had a similar conversation with a person from yet another continent.  It's pretty amazing how folks who live half a world apart can have similar experiences, and then have them triggered in a place like this.  But the dogs here do that.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a dog stepping backwards very slowly, attentively looking at something on the ground.  I first thought it was scared, kind of like Mina, half German Shepherd half chicken, and then saw a kong laying on the ground - the dog was waiting for someone to kick it away.  Suddenly I was back with Hansi and all the times he'd show up after a nap with a kong in his mouth and his eyes asking me if I was ready to play.  It was hard to say no.

Now what we don't see a lot of around here are Maxines, though I have to confess I did see one and felt a bit sorry for him.  As you can see, Maxine had a coat that let her be perfectly happy laying down in the snow.  It's not a Baghdad type of coat.  She would have been pretty miserable around here and she would have let us know it.  Still, on occasion one of the dogs will do something that reminds me of Maxi, and that's always a good thing.

So almost every day, good or bad, I get a little pick-me-up just looking at the dogs.  And I can't help but smile.