Well, the past couple of weeks have been a bit rough. With all of the difficulties, though, I'm reminded that I have a wonderful group of colleagues around me, and I'm very lucky. They've all been very welcoming, and supportive, and have been there for me while everything has been going on at home. And, they don't need to - they hardly know me. But, that's the type of people they are. I'm very grateful for my colleagues, because some of the recent experiences I've had would have been totally unbearable without that support. But, those issues can hold for another time. I thought I'd just jot a quick note about a nice little visit Cali, Brooke and I had to my colleague Alan's home in Kent. It was a bit of adventure, actually. First, Cali and Brooke had their first ever train ride. They did well at Victoria Station, and we got a section of a car to ourselves on the train. We lucked out in that the ticket collector on the train was a dog lover, so she played with them and didn't mind them moving around a bit. Cali's usual snarkiness took hold at some stations, as she chose to growl at people on the platform through the window. Basically, for the whole ride, no one sat in our section! I have some cute pictures of them looking out the windows of the train (one of these days, I'll figure out how to insert pictures). When we got to Alan's house, they settled in pretty well, and then we went for a long country walk - another first for those two city dogs. I mean, they love Friends Lake, but that's not the same as the rolling English countryside. It was beautiful and, aside from one minor tiff with another dog, they did really well. When they met some sheep for the first time, they were very curious. Brooke gave a couple of experimental barks, but then settled for sniffing through the fence. I was a little concerned they might think the lambs were chew toys (they have a stuffed lamb from Stratford), but they did fine.
We didn't get too close to the Blank Angus cows, but I did see Cali and Brooke eyeing them cautiously. We stopped for a respite at the top of a hill and they drank some water and looked around curiously, and then we had another break at Chartwell, Winston Churchill's house, where we sat at a table outside and I had a coke. The two of them were too busy checking everyone out to have any water at that point. Cali had a couple of grumpy moments. Then we walked back, through the woods and across the fields. I really thought they'd get tired, but they seemed like they could go on forever. Made me feel a little bad that they spend so much time cooped up in the flat. They seemed so free and happy. Of course, their freedom had its restrictions - I didn't let them off the extension leashes. Alan's daughter Julia did a very commendable job of managing Brooke, while I handled Cali, and we worked out a rhythm of weaving back and forth to untangle the two maniacs!
Back at the house, after a late lunch (expertly prepared by Julia and Rebecca), Alan introduced me to the game of Kings - a simple, medieval game of strategy, using nothing more than wooden sticks and blocks, that is surprisingly addictive. It was a lot of fun, but I got the impression that Cali and Brooke wanted to try their hand at it, since Brooke kept knocking the blocks down with her lead. Then the train ride back - I expected them to be exhausted, but I guess there were too many exciting things to see. They got a lot of attention while we waited on the platform, and then the car was crowded, so we had to share space. Cali was snarky a couple of times, but overall, they did quite well, and we made it home without incident. I imagine they were quite overwhelmed with all the new things they saw and did, but I was quite proud of them (considering all the horrors I had envisioned!). Who knows, I may just take them out again! :)
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