Thanksgiving guests

Toquima, a/k/a "Mr. Cool"

We have a full house for Thanksgiving, but unlike most people, we don't have to cook them anything. Daphne arrived Monday and we picked up Toquima on Tuesday evening, swelling our canine numbers to 11 for the holiday.


We had seven dogs in the bedroom last night: Gigi, Maya, Trooper, Vince, Theo, Daphne, and Toquima.  The floor of the bedroom is pretty much covered in dog beds; there's no way to walk around them, you just walk on them.  We are grateful that Max was content to the stay in the office, and that Summer, Sparky, and Jasso were happy in the crates in the kitchen.

Broken headlight, but minimal
body damage

The collision literally scared
the shit out of the deer.

We had planned to spend yesterday evening sharing pizza and beer with friends.  I had hiked 10 miles on Tuesday, five with Maya and Max, and another five with Maya and Sparky.  We did a trip to town to buy the things we needed for our Thanksgiving dinner and then stopped to pick up Toquima on our way home.  That's when our plans went awry.  We were on Rt. 20, just outside Charlottesville, when we hit a deer.  I looked up just in time to see him flying up, looking like he was trying to leap over the car.  He had struck the front corner of the car on the passenger's side and then flew up, landing smack in the center of the windshield on the driver's side. 

Toquima and Theo

We never saw the deer after that, he might have bounced off on gone on his way, although he would have had at least a sore leg and probably some very bruised ribs I would guess based on the indentation his body made in the windshield.  Safety glass is a modern miracle.  The windshield shattered but didn't break or we would have had a deer in the front seat of the car.  We stopped immediately, of course and pulled off to assess the situation.  All things considered, it could have been much, much worse.

Toquima's thick coat is perfect for frosty
mornings like today.

Toquima looking at me while Theo and
Summer stare down at a ball they are
waiting for me to kick or throw.

Toquima was with us and must have been confused by it all.  He should be called Mr. Cool.  He was laying down when the impact happened so he wasn't tossed around, and he remained calm, cool, and collected throughout the vehicle changes and shuffling around that happened before we finally made it home.  He greeted all his friends here and met a couple new ones (Jasso and Summer).  Coming here is sort of a vacation for him and he's having a great time out in the dog yard with Theo, Summer, and Max this morning.

Max with a basketball I picked up at a thrift
store this past week. The dogs love them.

Theo with the same ball.

That's Max and Summer in the center, vying for the orange basketball.
Theo is on the right, Toquima is off the left pissing on the fence. It's his day back here for a while
so he needs to leave his mark.

Max and Summer with the ball, Toquima coming from the rear

It's a toss up as to whether Theo or Summer is more obsessed with the ball.
She hasn't had a chance to play since her surgery but she's making up for it now.

Toquima loves to run and play but he doesn't care a thing about the balls. That's just as well.

Toquima in front, that's Theo and Summer on the right.