The gathering

It's been a couple of days now so it's time I wrote something about "the gathering." We invited everyone we knew to come out to Patch Brewing on Sunday afternoon as a sort of going away party. I don't want to use the term "goodbye" party because that sounds too final and we clearly hope to see everyone again. The gathering served as a birthday party for me and as a retirement party for Clay as well. We invited everyone we know via Facebook although I realize that may have missed a few folks. Nevertheless, it was very well attended. Some people crawled out of the way back machine and traveled quite a distance to attend. We were overwhelmed and extremely gratified by the turnout of so many friends, including many we haven't seen in a long time.

To keep things dog-related, I decided to bring Bailey even though I wasn't sure how she would handle the crowd including the other dogs who came along. I am very happy, and proud, to report that she did very well. I had her on her Gentle Leader of course, and I brought along a small bucket of tasty treats that I thrust towards everyone who wanted to interact with her. These were all good people and they took some treats, offered them to her, and she took them nicely. She's suspicious of strangers, but she's easily bribed. I also took the precaution of bringing along a crate, which I set up in the office, in case she needed a time out. After a couple of hours I did put her in the crate for a while, but mostly because I needed a break from handling her, I wanted to be able to interact with the other dogs, and I needed a free hand to drink beer. After a half hour or so I brought her out again.

The invitees included dogs as well as their owners and several of our former fosters came. The first one we met upon arrival was Biscuit, a golden retriever. Jamma, a HOWS Project rescue (white GSD) that we fostered also came, as well as Maze (one of Della's 12-pack), former foster and occasional boarder Cosmo (Bernese Mountain Dog), and one of our more recent fosters, the marvelous Marvel (mother of our last litter of puppies). There were other dogs present as well, as represented in the pictures below. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted, but I think I got pictures of most of the dogs and that's mostly what I'm going to share here, since I never assume anyone wants to admit knowing me. 

Clay and I both really enjoyed it. I talked more in a few hours than I usually do in a few weeks and felt like I was about to lose my voice. It was the perfect event for us, low-key, full of friends and their dogs.

I haven't been blogging as frequently of late, mostly because I've been extremely busy. I do intend to continue blogging from France although it may begin to look more like a travel blog as Bailey and I explore the city. 

Cosmo

Biscuit (the Golden)

Bailey

Jamma

Bailey

Marvel

Puck

Maze

Shelby

These two (Rorschach and MoDean) couldn't attend but they sent their people and this video message.

Bailey, being calm, cool, and collected.

One of my favorite songs turned up on my playlist on my drive to the event on Sunday. It's also a song that speaks of my parting wish. It's my hope that everyone will have a few fond memories of us and think of us from time to time until we meet again.