January 12, 2013

White Dog surveyed our cozy little living room. "I think we are WAY over the city ordinance with the number of feet and paws currently occupying this room!" "And if there isn't such a law, maybe there ought to be," added the shy Puff (pressed tightly against Steve's leg). White Dog was referring to the 32 paws and 10 feet gathered as our extended family sat down for dinner all together for the first time since Daisy Mae and Maple and their humans moved in earlier in the week. Body heat alone raised the room temperature by 10 degrees Steve guessed. "I bet even momma is comfortably warm," YoYoMa joked referring to my chronic winter coldness...and he was right!

The room was a sea of white with EIGHT White Dogs of all sizes milling and mixing. Little Oso (who we feared would get trampled by the Standard-sized Poodles) calmly made his way around by simply walking under Daisy and Maple to get past. Everyone carefully stepped around Nuka who staked out a space in the middle of the room, half under the coffee table, and nestled down to rest oblivious to the complicated dance around her. Steve tried several times to take photos but could find no angle in the room or doorways that allowed him to capture all of the newly extended WDA in one shot. He tried standing on a chair but the Poodle girls and White Dog thought he was playing a new variation on "get it" and jumped up trying to see what he was holding. When everyone settled into rest spots the floor was literally covered and the whiteness blended up the couch as Daisy and Maple flowed over Becks and Josh and filled all of the unclaimed space between them. WD was royally enthroned on the arm of my chair. Michael looked across the room at one point when he realized that he had left his water glass in the kitchen; seeing the number of bodies that he would need to navigate around he wisely decided to just wait until after dinner to retrienve it.

After the meal, everyone went their separate ways leaving just the WDA, Steve and I. "That wasn't so bad," I summed up. "I am very proud of you all and how well behaved you were." "It was fun in a way," White Dog replied, "but I am glad they went back to the Studio when they did. This Pack was beginning to feel packED!"