In October, while the weather still had just a chill in the air before the leaves turned golden yellow, orange and red, we decided to
take a day trip to Carmel. Our recently acquired SPCA rescue, Buddy, was raring to “go for a ride in the car.” The ocean was beautiful (I never find a time when it’s not). It seems everyone had the same idea; visit the ocean before the weather turns.“Go(ing) for a ride in the car” was Buddy’s joy while walking on the beach, getting his feet wet
and dealing with other eagerly bouncing dogs—not so much. He seemed to experience it much like a child ready to be potty trained might feel with his training pants full—wet and yucky. He is a people dog and only appears to tolerate other dogs after the initial sniff. So after a few hours we headed back home. In the back of my mind the seed was planted that Buddy needs a buddy to bring out his playful dog side.We stopped in San Juan Bautista (http://www.san-juan-bautista.ca.us/)
for a snack and caught up on dinner, some history, music and ice-cream before the drive back.Winter
Now that the leaves have been falling and we are getting ready for winter (I am never really
ready), I’ve been taking pictures of trees—their colors this year seem to be more vivid than ever. For some reason the camera never captures the vivid autumn colors, but I keep my camera ready anyway and snap pictures while driving.One day after lunch with my aunt, while browsing at the bookstore in Riverpark, she wanted to see the animals in the SPCA shop window across the street.
“You don’t want to buy a dog,” I said.
“I just like to look at the animals,” she said.
“Oh, what a darling Chihuahua,” I said—and then took him out of his cage and held him.
Guess what happened next? I am the proud owner of a buddy for Buddy, meet Milton:
