A happy visit

We had the opportunity to attend a conference in Washington at the National Cathedral this past week. The drive was long, the cathedral floors are hard, and thus there was no place in D.C. for McAllister to rest his weary head. (His head is often weary. Part of his job.)

It was a blessing to know that any number of church families are happy to host him for short visits, and that he's a good guest. Here is McAllister with our good friends Kirsten, Timothy, Mark, and Sarah. He spent Thursday through Sunday with them.

He was a great visitor, they told us!

Well…Timothy did point out one little shortcoming, related to Mac's adjusting to unfamiliar surroundings.

"He pooped in the garage," Timmy said. "Then, he pooped on the road."

While his parents smiled and assured us it was no trouble at all, Timmy disagreed. "It was not funny!" he explained.

Very true. :-)

We still have the sense that McAllister was a very effective ambassador of goodwill.

Still got it

The squirrels around here (and yes, it's not nice to call them "tree rats" -- doesn't stop us, but it's not nice) have gotten pretty cocky in the past couple of years without a dog roaming in the yard. With the tulips in full bloom, their most annoying habit is to nibble at the tulip because they think it's something good to eat. They let the blossom drop to the ground, and change their "minds." (And yes, that wasn't nice, either. Oh, well.)

This squirrel was roaming our front yard this afternoon when McAllister spotted him. The Gray Menace stood up on his haunches and chattered, possibly feeling just a touch of impunity.

Of course, this is the "after" photo, because he ended up climbing this tree just out of reach of Mac's teeth!

McAllister lay on the ground in this position for a good ten minutes following this encounter. Since he hasn't in general enjoyed staying outdoors, I figure he was "on the case."