The thing about Spain is nobody asks why you’re travelling alone. It’s just not a thing. Everybody does it. And everyone is different and difference is also not a thing. There are young and old, singles, families, conservatives, tattooed, pierced and very funky people, sexy, … Continue reading Madrid.
‘So what are your favourite books, Violet?’ I didn’t even think before I gave an answer. ‘We Rate Dogs is number one, definitely’, I said, referring to the new coffee table book that came out a couple of weeks ago. He looked at me with … Continue reading On dogs, horoscopes and reading.
Today in the park my dog Fred met a Pitbull named Molly and ‘got that look in his eyes.’ My other dog barked and growled at everyone and every dog imaginable. She’s a daschund; they’re nasty like that. I saw six Japanese tourists all dressed … Continue reading On love and dogs
I’ve written about my dog Scarlet before, the mad one who likes to swim. Yesterday we had another drama.
I was with her for a run and a swim at 9 am. Around 5 pm I wrote this post on a community Facebook page.
‘At the park today my dog Scarlet went swimming. She’s done it before, goes in for an hour, gets into a zone, doesn’t hear anyone or anything and won’t come out. Today she swam and swam, went into the reeds and disappeared. I looked everywhere. No Scarlet. After a few hours I came home, frantic, sunburned, exhausted, told my kids the bad news, dropped off my other dogs, and went back. And there I found a woman, Karin VDL, covered in mud and gunk, with my dog. She had found her. RESCUED HER. Karin had gone into the water. Other people helped. Hippies, parents, children, picnickers, dog lovers, grannies and grandpas. And other dogs. Everyone was rooting for her. I cannot say thank you enough, thank you thank you thank you.’
The response from the community was astonishing. Everyone so glad my dog was okay, everyone supportive. She’d been found, brilliantly camouflaged, stuck in the reeds on an island in the middle of the dam. Exhausted. Hot. Alive.
Karin is getting a bottle of whisky from me tomorrow, as well as a huge bunch of flowers and the biggest hug. The community pulled together in the most extraordinary way, and I just gotta say, I felt overwhelmed. Some stripped down and tried to swim to her. It’s a tricky dam to swim in. Others had tried to coax her back. Karin eventually reached her.
And one man had managed to photograph her and put her pic on social media.
Astonishing group effort and people are so kind.
BUT NONE OF THAT IS WHY I AM WRITING, although I will be forever grateful to all these people.
My dog is a celebrity. Her Facebook post has had thousands of likes. Her photograph and her story have been shared so many times.
My dog is more popular than me.
That is it.
My dog is more popular than me.
And I am very very happy about it.
We’re on the bed and she’s asleep at my feet and now the only thing I want is to fall in love with one of the gorgeous men who shared her picture.
There were quite a few.
Thanks Karen. Thanks Guys.
Vote for Scarlet. She’s entering a beauty pageant next week.
