Bluepurl

Skippy and Juno are my gals!

Twelve years ago, my family was in the market for dogs, so we called the local vet. As it happened, a client of theirs had recently brought in his newly-adopted shelter dog, who wasn’t feeling very well.

A couple of hours later, she gave birth to eight puppies. We got two girls from the litter. They’re part border collie and part handsome stranger. Typical herding dogs, they bark a lot and chase anything that moves - children, cars, bicycles, other dogs.

The black and white dog, Skippy, is the head dog. She controls the other dog, Juno, and my husband, by staring at them until they bend to her will.

Juno is my shy girl. Early on, she decided staying out of trouble is the way to go. She sticks pretty close to my feet.

This weekend, they’re both hunkering down under tables and desks. People in outfits are re-enacting the Civil War down the street from our house. Cannon-fire makes dogs nervous.

Duelling lawn gnomes.

The McFarlane family - my husband, Dave and his three brothers, all our families, and clan matriarch, Verda - goes camping each year at Devil’s Lake State Park.

It’s our turn (me and Dave) turn to coordinate the party, although it doesn’t take a lot of coordination. We’ve been doing the Family Campout for so long - many, many years before I joined the family - that people know what they’re supposed to do.

A little bit of controversy does arise each year about whether to serve chicken on Friday and pork chops on Saturday, or pork chops on Friday and chicken on Saturday. The issue is resolved by the family coordinating the campout that year. That family then must live with the consequences of their choices for 12 months until the issue comes up again.

This year I have sent out this postcard to remind people of the Campout and ask for information about the number of people coming.