Thanksgiving part 4-Tuesday-DOGS!

Yes, dogs, not very a very spiritual sounding praise, but there it is. Angie and Star may look like ordinary yellow labs, but they may also be guardian angels in disguise . . . We have been here more than 14 years now. That’s the marathon pace, not the sprint. And Angie and Star help set the pace. On Saturday, for instance, there were about a dozen kids at my house: two classmates of Luke now on holiday reading Hardy Boys, two classmates of Caleb studying for exams with him, four young kids giggling with Jack and Julia as they beat drums and played Christmas carols, and a few other assorted acquaintances. Without the dogs that number could swell to 50 or more at the drop of a hat, and then my kids would retreat into the safety of their room. Instead the friends they know and want to be with also know the dogs and are not afraid of them, while random passers-by on the road take a look at the two big white dogs and decide to pass on. Angie and Star are part of what makes this house a home, what makes my children long to come back here in spite of the lure of distant luxuries. Angie and Star are part of the reason I can stay here alone when Scott has to travel, providing at least an illusion of security and decent sleep in spite of armed military patrolling nearby.

Angie is now 11 1/2 years old. It has been a decade since we ran for our lives with her . . . She’s getting old, arthritic, sleeping a lot. Star is still a bouncy 7-year-old, the liveliest puppy of the litter whom we took on Luke’s longing against the advice of the breeder that we choose a calmer family dog. Star and Jack have grown up together, the dog and human sides of one wild soul. God gave Adam the animals right away, before he even had human companionship. I’m thankful for our dogs.