What happens when you take a perfect October day, add in a nice park setting, a group of Moldovans and all their kids, our new CO and wife, squirrels, dogs off leash, food tables...and Molly? Surprisingly, a really great picnic with no lasting damage.
We arrived with our arsenal of equipment: water bowl, harness, leash, cable ties with carabiners, wet wipes, blanket and the reason for all of it, Molly. We drove up and saw a family in our group had arrived with their new chihuahua; no leash, no collar and of course all Molly wants is for someone to pass the mustard - hot dogs at the park! I took the string out of a boy's hoodie and fashioned a leash for the little ankle meister, and we decided to stay.
Because it just isn't a party without dancing, someone brought the necessary generator to run the music. Our new COs are quite the dancers (and volleyball players and Frisbee throwers and
dog lovers). It was incredibly touching when the circle dance moved over to dance around Mama Elizabeta, the matriarch of our biggest family. She is wheelchair bound now and it was very endearing to see her clap her hands with the music as the dance came to her. These people continue to melt my heart.
Molly was in her glory. Kids galore to pet her and fuss over her. We have a new young girl in our congregation who learns differently than most. Our interaction to this point has been just waving at the meetings. I seriously doubted she would, but was pleasantly surprised when she let me lead her over to the Molly Girl to sit with us. She sat on my lap for so long, I thought I would never get my legs to wake up. But after time, she was totally relaxed around the dog and was saying Sit Molly. I loved speaking Romanian with her, she understood me and she reintroduced me to the Romanian word for soft, which is close to Molly. I wonder if they all think we named our dog Softy.
I was feeling really good about the whole afternoon. We were such great dog owners, so prepared and forward thinking. Patting ourselves on the back, we left the park as the first hints of sunset appeared. We were almost home and AHHH! I left my purse at the park. You left your purse? Where? Umm, sort of hanging in a tree. Hanging in a tree? Who hangs their purse in a tree? That would be me, nearing five decades of life, still not capable of pulling off a dummy free event. Some friends were still there, the purse was still there, lesson learned, next time I'll hide it under a rock.
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| a little lower, yes that's the spot |
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| enough attention, where's the food? |
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| with my little buddy |
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| Our CO setting up a disc golf challenge for the kids |
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| no shame |
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| Moldovan Molly |
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| one gorgeous October Sunday |
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| more back scratchers! |
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| She did knock all the water balloons for the balloon toss into the dirt, but no animals were killed. A good day at the park. |
