Today started with an adventure and involved a lesson in life skills. I knew that the friends I am staying with were getting ready for work when there suddenly was a soft knock on my door. ‘Could you help us out? Our car is not starting…!’
Oh dear. Even though I had once bought jump leads in a bout of superstition (‘If you have ’em, you’ll never need ’em’) and have kept them in my car ever since, I had no idea how to use them. Fortunately, they owned a pair too and had already attached them to their own car. So all I had to do was to fetch my ride, drive up next to theirs and open the hood.
Easy as. Not. I knew full well where to find the handle to open the boot inside my car, but not exactly how to work the safety hook on the hood itself. This hook keeps the hood half-shut and prevents it from flying open if the lever inside is pulled by accident.
After a bit a fit of fiddling though, Gudrun Paco rewarded us with a look at his insides. My friend, who, unlike me, knew what he was doing, attached the cables and we successfully managed to jump start the car. I am happy to report that today, I have successfully acquired the skills to a) open the boot of my car, b) find the battery and c) jump start another car. Star points to me!
Even though I would have loved to show you a picture of all of this, it did not seem quite right at the time to stop everybody in their tracks to go and get the camera. Odd, I know.
After last night’s Sushi superabundance, I had been ready for a bit of sleep that night. In the past few days, however, Aramis seems to have developed the awkward habit of having his main meal at nighttime. In the very moment when I go to sleep. Imagine a dog happily chomping on his dry kibble, carefully selecting the right bits by pushing the food hither and thither. And me, lying in bed, determined not to be woken up, but getting wound up about it nonetheless, and being wide awake as a result, of course.
Despite the midnight meals, I felt that Aramis had been such a wonderfully good boy on this trip that he deserved a treat. So, during our morning walk, he got a croissant.
In the afternoon, I met two friends. I had lunch with the first at university and as the second lives in Sherburn in Elmet, I drove over to meet her. I spent a very nice afternoon catching up with two wonderful people.
The evening was going to be another surprise for Aramis. We had received an invitation from the owners of Aramis’ one and only true love: Forrest, a beautiful Vizsla girl. Even though Aramis is not fond of other dogs at all, Forrest is different. She is his inspiration, his friend , his love and he simply adores her. He will not play with any other dog as he plays with Forrest. Fortunately, their affection is mutual and just seeing these two pooches play was worth the drive to the UK.
But then, The Incident. Aramis and Forrest had set off for another, wild run during our walk and had disappeared from our view for a moment. What they looked like when they came back, I have tried to capture in the picture below.
As you can see, these two look very proud with themselves for having found the foulest, smelliest and dirtiest bog in Yorkshire. Unlike with the picture of the rose above you may consider yourself lucky in this case that the camera is incapable of preserving smells…
I could not believe what the dogs looked (and smelled!) like and was terribly worried about what my friends would say who so generously let me stay with them, if I brought back a very filthy Aramis. So the wonderful people I spent the evening with allowed me to use their bathroom to give poor Aramis a bath, as a first attempt at cleaning him with a bucket of water had miserably failed. I will be eternally grateful for them to let me use their bathroom to clean Aramis up and am very, very sorry for being such a terrible guest.
After the last traces of The Incident had been removed, Aramis and Forrest set out on another mad round of play.
As I was treated to a very tasty and lovingly prepared homecooked dinner, the two canines received their meal too.
I have spent today in the excellent company of my amazing, loyal and incredibly supportive friends. There is not much more anybody could possibly wish for in life.
Thank you.
The Adventures of Aramis 