Tuesday 18 March 2008

An Addition to the family?

This one is for Shelagh. My sister in law in Vermont.

We were walking along the beach one morning last week – a grey drizzly day with nil visibility but no wind. The tide was in, so trudging along the sand was hard work which makes Himself grumpy. He’d hoped to get out of walking part of the way but his plans were waylaid.

Himself in a Sulk is something to see, though to be fair it never lasts long. He has too much of a sense of humour for that.

We walked in silence, watching Mollie’s antics in and out of the surf, chasing other dogs, losing her ball, letting it dribble into the sea before dashing to retrieve it.

It’s better not to talk first thing in the morning. Himself is not at his best, and my head’s always full of things that whirr round like a little engine.

Then he said, “I think our next dog should be called Busby.”

“What?” I said. Let’s face it, in a small one bedroom flat there is not a lot of room for one dog let alone two. And of course, there’s the terrible Buster. Had Himself gone bonkers? Or did Moll have some terrible disease that I didn’t know about? Was she about to die? Oh no…..

“Busby,” Himself repeated, happily unaware of the turmoil in his wife’s brain.

I decided to humour him. Safest when people are bonkers. “Why Busby?”

“I was listening to something on the news and Dominic Busby was mentioned. I thought that would be a good name for a dog.”

“So we’re talking hypothetical here?”

“Of course, Pop! Why would we want another dog?”

I came down to earth then. I’d already got quite fond of the hypothetical Busby, could see him and Moll racing across the beach together. Silly me.

11 comments:

Cornish Dreamer said...

Busby sounds like a very good name for a dog ;@)

Flowerpot said...

that's what I thought RT - still (sigh) you never know!

Milla said...

Nice name, but a dog is not just for a nice name. Hmmm I think I'd rather a grumpy and silent husband in the morning than one who suggested getting another dog! But then I'm not very nice.

Flowerpot said...

Well I've got silent husband and one who suggested another dog!!

Akelamalu said...

Oh a hypothetical dog? I want one too, I'll call mine Tricks cos that's what it would be good at - hypothetically! :)

Flowerpot said...

Ak, Tricks is agreat name for a dog - specially a hypothetical one!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

That sounds like the sort of conversation I have with my dh. I like the name Busby too.

Elaine Denning said...

It's nice to daydream. Busby's a great name.

I once had a cat called Princess Morianna Zaparuni.

Don't ask!

Flowerpot said...

Debs - so we both have the same sort of non communicative husband in the morning?!

Flowerpot said...

MissU - a cat called WHAT???!!!

Mopsa said...

Two dogs...it's a little bit of unexpected heaven. And thanks to the 2nd dog, a bigger house had to be bought in another part of the country where that would be possible. So I find myself on a lovely farm in Devon, and I thank dog 2nd for every moment. Three though, just wouldn't fit in the car. And I only have two arms, one for each lead.