Blended Family and Floppy Ears

Maui 2012 

Welcome back to a new year on the swake!  We just returned to the swake after venturing to the beautiful beaches of Maui for a blended family Christmas.  We all enjoyed ourselves which probably makes us a very strange bunch.  Not sure there are other families that were blended long after their formative years who would survive that much togetherness for an extended period of time without showing a few cracks.  But survive we did, and for the most part we thrived.

How can you not thrive when the temperature is high of 24 Celsius and low of 23 Celsius, and you are able to wiggle your tootsies in the warm white sand everyday?  But we did fret somewhat which seemed remarkably ridiculous.  We fretted about our four legged girl whom we left behind to guard the swake with a very able caretaker.

We checked our electronic devices regularly to make sure there were no urgent messages, behaving much like first time parents might.  This despite the mocking by members of the blended family, that we never actually behaved like that with our children when they were young.  I would put forward the results of our child raising and say that despite our short comings in failing to worry about them they have turned out fantastically independent and resilient.  Grown children aside, we did have concerns about Kanti.

She has been a member of the family for a year and a half during which time she has never been left unless it was with one of those fantastic grown children I have already bragged about.  So this trip was a first, she was being cared for by non-family.  Each day went by without any emergency doggie messages.  We realized later that we should have requested a regular checkin from the caretaker just as reassurance that all was well.  Because although no news is good news, no news of Kanti is like withdrawal.  Not good, and somewhat unsettling.

Our flights home were on time which was a blessing as it meant coming home to Kanti and the swake.  The plane even landed early, the customs fellow was pleasant, and then we faced the wait for luggage which stretched into an eternity.  Eventually our bags slid down the belt and we dashed for the exit only to have to wait again for the shuttle.  It didn't take too long before we were on our way in a nicely warmed vehicle for which JetSet park and ride gets full marks for being reasonably priced and efficient.  Up the driveway, round the bend, no Kanti in sight yet.  There in the kennel waiting she exploded into a series of choreographed leaps and spins until we got the door open and she could fling herself upon us.

She had survived too but she looked funny.  Both her ears which normally stand up, were flopped over.  By the next day one ear had returned to its normal upright position and within a a couple of days the other ear was also beginning to stand up.  I guess she had been fretting too while we were gone, fretting so hard her ears flopped from the effort, but everything is nearly back to normal and there is a new year to navigate together.  Happy New Year from the swake.