Doggie Blues

"Yesterday's kisses are still on my lips..." Feeling a bit Billie Holliday-bluesy lately, with my mom and sister spending February vacation doing some college tours. Why they ever would want to leave home, I just can't understand.

Talked to them a couple of nights ago and gave them kisses through the phone. I'd been watching out the window for hours, waiting for them, Hachiko-style, when Dad finally suggested we call. It was, after all, Valentine's Day.

(Remember Hachiko, the dog in Japan who faithfully waited for his professor to come home each evening on the train? The movie, with Richard Gere, had a limited release in December;  I would rather read the book: either Pamela S. Turner's picture book Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog, or Leslea Newman's Hachiko Waits.) Anyway, I'm sure they'll be home soon and I will not have to suffer that fate.

The visits led Mom to reminisce about her days at The College of William and Mary in Virginia. Specifically, she recalled that her major had its own, very handsome, brick building (of course, being in Williamsburg) which was named, presciently enough, Tucker Hall!

My sister told me that she said hello to the Marquis de Lafayette while she trekked through Lafayette College's campus. The Marquis, you remember, is practically my great-great-great etc. etc. etc. grandfather, along with ol' George Washington, who had the smarts to breed the Marquis' gift of hounds with his own dogs, producing, voila, moi! Brilliant man.