It's A Dog-Meet-Dog World

Bessie Anne had company of her own yesterday.  Bess knew that there was a dog in my guest's truck and circled the vehicle, whining, "Come out!  Come out and play!"  Camille and I had concluded our business and were standing in the drive discussing, what else, the weather.  Asking permission, she opened the camper shell and introduced her girl, Honey, a gorgeous, black-and-tan German shepherd.  Honey bounded out and went nose to nose with Bessie Anne.  It was quite a picture...this sleek purebred, twice the size of my squatty, rough-coated girl of well-mixed lineage.  It's a good thing Bess is filled with self-confidence or she might have been intimidated.  Like ladies at a garden tea, both girls observed the proprieties of dog greeting dog.  Neither stared directly at the other, each giving sideways glances with no sign of aggression.  Tails waved casually...not the stiff, tense, tail-in-the-air wag that is a warning signal.  After the obligatory butt sniff, the girls bowed to each other...the bent elbows that are the invitation to play...and they were off!  They played tag and chase, Bess having to run twice as fast to keep up with Honey's long legs.  They each stopped to piddle a few drops here and there, leaving the equivalent of a calling card.  When Honey was asked to, "Load up," into the truck again, Bessie flopped to the ground, tongue lolling from a happy, tired grin.
I know Camille through the circuitous way one meets people up here.  She had been given my number by the friend of a friend of a friend who knew I had goats.  Camille was one of those callers who started with, "Is this the Goat Lady?"  Continuing on the merry-go-round, she did not want milk for herself, but for a neighbor of hers.  Some weeks ago, I saw Camille down at the for-sale property on the corner at the big road, and then this week again and I stopped to say hello.  It seems that she has bought that house and is doing some remodeling before moving in.  She asked about goat cheese and I promised to make some for her, hence her visit yesterday.  She bought a pound of chevre, but I don't think much made it home, as she kept nibbling from the bag as we stood and talked.  It will be nice to have a new neighbor, and Bessie Anne will be happy to have a new friend.