How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I spent it with dogs. A lot of dogs. Fourteen or so, to be not quite exact. Though only up to four at any one time. Mulan was the first, a 9 month old UNHOUSEBROKEN puppy. Though really, we also had Seto and Khan before that. Seto is not Japanese, and I'm not sure that's how Khan's name is spelled, nor if his owners were Star Trek fans. All that I know is that he was a pain in the ass, though not as much of a pain as the first time we watched him, when he terrorized our alcoholic friend Lee.
But yes, Mulan was the first dog that I had to watch by myself. It brought new meaning to the word rage. There were times when I had to beat that dog unmercifully.
Mulan stayed with me for a very long month. Other dogs came and went over the next two months. In no particular order, I had Bruja, Billy, Llauna, Otis, Pola, Carla, Trini, Zeus, Tim, Dicky (Tamir or Tamiz was his real name), and Max (the dog, not the roommate). Then when Max came back, we also had A, or in Spanish, I guess it's E. He looked like part miniature collie and part chihuahua and he didn't stop shaking in fear the entire time he was here. It might have been that he could smell the dozen or so other dogs that had been here, but he was apparently terrified as soon as he left his owner's house and Max had to drag or carry him the entire way home. He went under a little table in the living room and seemed to be alright there except for when we tried to feed him, at which point, he would go back to quivering in fear.
There were a lot of amusing little things that happened with the dogs, but I will save those tales for my blog over at BeeDogs.com.
Still, despite all of the dogs and their shenanigans, I had a good summer. I look back on it as an idyllic time. Nothing like starting your day with coffee, a gin and tonic, and a dog walk. Then Dog Mike would stop by, we'd play chess, drink more coffee, play some guitar. He'd leave and I'd watch The Simpsons in Spanish. That was about all of the responsibilities I had that day, other than another dog walk in the evening. I did a lot of reading, though, of course, I didn't finish Proust. I'm now reading Nexus and taking my time because I don't want it to end. English teaching work has started again, Danielle and Erik are here. Chris is still... a fish creature from beyond Pluto.