Letter to Jayne & Steve 8/18/06

Jayne's note...I got her Aug & Sept letters close together, then two weeks later her Oct letter.

August 18, 2006

Dear Jayne & Steve
Hey Guys, how's it going? It's been a while since we talked, but I hope you guys are doing okay. How are the dogs? My dog Raven, if she'd been born in the states & didn't hate (seemingly) every dog in existence, would be perfect for your flyball team. She'd outrun Ruby, I'm sure the way she chases down goats & sheep, well it's impressive, and funny. She really just likes to fuck w/ 'em.

She'll speed up to them and scatter a herd of sheep just to see if any of them will give chase. If not she'll toy with one of the billy's until he attempts to ram her. Then she trots happily off to join me again on my walk.

She began a habit of scratching on my wooden gate, so as to knock. Sometimes she'll try pushing it open to enter and others she'll just wait patiently until I open it for her. She'll come in, not expecting food or a pet, find a comfy spot under my hangor(???) in the shade to sleep. She stays an hour, maybe 3, just chillin' & when she wants to go, if the gate isn't open, she'll scratch it again.

When she is here chillin, she does an incredible job of guarding my house from all children. I almost laughed my butt off my chair when a kid about 4, snuck up to my house to watch me. Raven saw him, growled deeply & immediately gave chase. That kid cried bloody-murder and ran for his life. It was hilarious. The kid's mom was laughing too. Raven stopped after about 10 yards & returned to lay in my courtyard as if nothing happened. Supposedly he used to do that a lot for the previous volunteer.

She's also intuitive as any animal should be. When I found out one of my aunt's died, I was pretty upset. When I started crying, she just came over and crawled under my chair and laid partially on my feet & leaned against my legs. Very quietly & patiently, she laid there until I was done & my mood improved. She hung out with me for most of that day. She's currently laying in the sun, napping outside my door. It's nice to know she's there, although she never sleeps the night here. Through the day, she tends to follow me wherever I go & stays under whatever chair I happen to be sitting in, whether it be in someone else's courtyard or besides the road. She doesn't follow me through the market, where she'd receive too many kicks by other humans to be worthwhile. But I'll usually see her at my house upon my return. She's a nice companion, all around. I though you guys would appreciate a little more information regarding my best companion here.

Hope this finds you well, take care & be safe.
Always,
Laura