tucker

Tucker is my rambunctious 4-year-old border collie, seen at right in his favorite 'swimming pool.'

Although he'd love all the sheep in New Zealand, he's not big on transportation (it took us 15 minutes and lots of trickery to get him in the car to leave my parents' place on Friday night; I can't imagine his reaction to an airplane cargo hold), so he'll be staying stateside for the year.

Tucker will be living with my parents, keeping my dad's pitching arm in shape with endless games of fetch, and giving my mom (who's the one who will end up actually doing the work to take care of him) something to worry about aside from/in addition to me. Mom and Dad have really been enjoying their empty nest for the last eight years, so they agreed only reluctantly to this temporary addition to the household. But when I started talking about finding an adoptive family for Tucker, Mom said I couldn't do that because "no one would understand him as well as [she does]" - I know Tucker will have a good time with them, and even though they might not admit it, I think they will enjoy having him around!