Stone Dogs

I have two concrete dogs in front of my carport, under the mailbox, at the edge of the driveway. I obtained them from the lady that lived across the street, in the house where my friends, Jim and Michiko, live now. When the old neighbor lady’s grown children were clearing out her house and moving her to the Assisted Living Place, I saw them out there, trying to move this big concrete dog to the curb for trash day, on a rickety ancient wheeled plant stand. They asked if I wanted it and I said I would take it, so they wheeled him over to my house, I think we looked like the little rascals all grown up pushing that heavy statue across the street on that old wheeled plant stand. This dog is about thigh high on me, what is that? 2 foot? 3 foot? And he is painted like a dalmation dog, with a red collar. There is a smaller, more portable concrete puppy who went with him, who still has a stake and wire around it’s neck, protection against plundering yard ornament thievesI think, or, trick or treaters. I have been meaning to paint the big one black, after Dolly, but mostly I’ve put that off indefinitely, partly because I never got around to it, and partly because I think I like it as a spotted dog. The little one is also spotted, and harder to dress…

Yes, I dress these dogs, like some people dress gooses on their front porches. It started with a simple child sized santa hat two Christmases ago, for the big one, and an old stocking cap ripped from a Christmas Styrofoam ball snowman ornament, for the little dog, he also had the snowman’s scarf. With green and red mardi gras beads, for the season. At Easter, of course, conventional bunny ears headband. Then, at summer, there was a dew rag and cool shades. I tried a baseball cap, but it was too big and you couldn’t see his shades under the brim. For Halloween he wore a witch hat headband with black yarn hair, and a black mask. Thanksgiving had me making him a pilgrim hat from some foamy black craft stuff that I have had in my craft drawer for no less than 8 years, and the little doggie had an orange Indian feather on a piece of elastic around his head. I don’t know what happened to it, but one day shortly after I made the pilgrim hat, it was gone. I wondered, did the wind take it? It was nowhere around in the yard. Then I decided, that it was the high school kids who catch the school bus in front of my house, one of them has been wearing a homemade pilgrim hat to school. As of Now these dogs are sporting a vast array of mardis gras beads around their necks. I wanted to drape them in purple fabric, like they do to the statues in church during Lent, but I’m afraid some people won’t get it (Like why does she have purple ghosts in her yard??), (and, do they even shroud the statues in church during Lent anymore?) and the people that do get it might be offended. Also, THE PRIEST lives right down the hill from my house, and he drives past me to get to church, and I imagine of course he's a hellbent Catholic, I'd hate for him to come knocking on my door admonishing my sacrilege, and also, FYI side note, he talks way too long at sermons. I digress. I couldn’t think of anything else for the dogs to wear during Lent so they still have their beads, but I am really looking forward to fashioning some Easter Bonnets .....

Stone Dogs.