Figgis takes flight

Look at this goofball running! This is a still from a video frozen to show how this not-quite-nine-pound dog runs: pulling his front paws under him, kicking his back paws out front. Is that how all dogs run?

Figgis at the galleries

Nice thing about NYC art galleries: Figgis is welcome!

He was a good boy. Sniffed some art but no touching.

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Figgis Friday

I am the egg man …

Figgis in the snow

Figgis rethinks his love of snow

So long, 2020!

A cold December night

Someday, 2020 will make sense. As the year draws to a close, there are a few pre-pandemic “lasts” to remember.

  • Last movie at a movie theater: “1917” on Feb. 2 — Glad I saw it in a theater on a big screen. At the theater I often go to, there is rarely a big crowd for the movies I want to see (and by then “1917” had been out for a while).
  • Last meal in a restaurant: Le Colonne Restaurant at the Hilton Hotel at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport on March 11 — The food was fine — I can’t remember what we had, but tables had been spread apart for social distancing, and there were diners at only about four other tables. We were only there to be sure to get our morning flight out of Rome, leaving the country early as more and more flights were being canceled, including our flights out of Genoa.
  • Last workout at the gym: Feb. 29 — I did some warmups and cooldowns, with a 5K run on the indoor track in between at a time of 33 minutes and 22 seconds
  • Last day working in person at the office: Tuesday, March 3.
  • Last time I had a cold: Maybe sometime in 2019
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Figgis’s DNA results are in …

… and he’s a real mix. How real? Here’s the breakdown:

28% Miniature Schnauzer
16% Miniature Poodle
10% Pembroke Welsh Corgi
9% American Eskimo Dog
8% Bichon Frise
5% Chow Chow
5% Wolf
4% Catahoula Leopard Dog
4% Chihuahua
4% Rat Terrier
4% Coyote
3% Pug

Vesta, 2002-2019

We rescued Vesta when she was 7 years old in 2009. She never liked having her photograph taken (she often ducked her head or walked away when a camera came out), so this is a rare portrait of her sitting calmly. We named her Vesta, the Roman goddess of hearth, home and family, for she was the warm center of our home life. Though we most often called her “Vesta,” and we didn’t correct people when they called her “Vespa,” we also called her “Vester,” “Vestela,” “Vesta-girl,” “Wag-a-muffin,” “Good girl,” “Little One,” “Wagster,” and many more. And though these words can’t say enough, she was a good dog, a close companion, and loving friend.