Marshall and the humans did lots of traveling in May. In fact, every weekend included a different family event. First up was Grandma Charney's 90th birthday party at the ranch in north Texas. Most of the Texas family was there, but most important to Marshall were the Houston and Denton dog cousins.
Let's start with this observation: it takes a brave dog to follow a man in green boots. That's Marshall's John. Don't worry about the exact family relationship, just know its there. Bethany was also quite a leader that weekend. Here she is finding Marshall and Charlie at a cross fence gate.
Faithful readers of Marshall's blog may remember that he is not a fan of water. Or dogs that go near the water. But he made a few exceptions on this walk down to the creek with the cousin dogs. In fact, if you look closely at these pictures you may note Marshall was not able to put the brakes on fast enough to stop himself from following the cousins into the water during a good game of fetch.
After he recovered from the water damage, Marshall was available for pictures with his Jimmy and some of the wildflowers on display around the ranch. He has submitted the second picture below to the good folks at Beagle Calendar, Inc. Yes, that's right, Marshall is ready to start his modeling career. Please call William Morris if you are interested in booking him.
Marshall also wants to thank his gracious hosts from that weekend...no, not Paca. He wants to thank the cows and horses.
The next weekend again involved a family gathering but this time it was for a celebration of a life cut short too quickly. Marshall joined his humans in Houston to say goodbye to Denise Shiver-Blackmore. While the family grieved, laughed, cried again, and counted their blessings in being together, Marshall did his part by not repeating his previous performance at Carolyn and Lee Ann's house (don't ask for clarification, please).
And then it was time for....
Graduation! What does a beagle care about higher education, you might ask? Plenty. First, Marshall notes that grad school professors make too many writing assignments. This meant his Lori would spread pages and pages of research all over his couch for hours at a time. And he wasn't even allowed to "read" any of it himself. Then there were the days and days of reading and group meetings. Again, tasks he was not invited to join.
Even though he wasn't invited to the ceremony (he heard the speeches were boring anyway!), Marshall did manage to snap a photo of this: the prestigious Armadillo Cup. As he understands it, the Bush School of Government and Public Service and the LBJ School compete for the right to house this trophy each year. Don't tell Lori, but Marshall does not seem the appeal.
After the ceremony it was time to celebrate with family, friends, and margaritas. Since Marshall is only 15 1/2 in dog years he isn't of legal drinking age so yet again he was left out. But here's a nice shot of Lori and fellow dog-moma, Keisha.
That about wraps things up from here. Happy Memorial Day. Be safe!
