海角大神

In the five weeks we鈥檝e had Albie, our half yellow Lab, half golden retriever rescue dog, I think I鈥檝e met at least a hundred people I鈥檇 never have talked to before. To be with a dog, especially one as appealing and welcoming as Albie, is like wearing a sandwich board with blinking lights that says, 鈥淐ome say hello and ask me about my dog!鈥�

This is not an altogether bad thing.聽 A week ago I was outside a grocery store in western Massachusetts waiting with Albie while my wife Judy shopped inside. Before I knew it, a rather attractive woman in a revealing top was talking sweet nothings in Albie鈥檚 ear and striking up a conversation with me. She was in the area spending a month at a well-known yoga retreat. I know Albie was the main attraction, but it occurred to me that during the lean, single years of my early 30s, my biggest mistake was not having an irresistibly adorable dog as my wingman.

As this woman admired Albie, Judy suddenly appeared with a bag of groceries. I was able to tell Judy that she and this nice stranger had something in common: a love of yoga. At the store for five minutes and I already knew a surprising amount about this stranger鈥檚 life, including the fact that she had a dog at home she missed terribly, that she鈥檚 a yoga instructor, and that she鈥檚 moving to North Carolina soon. Judy was very impressed with all the information I鈥檇 been able to collect in the time it took her to buy two tomatoes, a cucumber and a small assortment of cheeses.

Albie has inspired random acts of kindness from total strangers, as well. A few minutes before I met the yoga instructor, a woman who worked in the store came out with a bowl of water. She鈥檇 seen us through the window and thought he might be thirsty. I鈥檓 reasonably sure that if I鈥檇 been waiting there by myself in withering heat with sweat pouring off my brow, no one would have looked out the window, taken pity on me, and delivered a tall lemonade with a sprig of mint, or even a glass of water for that matter.

As nice as it is to meet new people, the conversations do have a certain predictability to them, and I think there鈥檚 a fortune to be made selling T-shirts that would make these conversations more efficient. For example, mine would say, 鈥淗is name is Albie. He鈥檚 three years old. He鈥檚 half yellow Lab, half golden retriever. Yes, he鈥檚 friendly. Yes, you can pet him. Thank you for whatever compliments you have bestowed.鈥�

Maybe I should call the Life is Good guys because life sure is good with Albie.