Continuing through David’s archives, I’ve selected some of my favorite photos from 2018. These didn’t merit their own blog posts, but some that I wanted to share regardless.
2018 was our year of adoptions. In March we finally caved on getting a dog, rescuing Fenton from the San Francisco SPCA only five days after he arrived at the shelter. He immediately changed our family dynamic, and it was our first adult experience in caring for another living thing. I have a distinct memory of panic as we drove away from the SPCA - “I’m responsible for keeping him ALIVE?” Thankfully, four years later he is still very much alive. A few months later Fenton was joined by Wasabi, adopted from the Humane Society of the Silicon Valley. Together these two conspired to terrorize our sleep schedule and disrupt the cleanliness of our home, often pairing their efforts for maximum impact.
Wasabi immediately developed an independent streak, and Fenton a love for travel. Throughout the year we drove all across California, hiking and camping with Fenton while Wasabi watched over our apartment. Fenton generally enjoyed these expeditions, save for the endless posing he had to do as soon as I brought out the camera.
My favorite 2018 Fenton expedition came when I joined my two brothers in law, Peter and Marc, to go fishing in Northern California. I took Fenton as he had never been fishing and I thought he would be intrigued by the whole activity. Intrigued was putting it lightly. For the first hour or so after arriving at the lake, Fenton meandered around the shore lazily, a little bored and wondering why we weren’t walking along a more interesting trail. He watched as we set up our rods and cast the bait into the lake. But after a short delay, Peter received a solid tug on his rod. He jumped to attention, grabbing the rod and immediately fighting the fish. It was a long back and forth, as the fish proved to have an admirable lust for life. Eventually the fish was reeled in enough so that it would flop around the surface of the lake, causing Fenton to go absolutely insane.
At this point it probably makes sense to give a little background on Fenton. We aren’t totally sure of his history, though DNA tests estimate that he has a strong terrier streak in his ancestry. The terrier becomes obvious anytime he sees prey animals - he is obsessed with mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, and even birds. On one occasion he even successfully slipped my grasp after spotting a rat and ended its life with surprising prowess.
Up until this moment, Fenton’s understanding of prey animals only extended to the land. Upon seeing the fish unwillingly emerging from the lake, his worldview was flipped upside down. He immediately starting wharking (whining/barking) and pulling on his leash for an opportunity to investigate and probably murder this exciting new animal. Thankfully, I was able to restrain him as Peter finally pulled in a respectfully-sized catfish. We took some photos to celebrate the moment before Peter attached a gill hook and placed the catfish back into the lake.
Fenton spent the next hour or so watching the catfish swim around unsuccessfully trying to ditch its gill hook. He was pining for an opportunity to see the fish, but it was tied up far enough away from the shore and the constant splashing obfuscated it from his view. Peter, Marc, and I took a moment to walk to our bags to grab food and drinks leaving Fenton to watch over the catfish. Suddenly Peter yells, causing Marc and I to spin around just in time to see the catfish swim away, gill hook still attached. How did it escape? No, this particular catfish was not the reincarnation of Houdini - it was aided and abetted by none other than Fenton. After becoming frustrated with his inability to see and eat the fish, Fenton decided the next best idea would be to chew through the rope attaching it to shore. I can only assume that he thought once freed, it would of course swim within murdering-range. Unfortunately for us all, the catfish did what any animal with a semblance of self-preservation would do - it swam away.
After digesting what happened, the three of us broke down in laughter, trying to understand the insanity of what had just occurred. Fenton, now twice as frustrated, did not join in our joy.
