Not sure what we did to deserve this, but both of our children found partners who we adore. Adding two strong and kind women to a household of sons is a gift. And now we are, full of joy, on our way to celebrate the marriage of one, back on the road to California.

Although trained as a scientist, our son has had diverse passions across his young life time that made an impact on our household. There was glass blowing, rock climbing and paragliding (I’d rather forget,) there were self-built terraria for poison dart frogs, with yours truly being involved in the never-ending task of breeding fruit flies for feeding them, and tackling the impossibility of catching them across the house when they escaped. There was a saltwater reef in the basement that might very well have drowned us all in case of a major earthquake….

These days there are sheep. Actually, there are two beloved border collies who happen to be trained to herd sheep. I cannot begin to describe the joy it brings me to watch the interaction between all parties involved: the caring, disciplined, engaged and loving focus of the handler, the excitement, drive and abilities of the puppies, and last but not least the modeling of the sheep – life for them consists of the existential basics: water, food, shelter (built by my son), and, most importantly, returning to a content, happy-go-lucky state of hanging out on the meadow after having been chased, rattled and penned by some hard working collies who show them who’s boss and give them no other choice.

As my generation knows, and the next ones surely anticipate, these are things in life that will inevitably happen: there will intermittent phases of being rattled, chased, controlled, whether we like it or not. The point is that we can and will return to contentment, eventually. That will be, of course, much easier, if certain conditions apply: having emotional connections to someone you trust, who is eager to support you, who shares optimism when you are most in need of it, and who is as committed to do this for the long run as you are.

Looks to me, like two people I dearly love have found exactly that in each other.

The puppies agree. Now we only need to figure out who is who!

Wally and Pisco