The Saga of Snooks, Cider Dog

You may have noticed that we did not post anything last week - turns out we were just too lazy. Of course, there was the trip to Minneapolis to visit friends, the gathering of 30 pounds of ripe crab apples, the theft of our car and the sudden acquisition of a new puppy, but that's not really an excuse. It really just comes down to laziness.

What's that I hear? You want to hear more about the story? Well, I suppose that I might be convinced to relate it. Let me just get my pipe, put my feet up (away from puppy's chewing teeth), and we'll get on with it.

It all started when Beth's friends asked us to come to Minneapolis for a visit. It's not strictly kosher during these pandemic times, but Beth badly needed a change of scenery and we figured we can socially distance with the best of them. So off we went into disaster and destiny.

We left on Friday at noon, right on schedule and I should have known right then that something was amiss as we never leave on time without some major or minor catastrophe accompanying. An hour late, ok. On time, not so much.

Before we left we heard from one of the Minneapolis peeps, Kos, about their remarkable new puppy, Momo. One of13 ridiculously cute littermates, she had been picked up only days before. We asked if there were any extras, (with 13, you'd think, right?) but no - all had been claimed. When we arrived, we were greeted by this tiny force of nature (and yes, our friends were there too) and were immediately charmed into the house to pay proper tribute.

Needless to say, we left the car abruptly for the rest of the evening, forgetting to check what was in it and if it was locked, what with all the helloing and puppy adulation.

Early the next morning, Beth got up and went to the car for a phone cord only to discover that neither the cord nor the car were there. "Where's the car?" she asked me. "What do you mean 'Where's the car?'" I asked in snappy rejoinder. Moments later, I went to look and sure enough, Beth's eyes weren't deceiving her - no car.

"Kris," I yelled back at the house "is this a tow area?" I mean, when we lived in San Francisco everywhere was a tow area. "No," came the reply, 'not a tow area." As it turned out, the car was gone. Just gone. Neighbors were asked, queries were posted on NextDoor and.....nothing.

Once the police had been summoned and duly notified of our loss (along with the insurance company) we bounced back pretty well. Apparently most cars are located these days, usually after the culprits have run them out of gas and stolen anything valuable including tires and rims. Since we had just filled the tank with gas and bought new tires a few months ago, I'm not holding out much hope of getting a complete car back any time soon.

But as I said, we persevered in our genial humor, cooking dinner for our hosts one night and joining in a picnic another. It was at the picnic with our good friends that Beth pointed out the crabapple tree in the back yard loaded with ripe, just falling crab apples. Now, as I am sure you know, crab apples are especially good for hard cider, and I am a guy who really likes hard cider. So with some help from our friends, we gathered 30-ish pounds of crab apples while waiting for the food to be ready.

On Monday, the last day of our stay, it was decided that since our car hadn't yet been found, we would load up Kris' car and drive home with our booty of apples in the trunk (in Britain I suppose you might say 'a boot full of apple booty', but that would just be silly). Just as I was at the store getting provisions, a text came through to Beth. Did we want a puppy? One of the 13 were left, up for grabs, and could be brought to us in a few hours. Should we get a puppy? Do we have time for a puppy? It was all decided in short order when a short video of the puppy was sent. We were indeed getting a puppy.

She is named for the amazing guitarist, Snooks Eaglin.

And so today, as I relate our little tale of the Snooks the Puppy, I reflect on it as all good sagas warrant - 'Would it have been better to have stayed home and saved ourselves the pain and suffering of the theft of a car? Or, is it better to enjoy a new puppy with a fine glass of hard cider with no car?

I'll take the puppy and cider any day.