The Evil Elf

This may not come as a shock, but for the majority of my childhood I did not pay much attention to what was going on around me.  Therefore, it was an annual tradition that I had no idea when picture day was at school.  Each year I would show up at my elementary school and wonder why all the kids were dressed so nicely.  Did they have cocktail parties to attend after recess?  Only at the very last moment would I realize that it was picture day and that I was wearing two different shoes and the same t-shirt I happened to wear on picture day last year. The point of the story is that in kindergarten and first grade my mom was upset that I looked like an idiot in all my photos, but starting around second grade she just accepted that I would never remember picture day.  That acceptance freed her to just enjoy getting a goofy photo of me every year. Yesterday, I got to fill my mom’s shoes when Eko and I visited with the Concord SPCA for their Santa Paws photo event. In an attempt to make Eko presentable after our romp at Dog Mountain, we first swung by Charlie’s Paw Wash to get him cleaned up for his first photo with Santa.  Charlie’s is the second do-it-yourself dog wash that we’ve found in the northeast, and once again I really liked the service and the facility.  I hope more DIY dog washes like Charlie’s spring up across the country.

Not even Eko’s sad puppy face could get him out of a bath

After a quick bath we headed over to get a photo of Eko on Santa’s lap.  Well not on his lap – Santa’s health insurance doesn’t cover “picking up big puppies” back injuries.  Plus, we didn’t want to be the guys responsible for injuring Santa right before his biggest workday of the year.

Like I’m sure my mom originally did with me, I dreamed of a beautiful and charming photo of Eko that I would be proud to display.  And like my mom, I got something quite different:

Like father, like son

So what we ended up with was a photo in which Santa appears to be strangling a demonic elf/dog/reindeer.  And I love it.  Just like my mom, I realized that it’s pointless to fight what you are, so just enjoy it! Eko and I are hitting the road for Providence, RI today, so be sure to drop us a line if you’re in the area.