Our First Holidays With Harley

Our first few months with Harley flew by, and boy did he ever grow! Everybody was extremely busy that fall (what else is new), but Harley

got lots of love and attention. And, Harley had lots of toys. He loved his monster (shown in picture at 9 weeks of age) so much, that I went and bought 3 or 4 of them in hopes of keeping the monster around for a year or so.

Alas, I had to take off for Orlando just after we got Harley. The American Physical Society's Division of Plasma Physics was having its annual meeting. I gave an invited talk on laser-plasma interaction analyses for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) (which I have spent these past few years diligently working on), and I also officially became an APS Fellow. It was such a privilege to be honored in this fashion. It is a memory that I will always cherish. But it was difficult to leave things on the homefront, what with Harley just joining our household. Nonetheless, off I went, leaving Harley in the hands of Curtis and Andrew.

Andrew was very busy with high school (his junior year), and football. Foothill High was undefeated in their league and went to the NCS championships that season (they lost the championship game to de la Salle, played at the Oakland coliseum). Even with school, football, band, Tanya, etc. he and his buds spent alot of time with Harley.

Curtis started walking Harley during the day, and I walked him when I got home in the evening, after dinner. We had a hard time figuring out what to do with Harley between the time when Curtis went to work and I got home. One afternoon, Curtis tried barricading him in the laundry room. I left work that night, and went straight to Andrew's football game. By the time I arrived home, Harley had done quite a number on the laundry area. Look at the mess he made!

Shortly after we got Harley, we traveled to Los Angeles for the Thanksgiving holidays. I left early with Andrew, Tanya and Harley. Curtis flew down on Thanksgiving day and joined us. It was Harley's first road trip, and he did great! Of course, Tanya held him in her lap the entire way, so why wouldn't he be okay?

We went down to Seal Beach to celebrate Thanksgiving with Curtis' family. Jake, my older son, joined us (he was attending San Diego State in 2007, his senior year). Naturally he fell in love with Harley too! While we were visiting

with Curtis' family, Harley was a very good puppy. He got lots of attention from everybody, to the point where his feet hardly hit the ground! And, of course, he spent a lot of time in Tanya's lap, getting love.

Mom and Dad were at the ranch that Thanksgiving, but they asked us to visit Ed and Nancy (across the street from them), so that they could meet Harley. Andrew and Tanya went with me. We spent about an hour over there, talking to Ed and Nancy, and the entire time we were there, we passed Harley from Andrew, to Tanya, to me, to be held. When my parents got home from the ranch, they went over to see Ed and Nancy, and Mom asked them what they thought of Harley. "Well, Maryan", Nancy said, "I am a bit worried about Harley; I don't think he can walk. He was held in somebody's arms the entire time he was here!" This has become a joke in our family, and now, when we go to visit Ed and Nancy, Andrew always makes sure he carries Harley in his arms.

I mention this, because I think it was very important for him to be socialized in this fashion. We knew Harley would be a fairly large dog, and that most people are a bit cautious about german shepherd dogs. To this day, Harley is very social and very engaging with humans.

While we were in Los Angeles, I began to worry about Harley's ears, and if they would go up. German shepherd puppies are born with floppy ears, and then the cartilage that holds them up begins to develop. The cartilage on the outside part of the ear develops first, so they stand up, but droop inwards towards one another. Then the inner side cartilage develops, and they stick straight up. Harley's ears were kind of looking floppy, and I became concerned they would stay that way. But -- on the way home from Los Angeles, his ears started to pop up! By the time we got home, it was clear that his ears were going to be beautiful.

At this point, I should probably mention the doghouse. For years, Andrew had been begging me to get a puppy. We knew we wanted a german shepherd (that is what I grew up with), and I even had the name picked out -- Harley Hinkel! But I had two criteria that had to be met before we got a puppy. First, we needed to get our landscaping done. We moved into a beautiful, 40-year-old home in 2003 -- but the side yards were muddy a good part of the year, which doesn't go well with puppies (especially because we have white Berber carpeting -- well, at least we did then, but now most of it has been pulled up to expose the hardwood flooring underneath throughout most of the house).

My second criteria was that I wanted Andrew to build a doghouse. So for my birthday that fall, he and his friends built me a doghouse. It was after I got the doghouse that we started looking for puppies. It is very interesting how the doghouse has been used. Andrew and his friends used to hang out in it. And, Curtis used to go out to the doghouse to take naps (no, he wasn't in trouble), and then Harley would go snuggle up and take a nap with him.

Before we knew it, it was Christmas! Every year we have an annual holiday party. Harley did great. Jake was home, Andrew and his friends were there, my sister Heather and her husband Steve (shown in the picture with Harley) and their kids, and lots of friends and colleagues of Curtis and me. We played the "gift" game,

where everybody brings a cheap-o gift, and you pick out a gift from under the tree, or take a gift from a previous gift opener. Andrew contributed a great gift that year. He bought a circular saw at Big Lots for $10. It was the best gift under the tree. Bruce Langdon ended up getting it, and he says it actually works!

Around midnight, people were beginning to leave, and Harley came running up to me in the living room. I picked him up, and he was all wet. I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I started toward the family room to query Andrew and his gang. Harley followed me, and as we took the step down to enter the back part of the house, wow -- Harley went skidding through the laundry area, into the kitchen, and banged into the kitchen cabinets. The downstairs toilet had overflowed, and there was inches of water in the bathroom, hallway, laundry area, and kitchen. Barb (Andrew's babysitter from his toddler days) had just dropped by on her way home from work, and we went to work mopping up the mess (isn't she great?). We sent the guys to Walmart to buy a wet and dry vac (ours was of course broken), and instead they came back with towels. Whew -- was I ever relieved when we got the water all mopped up.

And what, you may ask, caused the toilet to overflow? Jake's deposit in the upstairs toilet earlier in the evening. Jake has a long history of this sort of thing happening. Now Curtis and I try to give the toilets an enzyme treatment before Jake comes home to visit.

Jake and Andrew spent Christmas Eve with their dad, so Curtis, Harley and I headed to Heather and Steve's house for Christmas Eve dinner (they live less than ten minutes from our house). I was so excited that Harley was invited too! He was a very good puppy. No accidents! I must mention that Harley was extraordinarily easy to house train. In about three weeks he knew he had to got outside to do his business. Now I have Harley so well trained that when we are out walking or running, he looks for ivy, and poops there (if he poops in the ivy, I don't pick it up -- and he has learned this.)

Heather and Steve made a great dinner, and we had a wonderful time. Lucas and Thomas adore Harley to this day, and they had a blast with him. Of course, everybody held Harley the entire evening. Heather was really enjoying having a

puppy around!

Christmas Day finally dawned. Heather, Steve, Lucas and Thomas came over, and we opened gifts. A little while later, Jake and Andrew came over and opened their gifts as well. It was their year to spend Christmas with their father, so it was a great treat to get to see them at all. Heather and family stayed for Christmas dinner. We had a fabulous Christmas day.

How wonderful it is to have family, and to spend holidays with them. And how great it is to have Harley be a part of our family! He is such a beautiful, smart, sensitive dog. (Almost as beautiful, smart, and sensitive as my boys ....) Wait until you see the happenings of Harley in 2008: puppy school, running, Andrew and his friends, and yes -- Holly will make an appearance in 2008 as well. Stay tuned for 2008, Part I!