Yesterday I drove out to Warrenton, VA, a piedmont town in western Northern Virginia. Unlike the sunny conditions when I left home, as I approached the mountains which were dark blue in the horizon and showed why they earned the name of Blue Ridge, bulbous gray skies threatened but never showered. At least not on me.

At a park just north of the town, I met Huck and his former fosters. Huck is a saddle-sable English Shepherd, just like my first English Shepherd. He’s gregarious, truly a teddy bear in dog form.

I’ll be fostering Huck for a little while until a more permanent situation opens up for him.

Sophie is not altogether sure what she thinks of Huck yet. She hasn’t deigned to play with him, although when he grabbed her tennis ball outside, she thought he might actually throw it for her so she sprinted off. Her human threw it for her instead. Like all interactions, Sophie and Huck will take time.

I’ve been calling Huck, Huckleberry, because just calling him Huck doesn’t roll off of my tongue. So Huckleberry it is.