A dogged party.

May 31, Petaluma.

My back's been hurting more than usual and it's painful even to pick up Peanut and rock him. Staying up until the middle of the night on Sunday night at Mike and Michelle's party probably didn't help.
Mike and Michelle, and that's as much as we know about them, are devoted circus fans, at least Circus Chimera fans, in addition to pinball machine fans - they line the wall in their living room, all lit up, the only time I could play and consistently lose without losing all my change either.
Every year when the circus is in Novato, near their San Anselmo home, they come to the show and invite the artists to a party afterwards, and it usually runs through the night. This year it was different, there was none of the performers they've come to know throughout the years, the Chimals especially, and the party was reduced to Saul, Alexela and Vanessa and the two of us plus assorted kids, and the inevitable Angelo (can't miss a party) and his girlfriend du jour. It was only three o'clock in the morning when I started keeling over from fatigue and asked for the keys to drive home with the babies, and as the dancers followed there went the party. No group plunge into the jacuzzi out on the deck under the midnight star, no dancing til the morning light comes up, the odd sleeper out on the couch, next to the cat, who'll be avoiding the neighborhood of their new bull mastiff, 130-poud puppy.
The "puppy," the true star of the party, surely looked more like an elephant to 24-pound Dylan, who unfortunately for him kept running for his life the minute he saw him, thereby triggering a mad dash from the dog, in turn triggering more desperate running from Dylan, who'd soon fall and be overcome by the dog, its face bigger than that of the baby, its body the size of an overfed pony. Much licking and crying would ensue, until one of us would come to Dylan's rescue - the whole thing enfolding again within minutes as it is as hard to prevent a toddler from running than it is a dog.
Dylan was asleep before his head hit the car seat, and I wish I could do the same.