A couple days ago I mentioned that I had to take Cosmo and his partner in crime, Buckley, to the Stoney Lonesome. Since then, I’ve been deluged with e-mail from readers offering advice, admonishment, and even offers to dog-sit. It’s all appreciated, even the admonishment, because it comes from real concern and dog-lovin’ goodness. Rather than keep responding to them all individually, let me just say that Cosmo is not in some industrial kennel, spending time in the box, waiting for some glue-huffing-slacker making minimum wage to yank him out of his bamboo tiger cage so he and Buckley can play Russian roulette. He’s in a self-proclaimed “pet resort,” considered among the best in the extended D.C. area. We still see these places as an absolute last resort (no pun intended) because Cosmo hates to be away or with anyone not in his circle of trust. Normally, Cosmo would stay with Buckley’s family (my sister-in-law’s) just up the block. But in August all members of my wife’s clan are commanded to return Westward and so they couldn’t help out and we couldn’t drive this year for a bunch of reasons, including Cosmo’s health (more on that later). So we’ve been in Friday Harbor, Wash. for the last couple days for the first time in nearly ten years without Cosmo (we leave for Alaska at the end of the week). And it feels weird. This is such a dog paradise and to walk around without Coz is like strolling a golf course without clubs or doing something else without something else really important (I didn’t like the golf analogy). Anyway, thanks for the concern.