My baby turned 11 years old today! I'm going to get a lot of flak for calling Ben "my baby" but he really was the original one--before Tucker, Molly, even Austin. To celebrate his birthday from now on, he's going to start turning a year younger so he can be with us at least another decade.
We celebrated by walking to the river on a long explore. Since the river was not frozen, Ben thought it would be a good idea to go swimming (I don't think he's ever not thought it was a good idea to go swimming), though icicles formed on his fur when he got out. He also found a deer jaw bone that he proudly carried back to the house while Tucker and I sang several rousing rounds of Happy Birthday to him.
This next picture is Ben waiting at our driveway. He waits there for me in the mornings when I'm out, and I find it totally endearing to see the yellow statue in the yard break into a trot when he sees us come into view. But in this picture, we're actually all at home and he's still waiting. He doesn't do this too often, but occasionally he sits at the base of the driveway, staring off into space with his soulful eyes, just waiting. At these times I think that he's taken up his station, waiting for his first master, my Uncle Brian, who passed on in 2004.
