My Gran-Dog, Willie Nelson

One of our kids and her husband live close enough that I've been promoted having a gran-dog. (I did lobby for a different kind of grandparenthood, but I received a cease and desist letter. Message received. You won't catch me wishing and hoping and praying out loud about that anymore.)

The picture at the top of this post is from a recent walk with Mr. Nelson and his handler, Coco. She calls this move "air jail" — when another dog starts barking and Willie Nelson isn't calm, she just sweeps him off his feet. If he holds it together, he stays on the ground and gets treats.

I don't know how many treats one good dog can eat in a lifetime, but I intend to find out.

HRFP and I are cat people — we travel too much for dogs, and cats genuinely do not care if you leave. But I have never loved a dog the way I love Willie Nelson. He might be the first dog to earn a spot in my Blue Lake series. Be on the lookout, readers.

Willie Nelson is objectively beautiful.