Blessed

Thursday was the third Saint Francis day we've celebrated in Blacksburg, and our third Blessing of the Animals service, too. It is a service that is punctuated by barking, scampering, and other misbehavior, and yet it is, to me, one of the more peaceful services held at Christ Church. I look forward to it always.

Sometimes I think I get some of my enjoyment from watching the dog owners try to control their dogs' behavior while we read and sing. It's nice to see someone else struggling to control their creatures during a church service.

Adele happily held on to the picture of Grendel and Dragon, the same Miles held for the Blessing in 2010. Adele will happily hold anything with an image of a cat on it. They are her favorite animal and her first word. I insist that her soundless little "K.T" consonant sounds, made while pointing at images of cats, are her first word. (It may also be "Papa." I think I'd rather come in second to "Cat" than to "Papa," though>)

It's hard to get pictures of ourselves, so I have to swipe a couple of the pictures our priest took at the event. :-)

Let me tell you briefly the story of Snandy:

Snandy is an invisible dog that first emerged from the aether of imaginary friends in early summer. Snandy is frequently with us, but unnoticed, and Miles tells us later what Snandy was doing at such and such a time. He shows up in Miles' cooperatively-told bedtime stories, along with his friend, The Bactrian Camel (who works at Starbucks... this is another story).  Dogs are frequently compared to Snandy, or Miles will say that a certain dog "is a Snandy." so he's apparently a kind of ideal as well as a specific character. So far, Snandy is fairly consistent in being big but with a high bark, and in being white with large black spots (though these particulars sometimes vary). Sometimes when he wishes to incarnate Snandy for some purpose, Miles will say that one of his stuffed dogs is "pretending to be Snandy." For today, rather than pointing to an invisible pet, Miles chose to incarnate Snandy into one of Adele's stuffed dogs.

And thus, Snandy received his "invisible friend" blessing. Father Scott even included a clause that blessed Snandy's ability to chase monsters away.

Adele performs her office dutifully.

She is such a cheerful soul these days.

The family. What will it look like next year?

Saint Francis watched with an air of seeming, if distant, approval.