During our dog walk on

During our dog walk on sunday, we ran into a lady - Maria - with three dogs at the park. One, Marco, was a sweet old fat black lab, another, Sweetie, was a smaller old black dog and the third one, Stormy, looked like a beagle with long hair. Homer was chasing around with them (except for Marco, who pretty much just laid there) and then suddenly Sweetie toppled over with a yelp. Somehow she hurt her leg and couldn't walk on it.

Being the gallant person that I am, I offered to carry the dog to Maria's house "not too far away from the park". The dog was pretty hefty and I lugged her through the park, hoping every time that I'd make it to the next bench for a rest stop without dropping her in the process. Jennifer was slowly walking behind us with Marco who, due to his arthritis, moved at a glacial pace. By the time we walked all the way to Maria's house (about 10 miles or so) the dog weighed some 300 pounds and my back was screaming in pain. However I never dropped Sweetie, and Marco eventually arrived as well.

So, last night, Jennifer brings back this lithograph, signed with a thank-you note by Maria, from her walk with Homer. I take a look at it and realize that Maria is the artist - Maria Lyle - whose work we've been admiring on the walls of Cafe Java the very same day we helped her with her dog! Several of the paintings from her current exhibit can be found there. Pretty weird, huh?