Every now and then armchair / donut-bed astronauts get a chance to be part of a space adventure. To date Beanie and Biggles have: sent their names to Mars aboard the Curiosity Rover, gone on a round trip to an asterioid called Bennu, and staked a claim on a small bit of Mars real estate. Now at 16 and 15 years of age respectively, they’re getting bundled up and sent off to Jupiter to snoop on its moon Europa aboard NASA’s latest probe. If you’d like to send your Beagles to Europa too (and let’s face it, we could all occasionally do with a little break from relentless Beagle naughtiness, right?) you can do so for free, but do it soon because the entry window closes at the end of this year:
https://europa.nasa.gov/message-in-a-bottle/sign-on/
It’s probably very silly and sentimental, but I love the idea that some little memento of my pups will be hanging around in space long after they’ve gone on their final, biggest adventure. That said, given the way they motored up Loudoun Hill just recently I think that last big adventure could be some way off.
Despite being older they handled the hill rather better than on their last visit, requiring no assistance whatsoever, not even a bit of hand-on-bottom boosting. We’re putting this apparent rejuvenation down to a combination of daily servings of “golden paste” (turmeric in olive oil with either black pepper or cider vinegar to aid absorption) and fish. We know that golden paste is an effective anti-inflammatory, but one with almost no side-effects. I say “almost” because the tips of Beanie’s ears have started to turn a bit yellow. This is not due to any systemic effect, it’s just that she can’t stop her lugs from dipping into her bowl at mealtimes, and that turmeric stuff leaves yellow stains on absolutely blummin’ everything.
Biggles has apparently been feeling so youthful that he’s been showing signs of wanting to play with Monkey. As there are 13 years between them age-wise and Monkey is also bigger and around 5 kilos heavier than Biggles, we’ve prevented any play from actually happening. Still, I’m not entirely convinced that it’s Biggles that we’d have to worry about if they started a bit of roughhousing.
Back when Monkey was a pup he tried to goad Biggles into a chase; Biggles playfully responded with a shoulder-barge, just as he’s always done to Beanie. The expression on Monkey’s little face screamed “Get me out of here, he’s a nutter!”. It was a bit like a young rocker challenging Ozzy Osbourne to a wild night of partying. Yes, Ozzy is old and has the shakes, but he’s still Ozzy.
Take my advice Monkey: if it’s robust play you’re after, you’ll be a lot safer sticking with the Popster.
