Parsleyed Potato Salad and Mr. JD’s Origin Story

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Was your weekend glorious?

Parsleyed Potato Salad I could not get enough of the sunshine this weekend, how about you? Sometimes Mother Nature taunts us during this time of year; she gives us a brief moment of warm and sun and we get all excited for Spring. We start thinking about flowers and picnics and before we know it the sun disappears behind the clouds and the chill returns. According to that famous groundhog we shouldn’t have to wait long for the real spring to arrive. I hope he’s right!

Salad Assembly

Over the weekend we celebrated 4 years with Mr. JD.  As a treat we took him on a trip to Three Dog Bakery where he got to pick out a new toy and some yummy treats. We spent more on him than one should probably spend on a dog but he’s the baby!

Boiled Potatoes Peeled

You might be wondering how JD pranced (yes, pranced) in to our life. Well, maybe you aren’t, but I am going to tell you anyway. After we got married we knew we were going to get a dog. It was something that both of us talked about even before we got married. We also knew that we wanted our first dog to be a rescue. We went online and searched all over until we found him. There he was, shaggy and goofy looking, a blur of grey and white on a screen. The rescue group named him Sprocket after the dog from Fraggle Rock; we knew at that instant that it was meant to be.

Sliced Potatoes

We drove from our home in Virginia to a small town in Pennsylvania. The excitement and anxiety of picking up a dog we never met was with us the entire 4 hour journey. We stopped at a small grooming salon off a single lane road. We greeted the woman who owned the rescue group and then we saw him. He was standing on a table getting his final primping before we could take him home. They took him off the table and let him run around. He ran all around us in circles. I held him for a moment but then he squirmed and I quickly released him. I was beginning to feel nervous, maybe he didn’t like me. Maybe we were in way over our heads (this proved to be true at various points in the early days).

We finalized all of our paperwork and loaded Sprocket in to the car. We began our journey home with the new addition of our family in a crate in the backseat. He barked for a good while and then howled. A moment of panic came upon us as we pondered the thought that perhaps we just picked up little dog with a mighty voice. He began to quiet down and we were relieved. During our drive we tried to get a sense of his training and sometimes called out his name. He didn’t seem to respond to Sprocket so we started thinking about other names. I ran through my list of literary heroes and the hubby went through his list of political icons followed by favorite athletes. We called out a few of our favorites and then I said JD. His ears perked and he looked at us almost with excitement. It was settled, he was henceforth named JD after my favorite author, JD Salinger.

And Now… the JD Gallery

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It has been a wonderful 4 years with this little ball of fur. He never ceases to amaze us with his spirit and his eagerness to love. I share all  of this on Hollymead Monday and am reminded that my Grandparents also had dogs in their lives. When I visited them in their retirement they had a dog named Bouncer and in a lot of ways JD reminds me of him. I recall Bouncer’s silly tail with sparse strands of fur and then laugh when I look at JD’s and the similar nature his tail shares. It is amazing how much a dog can mean to you and how much they imprint upon us. I think of Bouncer on this Hollymead Monday and think of the joy he brought to Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Joe. I think about the dogs that came before him and the stories that are passed down by my dad as he recalls the bonds he had with his childhood dogs. Sometimes I am in awe of how much JD loves us, how much he depends on us but also, how much we depend on him. In this case he really is, woman’s best friend!

Section Potato Salad

Oh yeah, this potato salad is perfect for spring and great for picnics or BBQ’s. You will love it!

 

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