Penny, the 18-year old dog of Cloudcroft New Mexico
My rural land photography work recently took me to Cloudcroft, New Mexico, which is about 30 minutes east of Alamogordo. It is a small mountain town, almost like a place you might think is hiding up in the Alps in Switzerland. The town has a lot of charm and while there I stayed at The Crofting Inn B&B. The is where I met Penny, the 18-year old dog.
She likes to spend her time on the front porch fo the Inn watching what is happening on the quiet, sloped road in front and taking notice of the occasional passerby. She has a bit of a hitch in her gate, but still moves around pretty well. Her coat has some parts that are matted, but she has all her fur. I believe her wrinkled tongue forever resides in the hanging out position you see above.
A kiss and a paw reach out made me emotional
Before departing the Inn, I spent a lot of time petting her and sitting on the ground next to her. She actually gave me a dog kiss on the face with that tongue of hers. When I had stopped petting her for a moment, she reach out with her paw toward me to continue! My own beloved dog, Kiki, does the exact same thing. When Penny did it too, it made me very emotional. It still does as I type these words right now.
I am very glad to have gotten to spend one morning with Penny. Penny's owners, and the Inn too for that matter, Scott and Gail, are the exact type of people you would think would own such a special place and have taken care of Penny to such an age.