She was home, but as far as we were concerned, she was nameless. We didn’t want to encourage “Missy”, so we needed to think up a new name fast, preferably something that sounded similar to “Missy” so she would quickly pick it up. We scratched our heads and brainstormed up a whole host of horrible ideas, until finally Nick said, “How about Zuni, after the beach we love so much in Culebra?”

For those who don’t know Culebra, it is a tiny island off of, and part of, main land Puerto Rico. There are no mega hotels; there is not a single fast food restaurant; and you do not go there if your idea of vacationing requires sightseeing. You go to Culebra to get on island time. You snorkel; you drink bush whackers; you mingle with the New England expats, an amazing number of which have moved or retired down there.

We love Culebra, and have been a number of times. We even got engaged there! What a perfect idea to name our dog after one of the quietest beaches we love on the island! (Zuni later even got to visit the beach! More on that, later!)

For those who have been to Culebra, you know that there is NO Zuni beach on the island.

Oops.

It took almost a year before we realized the beach is actually called Zoni. How ’bout that? Nonetheless, Zuni it was.

That first night, and the next, Zuni slept on the little red loveseat, which over time become her couch.  It wasn’t until the third night that she became curious as to where we went at night, or trusted us enough to care, and came trotting into the bedroom.

One big jump later (and I mean, BIG; our bed was quite tall, especially for her squat Dachshund legs) and Zuni landed on the bed. Three bounding hops later and she was at the top of the bed, where she u-turned and deftly burrowed under the covers, straight down to our feet…where she spent almost every night after.

If you haven’t heard of what happened to my feet during the Delaware marathon, or how Zuni reacted to it, you’ll want donate to my 2014 Boston Marathon fundraiser for the Animal Rescue League of Boston. Every time the money raised goes up $100, I’ll add a new chapter to the Zuni’s Diaries. And, that one is next!

Why lay on the couch when you can topple over the back cushion and have something even squashier???