Our strange inter-species collaboration

From the "Just for Grins'' series (oil, heavy gesso on canvas) of GAY FREEBORN at the Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery, in Center Sandwich, N.H.

The relationship,  and especially the deep bonds of affection between  dogs -- those smelly, sometimes affectionate, sometimes vicious descendents of wolves -- and people, in all their complexity, never ceases to amaze me. We are both pack animals and it's astonishing how much the two packs have merged.

The "Grins'' series seems to celebrate people and their dogs in the summer, where even in New Hampshire it's possible to swim outdoors.