Get to know our furry four-legged co-workers in this next post in our series of staff blogs at Main Street Arts. We hope that this series will give a little insight into who we are, our backgrounds, and our interests. This will be an ongoing feature that will continue throughout the duration of our closure due to COVID-19.
Maria
I certainly appreciate a warm purring body next to me when I work. Moon is my very special furry friend. She has been my pet for 10 years, and has seen it all. Moon is perfect and snuggly, she smells good and keeps everyone in the house clean. I’m definitely obsessed with Moon, just ask my family!
My daughter, Penny, took some photos of Moon and I think she captured her perfectly!
Vishnu is Moon’s cat best friend. I have had him for 10 years as well and they have been best buddies since the second they met 10 years ago. They snuggle, keep each other clean and play fight (Moon wins). In his old age he has acquired a single white whisker! He loves to play hide and seek and dance with me. He’s a true mama’s boy.
Our recent acquisition is Rocket “Bobby”. He is still just 10 months old, so he is full of mischief and he chews everything in the house, but my kids love him. He’s still growing on me, and I have certainly realized I am a “cat person” through and through!
Sarah
Some of you might know my work from home coworkers. There’s Brad— you all know him — and then there’s the two four-legged coworkers, Margot and Rodney. Brad is going to tell you more about Margot, so I will introduce you to Rodney—his full name is Rodney Zissou Butler, in reference to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
You may have seen this handsome little hippo around the gallery a few times. Over the past two years, he’s had a few surgeries and health problems with which would could not leave him alone. So he has tagged along to work with us, spending his work days at the gallery napping in the office, or keeping a close eye on the sidewalk.
Rodney can be a bit intimidating but don’t let his looks or his bark fool you. Rodney is deaf and can be hesitant around people for that reason. He doesn’t know what he sounds like…we often have to tell this people when we are out on walks. Once he let’s you in and sits on your foot, that means he trusts you. It just takes him a while to warm up. He was treated very badly before he became a Butler.
We adopted Rodney from K9 Orphans in Rochester almost 5 years ago, at the end of May 2015. A good friend of mine is a volunteer and foster for the organization. She showed me his photo and I just fell in love. We were told he was a couch potato, and I would say that is 97.5 percent true (see photo evidence above). But the other 2.5 percent, he is a wild boy running around the yard and tearing down the stairs when someone walks by the house.
He may be known as the world’s biggest momma’s boy. We sometimes sing him the song “Momma’s Boy” by Chromeo even though he can’t hear it.
Brad
Our dogs have loved having us work from home these past eight weeks. They get to go for more walks around the neighborhood and more rides in the car. I’m sure they like to have their alone time too but it seems like they are fine with being our co-workers, although they don’t seem to be helping out too much.
When Sarah and I bought our house in 2012, we felt the time had come for a dog to join us and we decided to adopt from Lollypop Farm. When we came upon Margot’s kennel I felt an immediate connection with her. She was a stray who made her way up north from the Carolinas and she was super skinny when she first came home with us. I remember thinking that people would judge us for starving our dog! We bought her a sweater that hung off of her but it didn’t taker her long to outgrow it all together.
Margot is about 10 years old now and still acts like she’s the 2 year old dog we adopted, full of energy and sometimes, a wild animal. Her full name is Margot Tenenbaum Butler—yes, like in The Royal Tenenbaums. Sarah and I are big Wes Anderson fans!—although I call her many other names too: the old gal, pooch, chooch, Margaret, and dog, to name a few.
Margot and I are both early risers and she won’t let anyone sleep much past 7:30 because that’s breakfast time. She’s a stickler for routine, loves walking and won’t shy away from an adventure.
