Andromeda’s adventure in the forest…

Andromeda’s adventure in the forest…well a small coppice, in fairness…or a tail in the grass. 

Andromeda, so named after the mythical beauty from Greek legend, maybe a pretty little thing but she’s much feistier than her namesake. Following the transgressions of her mother, Queen Cassiopeia, the Princess from the story is stripped down to a scanty slip and chained to a rock to await certain death at the hands of the ferocious creature, the Cracken. In the nick of time, in swoops the hero of the hour Perseus on his winged horse, Pegasus.  With a flourish, he turns the monster into stone with the recently decapitated head of Medusa. He then claims Andromeda for his wife and they live happily ever after ruling over another kingdom. The Goddess Athena, who initiated the fearsome punishment, subsequently immortalised Perseus, Andromeda and even her mother Cassiopeia in the stars. You can see them now on a clear night.  

Whilst I’m partial to the theatrics of classical mythology, probably why I’ve always named my dogs after Greek heroes, I would have to say that the roles in our current household are completely reversed. Perseus has many of the attributes of the original superhero. He’s strong, sturdy, loyal, attractive in a bushy eyebrow and cute long eyelash kind of way (not unlike our soon to be PM). He does seem to lack the fundamental character trait – courage. Drop a pencil on the floor and Perseus will leap a mile in the air. Slight exaggeration in lift, but not in terror. 

Our Andromeda, known amongst friends and admirers as Romy, is fearless. As a miniature sausage dog, she follows in the footsteps of our original hero Hector (of Trojan war fame) in denying her tiny stature. When faced with a large dog, undesirable human or even a truck, Romy will stand her ground and bark incessantly. Last year when we had a beautiful Palomino stallion in the field, Romy decided to approach and proceed to circumnavigate the horse at speed. This magnificent beast eventually tired of the intrusion and gave chase to our small dog. As you may imagine, Romy ran her little digger paws off until she leapt into the ditch at the edge of the field. Turning to see the stallion trot off in the opposite direction, twitching his tail having dispatched the irritating flea. She probably stuck her doggy tongue out.  

In the recent heat, Perseus and I took to the shelter of a small coppice of trees. Under an ancient ash I read my book and P lolled in the grass looking around him and occasionally chewing a blade of grass. But where was Andromeda? Not content with merely cooling off in the shade. No, she was off exploring – up a mound of earth, down into the ditch, along the wire fence, through the hedgerow and back out into the field full of long grass. Only distinguishable by her raised tail and bounce as she raced forward.

Andromeda may not have beaten a monster, she certainly continues to demonstrate her fearless curiosity. 

Sara McKee FRSA

Writer and storyteller – Life: Full Colour at Y Segontiwm