The Hairdresser to the Hounds and the Green Dress

Castle Green has two hounds who are always shown to their best advantage--well groomed by the Hairdresser to the Hounds.



The eldest of the two, Hound Timothy belongs to the Green Goddess' eldest unmarried son, the Page of Coins (gold coins!) Hound Timothy mirrors the Page of Coins' somewhat obsessive attention to the hairdo, and basks in his coiff by the Hairdresser to the Hounds.



The other hound, Hound Eloise, belongs to the Green Goddess' three maiden chieftan daughters: Princess Joan of Arc (maiden warrior), Princess Artemis (maiden protectress) and Fairy Cupid (child of the light). Fairy Cupid and Hound Eloise are the same--only one comes in a human skin while the others pelt looks somewhat like a fox! There is nothing that Hound Eloise enjoys more than tormenting the Hairdresser to the Hounds on a Monday morning!`



Then there is, of course, the Dowager Duchess Hound Coco who has now returned to her Kingdom in the Sky. The Dowager Duchess was of royal lineage--and made it known! In earlier times the Beloved, Captain Carbon, spent his days working at the Castle of Gold Coins. When it so amused him, Captain Carbon would take the Dowager Duchess to work where she would be feted by noblemen and scorned by serfs as was her want.



The Hound Coco became a Dowager Duchess well before her dotage. By the age of three she was adored and adoring of the Dowager Queen (mother to the Green Goddess) and her respective relatives and ladies-in-waiting while, at the same time scorning Captain Carbon and all Car-Burettas--generally all men of heterosexual tendencies! She would show her displeasure by lying down with her bottom facing in their general direction!



Captain Carbon does have a naval friend, the Rear Commodore, who is of a different persuasion. The Rear Commodore worshipped at the feet of the noble Coco who treated him with royal graciousness.



On a recent visit to Castle Green, the Green Goddess asked the Hairdresser to the Hounds if he had fully recognized why the Goddess was so named. Without a beat, the Hairdresser to the Hounds stated it was because of THE GREEN DRESS--a robe that has become of mythical status in the eyes of the Hairdresser to the Hounds. A robe worn by the Green Goddess no more than a handful of times, not once in front of the Hairdresser to the Hounds, but still looming larger than life in his eyes.



The Green Goddess sometimes sighs while pouring the remains of the tea pot over her succulents (saving water) or carrying the vegetable scraps out to the compost bin (saving methane)--maybe the Dowager Duchess Coco's attitude to the bicepped sex had some merit!