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If Maxine knew what I was writing, she’d probably protest and say, “No, the wedding snuck up on me! I was just minding my own business!” Right. When you combine intelligence and a drama queen all in one dog, there’s no way such a dog ends up in the spotlight “accidentally.” That’s why I strongly suspect she planned the whole thing up herself.

Quite a few weddings in Juneau, Alaska revolve around the city’s icy treasure: the magnificent Mendenhall Glacier. In summer, some couples will even take a helicopter up to the top where they celebrate their union against a backdrop of endless ice. There has even been a piano flown up there—recorded music just wouldn’t do for a wedding.

It was winter, though, so this particular wedding took place at the Mendenhall Visitor Center. Located just across from the glacier, it was the perfect compromise: a warm ornate man-made structure from whose large windows one can safely view nature’s unruly creations. The constant movement of the glacier makes it dangerous, for now and then a huge chunk of ice will fall and smash anything in its way. Between the visitor center and the glacier is a lake peppered with huge icebergs that have fallen off the glacier at one point or another. During winters when the lake is frozen you can walk right up to these icebergs. If feeling a little crazy, you could walk up to the glacier, too. When you’re that close, you can hear the loud clicking sound of the ice constantly shifting, or beginning a deadly countdown. 3…2…1…

I was glad to be inside the warm visitor center. The main room was mostly full when we arrived. Three rows of seats spread out in semi-circles around the small stage, across from which stood the large windows overlooking the lake and glacier. Not wanting to be in the front row, Gordon and I found ourselves seats in the second row. Maxine also took her seat after some prodding, only her place was not on an actually chair, but tucked away beneath mine. Her head and front paws stuck out a little into the aisle, but there would still be plenty of room for other guests to pass without tripping over her.

When the ceremony finally began, Gordon entertained us by silently signing his commentary for the ceremony. “The groom’s mumbling through his vows!…I knew that guy in high school…He should take her last name, it sounds better…OK, they’re exchanging rings.” Gordon is quiet now, and I imagine the bride and groom walking offstage through the little door on the right with their train of bridesmaids and best men following close behind.

I glance to my left for no particular reason and am startled to see the newly wedded couple walking towards us. Instead of simply going from the stage to the door on the right, they were taking a de tour through the aisle right in front of the second row of seats. I checked Maxine to make sure she was sufficiently tucked under my chair and was horrified to find her stretched out across two thirds of the aisle. My guide dog was trying to stop a wedding!

“No one told me they were going to parade through here!” I sign to Gordon.

“No one told me either!” he responds.

Maxine was too comfortable for me to do anything quick: I would have to either interrupt the couple’s parade so that I could move her out of the way, or I could just let them step over her. Before I could even decide, they were passing right in front of us. Up went the bride’s high-heeled foot in an extra extra large step, and then down it went on the other side of the napping dog. Maxine seemed completely indifferent to her surroundings, and the whole thing started to actually seem funny. Just as I was beginning to relax, another fancily dressed couple came parading down the aisle. Up went the bridesmaid’s high-heeled shoe in an extra large step over the smug dog. People up and down the aisle were smiling and Gordon and I were struggling to suppress laughter. Did Maxine stretch out on purpose? I decided to wake her up and move her, but another couple came parading by. Up went another high-heeled foot in a long step over the little dog. Keeping myself from laughing was getting pretty hard. Maxine ought to be smart enough to move when she saw people coming, so I had a feeling the little dog was enjoying the wedding a little too much.

Gordon and I stepped outside after the ceremony. With an hour until the reception, we decided to explore a little path off to the left of the front door. The path led to a viewing point that looked out on the lake and glacier. Several people were skating on the frozen lake, and others were walking their dogs.

“Excuse me; can I take your picture?” The wedding photographer was out on the viewing point, too, so we posed for him with the lake and glacier behind us. Maxine, of course, was right in the center of the photo. As the wedding photographer takes Maxine’s photo, the bride and groom come out to the viewing point. It was as if where ever Maxine went, they went. Gordon and I immediately left the viewing point so they could have their photos, but again they all had to pass by Miss Maxine.

The little shepherd hadn’t done anything particularly wrong when she made herself comfortable on the floor, and she did not do anything to draw the photographer’s attention. All of this occurred by Maxine being herself. Her personality is such that she absolutely loves attention, much more than the average dog. So even though she did not do anything “wrong,” I strongly suspect that she stretched herself out on the floor in hopes of earning herself more attention. Whether she planned it or not, she certainly attained the attention she loves.

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