The law of the jungle

The Geekyfamily seems to have turned into a wolf pack. One night, Geekdaddy was reading to his small son from Sandra Boynton's wonderful "dogs: A counting and barking book". If you are familiar with this classic you will remember that when the reader get to the page "Nine dogs on a moonlight night" he howls a long "AAAROOOOOOO!"

Geekboy was quite enamoured of this noise, and immediately howled back, begining a conversation of howling that all of us joined (ironically, all of us except the actual dog, who just looked bemused).

Since then, when Geekdaddy arrives home in the evening, Geekyboy runs to the gate calling "Daddy, Daddy, AAAAARROOOOO!". He howls back in greeting, and then Geekygirl and I join in, creating a wolf chorus.

Howling, in wolf packs is thought to be like a glue that bonds the pack together, wolves love to howl, and will congregate over great distances to be part of a howling. It seems to foster a sense of reconnection in our family too, I highly recommend a good howl when your pack reconvenes for the evening.

Though your neighbours may think you are nuts.

Now this is the Law of the Jungle --
as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper,
but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk
the Law runneth forward and back --
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf,
and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

Rudyard Kipling - the jungle book