What a Lucky Guy

It’s not a surprise that I have a lot of friends. Hey, I walk dogs for a living and so, dog friends are my perk for walking miles upon miles every week. But I also have human friends. Among them a bunch of students from Gretchen’s class. They love me, but they also love Ollie (who lives next door to the school) and Woobie who today got to spend the whole day with us!

That was like the best surprise ever! When someone rang our doorbell early in the morning, I was shocked and I let loose a few ferocious barks to let the “intruder” know the family was protected. But when the door open and Woobie ran in, well I was one happy boy. And when we got to take her to school with us this morning, everyone was thrilled, me most of all!

Woobie and I got lots of love in the classroom and when it was time to go, to venture off to our other work and pick up Ollie for his walk, well the girls insisted on seeing all of us. That sounds like a photo op to me!

Ollie, Woobie, and I hiked along the ridge and then ended up back at the house because I had yet to eat breakfast. I tried to eat it earlier, but I was so excited about Woobie’s arrival and showing her off at school, well, I couldn’t find a moment to really focus on my food. So Gretchen dropped me off at the house while she took Woobie and Ollie over to Gemma’s house.

Ollie feels about Gemma the way I feel about Woobie. He knows when he’s on his way to her house and he gets really excited, pulling slightly on his harness to race up the long steps to Gemma’s house. The three of them headed over to the tennis courts for a bit of a romp and that’s when Woobie let loose, racing around the courts like a wild stallion. A hairy wild stallion, that is!

Ollie and Gemma thought that was great fun, but once Woobie tired out, they focused on playing fetch while Woobie posed her icy beard for Gretchen’s camera.

They all came back to our house for a short visit and we played in the backyard. Well, Ollie, Gemma, and I played. Woobie sat on the porch looking angelic in the morning light.

Woobie and I stayed back home while Gemma walked Ollie back to his house. Woobie and I needed the rest after our very full morning. Once Ollie was dropped off, Gretchen walked Gemma home along the ridge and then headed up to Rosie’s house where once again, Rosie was full of vim and vigor!

Of course, you can never really tell how lively she is in the photos because she’s kind of photo-phobic. Gretchen thought that posing her by the purple scarecrow would be a nice distraction only it kind of looks like the structure that holds up the purple scarecrow is coming out of Rosie’s head. Oops!

Rosie and Gretchen also walked along the ridge because it gives the best views of the mountains to the west and east. Gretchen didn’t take any photos of the views, but she breathed them in nonetheless.

Once Rosie went home, Gretchen came back to get Woobie and me and all three of us headed up to Alice’s house. Alice is always a little cautious when she comes out the door, but once she saw it was Woobie and me, she wagged her tail and got all excited. And yes, we headed up the hill back to the ridge because the days are growing shorter and one must take in as much beauty as one can on these winter days. This time, Gretchen tried to get all three of us in front of Mount Rainier. Didn’t work in the first photo, but that mountain is there in the second…of course, so is the telephone pole blocking the view. Oh well. We live in a city, what can we expect!

We head along the ridge and then back up through the neighborhoods where we dropped Alice off at her house once again. After Woobie and I said goodbye, we walked down through the neighborhood and over to Saber’s house.

Gretchen thought twice about walking three dogs since she knew Saber would be really excited that Woobie was with us, but she decided to give it a try! The plan was to head to the tennis courts, but those pesky park rangers were hanging around so we went for a walk through the park and then landed back at our house for a romp in the backyard.

Yep, Saber and I played keep away with my favorite blue soccer ball that he kept trying to shake and kill while Woobie watched from the porch in the afternoon angelic light.

Then, when Saber was panting hard and I was feeling a bit tuckered myself, we leashed up again and walked Saber back home. He flew into his kennel and flopped down ready for an afternoon nap and frankly, if the kennel had been big enough, I’d have joined him. But I still had to play host to Woobie so we walked back home and laid around in the kitchen while Gretchen made enough chili to feed the 30 or so people who will be showing up tomorrow evening for a staff party. Yikes! I’ve heard rumors that I’ll be spending time with Jessica and Quillette and frankly, that sound perfect to me! I’ll need a little peace and quiet after all this time with my many, many friends.

What a lucky guy I am!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin