Double-edged Sword

I’ve learned, in my short but busy life, that dark clouds often have silver linings. When a package arrived recently and Gretchen pulled out a thick notebook, I saw a dark cloud.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“My homework,” she replied.

HOMEWORK? Wait just one minute. Aren’t we busy enough? I kept my thoughts to myself.

“Gee,” I said instead, “Homework for what?”

“Well,” Gretchen explained, “I’ve enrolled in a massage school and now I need to do the homework.”

“Massage school?” I said a bit shocked, “But I thought we were dog walkers. How am I ever going to learn to be a massage therapist?”

She laughed at me slightly (or as she said, she laughed next to me!), “Oh buddy, you aren’t going to be a massage therapist, I am. And don’t worry, I’m going to massage dogs not humans so it fits right in with our dog walking business.”

Dark cloud = I won’t be able to accompany Gretchen when she massages dogs.

Silver lining = She gets to practice on me!

Or to use another metaphor, this was turning out to be a double-edged sword. The positive side is that I will get more massages than I already do, which will be great after a long day of dog walking. The negative side is that Gretchen is going to be busy for the next few months because she’ll be finishing up her teaching job, walking dogs, and studying her massage lessons. That means less time for me, though she claims that it won’t really change much.

I’m not sure I believe her.

She tells me she’s learning a lot and today she even showed me a few things. She should me how to take my pulse from my back leg, how to stretch my overworked shoulders, and how massage my tired feet. While we were walking other dogs today, she treated them to a few new experiences as well.

First was Woobie who we picked up after our morning in the classroom. As we walked through the park back to our house (where Woobie spent some time today), Gretchen stopped every now and then to do some fascial manipulation. From what I can tell, she just picked up Woobie’s skin and stretched it. “Oh does it feel,” I asked Woobie.

“Devine!” she moaned happily.

Next up was Rosie. Rosie’s body has been through a lot, so every time they stopped for a crosswalk or even at the park, Gretchen massaged Rosie’s back legs and her back hips. Rosie liked it, but Gretchen said she’s not completely comfortable with massage. She’d much rather just keep walking and smelling!

Oh, and jumping up on boulders without any direction from Gretchen. Guess she knows how to earn treats!

Woobie and I got to pile in the car after that and head to Zoe’s house. Zoe was beside herself in excitement that I brought a friend along with me. Since Gretchen’s hands were full, she didn’t get a chance to show us any massage techniques, but we were all so happy just to be together, we didn’t mind! Oh, and Zoe and Woobie both like to put their noses in the air!

I like to roll around…

We did a lot of posing today. Gretchen said it was because the light was perfect.

Woobie and I headed back to the house after that and Gretchen and I headed over to Saber and Gemma’s house. Now those two play so hard that it’s almost impossible to catch either one of them long enough for any massages, though Gretchen did give it a try.

Saber kind of liked it, but he would have rather wrestled with Gemma.

Gemma found it curious, but she just wanted to bite at Saber or chase me around.

That meant that Gretchen had to practice on me when we got home and I’ve gotta admit, I like the silver lining of this sword. Wait, did I just mix my metaphors? Guess I’m just too relaxed to notice!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin