Field Trip

I’m a pretty adventurous guy. My job takes me to lots of great places in the city and when I look at how far my range of service extends, I guess it makes a lot of sense that on a day like this one, I’m pretty tired by the end of it. What made this day so special? Well, lots of things.

First, I got to go to the lake with my buddy Ollie. We didn’t go for long and though Ollie got in for a few minutes, I waded in for a long time (check out the skinny legs) and was a wee bit disappointed when we had to leave.

Ollie wasn’t disappointed because he got some treats and that always makes him happy!

Though I didn’t get to go with Rosie on her walk, I did get to see the lovely photos of Rosie smiling in front of the beautiful flowers. I know exactly where that spot is since we pass it in our travels all the time. I’m so glad she got to enjoy it, too!

I did get to walk with Gemma and Woobie as we made our way around a very big loop (from Gemma’s to Woobie’s) and posed in the sun while completing the circle.

And to top it all off, Woobie, Saber, and I had a pool party in the backyard though Saber just wanted me to play with him and Woobie just wanted to rest in the shade of the table on the porch.

But that wasn’t the end of the day. Nope, I got to take my new friend (and a special friend at that!) on a field trip to one of my favorite spots in the whole wide world! Yep, Paige came over to my house and we walked down to the lake, swam and fetched balls, walked back home and then hung out in our backyard.

What made this field trip so special is that I had no idea it was planned. Nope, Gretchen just drove off and the next thing I know, she returned with the lively (and beautiful, I might add) Paige in the back seat. My heart leapt, my tail started to wag uncontrollably, and when Paige bounced out of the car and went immediately into a play bow, I thought I was going to faint with joy!

Off we went, down through the park, down through the tunnel, down the big stairs, under the noisy bridge, and within a matter of moments, we were standing at the edge of the lake where I stood pointing the sights out to Paige. “That’s Mt. Rainier,” I said, “And over there are the nutria nests — stay away because they are nasty and ugly.” I pointed out the nests and though we never saw a nutria, I showed Paige an ugly photo of one when we got back home. She immediately wanted to go back and hunt them!

But I digress. As I was saying to Paige while at the lake, “And if you hop off this ledge, you land smack dab in the best water in Washington. Give it a try. Go for a swim. Gretchen will take you!”

Yep, that’s them out there in the water! You can even see Gretchen’s gray hair and Paige’s long ears if you click on the photo and take a closer look!

Usually I don’t like to let Gretchen leave me behind, but this afternoon, on this unexpected and glorious field trip, I was proud to share all my joys with Paige. She sure seemed to appreciate everything I showed her. (I just didn’t understand why I had to wear the life vest and she didn’t!)

And then we walked back up the hill, back under the noisy bridge, up those long and many stairs, through the cool tunnel, back through the park (only I showed Paige the shortcut) and to our house where we hung out in the backyard in the shade of the old cherry tree. I rolled around, Paige watched, we both got lots of loving, and the smiles were permanently plastered onto our faces.

What a glorious day. The tiredness I feel now was well worth the effort. Work and play — sometimes in my life it’s hard to distinguish between the two and I must say, that makes me very happy!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin