An Olive and An Apricot

I was thinking a lot about coats today. Not raincoats because it was really nice out — no rain, warm temperatures, and plenty of sun. I was thinking about coats as in fur, or in my case, hair. My coat is curly and consider an apricot color. Olive is a flat coat and considered, well, black. Then it struck me — she’s a “black” olive and I’m an “apricot” apricot. Okay, it was a stretch, but I found it curious that our names were kind of like food. I mean even Rubin could be spelled Reuben, like the sandwich so she’s a black olive and I’m a apricot Reuben.

You know how your mind can just spin out of control, playing on words and their meanings until it gets kind of silly? Well, that’s exactly what I did today and it started with Olive and me, heading down to Ollie’s house.

Olive has never met Ollie so she asked, “What’s Ollie like?”

Where to begin. “He’s bouncy and smaller than me, but curly like me and red.”

“Red? I don’t think I’ve met a red dog,” commented Olive.

So when we arrived and Ollie bounded out to greet us, Olive said, “Wait, he’s not really red. I was thinking he was red like my color, but he’s not that kind of red.”

Nope, he’s not, but still, humans call him “red” even though he’s more brownish red. I guess that was kind of confusing to Olive. Still, it didn’t matter because Ollie LOVED Olive and Olive found Ollie to be silly. “Doesn’t he ever sit still?”

“Rarely and only for brief moments,” I said. “Otherwise, he’s a very busy boy!”

Next, Olive met Gemma. “Now Gemma is red like Ollie red, but her coat isn’t curly,” I informed her.

“Is it like mine?” Olive asked.

“Nope, she’s got a wiry coat.”

“Wiry? Like what comes out of a lamp?” Olive asked with a bit of surprise on her face.

“No, you’ll see, just hang on.”

So we arrived at Gemma’s house and Gemma bolted out the door to meet Olive. Gemma can be a little forward, but Olive, because she used to be a service dog, has learned not to react much.

“See,” I said, “That’s a wire-haired coat.”

“Oh,” said Olive, “It’s not very soft, is it?”

“Nope, but then it kind of fits Gemma’s personality,” I offered.

“What a minute!” Gemma said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“No offense, Gemsters, but both you and your coat can be a little wired,” I explained.

She didn’t argue. She just lunged down the stairs and was ready for action!

As you can see from the photos, the camera struggles with my light apricot coat and Olive’s black one, so we took a photo of Olive up close so you can see how pretty she is. And she’s nice, too. Very, very nice.

Olive got to rest at home while I walked with Rosie. “Why can’t I go again?” Olive asked.

“Well, Rosie’s a little nervous around new dogs, especially girl dogs,” I explained.

“What kind of coat does she have?” Olive asked.

“She’s a flat coat like you, but her hair is shorter and it’s red, too.”

“Wow,” said Olive, “Red dogs dominate your life don’t they?”

Well, on Tuesdays they do!

“I never thought about that before,” I finally responded. “But you’re right, on Tuesdays it’s redheads…except for you!”

Of course, after Rosie, I picked up Saber and while we were going to pick up Olive as well, Gretchen decided that Olive, who isn’t a dog dog walker in her normal life, needed to rest. So rest she did, while I entertained Mr. Goofball, who MUST have a stick in his mouth before he’ll even think about posing for a photo!

But he actually did better today. He chewed up the stick and then spit it out when Gretchen told him to leave it. He wasn’t too happy about it, but still he posed like a good boy!

“What color is Saber?” Olive asked when I returned home.

“Well, he’s very interesting,” I explained. “He’s called a chocolate lab, but he’s considered to be a silver coated one.”

“What?” Olive was stumped.

“It’s complicated,” I said and then added, “Let’s just go hang out in the sunshine and forget all about these coats, okay?”

“Sounds like a perfect plan to me,” Olive smiled.

I wish we could have stayed there all day, but Gretchen had to go off to the pool to work and Olive and I had to wait until Ann got home to take us on another walk. Oh, and she fed us a yummy dinner. I guess I shouldn’t complain — I had sunshine, no rain, good food, good friends, and I never even saw my raincoat even from afar today. That’s a perfect way to spend this November day if you ask me!

Until tomorrrow,

The Olive and the Apricot!