Sixteen Feet

I know. It’s been awhile. I’m behind my deadlines. I have already failed at my New Year’s Resolution to keep up with my blog on a weekly basis. I’m trying not to be too hard on myself because frankly, life has gotten in the way. Nothing too horrible, but just that day to day stuff that piles up and dare I say it, sometimes steams (if you get my drift).  Taxes, work, cleaning the house, pet sitting, dog walking, blah blah blah. No excuses. It is what it is, but I certainly realized how every moment of my life can be taken up by the little things if I am not mindful.

For example, over the recent weekend, we had 3 guest at our house — 3 four-legged guest, that is. First there were the two little terriers — Henri and Bella — who kept me on my toes. They’re busy dogs, but they were really respectful of my space this time around and we all got along really well.

And then there was Woobie. She may have been the reason that we all got along so well because Woobie is a very calming presence. We call her Nanny Woobie because she is very good at keeping the peace and making certain everyone is relaxed.

Besides, Henri and Bella LOVE Woobie. Okay, we all love Woobie, but these two think Woobie is the best thing ever and they followed her around like she was made of turkey (that’s what they like to eat!). Yep, they love her so much they could eat her up.

And Woobie loves them like she loves everyone — patiently and with a huge smile on her face.

So we spent the weekend hanging out with each other and going on walks together. Sometimes Momma Ann went with us, which made for easier walks for Gretchen since four leashes can be a lot to handle. Well actually, four dogs attached to those four leashes can be the challenge, though I like to think that I’m really good on a leash and Gretchen often compliments me on my ability to stay right by her side and not get my leashed crossed with anyone else.

But some of the time, Gretchen walked us all at once because Momma Ann had to study and that provided some comical times. Throw in record breaking rain for the weekend and that’s a lot of feet and bellies to wipe. Four bellies to be exact and 16 feet. Every time we went out and came back in  — long walks, short walks, squishy walks out into the backyard. Every time. Four bellies and 16 feet.

And that’s what I think about life — sometimes there are 16 feet to wipe and it’s time consuming and difficult, but it’s life and you just have to suck it up and do it.

So while I might be behind in my weekly blog, I’ve decided I needed to suck it up and get it done — all 16 feet of it though in actuality, there were far more than 16 feet in these past two weeks and yes, a lot of rain too.

But we had sunshine too. Surprisingly at times. The forecast would predict rain and while the morning might start out like that, sometimes the clouds would part and we would dry out and warm up with some sunshine or at least, no rain.

It makes it difficult for Gretchen to know what to wear. And yes, she made me wear my raincoat once or twice in these past two weeks and I was not a happy camper in any way shape or form. But I felt bad for her because she’d start out all bundled up only to have to stop and shed clothing, stuff it in her backpack, and try to dry out when the rain stopped.

The dogs — all those feet of dogs — would start out soaking wet, our heads hanging low to keep the water out of our eyes and then shake it off every once awhile longing for a little break in the amount of water soaking us. When the rain stopped, or better yet when the sun came out, our smiles got bigger, our heads raised up, and we felt the joy of warmer weather on the horizon.

While our feet were almost always wet, Gretchen’s were often worse. Her boots were soaked through and she had to change shoes sometimes 3 times during the day. Puddles were everywhere and there wasn’t any grass in the park (or our backyard for that matter) that didn’t sink when we walked on it.

Perhaps the culminating event of the whole two weeks was a hike I took with Gretchen just yesterday. Every kind of weather swept over us as we made our way up the mountain. It started out with a misty rain and then the wind picked up as we climbed the steep trail. All the sudden the rain turned to hail and came at us sideways. The trail turned muddy fast and about 15 minutes from the top, the hail turned to snow and the white stuff covered the forest around us and the path before us.

I cannot tell you how excited I was to see snow! I didn’t care that I was cold and wet. I didn’t care that I was covered in mud. I didn’t care that we’d hiked up 2.5 miles and had to hike down 2.5 miles back to the warm care. The only thing I cared about was racing around the snow, biting at it, and doing a joyful dance about being in the great outdoors and being in the snow!!!! Wind, rain, snow, fog, hail and yes, by the time we got down the mountain, SUN!

By the time we got home, I was chilled to the bone…so was Gretchen…so she made me some warm food for me and hot chocolate for herself and we sat on the couch under a down blanket and reminisced about our couple of weeks with crazy weather and wet feet. And guess what? As we were sitting there talking, thunder rolled and lightning struck and I had to curl up under the blanket as close to Gretchen as I could just to feel safe.

But we had a great conversation and a wonderful end to our bizarre 16-footed week!

Hey Rubin?

Yes, G?

Who do you think hates the wet weather the most of all our dog walking clients?

Great question. It’s not me, though there were times this past couple of weeks when I wished I lived somewhere warmer.

I hear ya!

Monty’s okay with the rain and wind…

But not thunder and lightning!

Well, I can understand that…I don’t like it much either!

You do okay if you can be close and covered by a blanket.

Yes, that helps.

Tyson doesn’t like the rain much…

Actually, Tyson doesn’t like his raincoat. He’s okay with the rain I think as is his sister, Rosie.

Rosie couldn’t care less about raincoats and rain and wind and cold weather.

She’s a go-getter that girl.

Non-stop!

Theo was the lucky one.

Why’s that?

Well, remember that morning before we walked her and it rained in waves all morning?

Oh yes! We were soaked!

And by the time we got to Theo’s house, the sun burst through the gray and we were so happy to finally be warm and dry.

Now I remember. The sun has never been so welcomed!

Woobie isn’t bad in the rain, though that surprises me because the rain really clings to her!

She’s like a sponge!

So is Bella for that matter. It’s a good thing she wears a raincoat.

And Henri isn’t so pleased about wet weather. There were some days when he wouldn’t step foot outside the door.

Well, there were some days when I didn’t want to either.

I was right there with ya, Rubes!

Roux didn’t mind.

That’s because she’s so excited to see you she doesn’t pay attention to the weather!

Kali hates the rain! I think she is, in fact, the one who hates it the most.

Whereas Carter is all “La dee da! Let’s walk forever!”

And I feel really bad because every time we went to walk Kali and Carter it was too wet to take photographs!

I know. I feel badly too, but we can add some from a few weeks ago.

Well, it’s April Showers time so I imagine we’ll see more of the wet stuff before we see more of the warm stuff.

Should I pull out your raincoat and set it by the front door just in case?

Rubin? Rubin, where are you going? You need to finish the blog!

Well, folks…I just heard his four feet race upstairs so I’ll sign off for us now. Have a great week!

Rubin (and Gretchen too!)