Beethoven’s Birthday, Among Other Things…

240 years ago, a baby was born in the snowy terrain of a middle country. His hair was curly and full on his head and came forth into the world with a bright look in his eyes. No one knew then what they would understand later, but this baby boy would one day do great things with his life. He’d write great music, he’d conduct amazing symphonies, and his greatest accomplishment of all…he’d become a dog walker.

Okay, the last part isn’t true, but for a moment, imagine if Beethoven decided to make a career change forgoing the piano and the composing and picked up a dog leash (or four and five) and became a dog walker. Would our lives today be that much different if he had? I, for one, think the job of dog walker would have been elevated to a higher status and that dogs around the world would benefit from such an esteemed man like Beethoven being the face of dog walking throughout history.

Alas, Beethoven, while he may have lived with a dog or two, never picked up a leash (or leashes), but instead picked up a pen and a thick piece of paper and wrote down tiny dots and squiggles that turned into some of the most amazing music known to humans (though, in fact, I like it too).

Why am I writing about Beethoven today? Well, December 16, by some accounts, was the date of birth of the great composer. Some say it was December 17, but in this house we celebrate the 16th as Beethoven’s official birthday. In his honor, we went out to dinner (well, I waited in the car) and then came home and ate coconut ice cream. You might think it’s weird that we celebrated this man, but if you knew the REAL REASON (one I’m not allowed to write about!), you’d understand.

Yes, I know I’m being particularly secretive, but I don’t want to make certain people (if you catch my drift) angry by letting you know that certain people and Beethoven share something in common. Nope, today wasn’t supposed to be anything special (except for the dinner and dessert celebration).

It was just supposed to be business as usual, but all day long, as we walked Gemma first…where we looked out over the lake at the mountains to the north and east and the brave ducks in winter…

…then Rosie…who posed with me in front of Mt. Rainier…way off in the distance and then drooled at the thought of a cookie reward…

…and finally Saber…who tried to sing all the parts of Ode to Joy…

…while I sang along with the Beethoven soundtrack in my head — Moonlight Sonata, the Fifth Symphony, and my personal favorite, the Ninth Symphony. Why is it my favorite? Because I think it would make a great soundtrack for a video about me playing in a big open field filled with knee-deep snow!

Not that it’s all about me…certainly not on this day…but on this particular day I like to remember Beethoven and his music as a way of honoring someone else’s monumental birthday.

Ouch! Gretchen just gave me a whack on my shoulder. I guess she didn’t like the word monumental. Geez…some people!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Uh, No!

“Looks like a raincoat day, Rubin.”

Those were the words that greeted me this morning. My response?

“Un, no!” and then I ran upstairs and hid behind the bed.

As you can see, it didn’t work. I had to wear that stinkin’ raincoat most of the day. No matter how many times I tried to rip it off, Gretchen just kept securing the Velcro again and again and I was stuck, like a sausage inside its casing.

Of course, it really rained today and I suppose wearing the raincoat did keep me dry…and warm…but I still really hate that thing. Can’t I just get wet and dry off later?

“Uh, no!” was Gretchen’s response.

Good thing we didn’t have a lot of dogs to walk.

“And it’s a good thing,” Gretchen pointed out, “That most of them own raincoats!”

Yeah, whatever.

The first walk was with Rosie and I sniffed her raincoat while she sniffed mine. “Do you like yours?” I asked.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I tend to catch a chill if I don’t wear it in weather like this.”

“Not me,” I responded. “I don’t catch anything, but still I have to wear it.”

Gemma wears a coat, too, but she doesn’t notice it in the least. “Do you like your coat?” I asked.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I?” and then she barked at a dog she thought might be lurking behind a fence…there was no dog, but Gemma was off and so were we.

When we picked up Saber he said, “You two look like Christmas?”

“We do?” Gemma said surprised.

“Yeah, red and green like Christmas colors!”

“Where’s your coat?” I asked.

“On,” he said.

“No, silly. Not that coat. Where’s your raincoat?”

“What’s a raincoat?” he asked, “And why would I need one?”

Precisely my point!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Noah and his Bark

I was sound asleep. I mean, I was so sound asleep I don’t think an earthquake could have rumbled me from my slumber…

…but rain did. Yep, torrential, monstrous, cascading…whatever words you can think of that brings to mind the sound that hit our roof this morning. It woke me right up and I was even on the big bed (where I sleep the best, don’t ya know). I looked over at Gretchen and heard her moan. “Oh Rubin, this doesn’t sound good. I think I hear Noah pounding in nails for his bark!”

His bark? I thought to myself. Who’s Noah and what do nails have to do with his bark?

Since I couldn’t sleep, I got up and did some research. Turns out it’s Noah and his Ark .(I think Gretchen had her night guard in or something because I swear she said “bark.”) Anyway, this guy a long, long time ago was told by Dog that he needed to build an Ark, which turns out to be a huge boat and fill it with two of everything — plants, animals, toilet paper, etc. — and prepare to be aboard this boat for a very long time because it was about to rain for 40 days and 40 nights. After my research, I went upstairs and said to Gretchen, who was under her pillow snoring away, “Noah built an ark not a bark and he did it because Dog told him to. Dog also told him to gather up two of everything, so if you were insinuating that the rainstorm we’re experiencing is the beginning of 40 days of biblical rain, you best get yourself out of bed and get started on gathering up two of everything and building us a boat!”

“Go back to bed, Rubin,” is all she said and with that, I huffed and jumped back up onto the big bed and fell back into a deep, deep sleep. Luckily, by the time we headed out the door for our short day of walking, the rain went back to the bible and we stayed fairly dry.

A short day meant only two walks. The first was with Rosie and because Rosie REALLY wanted to play with me, we went to the tennis courts for a very short romp without a second of fetch. Instead, I found a stick and played keep away. Worked for Rosie!

The last walk (which was also the second) was with Gemma and Saber and at the very end of our hour walk, we posed above the city right as the rain returned.

It’s hard to see it in this photo but huge droplets of rain were pelting us as we encouraged Gretchen to hurry up and snap the darn photo.

And tonight, as I type the last lines of today’s blog, the rain has returned from the scriptures and I can hear Gretchen pounding nails into something in the basement. I wonder if she’s building a bark?

Until tomorrow,

Rubin