Saturday

I got a comment on this post which made me happy. (All of your comments make me happy.) Here it is:

• May I say too that as Star's birthday gift to me, I received your terrific book.... I ordered it through Barnes and Noble so they know people are interested in it.
  I was worried that you are giving away too much on your entries. Not true! I am delighted to find the book is packed full of much more than can be imagined. I'm looking forward to hours of chuckles and tears. Thank you for tempting me into its purchase.
  Hugging my hound,Kathy (and Star the Wonder Dog)

Thank you for your kind words, Kathy! You made my day.

It is cold, for Western Kentucky. Too cold for walks on cement. So I loaded up Fat Charlie, Luciano, Delia, Sam I Am, Swede William, and Lindy Loo and we drove out to the Kennel Club property. I didn't take Very Old Dog, or Maria whose thirteenth birthday is in a few short weeks, or Mama Pajama; it was just too cold. We met our friend Heather (Baby Ben too, but he was sacked out in his toasty car seat with the engine running) and Lindy Loo's brother Emmett and his big adoptive brother, Edgar.

It is strange. The sun is southern strength in Western Kentucky, but the wind comes from Canada. Straight on down that wind blows. Quite frankly, we wish the Canadians would be a little less generous this time of year. We wish they would keep their stinkin' cold old wind. Heather and Edgar and Emmett were all ready out in the fenced area when we arrived, and Heather said, "Oh, P-p-p-patience, it's c-c-cold out here." Only it came out as, "Euh, P-p-p-puhshunse, uht's c-c-c-uhld ewt heeew" because her lips were sort of frozen in place and weren't all that functional. The dogs were running zoomies and hardly even noticed.

I mixed and matched combinations of dogs, so that no one would get their shorts in an uproar and a grand time was had. I had to take off Swede William's and Lindy Loo's coats; they were zipping around so fast, that soon their tongues were hanging out, even without their coats. Fat Charlie chased Sam I Am, who grabbed the squeak toy and played the part of the "bunny". Around and around in dizzying huge circles the two flew. Fat Charlie grinned in disbelief. Used to be the time when no way could Sammy run faster than Fat Charlie. But he did today.

The timing was perfect; as Luciano and Delia were winding down, another club member arrived to use the fenced area. I said, "Hi! My guys are just finishing their run. Your guys will love it!" Only by then, my lips had frozen, so it came out, "Heuy! Meuy geuys ur juhst funshung thuhr run. Yuhr geuys wul luhve ut!"

I moved the van to a spot where the wind was blocked by the Kennel Club building, but it was still smack in the sun. Everyone had gotten their coats back on before getting in. I took Sammy into the building for a little practice in agility. Woo hoo, he was stupendous! For the first time ever, he did the weave poles without looking at me for direction. He put his head down and weaved on his own. This might not sound earth-shattering, but boy oh is it for me! I emptied my pockets of every delectable and proffered them up to him. I took out my squeaky frog and tossed it for him to grab mid air and squeak and zoom. I fell on my knees and thanked All that is Good. I let Sammy zoom through some tunnels and jumps because they are his favorites, and then we went home.

It was while I was picking up the yard at home that I realized how fortunate we are here. OK, there are a bazillion reasons, like Heather, and the Kennel Club, and Betsy who donated the fencing and Dee and her nephew who put it up, and my husband who is the best person in the world. But when I was picking up poop, I noticed that the ground in my yard was frozen like a rock. The very front, where the sun shines all day was soft, but the rest of the yard was like concrete. That's when it dawned on me; the ground wasn't even frozen out at the club. If the ground had been frozen, the dogs could not have run without hurting themselves.

And tonight my Minnesota friend, Laurie, mentioned that it -6 there, going down to -15. Not wind chill, which will be -35, but actual temperature. Yikes. I bet their ground is frozen everywhere. I bet I better stop whining. I am so grateful that we could go and run.

The dogs slept all evening. They all had expansive dreams of running, which proved contagious to the three who stayed home. They knew perfectly well where the others had been, having thoroughly sniffed each returning runner. Maybe the smell of the field would spark their memories. I hoped they were getting tons of running in their dreaming brains. I hoped they were running through warm fields of sunshine.

hug your hounds