I picked up a new harness for Charlie today after work. Gracie has one already that our friend Madison, furry child of Jess and Amy, donated to her since Maddie has long since outgrown it. I thought it would be fun to put them on when I got home to see if I could do it, first of all, and secondly to get them outside on the greenline for a bit. Criminy that was a bad move. I need to separate them before I sit on the floor trying to put one on.
While putting Gracie in hers, Charlie thought it would be great to jump up and tooth me. 6oz of blood pouring out of my chin, trying to keep him from licking it (and infecting me with his dog germs) and still wriggle the other hyper dog into her harness, and I'm ready for a nap. Getting him into the harness was an exercise in stamina, timing, and patience. If I hadn't wrung his neck, I sure wanted mine wrung after that.
It's got to get easier from here on out, right?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I'd like to introduce you to the two newest additions to my family. Charlie and Gracie will be making their way to my house on Tax Day, April 15th. They're a brother and sister duo who were left in a dumpster by some ass. A friend forwarded the email to me and I have to say, this past Thursday was a day of dogs for me - I think I got about 4 emails about dogs who all needed a home and these two stuck.
Gracie is on the left and Charlie is the little man with the mohawk streak of white on his head.
I never thought I would use the phrase "crazy from the heat" and actually know fully the gravity of a phrase like that.
It's no secret that we've been experiencing some unseasonably warm weather. I mean, I know it's August but consistent triple digit temps? Come on now, give me a f*cking break. The thing is, it's ok to have that a few days a year, but 6 or 7 in a row? I'm starting to get all road-ragey just thinking about going another few weeks in these temps.
But the crazy from the heat doesn't apply to me. Milo and I have been waiting till after 7.00 PM to go to the dog park on the weekdays. There's a good crowd of friendly dogs that we both know and who know both of us really well. There's Puna, Sandy, Diego, Piglet, Jerzee, Goo, Emily, Tip, Tasha (not a regular), D.J., Mandy and Bertha. All great dogs, all great owners.
We go to a mid-city park with a man-made pond that actually has no other function than to add a place for homeless people to go BM after the sun goes down. The dogs love to play in it so thank God the city sees fit to dump a ton of chemicals into it to kill all those biological specimens. It's apparently safe for animals, though, since fish live in it.
Of course it'll show up sideways, why would THAT work right for me.
Anyway, the dogs tonight were absolutely crazy from the heat. Snarling, bearing teeth and having to be heavily restrained from attacking one another over a pile of dried moss. It was bizarre. For a while Milo was circling just watching all these lunatics being lunatic. But you can only watch a crowd for so long before you become part of the crowd. Milo's got long, thick, black hair and he was fussy from being tired and hot as a maux faux. One little dog got a little too close to him with teeth bared and that's all he needed to join the melee. It lasted long enough for a few dogs to get their mouths around a few other dogs to cause a ton of whimpering and owners saying "Well, that's what you get."
That's what you get and it's all we needed to start heading back home. Maybe we'll just play in the sprinkler in the yard tomorrow instead of letting the big M get all over heated and fussy.
I haven't done much in the way of exercise in nigh on 3 months. Sure, I've gone for a bike diddle diddle hey every now and then but mostly that's just goofing off on the mountain bike. It's not even a fraction as hardcore or serious as it has been for the past 5 or 6 years now.
Today, however, today . . .
I don't have class on Wednesdays but have usually been either at the library or at the office late to catch up on a) homework, b) preparing for future homework/exams or c) work. It's been a long time that I've spent more than 30 or 45 minutes down. By down I mean just sitting on the couch or doing anything physical. Today's a beautiful day outside so, on the way home from work, I stopped by a boutique eye-glass store and ordered my first ever pair of eye glasses in gray and then came home, put on some shorts, running shoes, grabbed the leash and took stompy for a run. I feel like I've just been through a 6 hour massage followed by ice cream and a 6 hour massage.
It's so nice to get some exercise and get the dawg out to wear both our asses out. He's looking like I feel, relaxed and happy.
