It was about a year ago that we pulled up behind an old gas-guzzler sedan at the stop light. I'm guessing the rather large and seedy guy behind the wheel was somewhere in his sixties. As we waited for the light to change a Chihuahua jumped from the front seat onto the head rest and then into the guy's lap. The driver shifted the dog to his left arm and cradled it there and began to rub noses with the dog. The dog was in ecstasy, licking the guy all over his face, and you could see his lips moving as he talked to the little dog. When the light changed he did a reasonable job of dividing his attention between the dog and the road, but you could tell by the look on the dog's face (in rapt attention on the driver) that the conversation was still going on. Joanna and I chuckled at how some people get sort of loopy about their dogs and to what ridiculous extremes they sometimes go with them. At the time we were coming back from Costco where I had encountered another sixties-something guy, this one with a little schnauzer sitting in his shopping cart. I rolled my eyes when I heard him talking to the dog, explaining things as though the pooch wanted to know the difference between saltines and club crackers, etc. I rolled them again when I saw that he had brought a towel to put in the child-seat portion of the shopping cart so the dog would be more comfortable. Some people.
Three or four months later we adopted Elky & Tassel. Fast forward six more months. I was sitting at the very same traffic light, and realized that I was explaining to Elky where we were going next on our errands (Home Depot). She was looking at me with this rapt expression on her face and when I leaned down to her, she licked me all over my face. When the light turned green, I pulled her up next to me so she could stand on my right leg and see out the windshield (well, if it were possible to see around all the 'nose art' she had deposited there), then I proceeded to Home Depot, having done a reasonable job of dividing my attention between dog and road, where I studied the various kinds of shopping carts to decide which one would be most suitable for wheeling my two dogs around while I looked for plumbing parts and paint. The two dogs looked back and forth from me to the merchandise and other shoppers. I am fairly sure I detected some eye rolling on a couple of them. I suppose it is a common reaction to seeing a seedy-looking, sixties-something guy, crooning away to his dogs and wheeling them around the store in a shopping cart. Some people.
On the way home I found myself wondering if anyone would mind if I brought the girls into the library. I was only planning to be in there for 10 or 15 minutes....
Three or four months later we adopted Elky & Tassel. Fast forward six more months. I was sitting at the very same traffic light, and realized that I was explaining to Elky where we were going next on our errands (Home Depot). She was looking at me with this rapt expression on her face and when I leaned down to her, she licked me all over my face. When the light turned green, I pulled her up next to me so she could stand on my right leg and see out the windshield (well, if it were possible to see around all the 'nose art' she had deposited there), then I proceeded to Home Depot, having done a reasonable job of dividing my attention between dog and road, where I studied the various kinds of shopping carts to decide which one would be most suitable for wheeling my two dogs around while I looked for plumbing parts and paint. The two dogs looked back and forth from me to the merchandise and other shoppers. I am fairly sure I detected some eye rolling on a couple of them. I suppose it is a common reaction to seeing a seedy-looking, sixties-something guy, crooning away to his dogs and wheeling them around the store in a shopping cart. Some people.
On the way home I found myself wondering if anyone would mind if I brought the girls into the library. I was only planning to be in there for 10 or 15 minutes....
1 comment:
Nice to hear from someone who is as daft about animals as I am. They are wonderful creatures. I liked to take my dog everywhere I could with me so my life was tailored to places he could come too. I have just acquired another cat & my first cat is very put out. I am in bits trying to make sure both of them are OK which is difficult because they are fighting over my affections.
Post a Comment