Facts of life, the east coast has hurricanes, west
coast has earthquakes. East coast has snow, west coast has parched earth. East
coast has tradition, west coast has Annie and she lives at my house as of
yesterday. Yesterday started out like any other quiet day, contemplating a day
in the basement tapping out dialogue for my next mystery novel. Hubby says he
found the perfect dog for us. We need to drive a hundred miles by 11:00 am or
someone else will adopt the dog.
I rub the sleep out of my eyes, shower and
trade pajamas for street clothes. We skip breakfast and skid to a stop in front of the Dog Rescue Building at 11:05. Turns out there are no other prospective dog lovers to
compete with. We are in a small town a million miles from anything—not even a
McDonalds in this town. Patti leads us to the kennels where our hearts break
for all the dogs we did not adopt. We spot Annie and she starts to bounce. She
loves us—we can tell by the number of bounces per minute. We begin to bounce as
we take turns walking her around the grounds. Nine months old. Can we handle a
young lab? We have already decided we can’t live without her.
Patti gives us
the paperwork, we give her money.
Annie rides quietly in the back seat. We stop for
a fast food lunch. She doesn’t say a word. No begging, just loving eyes. We
talk about doggy incidentals such as a bed, a crate, food and toys. We have
been dogless for seven months and we are starting over from scratch—less than
scratch. Luckily Patti gave us a sample sack of kibble to tide us over. Tomi
comes to the rescue with a collapsible wire crate. Annie sleeps in it
like a baby all night. We are thrilled.
Today is another day—another universe. Annie Houdini
Oroz can find her way out of any fence, even the superior chain-link fence in
out back yard. She practiced escaping while we practiced fence mending and patience.
Stay tuned to see who wins this game.
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