Winter has come to Seattle. Yesterday my mom tried to take me to Regrade Dog Park in Belltown. “You need exercise,” she said.
Me? My mom is terrified that I’ll have trouble sleeping because I’m not tired enough. So we hopped a bus and arrived at the dog park to find just a few other dogs. The other owners were too sensible to be out there in the cold. After just a few minutes, I marched over to the gate with that unmistakeable look: Time to go home now.
“Gracie, we just got here!” my mom said. “Don’t you want to play some more?”
Nope. So we walked to our usual bus stop and just missed a bus.
“Let’s keep walking,” my mom said. We ended up walking all the way hone, just over a mile
My mom realized that along the way she was chilled, despite wearing her heavy-duty, newly-cleaned parka. She worked as long as she could that evening. Then she announced we were having an early bed time. She took me out for my last walk and it was COLD. I did my business fast, turned around and led us back inside.
A normal person would turn up the heat, but not my mom. She has three heavy comforters and she piles them up. I sleep on my cushion at the foot of her bed. As usual, my mom tried to impress me into heating pad duty. No way. I curled up in a tight ball on my cushion and wouldn’t budge.
Then my mom tried Ophelia, who’s nice and plump and furry. Ophelia has a really ugly growl when she chooses. I wish she would teach it to me.
Finally Creampuff stepped up. She’s so ditzy she thinks my mom is a big cushion. She’s small but she radiates heat. She just purrs so loud she keeps us all awake.
No problem, said my mom. “With all I do for this family, the least you could do is keep me warm on these cold nights.”
I pointed omy sharp little nose in the direction of my mom’s electric heating pad. Mom’s afraid the heating pad will catch on fire. Dogs are non-combustible, she says.
I say it serves her right. Next time we have a cold snap, we can skip the dog park. I have a feeling we’re headed for another long walk today. My mom goes a little wild when we see a glimpse of sun.