THE WEATHER

It’s hot today. As much as I pay attention to these things it seems it’s been hot for a while, maybe a week. Maybe not. I understand the hours of the day; when it’s time for my walks, my meals, and my various treats, but I’m not so good with days in bunches. Like when the folks break out the suitcases and disappear for a while. Which happened recently, by the way.

I was in the back yard taking my morning nap, like I do most days. It was hot then, too, so the wet dirt under the orange tree seemed like the best spot. I’d been a little worried because the suitcases had gotten out of the closet again, which usually means something bad is going to happen. I just never know when. I’d decided not to think about it, assuming mom or the Doc would fill me in when the time came. Hah!

After my nap I went back into the house for some water and guess what? It was empty. No people. I went to the bedroom and guess what again? Right. No suitcases, either. Gone. Just like that. Diabolical. No ‘Be good, Kaya, Jenny’s coming over’, or ‘We’ll be back in a couple of days’. No last minute pats on the head or chances for me to lay a serious guilt trip on them for the abandonment. I ran in and out my doggy door a few times, just to make sure I wasn’t missing something, but no, they were gone without so much as a ‘goodbye’.

I was a little frantic. Thinking back on it I should have been suspicious when the girl next door came by that morning to take me on my walk. That has never happened. It seemed a little weird, but she’s nice, and she lives with my pal Monty, so I didn’t dwell on it. My biggest question, then, was who was going to take me out in the afternoon? Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long for the answer. An hour or so later she came back with a bunch of her stuff and got comfortable. Still, I was upset by what was going on and the sneaky way the folks had gone about it.

Eventually the people and the suitcases came back, like they always do. I ignored the suitcases and got lots of attention from the people. The Doc said they’d only been gone three days. I’ll have to take his word because it felt a lot longer than that.

Anyway, like I said, I’m not great with days on end so I don’t know how long it’s been hot, exactly, only that it’s been this way for a while. I’m used to it, or at least I thought I was. Every year it’s been the same thing, it gets cool for a while and I grow in my undercoat, then it gets hot and I shed. Maybe I drink a little more water. No big deal. For some reason this year is different.

The heat seems to have affected my appetite. Normally I’ll go for a walk and then chow down as soon as we get back. The past couple of mornings, though, I just wasn’t in the mood. The Doc immediately assumed there was something horribly wrong with me. I think his job has made him a little crazy like that. He started saying things like, ‘maybe we need to see the Vet’. How about maybe not.

Then he starts in with the ‘getting older’ stuff. So I told him maybe it was global warming. I watch the news from time to time. I know what a lot of those people are saying, and I know it make the Doc nuts. He says the science has been perverted by the politics and that there isn’t any good evidence to support the concept. Whatever.

“Maybe it’s local warming. Remember how your pals in the Midwest froze their butts off last winter? And you are getting older.”

I decided to let that slide. I’d made my point. No use reminding him that we’re about the same age, physiologically speaking, and if the heat was an appetite suppressant maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. He can afford to miss a meal or two. No matter. If this year is like every other year it’s going to cool off eventually, my fur will get thick, and maybe, if I can persuade him, he’ll finally take me to the mountains so I can run around in the snow. I am about half Husky, after all.

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