Dog Tales: The Party
The Sixth Installment of the Adventures of Whitney — The White Wonder Dog
I was getting worried. Lots of commotion and packing in our house, for over a month. Boxes were being taped up and stored in a back room where I couldn’t get to them. I would have torn up those boxes when nobody was home if the door off the kitchen hadn’t been closed during the day. Ms. Lapin and Barb knew about my mischief when I was “unsupervised.”
Wasn’t sure what it all meant. Until moving day. Ms. Lapin moved those boxes, with Barb’s help, into a shiny new car with air conditioning. She called it a ‘no frills’ ’77 Toyota Corolla. There was hardly room for me, except on the front, bucket seat which is where I liked to sit anyway. That wonderful air conditioning blew right onto my face; calling a car with air conditioning ‘no frills’ made absolutely no sense to me…our last car didn’t have it. When traveling in August from Fort Worth, TX, you really need air conditioning. It was MARVELOUS!
We were headed off to that nice brick house in Dullesville, AR (aka Jonesboro), that I mentioned to you before. It took the whole day and then some to get there. We had to make a lot of “pit stops” if you know what I mean. We had to eat some meals and take care of business… Most of what I got to eat was human food instead of that dry kibble, which made the trip extra special.
The trip was uneventful. Ms. Lapin was ‘talking up’ how I would get to play with Frank every single day, again. I looking forward to telling Frank about Lightfoot and Little Guy and those cows that I met out in the countryside. I was thinking that I could make her jealous of my adventures while she and the cad had moved away.
Our arrival to our new digs was in the evening. Ms. Lapin said she was exhausted from driving 500 miles. I don’t get it…she was just sitting there, singing while listening to the radio, talking to me occasionally and moving this wheel in front of her. Oh, and occasionally moving this metal rod that came out of the floor of the car when we stopped and started up again. How in blazes can that little bit of effort make one exhausted? Can someone explain that to me? Running 500 miles from Ft. Worth to Dullesville in the August heat — well that would be exhausting!
Frank squealed when she saw me and then showed me around to all of the many rooms in what she described as “faculty housing.” Whatever that meant. It had a great big front porch and huge kitchen — my favorite room in any house, of course. It had a nice yard, but no fencing. So, no opportunities for exploring during the day when the humans were off to work. DRAT.
I settled in to the new house. Frank and I chased each other during the day and cuddled on the human bed in the evenings. As a mature gentleman, I was sleeping more with less mischief making. Life was good.
About a month after moving to this small town from the big city, my people decided to throw a party one Saturday night. They invited all sorts of their friends: ASU faculty members and their children, students, Ms. Lapin’s boss and his wife. I got a lot of attention from those new humans and of course food goodies. I gave each of these guests who greeted me that cute look I’m known for, moving my head from side to side as if listening intently to their conversation. That cute move has always garnered more food!
But after a while, I had to relieve myself. I couldn’t get anyone’s attention to let me out the door to go pee. My humans were ignoring me, as I was busy entertaining the guests and scarfing down scraps of delightful hors d’oeuvres. Remember I told you before I knew some French words! But I may have the pronunciation wrong — it sounds like HORSE DOVERS? If I were eating pieces of horses, I wouldn’t be to happy to learn that…
Anyway, I couldn’t wait another minute. I went over to the couch, lifted my leg and took a very long whiz. THAT not-so-cute move got Ms. Lapin’s attention. She apologized to the guests and then opened up the front door and said in a very loud voice, “OUT.” Well, I didn’t have to go anymore. So I was very confused.
On the porch, I went over the porch swing, jumped on it and shifted my weight back and forth to make the swing move to and fro. I stared into the living room window with this very forlorn look on my countenance. Ms. Lapin spied me and came out to the porch and apologized for ignoring me. She gave me a lot of love finally.
I told you I knew how to “play up” my looks! I was let back in the house to join the guests and beg some more. Parties are FABULOUS.
I’ll be writing just one more story: my transition to The Great Beyond and an explanation of my doggy metaphysics! Stay tuned in about a week for that.
As always, thanks for reading about my adventures. You’ll be hearing about some of my dog buddies that shared Ms. Lapin’s household in the years following my abrupt departure including the following: Buttons, Pip I, Gorgeous George, Pip II, Buffy, Cindy and Candy Girl!
© Linda Lapin (aka Linda A. Robinson) August 7, 2018
