Ack! As I type these words, it’s the day before Thanksgiving, and I have less than an hour to write this. I had a different topic in mind for this week’s blog post, but it’s going to take more time to write it, and I’ve run out of time.
I overslept this morning. My husband and I were up too late, tidying up the house, getting ready to have houseguests for the long Thanksgiving weekend. Ordinarily, I would put them up at the house where I have my office, two blocks away, where they would probably be more comfortable, with their own bathroom, but the comfort I’m working to preserve is that of – you guessed it – dogs!
At my office/house, I already have a delicate dog situation. I’m fostering a mama hound and her seven puppies, and I have a tenant there who has a female dog, MJ, who is my dog Woody’s crush and very good playmate, but MJ and Mama Hound don’t much care for each other, and orchestrating their movements takes a bit of care.
My guests for the weekend are my husband’s brother and his wife, and their Boxer Rosie, and they are bringing a foster Boxer, too. Rosie is another female with a strong personality and opinions about things, and having her stay at the house with the other two females – not a good idea. So they can stay at our house, instead, where all we will have to juggle are the cats (who can generally take care of themselves, even if it means spending a certain amount of time on the roof) and the chickens, who will have to suffer the indignity of being locked in their pen for the weekend, so they don’t end up as Boxer food.
I might leave Woody at my office house overnights with my tenant and MJ. They get along splendidly, and it might be less bananas. The foster Boxer is reportedly an adolescent who doesn’t know much. If he likes to play, he and Woody might be too much to contain in a small house.
Who won’t be here to play this year: My son’s dog, Cole! He and my son are having the holiday with my son’s dad and that part of his family. They will be missed, especially on the hikes.
Once everyone is settled, I’m looking forward to glorious hikes with all the dogs (well, not Mama or the pups, but all the puppy-free grownup dogs); my in-laws are great hikers, and we always have epic dog hikes when they come. I’m so looking forward to it! Especially because my sister, the chef, is cooking for all of us! We will need to hike for four days to work off one dinner!
All the dogs will be settled into safe zones before we go to my sister’s house; we won’t bring any dogs there, not even my dogs, who have been there many times and who get along with her dogs, because there will just be too many people and dogs in one spot. My sister and her husband have four little dogs; they don’t take up much physical space, but they take up a lot of the sound space, if you get my drift. Ruff! They are darling, but I don’t want to add to the chaos.
Well, maybe just dignified Otto can come. He doesn’t add to chaos, ever. He’s the anti-chaos dog.
I hope you all have a nice holiday with your dogs. Just don’t skip an extra long walk with your dog or dogs sometime afterward, Friday, the weekend, or both. In my view, it’s the part of the holiday I’m more thankful for.
