Something strange happened a couple of months ago. We were apparently having some company. Usually when we’re expecting guests, my mommy tries to get all of my toys picked up off the floor. She cleans the kitchen and tries to get everything put away off of the kitchen counter and sometimes she even cleans the floors.

Not this time. Boy I couldn’t figure out who this company was, but instead of cleaning, she kept dragging stuff in from the lanai. I sure couldn’t figure that out. We had Don come over and help us get the big plants out of the courtyard and even moved our huge cement mushroom into the casita.

This guest came in the middle of the night. I didn’t even see her or hear her. One of my main responsibilities is to alert my mom when we have visitors. Oh, I should mention that once we had another uninvited guest.

That happened just before Christmas a couple of years ago. I was sleeping with my human brother Eric. I knew there was an uninvited guest, so I started barking and barking. My mom came into our bedroom where I was snuggled in with Eric and Eric told her that there was someone in our casita. Can you imagine that?? What nerve they had trying to act as our casita was an open motel for just anybody to use.

Well, mom went out there at midnight in her bare feet to confront the intruders. Was that real smart? There they were bringing in pillows, suit cases, and other belongings. They seemed to be happily settling in.

She went out and said, “May I help you.”  They said “Do you know such and such a person?” She didn’t. “Well he told us to come here tonight”.  She let them know they couldn’t stay here, that she didn’t know their friend, and they needed to figure out where they were to go. The man was most apologetic and said how nice it was that she didn’t get afraid. Huh?

He checked his phone and it turned out he was supposed to be at 621 Villa Park and not 621 Barcelona Drive. Uninvited guests left, we never heard a word from them after that night. Maybe a little note would have been nice.

That was a long digression, sorry…. But now we are back in September 2017.   Actually it was September 7. At least our nighttime visitor wasn’t trying to sleep in our casita.

This time when I woke “her” up; it was the regular wake up time early in the morning and not when our visitor arrived. We got up and went out to the front of our house,.Right away we knew we didn’t want to do our regular walk. It was quite windy and a little rainy. I saw a big tree down across our driveway. What to do now? At least our power was still working so that’s when mommy called her our friend Irma.

I found a spot that was doggie heaven.

Surprise, we didn’t go to New England this year. We went to Ohio instead. I’m a real good boy while we’re in the car. Sometimes I sit in the front seat and just look adoringly at my mom while she drives. Other times, I get myself into the back seat where my bed is and just sleep. I enjoy our long drives.

When we get somewhere, boy o boy–that is when the trouble begins. I mean T.R.O.U.B.L.E. — I’ve been a good boy all day and I want to play, go outside, get something to eat, play some more, go outside again and do other annoying stuff to try to make my mommy try to figure out what I want. I get some dirty looks. ‘She’ says she wants to put her feet up and have a glass of wine. I can’t figure out what is so important about that. Can you?

I mean after all, once we get where we are going, I help her bring in her suitcase, her cpap machine, her computer, my bed, my bag of stuff, a cooler, and a few other things. She says she is tired, but I don’t know why because I’m not tired at all.

This year we went Akron, Ohio where my mommy says she grew up. We saw my human cousin, Kim, who then left us and went down to Myrtle Beach. So what we did is spend a lot of time with Kim’s mom, Bobbie. She’s a real nice lady. I met some new people there who were also nice. I didn’t especially like our morning walks because there were a couple of big unfriendly dogs who got off their leashes and came running up to us. They scared the stuffing right out of me.

My favorite day was when Shirley and Barbara came. We got in their car and drove to Warren, Ohio, that’s where mommy’s husband grew up. I never knew him.

I’ve known Shirley for a long time, she has visited us in Florida a couple of times. The last time we were together was in the Poconos; that is when mommy and I almost ran into a bear when we were out walking in the morning.

Yikes!

When we saw the bear, first, we just started backing up and then turned around and headed back to the timeshare as fast as we could.  I am faster than she is. That was a close call; the bear came down to empty the trash containers looking for food. I just didn’t want to be there in case they didn’t find what they were looking for in the trash bin.

This day got more bizzare by the minute. We went to a shopping center and there must have been 100 police cars there all over the parking lot. We didn’t have a clue as to what had happened. They wouldn’t let us go left, right, or straight. We were in a fix.

Then that night we learned that there was a mad man loose in the Poconos who had murdered a police man.  We were told to shelter in place and not go near any windows.

That was a couple of years ago, but now Shirley drove us to Marilyn and Dick’s house. This was heaven for me because I am sure they have the best back yard in the whole world. I was able to wander in the back yard and sniff to my heart’s content. I didn’t have to have a leash and I wasn’t constantly being told “hurry up Brady”.  The back yard was so pretty with a white picket fence and lots of flowers. This was my favorite spot of all time. I could be out there on my own without worrying about alligators or even snakes. I was having the best time, then I started digging under the fence, that’s when I got in a little bit of trouble. But I wish I could have just stayed there and enjoyed that peaceful back yard. I liked Kim’s back yard too but there I didn’t have a fence to dig under. Marilyn and Dick were very nice too. They already had a dog dish for my water. I hope I get to go back there sometime soon.

Pretty soon, though, the week was over and we had to head for home. But… not before getting lots of fresh Ohio corn and tomatoes to take back to Solivita for some of our friends.

One of my mom’s favorite parts of the trip was when we went to buy the corn and tomatoes. It was very near where my mom used to spend a lot of time in the summers working on her Dad’s farm. When she mentioned that her Dad had a farm near there, they all remembered him. He hasn’t even been alive for fifty years, yet these people knew of him. It was special. He was a special person.

On our way home we met up with my human brother Greg and his wife Marilyn. Outside our room was a dumpster. We thought there was a cat in there and started try to get it but it was no cat, it was a raccoon. Yikes!

A Nighttime Event….

I really don’t like it when my mamma goes out at night. When I see her getting ready to go out, I give her a certain look. When I do that she says “I know you’re my mom reincarnated, stop giving me that guilty look.” She should feel guilty when she goes out and leaves me all alone at night. I don’t like it and I will keep on giving her that look.

The other night, well actually it has been almost a month already. It was just before the super moon way back in the middle of November. Remember that?

She was getting ready to go out and Jean came over. They were talking about stuff and loading up my mom’s golf cart with stuff. I was hanging around looking like it was the end of the world.

All of the sudden my mom said she was going to take me over just to deliver the stuff and then bring me back. Jean said, “Oh no, we can just keep him there”. My heart jumped with joy. I don’t get to attend very many social functions that aren’t right here in my own home, especially at night. But now I WAS GOING!

I was so excited. Of course my mom gave me that “You Better Be a Good Boy” lecture. And I was! I was a good boy and had the time of my life.

We had a bon fire over at Glenda and Don’s house. Lots of people were there, and I fit right in. I walked around and talked to all of the folks there. Some of my favorite people were there, of course like Don and Glenda. But also my longtime favorites Peggy and Carl were there. I spent some quality time with Peggy while she walked me and held my leash while my mom seemed to have other things to do.

I made some new friends too. I actually knew Sharon because she comes to my house to play mahjongg, but her husband, Larry, made me a hot dog and he was especially concerned about the way I liked it. Sharon and Larry are from New Hampshire so they like the Patriots, and of course I have a certain connection too.

I hope I was a good enough boy to be able to go to the next bon fire.