A TEXAS PANHANDLE DOG

Here in the beautiful Texas Panhandle, where the sun shines and the wind whines, we don't have an awful lot of rain. In fact, I couldn't tell you when it last rained, but yesterday the skies opened up and we got over 2 inches of rain and it's still drizzling today. Ugh, clouds. But we do need the rain, for our beautiful grass and mesquite trees.

The only thing is, our pets forget what rain is and don't know how to behave in it. Yesterday I tried to get our little dog Mickey to go out in the side yard and do his little doggy business, but he skidded to a stop at the edge of the porch. What IS this wet stuff? He refused to go out in it, so I had to let him back in. But he still had to go, so he stood there inside the house, pondering. Aha! He ran through the house to the front door, and stood there expectantly. Let's try THIS door.

Smart dog, huh? If it's raining on one side of the house, go to another one.

Big disappointment when I nudged him out that door. Damn! This one's no better. But he found shelter under a bush and took care of business and stomped back in, disguested with humans who can't run the world any better than this.

I wouldn't say it practically never rains here, but today a girl walked by under an umbrella and Mickey went into a blind panic. He had never seen one before--or if he had, it was so long ago he couldn't remember it. We were out on the porch when he went into this hysterical yapping and dancing around, and the poor girl splashed across the street, certain that a rabid animal was about to attack her. I didn't get a chance to explain to her that Mickey thought he had seen a monster.

Oh, well. Better days will return. Sunny ones, the way they're supposed to be.