The Open Door I Just Couldn't Resist ...

Do you know the feeling of seeing an open door? You want to see what's on the other side; you just have to?

Now imagine being me. I'm always on a leash ... always. Well, not quite true really. When we were travelling to Cape Cod some people had fenced in yards and I was able to run free. And some people just lived in a great place with no traffic and I just ran and ran in their yards.

But mostly all my life I've been on a leash. So picture what it was like for me one day in our cottage on Cape Cod when suddenly .... the door was open. Meme and Poppy were sitting out on the deck and they'd let me come inside because the sun was so hot on my white fur. I was fine with that ... but then I saw the open door.

I walked ever so slowly over to it, turned around to see if they were looking. They weren't. So I walked closer. Suddenly there I am right at the front door with the grass and flowers and all kinds of wonderful smells just waiting out there for me.

And I thought ... why not? I know my way back; time for an adventure. So out I went. I stepped onto that soft grass and started sniffing. I had thought I would go right back inside, but this was just too good. I couldn't stop myself.



I made my way around the house and past the BBQ grill, one of my favorite places. Still, so much ground to cover I couldn't waste too much time there. I made my way over to our neighbor's. There was no one home so I was able to take my time sniffing and exploring.

Now all this time I can hear them talking so I know everything is perfectly fine and I'll definitely be back for dinner. But this is fun! I'm free! So I just kept sniffing and snooping.

Suddenly I hear a screech! It's Meme yelling "The door's open!!! Oh my God the doors open" and then "Where's Molly????!!!!" and "She's gone, she's not in the house, oh my God oh my God!!!". She's just gone bonkers.

And I'm thinking "Oh for heaven's sake calm down ... all this fuss and I'm perfectly fine". I knew right then I should go back, but I just couldn't. It was just too wonderful a moment and who knows if I'll ever have this again.

And then I hear our other neighbor calling me! Oh good Lord they're calling in the troops!!! Suddenly I hear my name being called out all over the place. Poppy's calling me, Ron is calling me, and Meme .... well, you don't even want to know.

I sort of understand why they went so crazy. A few years ago my sister-cat took off through an open door and didn't come back for days. We were all pretty scared that time.

So I should have gone back right then. A good dog would have, but I have to be honest and tell you that I'm very, very cute but not always as good as they might want me to be And you know what? It was the principal of the thing. I'm a grown up dog after all. And I'm perfectly fine. I'll go back when I'm done and not a second sooner.

Well, almost. Suddenly I hear Ron behind me and sheepishly I cowered beneath him and let him scoop me up and carry me home. How embarrassing. What an awful way to end a perfectly wonderful afternoon, being scooped up like a dumb cat and carted back home.

Oh well. I'll say this. With all the fussing and the treats and the loving I got after that adventure, I wouldn't have given up those couple of hours for anything.

But something tells me I won't be seeing another open door any time soon. But if you do? Walk through it. It's all good.

'Til next time ...

Molly

Our Journey's Done ... But Oh What A Ride!

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

That's what Meme said and I'm having a heck of a hard time following along, but something's not good, that's for sure. But I want to go back and talk about before the journey ended because it was the absolute best of times for me and I think it's safe to say that it was the best of times for Meme and Poppy, too.

We were together; that was the best part ... riding along the highway, stopping to eat french fries and "bad" food (at least that's what Meme calls it). I think their favorite was Wendy's ... Meme called it Wendy's With a View. She swears she's going to ride up and down 95 trying out all the Wendy's and finding the ones with the prettiest places to park and eat. Wendy's definitely has the view over McDonalds, but Mikey D's has the fries over Wendy's. I can attest to that big time! I love love love the fries!


So you already know we went to Cape Cod. No one ever told me what a magical place it is and Meme says I shouldn't tell you either because we're going to keep it our secret. But I gotta tell you, I just can't hold it in!!!









Hardly a box store in sight, lots of little shops and twisting roads along the sea, beaches I could run on and feel the softest sand ever between my paws, and that huge ocean to drink from. And always, always I was with them whether we were indoors or out, in the car or walking down the road, I was always by their side.



And the people! We stayed in different houses all the way up and back and in our cottage by the water tons of people came and went and they all loved me. There were wonderful people next door on both sides of us who stopped to visit and pet me and they had the most wonderful dogs who came and lay down next to me on our deck.









And there were stairs everywhere! I loved the stairs! At first I wasn't sure what to make of them ... never saw them before in my life, but before you know it I was running up and down and it didn't hurt at all. Not sure if I told you but about a year ago I started having a lot of pain and couldn't jump up on the bed anymore. So my Meme got me the greatest tasting treats to take every morning and since then I've been feeling so much better. I think the stairs helped because ever since we got home I can jump up sometimes which makes me very proud.


So back to our trip. I just gloried in the joy of it everyday and I thought it would go on forever. There were more smells than I've ever had here. And the grass ... can I tell you about the grass? It's so soft under my paws and nothing bit me the way they do here in Florida. I would just run and run forever in the grass. My favorite of all was my cousin's grass on Cape Cod. It was just heaven, like running in velvet; no other way to describe it.



But it didn't go on forever the way I hoped it would. Meme said nothing so wonderfully perfect lasts forever. Life just isn't like that.



Suddenly we were home and that was okay because I love home. I know every nook and cranny, every smell along my special path that Poppy walks me. So it was okay to get home, but what I couldn't understand was that suddenly the happiness was gone, the TV was on all day long and it was so boring with all this financial news and red arrows showing down, down, down. The suitcases were still out and somehow everything just seemed to slow down and almost stop.


It was just so different. I don't know if you know this, but dogs are very sensitive to every change so you really can't put anything over on us. I still got my food and my pets and my walks, but it just seemed sad in the house.



I've already told you my people aren't all that young, downright old some might say. And they've worked hard and saved and been so careful. They don't spend money on stupid things and they don't owe anybody anything. But all of a sudden they're worried. Something happened and now they're just not so sure about our future. And from what I've heard them say, this isn't just a bad time for us in our house, but it could be a bad time for an awful lot of people everywhere.



It's too bad because from what I'm hearing, this didn't have to happen. As smart as I am for a dog, I can't explain everything I've heard, but what I'm understanding is that there are a lot of people who either were protecting their own greed and others who were protecting their power.



And eventually the roof just fell in. And when it fell, it was the people underneath who got hurt the most ... not the people on top. I'll tell you one thing, though ... Meme is hoping pictures of all the people on top of the roof end up on a post office wall somewhere. I have no idea what she means by that, but she says you would.



So it's a sad end to an amazing journey, but that doesn't take away from how fantastic it was for all of us. And Meme is one of the most optimistic people I know. When she's down and out, I know we're in trouble. But she tells me it will all be fine because this is America.



We're a great country and when times get tough, the tough get going. Other countries are working on getting the world out of this mess, too. So down the road this great country and the world will rise again and be stronger than ever. That's just the way it works.



For now, we just have to think about all the good stuff. Meme says that good always comes from bad and she's confident that will happen this time, too. Maybe we all got a little to comfy with too many "things" and it's time to give up some of the "stuff" and focus on what's really important.



All I know is, we're pretty sure that if we're lucky we're headed back up to heaven on earth next year and that's good enough for me.


'Til next time.


Molly