Tales from real life |
Ava was at her house, Rexy was inside. 'Someone' let the latch loose; the door swings open wide. Rexy down the staircase, Rexy running hard. Ava chases Rexy out into the yard. Rexy runs a circle, Rexy's having fun. Ava runs to Rexy, but Rexy isn't done. Rexy goes to Harvey's house, Harvey is away. Rexy finds an open door, rushes in to play. Rexy finds a workman remodeling the space, wants to make a new friend, licks him on the face. The workman laughs at Rexy, tries to send him home, Rexy runs around the house and steals Harvey's bone. Mama hears the ruckus, sees Ava run and yell. Mama follows Rexy to bring him home herself. Rounding up kids and pets, Mama's constant chore. Mama's biggest nemesis, kids who open doors! The neighborhood kids are a lot of fun. On one side, we have Evan & Desi and their huge dog, Harvey. They tried to name him Batman, but Mom & Dad compromised on Harvey Dent. Harvey is a good-natured lab/shepherd mix with an acorn-size brain. His only purpose in life is ‘see ball, chase ball, eat ball’. Heaven, for Harvey, would be an infinite number of bouncy tennis balls and a pelican's pouch so he could hold them all in his mouth. I once laughed at seeing him with a tennis ball in each cheek. Evan boasted, “that’s nothing, he can do three.” Ava & Wyatt live on the other side with their playful golden retriever, Rexy. He may never outgrow puppyhood. Rexy loves everybody he meets, canine or human. Between all the kids, dogs, and parents, there's a lot of coming and going through our big front yard. Some homeowners might get annoyed, but I just sit back and enjoy the show. Evan and Desi's family went out of town for a few days during a remodeling project, and the workmen left their front door open while going in and out. I saw Rexy bolt across our lawn, followed by Ava, and then by an exasperated Mama. Rexy went to visit his good ol' pal, found a welcoming open door, and was every bit as happy to have some wonderful new friends to play with. There's something irresistible about a happy dog. Everyone had a good laugh, Rexy got a lot of attention, and I wrote a poem for Ava. |