Dog Tired and Trying to Write
I have an old dog with health issues, and I get up during the night to check on him. I have a puppy that’s not yet housebroken … a youngling that needs to go outside every couple of hours. I get up for her, too. I’m tired. Dog tired. I should be working on my novella, a short story, and a novel right now. But I’m yawning. And rather than give in to the temptation to take a nap, I thought I’d write a blog. At least it is writing. I love my dogs … all four of them. I can’t imagine life without dogs. And I know this dog-tired phase will pass and the puppy will get older and I won’t have to get up in the wee hours so she can wee.
It is amazing to have a puppy. Look past the accidents and all the things she tries to chew on and get into.
Look at the world through her eyes.
It makes me feel new. Tired, but new.
She dances after butterflies and chases grasshoppers. She tastes dandelions and barks at lightning bugs.
I imagine that she is constantly asking: What is this? And this? And this? Can I eat this? Can I play with it?
She runs. A pug, she has an amazing amount of energy. ShegoesnonstopandracesaroundtheyardcirclecirclecirclechasesmyLabradorandtriestopounceontheBoston.
And when she finally wears down … and this takes a while … she looks for a good place to snuggle. Usually that spot is next to Wrinkles, my elderly pug who apparently makes a good pillow. Sometimes she settles next to the Lab, demonstrating just how small she is.
Both pugs were given to me, a decade apart. Wrinkles from my beautiful friend Juliana Wence. And Hunny the puppy from my beautiful friend Jeni Hudson. How blessed am I?
My dogs make me a better writer.
They force me to take computer breaks, to toss tennis balls, to refill the kiddie pool. To feed them on schedule. To scratch their bellies. I write better when I take breaks. I write energized.
They keep my feet warm. Wrinkles always drapes himself across my toes, and the pup … when she tires out … wedges herself between my heels. I sprinkle them in my Piper Blackwell mystery books. I’m plotting the fourth book now.
Writing this blog has perked me up a bit–or maybe that’s the second huge mug of hot cinnamon tea working into my veins. I’m gonna go write on one of my projects now … on my laptop out on my back porch because the weather is fine, I refilled the kiddie pool, and there is a fresh can of tennis balls. Yeah, I’m gonna play with the dogs first. Then I’ll write.
I am happy and fortunate to be dog tired.
