Painful Things – by Big Buddy

Aug 1, 2019

Hi everybody! It’s me, Big Buddy writing the blog. Thanks for reading them. I like writing them!

Sometimes people I don’t even know come to the cabin when I’m asleep. I’m not a watchdog, so I don’t wake up. But sometimes when I’m asleep on the floor, the people roll this thing all over the carpet. I don’t notice the thing until it gets close to my head. It vibrates and wakes me up. The people are very nice and they never poke me with the thing. (Editor’s Note: It’s the cleaner’s vacuum). Then they clean and fill my water bowl. That is very nice, too. Then they leave and I go back to sleep.

Other times Liana’s mom comes looking for Don and Liana. She comes in and gives me a pat on the head. Sometimes she leaves strange things. (Editor’s Note: One time she left a 4ft long zucchini.) Most times she just leaves a note. Sometimes she closes the sliding glass door and it makes it very hot inside the cabin and I can’t get outside to pee. I know she doesn’t do it on purpose. She just wants to keep the bugs out of the cabin and she doesn’t understand how often I need to pee.

———————————————————-

The best time someone came to the cabin when I was asleep in the middle of the day was when Don came back with his friends Rainy and Jennifer. I was on the couch and Rainy came over and sat next to me. She rubbed my head and I woke up pretty scared. I was scared because I woke up in the middle of the day and it wasn’t Dinner Time yet. I noticed Rainy smelled different than the other people. She smelled like the Painful Thing on my leg that was very painful a while ago (Editor’s Note: Buddy had mast cell cancer removed from his leg.) Don and Liana brought me to the vet and I went to sleep and I woke up in a metal cage but the Painful Thing on my leg was gone and I couldn’t smell it anymore.

Don also came back to the cabin with all the other dogs. They were running around the cabin and making a mess. Rainy and Jennifer didn’t though. They were nice.

Rainy gave me a bunch of belly rubs and my leg kicked. That’s when I knew I loved Rainy and that we were friends. Then everyone wanted to go to the beach. I wanted to be with Rainy because she was my friend. I hoped Don didn’t remove her Painful Thing and put her in a metal cage until after the swim.

I walked down to the beach. It’s hard for me to walk down to the beach because my bones hurt so much. I kept my head down and kept walking. Rainy stopped me every once and a while to hit me in the face. At first I thought she was trying to hurt me, but then I remembered that we were friends. She was swatting the mosquitoes and horse flies off my face. That was really nice.

———————————————————-

It’s been a long time since I went swimming. I forgot how crazy the beach is. Dogs were everywhere. People were everywhere. Kids were everywhere. Even Teddy was going in the water up to his ankles. Teddy hates the water.

The cool water felt very good on my old bones. I kept Pretend Swimming up and down the beach but Don didn’t get in the water this time. Teddy growled at me when I went to the water. It’s OK. He’s not a bad dog. I think he smells all my Painful Things and he thinks they are going to hurt him.

At least I Pretend Swim in the water, Teddy. Ha ha! You won’t even go in!

We had a lot of fun at the beach. When Don yelled at me for eating seaweed on the beach, I ate a bunch of sand instead. It didn’t taste as good as seaweed, but I was having such a good time at the beach I hardly noticed. Then Don started walking everyone back to the cabin.

The road back is very steep and I got very tired. I was so tired from the beach I couldn’t keep my head up when I was walking. The mosquitos were flying in my ears and eyes. They were really bothering me! I was way behind everyone else and I was scared of getting hit by a car walking up the road. Just when I thought I would have to lay down in the middle of the road to take a rest, Rainy came back and helped me. She stayed with me. She swatted the mosquitos off my face and patted my back. I was sure she was looking out for cars, too. That gave me the energy I needed to get up the hill without a rest.

When we got back to the cabin, Don dried us all off and gave us pig ears. Not Rainy and Jennifer, though. Maybe Don thought they were eating seaweed at the beach and he was mad at them. Don gets mad a lot. Then Rainy sat down next to me on the couch and rubbed my head. She rubbed it just right. I gave her a Butt Rub and she laughed. She put her arms around me and I could smell her Painful Thing. I wish I saw her face. I wish I could remember it. I wish I heard her voice so I could remember what she said. I’m deaf and almost blind.

Don left with Jennifer and Rainy after that. He didn’t come home until after dark. Rainy and Jennifer weren’t with him. I ate my dinner and went to lie down on my bed under the table.

I wondered when they’d be back.

Thanks for reading this Far!
—Buddy