I Wish I Was My Dog

It has been a while since Lily Lu has been the feature of a blog post. One might wonder what a day in the life of Lily Lu is like. Well most days she acts as our alarm clock. She tells us that 6 am is the time to get moving. She doesn't recognize daylight savings time so the change in Spring and Fall messes her up for a while. We get up and take her for a short walk down Solomon Ave. so she can do what she needs to do. Generally after that it is a cup of coffee or two for us while Lily Lu takes a brief nap. Walking and sniffing for the right spots are tough jobs. After coffee it is time for our daily morning walk down to Jaycee park and a stroll around the half mile loop. The total walk is about a mile. Some days we see other people and dogs. Some days we don't. There are days we see some of the local characters. One guy we have nicknamed "Coffee Cup Man" because every time we see him he has a coffee cup in one hand. He must have a job somewhere that only requires the use of one hand. There is also an old man who jogs in the park. I'm 60 so when I say old I mean OLD. He looks to be well into his 80's. His feet never get far off the ground and his steps are short, but he is out there moving. After the walk we have breakfast. Lily Lu hangs close in case we are having something she likes. She also gets her daily Denta Stick. We have to keep her teeth clean. When breakfast is done she settles in for another nap. Either she is tired or we are really boring. Probably both.

Miss Lily Lu is relaxing on the guest bed. She likes it because it sits up high enough for her to see out the porch windows. Something might go by that requires her to alert us with a volley of barks. She almost always barks at the trash truck or any tractor that goes by.

Lily Lu is laying on our bed helping me determine what the best pattern would be for this quilt project. Always trying to be helpful.

Of course there are plenty of places to lay around in the house so she chose the living room love seat this time. The house was a little cool so she got covered up in her favorite blanket. If you get up from where you are sitting on the couch or love seat she will move and take the abandoned warm spot.

On with her day. At least once or twice each morning she whines to go out and we walk down to the corner and back. It is a half mile round trip. Sometimes she has a reason to go sometimes it is just for the opportunity to go outside and sniff.  Lunch here is at noon. Carol gives me a razzing from time to time about being on such a rigid schedule but I like lunch at noon. Lily again hangs around to see what we are having and if she can convince us she should get a bite or two. Some days at lunch she gets a hot dog or two. After lunch the real whining begins and that is usually when we take our long walk. Lily Lu and I go out and walk somewhere between 2 and 3.5 miles. By the time we get back she is ready for another nap and a big drink of water.

That's the look we get when we are having a meal. Lip a little curled and the give me some of that stare. After supper there are generally a couple of walks down to the corner and back. This time of year it gets dark early and she sees better at night than me. So every now and then there will be a quick jerk to the side when she spots something of interest. There is also one other thing that will upset her every time she sees one. Skateboarders. I don't know why but she will jump at them and bark like she would like to rip the wheels off that thing they are riding.

Some time around 10 pm we call it a night. Lily Lu normally sleeps with us now. She starts on top of the covers near our feet. If it gets too cold in the house for her she moves up, pulls the covers down with her paws and burrows under, down by our feet to get warm. If she gets too hot down there then it is back out on top of the covers. This may happen two or three times during the night. Then 6 am rolls around and we start a new day with the same routine. Not a bad life for a wonderful companion. Comfy places to sleep, table scraps and hot dogs to eat, lots of walks and attention.