The old Gator Dude and his wife are going to have a lousy weekend. Oh, it has nothing to do with the weather, which is expected to be just fine except for a little wetness passing through some places Saturday night. No, it is because Gator Golden isn’t here. She’s spending the weekend with her sister and Gator Daughter. No, GD’s not the sister but owns a Golden Retriever from the same litter as GG.
GD fertilized the lawn for us Friday evening and so the dogs won’t be involved with the grass for at least 24 hours, it’ll be closer to 48 this time; she takes both dogs to her house for the weekend. And there they’ll stay until Sunday evening.
You may wonder why GW and I don’t go there for a visit. We would if GG were coming home with us. We certainly have spent many hours at the daughter’s home. But when GG has been there without us for a while and we show up, our dog gets the impressions she’s coming home with us as she usually does. Excitement reigns.
I’m not sure just what she would think if we showed up and then later left without her. I know she’s “just a dog,” but she’s also family and she could feel really deserted if we left her behind under the circumstances even though she’d be with someone who loves her.
So, unless she is coming home with us, we don’t visit GD’s house when she’s dog sitting.
There are hundreds, yea, thousands, of things we could do this weekend with the dog away. None of them will get done. GW and I will do some normal stuff, but a certain Golden Retriever will be continually on our minds. It’s very close to the feeling we had when our kids used to visit with Grammy and Grampy many years ago.
Gator Wife is on vacation from her part time job at a nearby store. We have taken this week off for many, many years. In the past we’ve added more time to the week with vacations touring the national parks out west, touring San Francisco, Las Vegas, and New Orleans. We’ve taken a cruise coupled with a land tour of Alaska. We’ve even ventured into the very hot season of Florida to visit my parents and, later, just to take in some of the attractions. And, of course, we’ve visited our son who lives on the West Coast.
We’ve taken numerous vacations to Pennsylvania where three theaters, one a dinner theater, and several other attractions such as a fantastic HO gauge model railroad exhibit exist. I was a model railroader until a couple years ago. When I began to have difficulty standing and moving around my RR yard, I gave it up. We took the remnants down just last week.
Last year and again this year the uncertainty of the economy has kept us home. This week also contains the month and date GW first entered this trip a few years ago. Last year was the first time she had celebrated her birthday at home in more than 20 years. We started taking the July vacations when our two kids were old enough to stay home alone, with, of course, some visits by a very interested set of grandparents.
I don’t know if they ever had one of those huge parties kids are known to have when mom and dad are away. I’ve never asked. There hasn’t been evidence of one when we returned. But I’m not naïve.
Don’t expect much in the way of postings this week. GW and I are, after all, on vacation. We’ll find a way to have a good one.
And speaking of “good ones,” I hope you are having a good weekend.
GiM
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