April 18, 2013

White Dog and Steve went out to get the paper at the end of the drive; I heard her excited bark as she jumped off the bed and then the front door open. I turned over and pulled the blankets around me creating a warn cocoon and was just getting back to dozing.

THUD! My very graceful girl landed smack on my chest and started walking on me to make sure I was awake enough to hear her call to action. "The crops must be saved!" "Settle down or get off of the bed, you are delusional and I am still trying to sleep!"

Yo on the floor on Steve's side of the bed heard the serious tone of WD's alarm and sprang to wakefulness woofing in excitement and spinning in circles. This in turn woke Puff who was curled up by the dresser and who started yipping and woke Oso at the foot of the bed who had seconds before been peacefully snoring away.

White Dog was still going on about our need to immediately save "our crops" and I had no clue what she was so worked up over. "Steve," I called hoping to bring him to the room to clarify the situation without my having to wiggle too far out of my warm comfy zone. "STEVE!"

For fear of becoming bruised from the Little White Dog of My Heart stomping all over my organs, I sighed and pulled out an arm from under the blankets and wrapping it around her, pulled her to lay at my side. "Steve!"

"What's going on," he asked when he finally appeared. "I heard every pup barking." "You tell me! White Dog came back in from your newspaper gathering all wound up about saving the crops." The mere mention got the White Dog Army going again.

"Did you know it is only 32 degrees?" he asked. "Very cold. How would I know that?" "Well the baby seedlings for the herb garden are on the front porch and they don't look like they were quite ready for the test of winter survival. WD is very distressed at their appearance this morning. She made me bring them inside to see if they will perk up but I fear there may have been some weaklings that nature has culled."

With the explanation, WD led the rest of the WDA out to the front room coffee table to survey the crops. She came back in and looked at me, her eyes demanding, "Well?" "I will be out after I put on some warm clothes and make dad turn up the heat. You all keep watch." And I attempted to crawl back under the covers. I felt eyes on me as I tucked myself back in and turned to find all of the White Ones gathered around me, waiting for me to come and assess the damage. "Alright, you win. Here I come."

Steve had put the trays on the coffee table in the warmest room of the house and was in the process of turning up the furnace. He had the lamp from the end table in the middle of the plant babies, bulb on in some urban boy attempt at incubation. The WDA wagged their approval as some of the tiny plantlets were attempting to stand upright again.

"It is only supposed to be forty for a high today," he offered, "with a wind chill making it seem like thirty." The WDA formed a fluffy white shield around the plants resting in a circle around the table. "Perhaps we could sweep up all of the shedding clumps and make them a nice warm Eskie blanket," I joked and was met with six pairs of serious eyes asking me to please try to be serious.  If warm thoughts and growing energies have any power, the herb babies are going to be awesome when they grow up!

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