September 10, 2013

White Dog hopped up next to me. She was wet. Then Steve came in from his morning walk with YoYoMa and Taiko; Taiko rubbed himself against my legs and Yo did a full shake scattering water all over me and the room. "It is raining," Steve said as he took off his glasses to dry the lenses. It was eight in the morning.

Here in Albuquerque, rain at best lasts an hour then the skies clear up and everything dries and you'd never know there had been a shower. But today we were soaked in a gentle rain all day and into the night. The White Dog Army found it a perfect afternoon for napping in the damp coolness and all enjoyed the open doors to the sun porch where they could sit and sniff the wet earth smells and listen to the cars whooshing by in comfort and dryness.

After dinner we heard the planes taking off overhead. We live about 8 minutes away from the airport but the fact that the runways that directed air traffic over our house were being used meant the more frequently used ones on the other side of the complex were flooded. I shut down the computer and checked our surge protectors when the house lights began to flicker. The rain was still gently constant and lovely, that was not the problem; the amount of water across the day was compromising underground lines.

The WDA lined up at the usual "goodnight" walk time but the rain continued, heavy enough that the pups would have been soaked by the time they completed their stroll. Instead Steve led the White Dogs quickly into the yard for "necessary" business and then just as fast returned indoors. At that, there were still wet furs and shakes to contend with.

We were grateful for the rain but bored by the limitations of the weather. Extra attention, a few extra treats and an early "lights out" seemed to be the perfect solution. After a long talk with Taiko about NOT going to camp outside during the night, we showed our trust by leaving the office ungated. He and Nuka shared the indoor dry space all night. Another integration victory!