What Luck!

Harley is having a barking row tonight with the raccoon who is totally ignoring him. Besides I am telling Harley in a calm voice "It's OK" which is supposed *ahem* let me repeat for emphasis;  supposed to signal him to pipe down.  He is learning this very slowly. 


This raccoon is a very optimistic fellow. He shows up every night, walking through my campground to see if there is anything for him. He checks the garbage can daily, in hopes I've left the lid off for him. I don't feed him, but he comes by anyhow. Often I have left a watering dish out that Harley was using earlier in the day. Maybe the raccoon comes by to wash his hands. 

I am convinced Harley has a selective learning disorder. I was thrilled when he initially learned "NO!"  and "Ut Oh!"

When he has done something not nice,  I say "Ut Oh!"  That apparently signals him to look real sheepish and embarrassed, looking like the most pathetic dog you ever saw.  Sometimes he puts himself in the corner, occasionally stealing sidelong mournful glances at me. The not so nice things he sometimes does is shred a tissue or destroy a wooden clothes pin. Nothing serious, but things I wish he would not do. 


He readily enthusiastically responds to these words and phrases:
"Get the toy" or "Get the Ball" or "Get the"  with any of these words such as:
ball
bouncy ball
football
baseball
soccer ball
basket ball
tennis ball
teddy bear
frisbee
Bo-Bo 
blankie
squeaky toy


Yes, he has learned all that!
Of course he knows "Want to go for  a walk?"  


His response is to dance  double time rhythm while leaping around the motorhome furniture like a bouncy ball gone crazy.   


I assume this means "Yes" in doggy fashion. 


He has even learned "Stop!" He hears this so much when we are walking.  Usually I am trying to take a picture while he pretends to be a leap frog on a string.   This has resulted in many blurry pictures, as he unintentionally jerks the leash and my arm,  to and fro in his excitement.  At least now I can say "Stop!"  and he freezes in place, long enough for me to snap pics. 


He knows what "STAY!"  means but he doesn't want to always believe me. "Stay" is supposed to mean "You stay, I go, and you be quiet about it."


Sometimes I can point my finger at him and he will quiet down right away. This is because at one point, out of sheer frustration, I began gently zapping him with a water pistol when he was noisy if he failed to respond to my "Quiet" or "Shhhhhhh".   Well two zaps later, I no longer needed to even load the water pistol. Just picking it up, makes him quiet down and somehow that transformed to the pointed finger. 


Today we broke camp, to drive the motorhome for shopping for food and for an RV  repair estimate. I still had a few edible odds and ends I could have lived on, but Harley had managed to run completely out of his foods. Plus I haven't had coffee in a few days, and frankly I missed it. Plus my green tea and juice had run out, so like it or not, it was time to seek supplies. 


I didn't have any suitable human foods to entice Harley with either other than tuna and peaches. He tried a tablespoon of tuna, but wouldn't try a second helping. Ditto for yogurt. He ate a tablespoon once, but won't try it again. He didn't care to even try the peach.   I did find a little piece of Parmesan cheese in the fridge, so I offered that to him for breakfast. He loves cheese, but had never tried Parmesan.  He gratefully chomped it down, then looked at me for more but there was nothing else to give him. I put some ice and water in his water bowl. He gave me a sad look of dismay.

I felt like a very bad pet parent. 


So I packed up the motorhome and off we went down the country roads, in search of foods. We decided to hit all my favorite bargain stores in search of discounts, manager's specials, nearly past-dated foods and so on. Being on a tiny budget while I fight to get well, is quite fun at times. Like I never know what's on the menu this week, until I see what bargains and reduced items I can find. I stay far away from the junky stuff.  The junk foods seem to be perpetually on sale, but I can't have all the chemicals, sugars and empty calories they provide, I need healthy stuff to get well.   


I parked the motorhome far out in the parking lot, to be out of the way of everyone else. I told Harley to stay and be quiet. Well, I walked about 50 feet and he let out a pathetic yapping noise. I turned around and pointed my finger at him. He shut up. 


I walked another 50 feet and heard him barking. I turned around and pointed again. He got quiet. 


A few hundred feet more and I heard him yapping, so I turned and pointed my finger again. By now I realized another couple parking their car, was quite amused by my antics. Apparently they didn't know I was pointing at my doggy in the RV at the end of the lot, but from their conversation I overheard, they thought me a mad lady!  


Oh well!  


Amazingly I found this wonderful small bag of dog food Harley loves that was severely marked down. What luck!   Also they  had Swiss cheese that was about to be out of date marked way down (Harley and I both love Swiss cheese, so we bought the last 3 discounted packages). I even found a jumbo dented can of coffee sharply discounted and some half price 100% juice. 


At the checkout, only one clerk was working and the line was backed up chaotically. I had seen an older woman who looked really tired, waiting around the corner, so I motioned her to go in front of me. She hesitated, but I said again "Go ahead, I'm not in a rush."  


I lied. 


Sure I was in a rush like everybody else, but it's always good to do small random acts of kindness. It's good for the soul.  


Very good. 


Not sure why, but it is. Maybe it just makes the karma Gods happy. I prayed that others behind me wouldn't yell at me for letting her in the line. 


She got in front of me, then turned around and said "You have no idea how much I appreciate this, I feel really rotten and I just want to go home." 


Even after she paid for her groceries, she turned around and thanked me again.   What a gracious lady!  I am sure I blushed.  For some reason, it really made my day.  I have no idea why. 


When I got outside, Harley raced to meet me at the RV's door, jumping around enthusiastically, trying to leap into my arms and give me doggy kisses while I was trying to shove the grocery bags inside. It made me giggle. I felt like the luckiest person in the whole wide world.  


I took him for a one minute walk to visit the only tree in the parking lot. Then we loaded up and made several more stops in the area at other stores that are known to have some bargains tucked away, if you know where to look. 


Suddenly I was exhausted.  It just hit me again. Like my internal batteries died. I wasn't sure I had the energy to drive back to the remote country park where I workamp.  I remembered to feed Harley who was  ever so grateful.  I  ate some cheese and a piece of reduced for quick sale garlic bread. I looked around the hot parking lot that had zero tolerance for landscaping. 


I pulled up a map on the laptop, found a county park about 2 miles away. We went in search of it and missed the turn. By the time we got back to the park, we had toured the historic section of town, but my camera was back where I couldn't reach it, so I missed out on some great shots while stuck in traffic. Finally we made it  back to the park entrance. 


We found a shady spot to park. Harley was wildly excited, as he thought we were setting up camp. I convinced him to take a rest with me. Then when I felt all better, we got up and went for a stroll. 


The park  was beautiful, complete  with a babbling brook and waterfall.  Harley and I went for a walk in all the shady areas. It was like stepping into the garden of Eden.  I actually felt much better and took lots of pics which I will share with you soon. 


Life is fantastic!  I must be the luckiest person in the whole wide world. I would never dream of walking alone in the park, so many what-ifs. But with  my enthusiastic puppy, it's so different. All the what-ifs go away and I feel confident and happy. 


Once we got back on the road again, we went to an old fashioned hardware store in another small town. I needed an odd part for an RV repair. Harley was thrilled to go in the hardware store with me.  He doesn't quite understand why the grocery stores won't let him shop with me. 


There is always a group of old men sitting around an unlit wood stove, whenever I have been in this relic. It seems to be the town hangout for them.  Harley of course had to enthusiastically greet them all. 


This time we didn't see the cat. Harley was glad for that. Last time we were in the hardware store,  the cat was curled up sleeping. She raised her head to hiss at Harley then resumed her nap. Harley seemed mortified. The old men had fun with the puppy and poking fun at his odd looks and wild enthusiasm. 


They even had the RV part I needed,  tucked away in a far corner. 

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