Someone's Little Girl

Vegas & Molly are back in Iowa and I am visiting family in Florida, my hometown. There is a palm tree outside of the window and a tropical depression begin to rumble through. I love spending time with my parents and brother. My heart swells to three times its normal size, just like in the book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. Last night we sat around the table with my cousin and his lovely wife eating what we normally eat on Christmas Eve – conch chowder. Cuban bread, homemade cookies, laughing and I just felt warm all over.

Black Bart, Sammy and Becky all live here with the humans. Bart (real name Bear) looks like a bear. Becky, also a rescue, furrows her brows and looks very worried. She would wear glasses if dogs wore glasses. Sammy is a chocolate lab and like most chocolate labs is sweet as the day is long but isn’t the sharpest pencil in the box. In this way, he is like his cousin Vegas. We have had two sweeeeming sessions and lots of treats. I, being the doting Aunt, like to hand out kibbles and treats all day long so as to bribe my way into the heart. Or stomach as it goes.

I’m a nester by nature and am happiest closest to the hearth. I’m going through cookbooks and catalogs with my Mom. She is going to cook a prime rib on Sunday because I won’t be here on Christmas to enjoy it and she knows it is one of my favorites.

I spend my days in Iowa attempting to be a responsible Golden Retriever, paying a mortgage, playing nice and not biting anyone.

But some days, it is ever so sweet to be someone’s little girl again.