For those who have raised teenagers, particularly boys, you might understand when I say that “mom n’ dad are going to be gone overnight”, the momentary “Concern” buzzer that goes off deep in the back of a parent’s brain. Wild parties, holes in the bathroom wall, shattered shower door glass, empty liquor bottles, burning candles. You know, or you have heard the scenario, “studying for a test, with friends over”. Parents are so nonplussed when they return after that sort of thing!
Not that I worry that Dexter or Comet will have a big pack over to bark and howl, or leave a big mess. Except there has been this orange tabby hanging around the last couple evenings….. Cozying up to the Missus and me ….
I left them on their own best behavior to drive up, convoy** style, last night about half the distance to a meeting my wife attends a couple of times a year in Los Angeles. Those of you, for whom “traffic” is more than 3 automobiles or lorries at a stop light, Los Angeles traffic is legendary in the sheer number of automobiles on tens of thousands of miles of highways and streets, not-moving, or barely moving, daily. To allay my dear wife’s irritation at no affordable alternative, I have on a couple of occasions driven all the way to the LAX airport hotel where her meeting convenes, and then made my way out of Los Angeles to my work in San Diego county. This time, we found a well-reviewed motel about half the distance and I accompanied her.
I have seen the lengths that some dogs will do to track their humans, reading stories of dogs a few states distant from their home being lost or stolen, and then finding their way to their people. While I do NOT think Dexter would do so, because he cannot concentrate on anything longer than a few seconds, I might see Comet doing that: riding along with his humans, especially if he would be able to leave “business cards” all the way to Los Angeles. But if it were solely to accompany Dexter, to encourage him, I think he would wish Dexter “bon voyage”.
Dexter is always looking for something and someone else to pay him attention when we are out on a walk. He does not watch where he is going often. Come to think of the comparison, Comet is pretty much a teenage boy also. Self-reliance is not a skill he practices unless it is for mischief. Neither boy nor dog cleans the kitchen after finding something to eat. While it may be due to my military training, the ability to be patient is an acquired skill that dogs and teens do not come by naturally. Each evening, when the humans are coming home from their commutes, to both dogs, such minutes are an eternity when they want immediately to go for a walk or to get their supper.
I presume all to be well. Neighbors have not called. I do not see updates on Facebook telling me “thanks” for the great party last night. And there’s no selfies of the cat hanging with Comet or Dexter. If I find another loaf of bread half-chewed by Comet in the backyard tonight, I really am trying to limit my carbohydrates anyway.
** “Convoy” was a popular term in the 1980’s after a spate of movies, television, a song, and pop-culture glamorized the life of truckers and CB radios. Nowadays, any group of vehicles that are moving as a unit might be coined a “convoy”
It's a Dog's Life 