Monday, November 19, 2007

You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

Several months ago, due to circumstances beyond my control, I was forced to move to the lower level of my home, abandoning the upstairs section. Bogie, my best friend in the world, could no longer be depended on to climb the stairs, due to his age and weight. Too many times he'd awaken me in the night, to go out to either relieve himself or needing a drink or just a change of surroundings and was unable to make it back up the stairs. On several occasions he fell and I couldn't get him back up on his feet, forced to drag him down the stairs one by one. The simplest way to resolve the problem was to just eliminate the problem, thus the move downstairs. That was almost 4 months ago.

This morning, I announced it was shower time and Zoie went bounding up the stairs like she used to do months ago. Bogie stood there looking at me, wondering what to do. I asked him if he wanted to try it and he took my lead and made it up the 19 steps without incident. When he got there, he acted like a pup that found an old friend. He ran in circles and played tag with Zoie. It was clear that he too missed the more spacious accommodations. He scratched at the carpeting where he used to sleep and made himself a soft spot to lie. Zoie plopped herself down too.

For me it was a delight. I realized I hadn't been up there is a very long time. I was seeing it for the first time. It was big and clean and spacious. I looked around and kind of felt like I was visiting a spa. I wandered into the bathroom area and looked around at all the bugs that had died in the bottom of the shower stall and saw the layer of dust that had settled down. When I turned on the shower, it made a different sound than usual, due to the pipes being empty. The sink was leaking around the hot water knob from non-use. There was soap in the shower and a towel, so I figure why not? I stripped down and showered. It was exciting standing under my water fall fixture that I ordered special, so many years ago. After my shower, there was a hair dryer and a brush, so I dried my hair and wore my towel downstairs to look for clothes. As I descended the stairs, it felt like I was leaving an old friend behind, as I approached my smaller, more convenient accommodations on the lower level. The 2 dogs followed, as I wondered if I should just use the upstairs for showering. It sure felt good!

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