Thursday, November 8, 2012

Wearing a Mink Coat

"Teddy, I'm trying to get some work done."  He dropped his dragon toy onto my lap.  I ignored him.  He took it, turned around and dropped it at my feet. 

I can tell he didn't get enough exercise today, though I took him to the off leash area in Snoqualmie before my meeting this morning.  The problem with going there is that sometimes we are the only ones there.  We were alone today. 

Well, not quite. 

There was an animal swimming in the water to our left as we walked in, a small dark brown animal.  I texted Mike and told him I thought it was a river otter.  She wasn't.  Just now, when I looked at my Audubon Society guidebook for the Pacific Northwest, I saw that this creature was too small and too dark to have been a river otter. She was about the same size and shape as the ferrets they sell at Petco, maybe slightly smaller.  She eyed us as she swam through the water.  Teddy was enamored.  He tilted his head in one direction, then in another. 

She was a mink.

Cool!  I saw a fur coat on the right kind of girl. 

No, I couldn't tell if it was male or female, really.  I was making that part up, though I have a fifty-fifty chance of being right, after all.  Don't you picture this tiny little girl rightfully wearing her tiny mink coat to the ball?  She was beautiful, a cocoa brown, with bright little eyes that looked at Teddy and I warily.  There was no way I wanted to hurt her. 

After that, we didn't feel so alone in the dog area.  We walked away from the water, swished our feet in the big leaves, dawdled, and breathed in the crisp air.  I threw sticks and Teddy chased them.  We both watched the birds.  A couple of ravens perched in a tree recently bared of leaves.  A flock of geese in formation sounded like people coming from a distance.  I like knowing that they take turns leading. 

We wandered and were on our way out the front gate when a couple of other dogs came in.  I gave Teddy five more minutes, but neither dog wanted to chase.  For the rest of the day, Teddy was left to work out his energy on his own until we got home late from a Scout outing to retire the colors in honor of Veteran's Day.  By then, we were all too tired to play with him, poor guy. 

And now, he's nosing his tug rope up against my leg.  Girl-watching is over.  It's time to play. 

Thank you for listening, jb

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