HANG ON FOR DEAR LIFE!

Scarlett. (Photo by Linda Hughes.) (Linda Hughes is my wife.)

Normally I’m the one who lets the dog out in the middle of the night.
I get up around 2 a.m. to go to the bathroom, and let our dog out.
She goes out and patrols the backyard, loose; our backyard is fenced.
She’s snagged a few rabbits in the backyard.
I’ve had to go out in my bathrobe and bring her in.
If a rabbit is in that backyard, it’s dead meat.
The dog is very much a hunter.
If she senses a critter she goes bonkers!
Squirrels, chipmunks, deer, geese, crows — the blue heron.
We walk her on a leash, except in the backyard.
She may or may not go to the bathroom.
I also turn off all our Christmas lights.
But last night it wasn’t me.
I had worked out at the Canandaigua YMCA Exercise-Gym yesterday morning (Friday, December 9, 2011), plus performed a few errands.
Our dog had also been left with a groomer, so had to be picked up.
No time for a nap, so I was utterly blasted from working out. —I’m 67.
Apparently my wife let the dog out about 2 a.m., and turned off all the Christmas lights.
The dog gets on our bed after going out.
Before that she sacks out on a dog-bed at the foot of our bed.
We have to sleep around her, but it’s not too bad.
She’s not that big, and sleeps between our feet.
Yesterday I had her partially groomed.
It was a girl named Lisa Robinson, who used to sell ads at the Mighty Mezz.
She married Bill Robinson, once a reporter/columnist at the Mighty Mezz.
I worked with Robinson for years.
Apparently Lisa loves dogs.
She’s a groomer at Finger Lakes Animal Hospital in nearby Canandaigua, and has been there for some time.
89 bazilyun snapshots of various dogs are on the office-walls.
I only noticed one Irish-Setter, although I’m sure there are more.
I didn’t pore through all the snapshots. There are way too many.
A lot seem to be smallish dogs.
Our dog weighs 72 pounds, fairly big for an Irish-Setter.
Our dog is also incredibly strong.
At the park she’s hunting, and if she senses anything it’s HANG ON FOR DEAR LIFE!
We’ve spent hours while she’s dug at holes, tossing earth on our pants.
I didn’t have Lisa do much, just cut her nails, trim her paws (to negate snow-clumping), and comb out her coat.
—To remove seeds (she’s a seed-carrier).
My wife is the current groomer; I’m not very successful.
The dog fights my wife somewhat, but doesn’t seem to fight me.
What I dread is a massive burr-accumulation, or seeds.
If muddy she needs a bath.
But my wife has cancer, and may die eventually.
I’m very committed to this dog; the deal was “I’ll take you home, and try my best.”
That was three years ago, and I had just come off a high-energy Irish-Setter.
So I thought I could handle her; still think I can.
The fact we’re retired means we can give her many walks.
This dog is also very attached to me — I’m the boss-dog. (She knows I look out for her.)
Although I think the dog is mainly a people-dog. She doesn’t have much patience with other dogs.
So having Lisa groom her was a trial run.
If my wife dies, that’s half the dog’s attention.
Although we seemed to do okay when my wife was in the hospital last spring.

• I work out in the Canandaigua YMCA Exercise-Gym, appropriately named the “Wellness-Center,” usually three days per week, about two-three hours per visit. (“Canandaigua” [“cannan-DAY-gwuh”] is a small city to the east nearby where we live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” It’s about 14 miles away. —We live in the small rural town of West Bloomfield in Western NY, southeast of Rochester.
• The “Mighty Mezz” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired almost six years ago. Best job I ever had — I worked there almost 10 years.