Blankie

Scarlett with her blankie. (Photo by BobbaLew.)

It’s been bitterly cold the past few days.
Not below zero, but close.
It has also been very windy, taking wind-chills below zero.
Cold enough to make we worry about taking my dog to the park, and she loves going to the park.
Smells galore, and critters to chase.
She’s very much a hunter-dog.
I have to leash her at the park. She’s run away and got lost twice.
Her collar saved her both times. I have my cellphone number embroidered on her collar.
See a deer, and off she charges. That’s how we lost her once — on-the-leash after that! My wife was alive at that time. Some guy in a ratty Chevy pickup rescued her.
The second time she walked out an open gate on our property, opened by a hunter perhaps. She later jumped in the car of a kindly girl who then called me.
See a deer on the leash and I get dragged into the woods.
There are a number of things I don’t know since my wife died:
—1) is the whereabouts of the dog’s blankie (illustrated above), the coat she wears when it’s really cold.
—2) is a gigantic box of 89 bazilyun paper muffin-cups we got from Amazon. I have since found them, but in order to make muffins some time ago I had to order another 89 bazilyun.
—3) our wi-fi router is locked, one needs a password-key to connect. We got it so my wife could get the Internet wirelessly to her PC in another room, yet my neighbor was locked out.
This MAC is hard-wired to my Internet-cable, but can get the Internet wirelessly.
I joined my wireless network years ago, so this computer has memorized the network.
Now my iPhone is prompting me to join. but I don’t remember the key.
Since my computer memorized it, it’s invisible.
My wife would know the key, or have it written down somewhere, but she’s dead.
I may have to install a new router just to solve the key problem.
But that’s just for my iPhone, so I don’t think it’s worth the bother.
(I have other networks memorized on this rig.)
So, in order to take my dog to the park in bitter-cold, I need that “coat,” but I have no idea where it is!
The coat is an old warmer my paternal grandmother knitted long ago. My grandmother is long-gone.
My wife added straps that convert it to a dog-coat. They’re pinned with safety-pins. The straps thread small holes in the knitting.
We’ve used it on just about every dog we’ve had, including Scarlett.
So, where do I find it, or more properly can I take my dog to the park in bitter-cold?
I rummaged around in various trunks, and stumbled across it.
I could take my dog to her beloved park. We didn’t have to sit around.

• “Scarlett” (two “Ts,” as in Scarlett O’Hara) is my current dog; a rescue Irish-Setter. She’s seven, and is my sixth Irish-Setter, a high-energy dog. (A “rescue Irish Setter” is an Irish Setter rescued from a bad home; e.g. abusive or a puppy-mill. [Scarlett was from a failed backyard breeder.] By getting a rescue-dog, we avoid puppydom, but the dog is often messed up. —Scarlett isn't bad. She’s my fourth rescue.)
• My beloved wife of over 44 years died of cancer April 17th, 2012. I miss her dearly.